Weddingbee Blog

I swoon for Manolos, even though I’m a die hard, never-spend-more-than-100-bucks shoe buyer.

During my winter days of wedding planning, and wondering what shoes I should buy, it was all too easy to drive the five minutes over to Fashion Island, and play dress up in the Neiman Marcus shoe salon.

So, after figuring out my correct size in the store, and deciding I much preferred a closed-toe shoe (merely because they’re more comfy to me), I began to scour eBay for some Manolos. Of course, keeping in mind authenticity is not guaranteed on eBay, I mainly looked for shoes with plenty of pictures, an authentic box and dust bag, and with store receipts.

Not long after I launched my search, the perfect pair popped up. After a few convos with the seller, she assured me I would *not* be happy with these shoes, as they were in worn condition with a few stains. But they looked good to me in the pictures, and at under $100, they were the perfect price.

I was certain I wouldn’t win them, but by some small miracle, my bid, at $104, won! Yippee!
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Last summer, my best-friend-since-third-grade and MOH Morgan was over visiting at my parents’ house. We’d spent the day at grandma’s, going over table layout ideas for the wedding.

I wanted to show her a cute vintage beaded clutch my grandma had given me when I was a teenager. I pulled it out of my old desk drawer. I nearly didn’t undo the clasp to show the inside, but just as I was putting it away, I did, and was surprised when a pair of deep blue antique earrings slid out.

These were my beloved earrings, also from grandma, that she had gifted me years ago, but I’d thought they were lost! I hadn’t seen them for at least six years, and in fact had searched high and low for them all around the house. Who knew they were tucked away safely in the old beaded clutch that entire time?

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Mr. Paisley and I met, fell in love and lived together in 2007. We met during my senior year of college, where he was a lecturer in Spanish (ooo, illicit student-teacher affair! Haha, not quite––I wasn’t in his class).

Our old college gang. From L to R: Miss P., Kim, Mr. P, Bridesmaid Jackie and Pierre

But after graduation, I pursued a job that took me 500 miles away from him. Our love was strong, and we endured an entire year of long distance, both taking turns flying or driving to see each other every month. Finally, after we’d saved our pennies, we were able to reunite in SoCal together.

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Hey Southern Cali hive members! As I’m sure you’ve noticed, it’s raining outside. Well, rain is in the forecast for today as well!

This puts a kink in our outdoor dining plans in Del Mar… Boo, hiss! So, we’ve moved this meet up yet again. We’ll still be meeting at noon, but we’ve moved the venue to Karl Strauss in Carlsbad. We tried to make it as close as possible to Del Mar, while still making it convenient for those traveling from LA and OC. Plus, they have TONS of FREE parking.

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To recap…

Who: So Cal Hive Members
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Hive Hostess LatteLove and I have been Tweeting about turning the canceled San Diego meet up into an SD & OC bee meet up! This time the OC (or at least I) will come to San Diego!

The new meet up will be on Saturday, February 6th at the Pacifica Del Mar’s Breeze Cafe.

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Hey all!

Hostess LatteLove wanted to let you all know that the San Diego/OC meet up that was scheduled for tonight is CANCELED. Unfortunately, 4 out of the 6 that RSVPed ended up not being able to make it!

Please spread the word if you know of anyone that was planning on attending! Hopefully you all can get together again soon!

Where: Wine Steals in Cardiff/Solana Beach

When: Thursday, January 21st, at 6:30PM

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Happy hour goes until 7PM, so make sure to get in before then to get a $4 glass of wine!

If you can, wear red so we can find each other (while showing support for Haiti).  You can find more information on the board thread here! RSVP to this post if you can make it!

We’ll see you on Thursday!

As you may have read, Red Robin had a swarm of Bees last week. Yes, swarm, there were 14 of us! Can you believe it? On a Tuesday?

There were burgers, french fries, lemonades and I think I even saw a milkshake! Our waitress was SO excited to be serving a table of brides… she brought us 2 complimentary mudslides at the end of the meal. Forget my wedding dress, I dug right in!

How beautiful are Weddingbee brides!?!?!

