Miss Martini, New Jersey
Age and Occupation: 30, Telecom by day, Superhero by night
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Investments & Finance by day, Hip hop dancer by night
Engagement Date: May 24, 2008
Wedding Date: March, 2009
Blogging Since: August 18, 2008
Venue: The Venetian
About Me: Things that make me happy: Haribo Happy Cola gummies, TV shows on DVD, buying books although I never read them, 80’s rock ballads, ramen, and of course Mr. Martini! He is the calm, logical and number crunching finance guy. I can’t even multiply double digit numbers in my head and I am so indecisive that trying to choose between light green or slightly lighter green paper stresses me out (Wedding planning is going to be soooo much fun). We both find great joy in nabbing great seats at the movie theater for a blockbuster movie on opening weekend, and we are both absolutely crazy about snowboarding. And he loves to cook, I love to eat!
If you know me, you will know that I’ve always had this strange hate relationship with shoes.
First of all, my shoe size is an annoying 5.5. Do you know what it’s like to browse through zappos.com, to see pages and pages of gorgeous shoes, then as soon as you filter to the size 5.5, watch all the shoes disappear as a single tear rolls down your cheek? That is my life story. Finding shoes in size 5.5 is an extremely frustrating task. I am also convinced that my small shoe size is the reason for my being so clumsy. Cracks in sidewalks somehow find me. Pebbles always end up in front of me. Sometimes I trip, then look back to see what the heck caused me to trip, only to find nothing there.
Second, I have NO taste in shoes. I wear the same black shoes to work everyday, whether I wear black, brown or blue pants. In the summer I wear the same beige sandals. Everyday. On casual Fridays, I wear the same black flip flops; the same ones I am wearing now as I type this.
I starting casually searching for shoes a couple of months ago. I figured I had a lot of time so it wasn’t a huge issue for me at first. But as time went on, I realized that this was harder that I thought! I couldn’t find a single pair of bridal shoes I liked.
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Miss Avocado, Seattle
Age and Occupation: 23, Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Consultant
Engagement Date: July 27, 2008
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: June 30, 2008
Venue: LDS Seattle Temple & Hotel 1000
About Me: Somehow this little farm girl found herself a genuine Pole to fall in love and eventually move away to Poland with. I am an LDS bride attempting to plan a private religious ceremony, ring ceremony, seated reception for 100, and an open house while coordinating for guests flying in from across the United States and as far away as Poland. I try to avoid fads, excess waste, and saturated fat. I strongly endorse photography, DDR, calorie counting, rss feeds, cooking, and utilizing your resources.
My mother’s veil, bought for $25 back in the ’80s.

You’ve seen these before. Don’t they look better now?
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Miss Ballet Flat, New Orleans
Age and Occupation: 24, Geographic Information Systems Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, IT Analyst
Engagement Date: March 16, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: September 25, 2008
Venue: St. Charles Borromeo Church/Jefferson-Orleans North
About Me: I absolutely love wedding planning, spending time with Mr. Ballet Flat, various crafts, watching football, baking, pop music, bargain hunting and ice cream. My idea of a great date night is dinner and clearance shopping with Mr. Ballet Flat! I currently live below sea level in the suburbs near New Orleans, where I make maps all day, everyday for my job. I'm slowly becoming more and more obsessed with anything New Orleans related for our wedding, and I can't wait for the big day!
Hi, I’m Miss Ballet Flat, and I’m a tall girl. How tall, you probably wonder? Well, let’s just say my fiance and I have another thing in common…we are both 5′11″. *Crickets chirp*
I would feel really awkward being taller than my fiance on our wedding day. So, I’ve enlisted the help of some great shoes that would suit Mr. Ballet Flat well in this situation…

Image source
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Miss Sweet Tea, San Diego/New Orleans
Age and Occupation: 26, Graduate Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web Monkey
Engagement Date: December 1, 2007
Wedding Date: December, 2008
Blogging Since: July 14, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony, museum reception
About Me: I'm an East Coaster living on the West Coast, planning a wedding in the South. I teach, study and write about pop culture, race, and sexuality for a living- now if only my dream job paid! After Mr. Sweet Tea, my other loves are scuba diving, traveling, being a semi-pretentious foodie, and fighting for social justice. I can't wait to have our best friends and family together in our favorite city to
celebrate with us!
… Er, or maybe not. Sorry, my <3 of old-school Madonna compelled me to start off the post on my after-party dress this way. He he he…
So, I still haven’t gone over my wedding dress saga with you all, but at least one dress is set—a fabulous eco-friendly dress I scored at the Barney’s Co-Op Outlet last month. The shopping mission of the day was looking for Mr. ST’s attire (which we got!) but I came upon the last two of these Phillip Lim dresses, both in my size! The retail price is way over my budget, but thanks to the dress being on clearance sale at the already-reduced outlet store, I got it for a great price!

