Weddingbee

I printed my guests’ names on cardstock, their table assignment, and a little design that matches the rest of our wedding scheme.

Then, cut them out, and also cut slightly larger pieces of coordinating cardstock.

Adhere using your adhesive of choice. I used Xyron.

I purchased some wire hoop jewelery ($2.50 for a pack of 60) at a craft store, along with some beads that match our color scheme ($3.00 for 100 beads). The reason I chose jewelry hoops over ribbon, while it’s less pretty, it’s easier to slip on (versus tie) on the day of the wedding for whoever has to set it up.

Poke a little hole in the cardstock using the sharp end of an X-acto knife, and thread bead-card-bead….and that’s it!

The cost associated with this project is negligible. I guess maybe less than $15 (if that) for 120 escort cards.

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I’m thrilled that Sarah took a lot of shots where we weren’t exactly the “main focus” of the picture, because I see myself putting these types of pictures in our home moreso than the pictures of us in center frame, smiling. It’s fun to consider what kind of pictures you have decorating your home when thinking about Engagement picture locales…these architectural shots will fit in just nicely with our loft decor, should we ever decide to display a few in our house!

So, now that you’ve got 8.2 billion new cute pictures of you and your Fiance, what are you going to do with them? Any creative ideas?
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The cards send our guests to our wedding website, which contains all the info needed to log onto Flickr and upload pictures. (click to view full screen)

Then, to make sure the guests took the cards home, I slipped them into our coaster favors.

..and now we sit back and wait for the photos to roll in!
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The thing that was most conflicting though, was the fact that in person, I looked like I had RIDICULOUS amounts of makeup on, while in pictures, the makeup looked great. Before snapping pics of myself, Lisa held up the mirror for me, and I quickly thought it was too much makeup, and had her wipe a lot of it off. Then I snapped a picture of myself, and realized that I hardly looked like I had any makeup on at all. She only did half my face with eyes/cheeks/lipgloss, to make sure she was heading in the right direction…

I mean, this is practically what I look like every day. It looks GREAT in person, but just kind of…blah in pictures. I remember thinking back to my Engagement Picture makeup and thinking how HEAVY it was, but in the pictures, it turned out nice. So I told her to go heavier on everything and here’s how it turned out (inside/outside):

Great for pics. Problem being, I look like a crazy hooker in person. Like, scary. So I’m conflicted. Should I wear makeup for the pictures, or wear makeup for how I look in person? I’m sure striking some sort of balance would be just fine, but in the end, pictures are all that you’ll have left of your wedding. And I want to look my best for the ages!

Were you surprised by the amount of makeup it took to get you to look pretty in pictures? Or am I the only one with this problem? In the end, did you decide to go heavy on the makeup for pictures, or more natural?

Makeup by:
Lisa Deniz
Bobbi Brown Business Manager
Travels within the greater Sacramento Area (Contact for travel rates outside of the area)
336.848.0357
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This last picture was almost the last picture Travis ever took! EVER! He was shooting us telephoto from across the street and almost got hit by this Muni Bus. He happened to snap the picture right as the front glass door of the bus passed him by. Oh, the lengths photogs go to to get a great shot….

All photos by Travis Hoehne Photography.
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Cocktail Hour/Dinner Songs:

Reception - Uptempo:

Reception - Midtempo:

Reception - Slow:

Top 40 Brides, Unite.
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Rather than put it in our luggage on the plane, I wore it, because clearly, this was the safest way to transport it home.

…then I didn’t take it off for two days. I grew attached to it. I loved that I looked all married and stuff. I went to the drug store this morning to pick up my…um…Lady Meds, and while swiping my credit card for the nice pharmacist, I waved my engagement/wedding ring combo around REALLY flashy-like, as if to say “Yeah, thats right sir, it’s called FAMILY PLANNING now. Don’t mistake me for some kind of promiscuous hussy. I’m MARRIED.”

It felt good. And I didn’t feel promiscuous, nor like a hussy, at all.

Then I had to take a shower so I took it off and tucked it away in its box, not to be taken out again until the wedding. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

..and yes. If you were paying attention, it had been 2 days since Miss Penguin took a shower. That’s how I roll. Stinky style.

Did you take your wedding ring for a test drive before you got married?
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So I was adamant going into my alterations that my bustle had to be as subtle as possible. I asked to see an over-bustle, which Mrs. Lemon and my friend Michelle quickly DENIED:

Then we tried an under-bustle, which everyone liked better, but I still wasn’t sold on. It was a little fluffy for my taste:

So I went in for my first alterations and asked the tailor if she could make the bustle “the least poofy” she could. So she came up with this:

I love it! The most unbustly bustle we could get. It’s got 7 points, which shouldn’t be too difficult for my mom to figure out (I’ll bring her to my next fitting so that she can learn how to do it).How Bustly is your Bustle? Are you a bustle bride or an un-bustle bride?

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Last week, the NYTimes published an article on this very topic: brides who have found true, wonderful friends in their “knotties.” As is the case with a lot of modern brides, my bridesmaids are spread out all over the country: Los Angeles, my hometown near Sacramento, Pennsylvania, Utah and Kansas. None of them are here to help me with my wedding. But honestly, I’m not sure how much I would talk about it with them anyway–after all, I don’t want to bore the crap out of them with mundane details (”OMG does it matter if one of the tuxes has pockets and the others don’t?!”). In my friends from the knot, I have found people who truly care about me, and whom I care about in return. They have become some of my best friends as of late and I really feel blessed to have met them.

Every once in awhile, one of my friends from the knot would come into Paper Source (we are planning weddings, after all!). My co-workers would crinkle their noses at me and ask, “is that one of your bride friends?!” I would get a little shy and admit that yes, in fact, I did meet these girls on the internet.

The article in the Times made me feel a lot more normal. And you know what? I am officially done being embarassed. These girls are awesome. These girls believed in me and helped me get my business started. They laugh with me when ridiculous things happen and sympathize with me when I am stressed out. These girls truly want to throw me a bridal shower because none of my bridesmaids are in town. They are, in a word, awesome.

So, my weddingbee ladies: I know I am not alone out there! Who else loves their “bride friends”?!

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I made some personal stationery cards for the girls at my MN shower, and I decided it was time to REALLY figure out how to use a bonefolder. Here’s the step-by-step!

1. Place a ruler along the line where you’d like your paper to be folded. With steady pressure, use the pointed end of the bonefolder to create a score mark. Press firmly, but not TOO hard, as pressing too hard will just cause your paper to rip in half when you fold it.

2. Remove the ruler, and now your paper is perfectly scored!

2. Fold the paper over, and feel free to use the flat side of the bonefolder to help give a perfect fold.

That’s it! So simple, yet I could never figure it out.

Happy Folding!

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