Mrs. Sword, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 28, Nanny/ActressFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Software EngineerEngagement Date: February 19, 2012Wedding Date: March 2013Venue: Embassy Suites Bloomington West in Bloomington, MNAbout Me: I am a true girly-girl originally from the great state of Minnesota and my fiancé hails from the beautiful country of Scotland. We met and fell in love in our favorite city, Chicago, and are having a blast blending our cultures for "A Highland Fairy Tale" wedding! We are truly a case of opposites attract in that he’s a world traveling introvert and I’m a social butterfly who is never too far from home. We both love hanging out with family and friends, fine dining, and laughing at ourselves. He drinks a lot of beer and I talk too much. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
Hello hive! Happy June! It feels like I’ve been gone forever, but it’s only been a little over a month since my last honeymoon post. I had to wait a bit longer for my professional photos (which was really difficult), but I’m happy to report they were worth the wait because they are insanely amazing! And they make me miss our wedding day tenfold.
Luckily I get to relive it in epic detail with all of you and I’m totally pumped about that. So let’s get these recaps started, shall we?
For those of you who aren’t as familiar with my story as others, here are a few highlights of my time as a blogger on Weddingbee:
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
So apparently I am an unreliable narrator just like Sansa Stark, because as I was writing the last post about mangling our wedding cake, I totally remembered sitting down right after our cake-cutting and chowing down on that cake. But that isn’t what happened. We went right from cake-cutting to our first dance. Whoops. Now that I look at the pictures, I do remember being bummed because someone took the cake away from me and forced me onto the dance floor instead. It was only later in the night when I was sweaty from dancing that my Auntie grabbed me and forced me to sit down and eat chocolate cake with her. My memories are all jumbled from that night. Too much excitement, I suppose!
Anyway, so yes, we went from the cake-cutting to our first dance. I was a little apprehensive about this, because I’m not a huge dancer and, as I’ve mentioned, I don’t really like everyone’s eyes on me. Well, me and Mr. CA, but you know what I mean.
We decided that we would do our first dance to Ben Harper’s “Forever.” I love the song, and it just seemed fitting. However, since we didn’t want to sway there for over three minutes, we told our DJ to cut the song off after one minute.
We swayed and swirled a little on the dance floor, and it was lovely. I felt very in-the-moment, and while I knew people were staring at us as they were eating their cake, it was a nice feeling, because I was just clutching Mr. CA and telling him what a handsome husband he was. It was a nice intimate moment between me, Mr. CA, our photographers, and 115 of our family and friends.
Mrs. Crepe, Queens, NY/Nashville, TNAge and Occupation: 28, Jewelry DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Animation DirectorEngagement Date: September 28, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: A church in downtown NashvilleAbout Me: I'm a native New Yorker who has always been a DIY kind of girl and loves tackling creative projects while getting the most out of a dollar. I'm marrying my college sweetheart and we love frequenting antique stores, exploring together, and playing with kittens. We're planning a fun, "us" wedding in his hometown---with as many handmade touches as we can pack into a day!
I interrupt these recaps to bring you this moment of reality during our first look.
While we were planning our wedding long distance, the mister had it pretty easy—there was only so much he could do since we were in separate states. But when the day was upon us, he took over and made sure everything was going according to plan. The reason he was late for our first look was because there was a helium shortage and he was handling it.
Miss Airplane, Plymouth, MichiganAge and Occupation: 26, Fundraising Project CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Food & Beverage ManagerEngagement Date: March 31, 2012Wedding Date: September 2013Venue: Fox Hills Golf Club & Banquet CenterAbout Me: I'm a true Michigander (born and raised) and a die-hard Wolverine. I am the definition of a multi-tasker and like to believe I am also a perfectionist, but my horrible short-term memory likes to prove otherwise. I'm an English major and a pretty punny girl, so get ready for some really horrible plays on words! When I'm not consumed with wedding planning, I enjoy copious amounts of television and an equally unhealthy addiction to bacon.
In addition to a day’s worth of video coverage of our wedding day, we are also doing something a little different with our videographers at 3rd Hat. Prior to the wedding (in about three weeks, actually), we’re going to be filming a love story video.
Never heard of it? Me neither. Apparently it is like an interview with the bride and groom talking about how they met, how they fell in love, first kiss, first “I love you”s, engagement story, etc. When I started looking them up online, I found that it is kind of like an e-pic session, but on film.