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Miss Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than planning our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
I Do Bridal here in Vancouver (well, actually White Rock) had their amazing annual sample sale this past weekend:

As soon as I heard about it, I emailed my friend K who is getting married October 6th in Vegas. Although it was only three weeks ’til her wedding, she still hadn’t found the perfect pair of shoes to go with her amazing dress. Finding the perfect shoes is tough, yo!
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Miss Champagne, DC/Vail/Colorado
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 13, 2006
Wedding Date: February 2009
Blogging Since: July 30, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony with mountain-view log cabin reception
About Me: I'm a small town mountain girl with a city heart. Found my way to the east coast, and Mr. Champagne kept me here so we're planning a wedding from afar in my hometown Vail, Colorado. I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV, Wii games where I can shoot a gun, country music, and Caesar: Dog Whisperer. I also spend time pretending to golf, backseat driving, having one way conversations with our MinPin Maxwell, loving champagne, and wedding perfecting… I mean, planning. I use way too many repeated symbols and letters when I write, and I'll love Mr. Champagne endlessly…
I found the most comfortable shoes, AND they’re cute! After searching and scouring every department store, shoe store, and specialty shop I’ve found a pair of heels that a. don’t squeeze my toes and b. fit our color theme perfectly!
One rainy Wednesday I ventured to the local Saks where I thought I would spend a gift certificate given to me long ago. I made my way to the make-up counter and picked out a few basics. Now I normally just breeze through the shoe section to get some ideas, but this time was different… there they were… the.perfect.shoes.
I introduce you to my lovahs: Guiseppe Zanotti peep toes in what else? Champagne!

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Miss Champagne, DC/Vail/Colorado
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 13, 2006
Wedding Date: February 2009
Blogging Since: July 30, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony with mountain-view log cabin reception
About Me: I'm a small town mountain girl with a city heart. Found my way to the east coast, and Mr. Champagne kept me here so we're planning a wedding from afar in my hometown Vail, Colorado. I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV, Wii games where I can shoot a gun, country music, and Caesar: Dog Whisperer. I also spend time pretending to golf, backseat driving, having one way conversations with our MinPin Maxwell, loving champagne, and wedding perfecting… I mean, planning. I use way too many repeated symbols and letters when I write, and I'll love Mr. Champagne endlessly…
Finding the perfect wedding shoe may be the hardest part of the wedding process for me. Now, I know it’s a hard decision for many brides, but for me, it’s a decision that’s not only based on style and comfort, but based on the actual shape of my feet. I’ve got a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Charcot Marie Tooth Disease (just the names of the doctors—no teeth involved!). It has caused my feet and legs to be pretty uncomfortable at times, and a few years ago I had reconstructive surgery on all ten toes.

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Miss Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than planning our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
I’ve already found my wedding day BFFs which, with their strappy loveliness, are well suited for the Caribbean climate boogeying that I’m looking forward to at our destination wedding.
But, Mademoiselle Plath, I just had to tell you that, under different circumstances, I think you and I could have been good friends.

Plath by Natalie Portman, available at Té Casan
Oh yes… Very, very good friends.
Even after buying your wedding shoes, do you find yourself continuing the search?
Mrs. Shortcake, Vancouver
Age and Occupation: 24, Marketing Manager/Children's Lit Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Master's Student/Personal Trainer
Engagement Date: August 7, 2007
Wedding Date: October 2008
Blogging Since:
Venue: Ceremony in a historic church, tented lawn reception at a golf and country club
About Me: 1950's housewife sent to the future, reborn as crafting-obsessed, jill of all trades. I enjoy decorating, writing, baking sweet things, singing show tunes/dancing in public, wearing pearls, and knitting sweaters for my furbaby, Harvey, to chew upon. I heart pink, and believe that sparkles are the new black.
I told you I can’t make up my mind!

(image from here)
I won’t go into the gory details, but ever since I discovered my father’s copy of Panati’s Extraordinary Endings at the tender age of nine, Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen and I have had a ‘thing.’
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Miss Champagne, DC/Vail/Colorado
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 13, 2006
Wedding Date: February 2009
Blogging Since: July 30, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony with mountain-view log cabin reception
About Me: I'm a small town mountain girl with a city heart. Found my way to the east coast, and Mr. Champagne kept me here so we're planning a wedding from afar in my hometown Vail, Colorado. I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV, Wii games where I can shoot a gun, country music, and Caesar: Dog Whisperer. I also spend time pretending to golf, backseat driving, having one way conversations with our MinPin Maxwell, loving champagne, and wedding perfecting… I mean, planning. I use way too many repeated symbols and letters when I write, and I'll love Mr. Champagne endlessly…
When it comes to shopping, I have a tough time resisting a good buy. As most brides know, anything wedding related usually means the typical price tag doubles. One exception? Shoes. These days it seems that the typical white heel is not the first choice for many brides, and everyday shoes can become wedding day shoes! Many brides are opting for a pop of color and their shoe selection often correlates with the wedding’s decor. Because my dress is a champagne color, it seemed fitting my shoe could be gold (more on this later). AND, because my dress happened to be half the price of what I thought it would be, I figured I could use the extra budget on accessories. But then when I started doing some research, I found that although the designer collections were beautiful, I could purchase something very similar for 1/5 the price. Hmm..
Exhibit A: Manolo Blahnik Rhinestone buckle D’orsay, $675

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