Mrs. Lemon, Los Angeles/Monterey
Age and Occupation in 06: 26, Graduate Student (Public Policy)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Environmental Consultant
Engagement Date: April 7, 2006
Wedding Date: July 7, 2007
Venue: Rosary Chapel & Monterey Marriott, Monterey, CA
About Me: My FI and I met online, but we like to tell people that we met at a "cookie shop" which is the technical location of our first encounter. He proposed exactly 1 year, 1 month and 6 days after our first date (it's the only part of his proposal speech that I remember), and we're planning long-distance from Los Angeles for a July wedding in my hometown of Monterey, CA. I have a passion for all things "cool, cute and quirky" and I enjoy video games, reading blogs (WeddingBee, trashy celeb, consumer & political) and crafting in my spare time, if I have any!
Last year, when we were preparing our Out of Town bags for guests, we knew that water bottles would be an essential ingredient to include. Yet, since it’s me, there was no way the water was getting into people’s hands without some sort of fun intervention!

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Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy Consultant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident Physician
Engagement Date: December 29, 2006
Wedding Date: May, 2008
Blogging Since: August, 2007
Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LA
About Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.

Edit: Thanks for the enthusiastic response! As promised, here is a sample of our wedding weekend packet, tailored just for the hive!
Daffodil’s Wedding Weekend Packet Template
I wanted to add that after my original post, several people who had helped out with our wedding called me to let me know that, indeed, the packet had been extremely helpful and was really key to our uber smooth wedding day…which made me super happy to hear of course! And above is a pic to prove it!
So hopefully, this (or something similar) will come in handy on your wedding day too!
Thanks for your patience as I made all the edits. Happy planning!
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Mrs. Peony, New York
Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer
Engagement Date: June 28, 2007
Wedding Date: April 18, 2008
Venue: The Fountainhead
Blogging Since: August 7, 2007
About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
Hi, I’m Mrs. Peony and I am a Google Addict.
Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Notebook, and Google Calendar are integral parts of my digital life. I have an unhealthy obsession with Google Reader and I have it open at all times. Gmail is my email service of choice.
I Google everything and anything…I’ve gotten so good at it, in fact, that people are usually amazed by the speed and efficiency at which I can find obscure information off the web.
(It also doesn’t hurt that Mr. Peony works for Google.
And yes, their cafeteria is fantabulous.)
Today, Google released a large collection of templates for Google Docs. When I saw that “wedding planners” was the first template mentioned in the blog post announcing this new feature, I knew I had to share it with Weddingbee readers.
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Ms. Dahlia, Detroit/Cleveland
Age and Occupation: 24, PhD Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, IT System Administrator
Engagement Date: December 31, 2006
Wedding Date: May 2008
Blogging Since: September 19, 2007
Venue: United Methodist Cathedral & historic downtown hotel in Cleveland
About Me: I enjoy cooking, dancing and swimming. I am a geek and apply game theory to my everyday life. Winter is my favorite time of year, especially when spent curled up with good coffee and a book by Madeleine L'Engle.
I need to share with you one of the most amazing organizational tools. Seriously. Shared by some of the awesome women over at Indiebride, it is by far the most comprehensive wedding planning spreadsheet I have seen, complete with formulas to help you calculate total costs and the number of people each person (bride, groom, parents) is inviting.Here are just some of the features:

Budget- it sure helps to keep track of the costs (and when more payments are due) in one spot.
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Mrs. Bubblegum, Exeter, NH
Age and Occupation: 24, Actuarial Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Ressearch & Development
Engagement Date: February 9, 2007
Wedding Date: May 2008
Blogging Since: November 2, 2007
Venue: Dunegrass Golf Club
About Me: I can be summed up by the four things I love most: kitties, cheese, math, and Mr. Bubblegum. I am knee-deep in DIY projects to keep wedding costs low but quality high for the special day when I get to marry my bestest friend.
When we first started the venue search, I came down with a severe case of sticker shock. Medics were flown in, tests were run, surgeries were scheduled, and eventually, I recovered enough to make a sensible plan.
Step 1: Email
I created a blast email to send to the venues I was scouting. It was verrrrry long, but to summarize, I asked:
-Available dates for May 2008?
-Room capacity… minimums, maximums?
-On-site catering? If so, is it on-site exclusively?
-Suggested menu with prices?
-Bar service and options? Can we provide our own alcohol?
-Fees for the use of the hall and what does that include?
-What linens are included, and are chair covers available? Can we rent linens elsewhere?
-Any decoration restrictions?
-Ceremonies offered on-site? And what’s the fee?
-Time frame for an evening wedding? How much set-up time can we have?
-Any other costs not already addressed?
Step 2: Excel
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Mrs. Lemon, Los Angeles/Monterey
Age and Occupation in 06: 26, Graduate Student (Public Policy)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Environmental Consultant
Engagement Date: April 7, 2006
Wedding Date: July 7, 2007
Venue: Rosary Chapel & Monterey Marriott, Monterey, CA
About Me: My FI and I met online, but we like to tell people that we met at a "cookie shop" which is the technical location of our first encounter. He proposed exactly 1 year, 1 month and 6 days after our first date (it's the only part of his proposal speech that I remember), and we're planning long-distance from Los Angeles for a July wedding in my hometown of Monterey, CA. I have a passion for all things "cool, cute and quirky" and I enjoy video games, reading blogs (WeddingBee, trashy celeb, consumer & political) and crafting in my spare time, if I have any!
Part I: How to create a mood/inspiration board: The superEASY way
Now you’ve seen the super easy way, but if that doesn’t fit your needs and you’d like to be a bit more creative, then here’s a little tutorial with some tips and tricks to help you create your mood/inspiration board in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (And if you don’t have Photoshop, download GimpShop! for free).
Before you start, take a pencil to paper and plan out what you’d like your collage to look like. Photoshop and other illustration tools are only helpful when you already know what you want them to do… and they can become mighty frustrating when you’re trying to imagine with your mouse. Have some examples on hand and or sketch out your ideas and get ready to replicate them!
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Mrs. Corn, Newport, RI
Age and Occupation in '07: 31, HR for public accounting firm
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Consultant for public accounting firm
Engagement Date: October 7, 2006
Wedding Date: September, 2007
Blogging Since: June 1, 2007
Venue: North Lawn of Fort Adams State Park
About Me: I am a lazy scrapbooker who loves the instant gratification of making cards and I am very easily distracted by all things shiny. In honor of my childhood nights spent hibachi BBQing on the beach with my family, we are hosting a traditional New England Clambake for our reception.

Wow…I had no. idea. so many of you would want the template to the programs I made. Of course, that should make sense, considering how long I fruitlessly searched for something to help me.
Fortunately, my sister, who is a minister (and who is conducting our ceremony) sent me the order of the service, so I was able to go from that. Then I may-or-may-not have stolen bits and pieces off of random sites along the way (hey, at least I admit it).
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