Miss Jackrabbit, Brighton, UKAge and Occupation: 26, Office ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, SongwriterEngagement Date: October 5, 2012Wedding Date: September 2013Venue: Fabrica Gallery, BrightonAbout Me: I honestly thought I'd go all Monica Geller when I started planning our wedding, but in truth, things couldn't have gone much differently. I am working my way through this venture, figuring things out as I go, and adopting a 'Que Sera, Sera,' approach to making decisions. When I'm not organising the biggest day of my life, I can usually be found drinking a glass of wine, crafting up one thing or another, or stopping my cat from head-butting me in the face.
I wanted a videographer right from the start. I love videos and, whilst photographs will be the primary way we remember our wedding, a video would give us the chance to see things that we missed, and we’d be able to re-live the day that went by so fast.
Now, I listen to my parents a LOT. No amount of peer pressure could get me to smoke when I was a teenager because there was no way on earth that I would have done something my parents wouldn’t have approved of. I know I’m now an adult and I can do what I want, but I do still listen to them and take their advice on board.
The most rebellious thing I think I’ve ever done was get a cat when my mum wasn’t 100% supportive of the idea. And I don’t know what I’d do without my kitty now, so clearly sometimes it works if I just do what I want!
Anyway, my parents had a videographer at their wedding back in 1984. They were brand new back then and quite the novelty! However, because it was such a new thing to do, mistakes were bound to happen and the tape (!!) ran out during the ceremony.
Mrs. Toadstool, Obregon, MexicoAge and Occupation: 23, Research AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Sales ManagerEngagement Date: October 1, 2011Wedding Date: December 2012Venue: Hacienda los AgavesAbout Me: I’m a born and bred Mexican girl with a severe coffee addiction, an obsession for books and an aversion for exercise. I like to plan things, so this wedding’s my dream project---I just need to remind myself from time to time that I’m the bride and not just the planner. I recently realized brown’s my favorite color as I was trying to incorporate it in every aspect of our wedding and I'm dreaming of an autumn vibe since we don’t have that around here. I’m marrying my best friend and partner in crime on the day of our nine-year anniversary! He’s an awesome, smart, fun guy who is patient, and crazy enough to spend the rest of his life with me. We’re planning our not-so-dreamy dream wedding in December in a non-traditional way and making it our own.
It’s time, hive—we are officially starting the Toadstool recaps, and following the tradition, we’re doing it with a video!
Videography was something we really, really wanted; it was just a matter of affording it. We even considered splurging on it, for a bit, but we couldn’t find the right videographer. That was until Groomsmen P pointed us in the direction of Estudio 54 and the talented David Gutierrez, and it was just perfect.
We have a 50-minute-long video with our entire ceremony and the best of the reception, but we also got this fantastic condensed version of the day:
*There’s a translation below, for all the non Spanish speakers.*
Miss Airplane, Plymouth, MichiganAge and Occupation: 26, Fundraising Project CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Food & Beverage ManagerEngagement Date: March 31, 2012Wedding Date: September 2013Venue: Fox Hills Golf Club & Banquet CenterAbout Me: I'm a true Michigander (born and raised) and a die-hard Wolverine. I am the definition of a multi-tasker and like to believe I am also a perfectionist, but my horrible short-term memory likes to prove otherwise. I'm an English major and a pretty punny girl, so get ready for some really horrible plays on words! When I'm not consumed with wedding planning, I enjoy copious amounts of television and an equally unhealthy addiction to bacon.
(Not to be confused with no-brain vendors, that is, vendors that seemingly have no brain…I’d like to think we’ve successfully avoided all of those.)
I’ve alreadygushed over the work of our incredibly talented photographers at studiOsnap, but I never really mentioned how we came to finding and booking them for our wedding.
It’s actually not a very long story. BM Rocket’s sister is friends with Megan, the primary photographer and head honcho of the studiOsnap empire. Since I am also friends with Sister, and since Facebook is such an amazing resource for stalkerish brides-to-be, I was all over that ish. Even before we got engaged I was following studiOsnap on Facebook and obsessing over every photo gallery they uploaded to their website. Some of my favorite inspiration pics…
Mrs. Bacon, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 26, Digital Advertising ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, IT Client ServicesEngagement Date: June 17, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Ravenswood Billboard FactoryAbout Me: I'm a Midwestern girl that can't seem to commit to staying in one place for too long and is constantly daydreaming about my next adventure. I am an aspiring foodie with a weak spot for the unusual and I love semi-reality food television. My other loves easily include laughing as a form of exercise, a book that I can't put down, summer baseball games, espresso with whipped cream, couch potato days and nights with the ridiculous Mr. Bacon, and our two kitties, Lincoln and Sawyer. We're planning a faux-destination wedding for 150 of our closest friends and family in the city we've both adopted as home that has a modern, yet whimsical twist and as many personal touches as we can manage.
