Mrs. Ostrich, San Francisco/Hawaii
Age and Occupation: 30, Fashion Buyer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 38, Copywriter
Engagement Date: October 4, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2011
Venue: Sweet ceremony by the sea and sunset celebration on the North Shore of Hawaii
About Me: Born in the city of angels and residing in the city by the bay, I’m a fearless fashion buyer by day, a passionate blog author by night and a dreamy bride-to-be in between. I thank my lucky stars to live in such a stunning city that gives me gifts like organic honey lavender ice cream, movie nights in the park, tucked away beaches, legendary record stores, '80s dance parties, awesome sports teams, stellar flea markets, and vintage bookshops. Oh, and I love to dance! We always find every excuse to escape to the beach, and decided a little seaside wedding in Hawaii is our idea of bliss. Full of our favorite people, music, food and sparkly lights, this is one sunset celebration we will always remember.
“My friends and I are crazy. That’s the only thing that keeps us sane.” - Matt Schucker
{image credit: squid bits via sarahdobbs}
Heyyy, everybody! Your Prodigal Ostrich has returned to the hive…with a handful of pre-caps to share before we begin this wild Bee Recap Party.
Today’s story is—maybe you’ve heard this one?—The Tale of a Crazy Destination Bride and her Craaazy Photo Checklist…Inspiration Boards…and More.
Oh yeah, that’s me. Wait for it.
Read more…
Miss Hawk, Richmond, VA
Age and Occupation: 26, Finance
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, District Supervisor
Engagement Date: March 13, 2011
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: The Chapel of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, 2007 Legacy Hall
About Me: I’m an Arizona-born girl who has spent the majority of my life living below the Mason-Dixon line. The South has definitely earned a special place in my heart (alongside my Virginia born and bred fiance, of course!). We are planning a traditional Christian ceremony at my alma mater in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, followed by a rocking reception filled with Southern cooking and vintage/shabby chic details. When we’re not wedding planning, we enjoy spending time with our three dogs, going for runs together, watching plenty of football (or baseball depending on the season), and sampling new wine.
I consider myself to be fairly in-the-know when it comes to computers. (Give me an Excel spreadsheet, and I will blow your mind!) But when it came to designing our website, I was a little clueless.
Not really considering any other options, I initially set up one through the Knot; however, once I saw a few examples of what could be done by designing your own through Mac’s program iWeb, I was no longer content with the minimal template options offered at the Knot.
Read more…
Mrs. Penguin, Northern California
Age and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in Chief
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Engagement Date: January 29, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 14, 2007
Venue: Winery in the Gold Country
About Me: I love the Spice Girls, dogs with underbites, bean burritos, making messes, high fives, avoiding showers, crossword puzzles, blogs, weddings, and blogs about weddings!
Our friends at Ritzy Bee have been working this past year to bring you a wedding planning book, and at long last, it’s finally going to print! Starting January 3rd, Southern Living Wedding Planner and Keepsake: What To Do Before Saying “I Do” hits the shelves, and we couldn’t be more excited.
Because this planner was written by bloggers Maria and Kelly of Ritzy Bee, you can be sure that its pages are filled with current, inspiring and helpful tips to plan your entire wedding with the savvy bride in mind. And there’s a little shout out to Weddingbee in its pages. We’re blushing!
It’s available for pre-order now, but you can score one of several free copies and check out a preview of what’s inside over at the Ritzy Bee blog today…check it out!
Congratulations Maria and Kelly! The hive here at Weddingbee is so proud of you!
Miss Doe, Northern California
Age and Occupation: 24, Real Estate Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling Manager
Engagement Date: December 25, 2010
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: Monte Verde Inn
About Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
November 11th, 2011 @ 11:14 am by Miss Doe
I am not a military bride, but I am a proud American. I do support our troops. And like many others I want to help, but don’t always know how. In honor of Veterans day today, I bring to you an incredible cause for military brides.
Yesterday I listed my veil for sale under the classifieds section. I started thinking that maybe I would donate it instead. But where?
I was wondering if there was some type of organization dedicated to brides in the military or brides who are marrying a military man, and I came across a website called Brides Across America .
