- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
I am a beach baby. I LOVE the beach and all things tropical. Papa Pig was actually born in Honolulu, and his entire family still lives on the island. Growing up as a military brat, we were fortunate to be able to spend two years in Guam, which I consider to be a miniature, less commercialized version of Hawaii. I’ve always known I wanted to have a destination wedding. The one setback was knowing that some of our family might not be able to attend. To remedy this, we decided to hold our wedding and ceremony on the island of Oahu, and hold a second reception locally in Baltimore, Maryland. We researched a ton on TheKnot Hawaii community boards (thank you Hawaii Knotties!) and our top contenders for the wedding ceremony/reception were:
While I’ve actually enjoyed planning a destination wedding, there are a few things that have me feeling guilty because of the fact that we’re having a destination wedding.
Unfortunately, the majority of Mr. Sushi’s family and friends will not be able to make it to our wedding. Besides the undeniable cost, some of his family members have been dealing with health issues or have military obligations, which will prevent them from being able to attend. There are a few happy reasons why some can’t attend; his brother and his best friend are both planning weddings of their own, both to take place this summer. Out of the 19 guests who will be in attendance at our wedding, only one of them is a guest of Mr. Sushi’s. His mom. Mr. Sushi is totally fine with this and really couldn’t care less how many of his family and friends are able or not able to make it. But I can’t help but feel a lil’ guilty about it.
Read more…
From the get go, we Pigsters both agreed that photography was of utmost importance to us. After scouring photo blogs (best photog list ever) and the Wedding Photo Journalist Association (WPJA), we became dedicated fans of two photographers: Ben Chrisman and Our Labor of Love (OLOL). We were disappointed when we learned that Jesse and Whitney from our OLOL were unavailable on our wedding date, but were elated to find Ben Chrisman! We LOVE the artistry of his photos and his ability to capture raw emotion. My favorite slide show of Ben’s is the wedding he shot in Greece—I am in total awe every time I watch it. He was our first vendor booked, and we cannot wait to work with him in paradise!
We’re definitely sacrificing other aspects of the wedding for Ben, mainly flowers. Who needs flowers when the ocean is your backdrop? 
We haven’t met him in person, but we cannot wait to spend time with him on our wedding day and during our day after shoot.
Here are some photos from the wedding in Greece, in addition to some of his other work. All photos © Ben Chrisman. Enjoy!
At the tail end of 2008, I de-virginized my feet. For my girlfriend’s birthday, we spoiled ourselves and made a trip to Yvonne’s salon in Alexandria for an afternoon pedicure. I had never heard of these minnow-sized, flesh eating fish that nibble away at dead skin cells. The concept was so bizarre that I had to partake in the fun. Apparently, health concerns banned the usage of razor blades in pedicures and the owners of this salon discovered the ‘garra rufa’ fish as an alternative to the blade approach. I find the foot germ pool just as concerning despite the cleaning/bleaching of the individual tubs in between each client session. Anyhow, the owners have appeared on ‘The View’ and the ‘Today’ show as the innovators of this concept, and have their appearances memorialized in frames on their wall.
First off, they examine your feet for any cuts/gashes. Afterward, they seat you on a bench with a tub filled with water and hundreds of fishies.
Read more…
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
With the passing of the holidays and the arrival of 2009, we’ve begun to focus our efforts on our wedding stationery (another one of my favorites). I first saw the boarding pass idea on Aylee designs and fell in love immediately. What a fun idea! After scouring the internet for design ideas, I came across the amazing work of East Six designs on Style Me Pretty. Each design in their portfolio truly has the ‘wow’ factor. The ones I particularly became fond of were the corner flourish/image combinations, which served as the inspiration for our Save the Dates.
Draft 1 deets:
Read more…
Being the fickle person that I am, I went through several phases while looking for the dress. Each time I narrowed the dress requirements (e.g., sweetheart neckline, fit-and-flare, strapless, white, etc.), I would find a dress that met all the requirements, yet I was never able to pull the trigger in fear that I was succumbing to another impulsive buy (much like my Filene’s purchases at the running of the brides). The good news is that one requirement stayed constant throughout my dress shopping journey, which really helped narrow down the selection of dresses at the boutiques. I wanted a dress made of silk organza. The fabric is so light, airy, and comfortable, PERFECT for our outdoor ceremony. The two almost-dresses were both by Melissa Sweet and are quite popular amongst the hive.
Contender #1: Melissa Sweet Aurora. This dress fit the bill. I tried it on several times and convinced myself that this was the dress. The one aspect holding me back was the comfort factor. I’m pretty lanky and bony with the exception of my poochy mid-section area. I didn’t want to feel self-conscious throughout the night, so I opted to continue the dress hunt.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Without knowing when or where we were going to be married, I quickly dove into my #1 priority - THE dress. I adore Filene’s Basement - like seriously - I’m obsessed. In general, I love all of those discount stores e.g., Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, Loehmanns, etc. Mr. Piglet and I enjoy the treasure hunt to find great brands at bargain prices. A year before I was engaged, I walked into Filene’s Basement and saw racks upon racks of wedding dresses. I felt semi-guilty looking at them knowing I wasn’t engaged, so I opted to look at the purses and sales racks instead. One year later, I had the ring on my finger and rallied my sister and a friend to join me to bump elbows and fight the other bridezillas at the Running of the Brides in Towson, Maryland. Boy oh boy, were we unprepared.