Top Row: Lauren, Laura (Soon2beMrsLewis), Sarah, Laura (melodicsighs1), Sarah (naangel55), Janine (futureshoolz), Courtney (CourtneyCrocker), Laura (Charm Bracelet)

(You’d think we made all the Lauras and Sarahs stand together).

Middle Row: Michelle (Miss Duckling), Jamie (PrettyKitty), Allison/me (Miss Frenchie), Megan (Miss Sprinkle), Mary (ContraryMary)

Front Row: Stephanie (poli2b)
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Hi OC Bees!

Miss Duckling and I (Miss Frenchie) and getting really excited for our Bee Meet-up tonight!

If you haven’t already, RSVP on our Evite, so I can give Red Robin a heads-up on our head count.
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Miss Duckling and I are trying to organize another Orange County bee meet-up before we’re knee deep in last minute wedding madness.

Check out the Orange County board thread here, for more information.

We hope you can make it!

While wedding planning and all the fun details that go along with it are so fun and exciting, we can’t forget about what brought us to this point: a relationship. Whether you are nearly engaged, engaged or married, it’s probably a safe assumption that your relationship has had ups and downs. From the first date and every day after there is so much learning, growth and emotion that occurs.

I’m training (and about to graduate) for my degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and have been working as a counselor with teenagers for the last year. Obviously my training and learning has had a lot to do with relationships. I wanted to jump on my therapist soap box and share a little bit more about my and Mr. Ducky’s relationship and a book that helped us to grow.

During the first year of our relationship, I read Dr. Gary Chapman’s book, “The Five Love Languages for Singles.” I had heard a lot about the book and finally decided to read it. It made so much sense and not only helped me with other friendships in my life, but my developing relationship with Mr. Ducky. After reading it, I also had Mr. Ducky read the book (he skimmed and listened to my explanation).

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…Courtney from Joyful Weddings & Events is our month-of-coordinator!!

When I was looking for a day of coordinator, I did lots of research to find vendors in my area. I emailed a lot of different people and met a few and talked with people I liked, but no one that I was really excited about; or they were so far out of my budget there was no chance. (If you are an OC/SD person and want to hear more details about those vendors, shoot me a message and I’d be happy to go into more detail)

Then I got an email from Courtney and she invited me to meet her at a bridal show she was doing in San Diego. I met her really briefly there and unfortunately couldn’t stay long, but based on her and her awesome booth I decided I wanted to meet with her again.

A great thing about Courtney is that she does weddings in both Orange County and San Diego, so I was able to meet her for coffee in Orange County after class one night. As we chatted back and forth at the local Starbucks, she seemed to just understand me and get what we wanted for the wedding. I loved hearing about her life, family and wonderful business. Our time flew by and at the end of it I felt like I had just found a new friend and most importantly someone I wanted on the team!
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UPDATE: Cat accidentally sent me unedited photos, so here are the edited photos below!

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I flew in on the redeye from Los Angeles this morning!  It’s freezing here in New York!  But I’m glad to be back because I have so much to blog about!

While I was in LA I was supposed to have some headshots taken with Weddingbee PRO Amelia Lyon, but I ended up canceling the shoot (next time Amelia!).  Since I’d already booked Joyce Luck to do my hair and makeup, and she lives 5 minutes from my parents’ place, I got my hair and makeup done for the LA Bee Meetup.  I lucked out that the talented Cat from Next Exit Photography came to the meetup and took pictures!  Prepare for Mrs. Bee overload…

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You saw my pics, and the pro highlight pics, and now here is the final installment from my cousin Jessica’s wedding!  Please credit all photography to the fabulously talented John and Joseph Photography.

(click any image to enlarge)

You guys loved her Cayla dress by Enzoani, so I’ve tried to include tons of pictures of it!

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You saw the amateur pictures I took at my cousin Jessica’s wedding.  Now check out these stunning pictures from the amazing John + Joseph Photography.  You really have to click on the images and enlarge them!

This dress is the Cayla by Enzoani.  My cousin requested two different straps for the dress: one made of chiffon silk, the same fabric as the dress, for the ceremony, and a beaded halter style for the reception.

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