Brides Across America is an organization that recognizes the need for our country to do more to support our troops and their loved ones. Many bridal salons across America have been donating dresses to this foundation. Brides Across America also accepts donations of used dresses, veils, and accessories.
{Image via Brides Across America}
Read more…
Featured on Weddingbee
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Featured Product: Laura Ashley Delicate Damask Invitation
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MD
Age and Occupation: 26, Massage Therapist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support Engineer
Engagement Date: April 18, 2010
Wedding Date: June 2012
Venue: Vandiver Inn
About Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
November 2nd, 2011 @ 7:57 am by Miss Fox
When Foxy and I were still living in our little apartment, we had Comcast for cable and internet for the first year or so. For those of you who know about Comcast, I should be hearing one big, collective sigh from you all.
::le sigh:: / Image via Geek Word
OK then. Now for those of you who don’t know Comcast? They suck monkey balls, in both the cost and customer-service departments. See, when our one-year “promo” price of $99 per month for internet and cable expired, it was supposed to jump aaaaall the way up to about $160 per month for the two. Dumb.
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Miss Dalmatian, Nashville, TN
Age and Occupation: 23, Pediatric Nurse
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Computer Engineer and Entrepreneur
Engagement Date: April 13, 2011
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: Historic Cedarwood
About Me: I am a Northern girl from Chicago who is planning a wedding filled with Southern charm in Nashville, Tennessee. I love dogs, the White Sox, Full House reruns, and anything with ruffles on it. Mr. Dalmatian is my computer-genius problem-solving fiance who is constantly teaching me new things and making me a better person. We live with our adopted pup Echo, who is very excited that his parents are getting married!
I have explained how important it was to me to get pricing information from photographers. But pricing wasn’t the only thing I needed to know before signing a contract. In order to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything critical, I looked up some sample questions online. My mind has a tendency to go blank when I am excited, and I didn’t want to book someone just because they were friendly. Don’t get me wrong, I want our photographer to be friendly, but there are some other things I am hoping for as well.
I found many lists of recommended questions, including these from Real Simple, iVillage, and About.com. From these, I did some cutting and pasting, eliminating questions not necessarily because they weren’t important but because I knew they were not relevant for me (let’s be honest, I will read your weddingwire.com reviews, but I am not going to be calling former brides—have I mentioned my phobia of talking to strangers on the phone?). I also eliminated questions that I could determine the answers to by exploring their website.
After this editing, these questions remained top priority for me:
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Miss Aardvark, Beaver Dam, WI
Age and Occupation: 23, Assistant Product Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Business Analyst
Engagement Date: May 28th, 2011
Wedding Date: April 2012
Venue: St. Philip Catholic Church/Arcadia Brewing Co.
About Me: I am a resourceful lady who love surprises and adventure. At the same time, I value traditions, family and friends. I like to make crafty messes, sometimes, clean them up, and do pretty much anything outdoors. The Mister and I are pretty avid cyclists---we have nine bikes in our home right now...and one motorcycle! We both enjoy eating food we can't pronounce (language doesn't really matter) and going places we've never been. We currently reside in rural Wisconsin, enjoying the cheese and beer it has to offer, and getting outside whenever we can!
For some reason, saying (OK, typing) those words makes me feel all nostalgic for dial up…but then I remember that horrific noise and the warm fuzzy feelings are gone. However, this post is not about the history of the internet; it’s just about my, well, Mr. Aardvark’s and my little corner of the web.
It seemed to me that having a wedding website was an important but not very interesting thing, so as I mentioned before, I put this task in Mr. A’s more than capable hands. He is an IT type by profession, so I thought this would be no big deal. Let me tell you, he did LOTS of research on the various free and “free” wedding websites available and finally landed on Project Wedding.
I have to say, he did a fantastic job! I am not sure how much of it was custom work and how much was pre-set templates, but it looks really nice (if I do say so myself).
Read more…
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MD
Age and Occupation: 26, Massage Therapist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support Engineer
Engagement Date: April 18, 2010
Wedding Date: June 2012
Venue: Vandiver Inn
About Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
October 5th, 2011 @ 12:46 pm by Miss Fox
Do you see what I’m talking about?