We woke up early and made our way to the basement. There were 50-60 brides ahead of us, which wouldn’t be so bad if each didn’t have 4-6 people in their entourage. I’ve heard that the line at the DC Running of the Brides wrapped around five blocks so I shouldn’t complain. We did a jersey theme and all wore football jerseys from past tourneys we had played in. Once the door opened, I literally saw mothers get trampled by younger girls and the rack became bare within seconds. It became a waiting game for the brides to give up dresses they didn’t want. Bartering was common amongst the brides. Craziness. All in all a fun experience and I walked out with two dresses. Yup, I’m another multi-dress bride, neither of which I decided to keep. I wish I read Miss Latte’s post before braving the masses at the running of the brides. Had I done so, the experience may have gone a bit smoother and we could’ve avoided the ‘deer caught in headlights’ reaction.
Read more…
It’s no secret my family has an addiction to junk food; hence the character choice, Miss Piglet! Mr. Piglet, on the other hand, rarely craves anything too sweet. He’s repulsed by my ability to eat Snickers and Starburst as morning treats, and usually convinces me to order summer versus spring rolls. According to my dentist, the last cavity found left no room for additional cavities on my back molars. Look Ma, no [mo] cavities. 
Allow me to digress for a sec and offer you a bit of insight into the logistical situation of our relationship. Although we’re merely an hour away from each other, I consider our relationship semi-long distance not only because we’re separated by the state line; but more so, [duh duh duhhh] THE beltway. We did it though! For five years, we mainly saw each other on weekends with the occasional weekday visit. Did I mention I’m still a piglet living at home? That means, the Mr would often come from Baltimore and head back up the same day. Boy, I heart him.
Ok back to the story! After one of our weekend soirees, I was shocked when Mr. Piglet pulled out a pack of Starburst from his jacket pocket just before taking me home on a Sunday afternoon. This is RARE I tell you.
Read more…
Mr. Sushi is a shoe fan. A Nike shoe fan. If I’m a shoe whore, then he’s a shoe pimp.
Mr. Sushi can be very picky when it comes to his shoes and clothes, which made picking out an outfit for him to wear on our wedding day very difficult, but in the end you can definitely see his style in his “grooms wear”. I suggested that he rock some nice loafers like Mr. Sea Breeze, but he wasn’t having it (I tried). Nope, he went the Nike sneaks route, and who am I to tell him what to wear? It’s not like he had the option of picking out my shoes. So, we went the custom route and he “designed” his own wedding shoes.
Hello from Miss Piglet aka Miss Piggy! I am so honored to be a part of the hive and cannot wait to share the joys and woes of wedding planning with such great company. Being a consultant, I’m very much in tune with the concept of not ‘reinventing the wheel’ and cannot wait to add our own flair to the common DIY projects that have inspired me throughout the years; many of which, are from the hive. The piglet character was an easy choice considering I am quite the pig when it comes to my diet. My latest food obsession is a Korean BBQ joint called Honey Pig, and I will always be a fan of the 2 for 2 filet-o-fish deals at good ole Mickey D’s.
Mr. Piglet is so the opposite as far as diet is concerned and often encourages me to balance my diet w/ veggies, fruit, etc. Aside from balancing my diet, he truly balances me as a whole. We met in college during my sophomore year through a friend (now bridesmaid) and although he didn’t leave the best impression then, he did leave a lasting one that prompted us to keep in touch over the years.
He is unique, has the kindest heart, and freakishly looks like me (according to our family and friends). Fast forward to 2009, and we are now engaged and planning a destination wedding in Oahu! Yay to DW brides! 
Read more…
I’m not sure if you noticed or not, but I’ve never posted about any reception details, mainly because I don’t have any reception details to blog about. In lieu of a traditional reception, we’re taking our guests to a luau for dinner instead. This means no hiring of a DJ, no linens, no centerpieces, no caterer, no menus, no cake, which equals no stress. Instead, we’re paying a flat fee per guest for a delicious Hawaiian menu, drinks, and fabulous hula dancers as entertainment.
I’m in limbo with our planning right now while waiting for our RSVPs to make it back to us (that’s a hint for our family and friends!!). Since a few of our guests have called with some inquiries, I thought I would list a few of my favorite “touristy” things to do on Oahu.
1. Spend a FULL day in Waikiki. Some suggestions of what to do in Waikiki are:
Victoria’s Secret Semi-Annual Sale is going on right now (in stores until January 12th) and if you’re looking for some great threads to wear on your wedding day, now is the time to check it out! Once upon a time, I worked for Vicki’s. While every store will be stocked with different sale items, they do receive new shipments every week, so their stock of sale items might be different week to week. I stopped in at my local Vicki’s last week and was surprised to see the abundance of “bridal” undies they had! Most of these were on sale for $5.99, rather than the original price of $14-$16. I scored a pair of undies with ruffles.
Our second engagement shoot was in New York City, by J’adore Love Photography, who I found on the Weddingbee classifieds. You bees should really take advantage of all the bee resources! Efrain and Jennifer from J’adore Love Photography are sooo cute; seriously they should be in front of the camera rather than behind it! We met them in Times Square. We shot there, Bryant Park, and just outside the New York public library. It was very cold out, which made it difficult to find “cute” outfits and still keep warm. We did the best that we could do considering the weather.
A few of our favorites:
I am a photo whore.
I’ve never claimed to be much of a writer, which is why my posts are usually filled with photos and commentary rather than excellent writing. I loooove photography. Usually I am the one behind a camera rather than in front of it. But that’s not what this post is about. I am a photo whore, in the sense that I had the opportunity for not just one engagement shoot, but two. From two different photographers in two different states. Yes, I am a photo whore.
Mr. Sushi and my first shoot was with Michelle from Redheaded Ninja. Can you believe I found her on Craigslist?! We met with her at Hershey Park to do our shoot. She has an amazing amount of energy. Seeing her excited about shooting made us excited to pose for her. Here are some of our faves:
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