The wedding industry knows what I want. I want lots and lots of wedding porn in magazine form, even though I don’t need it.
Read more…
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MD
Age and Occupation: 26, Massage Therapist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support Engineer
Engagement Date: April 18, 2010
Wedding Date: June 2012
Venue: Vandiver Inn
About Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
September 26th, 2011 @ 7:20 am by Miss Fox
Which has led me to become obsessed with MindMeister.
When I first started following Weddingbee, I was stoked to find Mrs. Pencils, a fellow Maryland bride. I decided to go through most of her old posts to get ideas and information about weddings in the DC/MD area since quite frankly, I was still pretty clueless about a lot of things despite living in the area for over two years. During this process, I found a post where she mentioned MindMeister (you can read it here), an incredible map-it-out, list-type website. To which I now have everything related to the wedding mapped out on:
It is amazing because I tend to lose track of what we already decided on and what ideas I have and don’t have; in a word, it’s fantastic for scatterbrains like myself. The best part, though?
Read more…
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MD
Age and Occupation: 26, Massage Therapist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support Engineer
Engagement Date: April 18, 2010
Wedding Date: June 2012
Venue: Vandiver Inn
About Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
September 23rd, 2011 @ 1:13 pm by Miss Fox
My current obsession is not so much wedding planning (that’s a lie—yes it is) but creating and re-creating my wedding-planning binder. I am an organization freak, often too much so, with so many things filed in so many places that I confuse myself. I initially went to Barnes and Noble and bought myself a nice little wedding binder that claimed to come with everything I needed, was a pretty color, and seemed like a good fit.
Image via Abrams Books
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Miss Kettle, Chicago, IL
Age and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & Teacher
Engagement Date: May 29, 2011
Wedding Date: February 2012
Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, IL
About Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
Most weddings happen in the summer months. June is the most popular month for weddings. People fight over getting the perfect wedding day.
We have avoided this issue by choosing to get married in February. Mr. Kettle and I have been very happy with our selection of wedding date. But there is one possible hitch to our happy wedding: winter Illinois weather.
There was a terrible storm this past winter. In Chicago, a little snow doesn’t bother us. But when this storm was on its way, people went to the grocery store and then went home. They didn’t come back out for at least a couple days. There were no cops or buses on the street; who would drive a vehicle through a few feet of snow? There was no one out except Walgreens employees.
I didn’t think too much about that happening to our wedding. I figured that through sheer will, the weather would be nothing but a bit of sunshine and light snow. I’d stand there in my pretty dress with the matching veil and perhaps a lovely fur coat taking in a few snow flakes and hopefully some wintry sunshine. Kind of like this:
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Miss Kettle, Chicago, IL
Age and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & Teacher
Engagement Date: May 29, 2011
Wedding Date: February 2012
Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, IL
About Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
My best man, BM Doc, has an older brother who was engaged while we were in college. His wedding party was spread out geographically. The best way for him to keep everyone in the loop was to let them know in a very classic way: a newsletter.
I loved this idea then, and I love it still now. While we have five people in our wedding party from out of town, that’s actually only a small fraction of our hugely large wedding party. But keeping everyone on the same page has been…a task.
In order to better serve the needs of our my sanity, I came up with a great newsletter. This isn’t just for the bridesmaids, though. It will go to the bridesmaids, the junior bridesmaids and bridal attendants, the groomsmen, the parents of the flowers girls and ring bearers, and also to the ushers and hostesses. That’s a lot o’ mail to send out. But it will be worth it to keep anything from falling through the cracks.
I’m not sure how often I’ll have to do these newsletters, but this one was right before the six-months-to-wedding mark, so there’s no way to tell. In this newsletter, I covered: an introduction of who all was in the wedding party (in case anyone didn’t know yet); a reminder of our engagement party in two weeks; information about our changed venue; clothing FAQs, as we’re coming up on the date to order these items; other cutesy things.
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Mrs. Ostrich, San Francisco/Hawaii
Age and Occupation: 30, Fashion Buyer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 38, Copywriter
Engagement Date: October 4, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2011
Venue: Sweet ceremony by the sea and sunset celebration on the North Shore of Hawaii
About Me: Born in the city of angels and residing in the city by the bay, I’m a fearless fashion buyer by day, a passionate blog author by night and a dreamy bride-to-be in between. I thank my lucky stars to live in such a stunning city that gives me gifts like organic honey lavender ice cream, movie nights in the park, tucked away beaches, legendary record stores, '80s dance parties, awesome sports teams, stellar flea markets, and vintage bookshops. Oh, and I love to dance! We always find every excuse to escape to the beach, and decided a little seaside wedding in Hawaii is our idea of bliss. Full of our favorite people, music, food and sparkly lights, this is one sunset celebration we will always remember.
Dreaming of a destination wedding?
After 12 months of long distance planning, my idea of the process was very different from the actual experience, both good and not-so-good. And looking back, I wished someone gave me a little survival guide before my planning adventure began. And now that all is said and done, I created a little survival guide of my own, with my story and the tips and tricks that I hope will be enlightening and reassuring for all awesome DW brides out there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Act I - 14-12 Months Before
Act II - 12-8 Months Before - Pictures worth 1,000 words, begin a long distance relationship with your awesome vendors and save those dates!
12-10 months before:
All the Pretty Pictures:
In the land of virtual wedding planning, the inspiration board and color palette for destination wedding brides are the keys to the proverbial promise land. The more specific you are in the images (I want wood benches and globe lights that look like this) and color choices (fabric swatches or Pantone chips, please 
), the easier it’ll be for your vendors and wedding planner to make your vision come to life. So I collaged my little heart out. Remember some of ours?
(sources: Our Labor of Love, Martha Stewart Weddings, Etsy, Max Wanger, Max Wanger, Flickr, Joel Carlson via redbubble, details details via snippet & ink Martha Stewart, Our Labor of Love, Century Novelty via Amazon )
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Miss Kettle, Chicago, IL
Age and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & Teacher
Engagement Date: May 29, 2011
Wedding Date: February 2012
Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, IL
About Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
I’m not exactly a type-A personality, but being organized is super important to me. Marrying a man like Mr. Kettle makes that all the more important. We each have things we forget, and of course they’re different types of forgetting. That type of behavior doesn’t gel with effective wedding planning.
Seeing as how we didn’t want to pay money for a wedding planner, just a day of coordinator, it was imperative that I stay very organized while putting together the details of our wedding.
I managed to get some big decisions handled up front. At least they seemed big at the time. Then five minutes later, I would think about everything else left to do and that one item checked off would seem like nothing. I feel this way every time.
Enter a two-fold solution: A wedding binder and a wedding website. I have both and so far I’m super glad I do. Some things I have recorded in both. Others I use just one or the other.
As I mentioned before, I got a binder from Russell and Hazel.
This Russel + Hazel wedding planner became my best friend. From Office Depot I got a calendar, page protectors, highlighters, colored gel pens, and a briefcase. The briefcase has a dual purpose. This wedding binder will have to be carried with me everywhere I go from now until February 11th, so I wanted something to carry it in that wasn’t my purse. ‘Cause that sucker is huge!
Personal photo: This is the super cute bag I got for my binder.
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Mrs. Teaspoon, Sydney, Australia
Age and Occupation: 27, Medical Scientist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Banker
Engagement Date: June 4, 2010
Wedding Date: September 2011
Venue: St Aloysius' College, Milson's Point
About Me: I am a mad scientist who enjoys swimming at the beach in summer and skiing powder in winter. Our favourite times together are spent with the sand between our toes, cooking up a storm, re-watching and re-reading every Harry Potter ever made, and spending time with our dear friends and family! We have travelled the world together in our 6 years of dating, from Paris, to Thailand, to Las Vegas, and we are tackling the many challenges of planning our special day the best way we know how---together!
This is where I tell you all about how ridiculously anal I am! Shame, shame…I am way way too organised sometimes. Not to worry, it is becoming a great strength to have when it comes to wedding planning!
From the day after we got engaged, I started putting Post-It notes on the wall above my study desk every time I thought of something that we needed to do for the wedding. I like to call it the great Post-It note wall! It is still there in all its glory! However, now there are a lot more things on the “done” side of the wall rather than in the month-by-month organisation area.
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All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