One of the things that we decided late in the wedding planning game (and kind of on a whim) was working with Wedit, a video aggregation service of sorts. Essentially, we looked high and low for a videographer in our budget, and pretty much gave up. Instead, we opted to buy a bunch of FlipCams on Black Friday to give to people during the wedding then edit it all together ourselves. Well, then we happened upon Wedit four months later for a STEAL on a wedding deal site and I couldn’t resist, so we sold those FlipCams on eBay and booked Wedit.
We decided to pass out the five Wedit FlipCams to the the Baconator’s little Bro, a bridesmaid, a guest from Chicago that knows lots of local folks, a Minnesotan friend that we met in England who is super outgoing, and we mounted one on a tripod at the back of the ceremony. With these folks picked out, we were able to get some behind the scenes action from the morning, the tea ceremony, the wedding ceremony and lots of the reception.
I know, I know, the video quality isn’t great, but it’s actually really awesome on the DVDs. Well, except the darkness…the darkness is because candles are great for ambiance, but not for video. The same can be said for the dark dance floor: great for dancing and ambiance, bad for video.
Mrs. Mongoose, New Haven, CTAge and Occupation: 28, Digital AdvertisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Business DevelopmentEngagement Date: November 19th, 2011Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Hotel Nelligan in Montreal, CAAbout Me:
I was born and raised in Queens, NY (though you would never know due to my lack of a "real" New York accent) but currently live in Connecticut with my fiance. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a crazy obsession for planning and organizing things, so it comes as no surprise that I'm currently obsessed with planning our wedding. I love dancing, music, traveling, reading fiction novels, cooking, the color blue, cupcakes, all things space science-related and TV shows created by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams. My fiance and I have been together for seven years and are so excited to finally get married next year. We are planning a peacock-themed destination wedding in Montreal, one of our favorite cities in the world, with 100 or so of our closest family and friends. While we may look very different on the outside, we have eerily similar personalities (probably due to the fact that we share the exact same birthday) and share very similar passions. But above all else, we love each other and love to have FUN!!!
Man, wedding videos have come a LONG way since the days of big ass video cameras, bad lighting, and terrible editing. These days, wedding videos are now cinematic works of art that look and feel like something out of a Hollywood movie.
After watching tons of beautifully edited wedding videos and admittedly bawling my eyes out over some (and yes I know it’s cray cray to get weepy over videos of strangers getting married, but unless your heart is made of stone, it’s hard to control the waterworks!). I desperately wanted a videographer at the wedding. I started doing research into some videographers in Montreal and was pretty floored when I saw the price packages. These Hollywood-style videos certainly do not come cheap—a video from the one company whose style I absolutely loved would have been anywhere between $3,000 and $6,000 to book. And unfortunately, we just wouldn’t have been able to squeeze this in to our already bloated budget.
Discouraged, I shelved the issue for a while and didn’t really think about it again until a few months ago. I just kept going back to the idea that there was just something so special about being able to capture live video of the wedding, and I just knew I would regret not having something physical to watch afterward. So back to researching I went, but this time I was more interested in finding budget and “DIY” videography options. And that’s when I came across WeddingMix.
Flip cams and apps are used to capture video. / Image via StoryMix Media
Mrs. Lyre, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 31, LibrarianFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Government EmployeeEngagement Date: November 11, 2011Wedding Date: January 2013Venue: Atrium at the Curtis CenterAbout Me: I’m a book loving, photography obsessed, artsy/crafty bride to be, who was dating all the wrong men, until I met the right one, and where one story ended - our new life together began. He’s a video game loving, quirky t-shirt wearing, movie quoting geek who stole my heart, and welcomed me into his. Together we are a happily co-habitating couple, who live in South Jersey, and are planning a wedding in Philadelphia in January 2013. We love to cook, share a bottle of wine, and watch way too much TV; we laugh all the time, don’t sleep nearly enough, and cannot wait to begin our lives as husband and wife!
As promised after our big announcement, I’m back with the Lyre recaps!
Two months ago on a crisp, gorgeous Sunday in January, Mr. Ly and I got really dressed up, traipsed around Philadelphia, and promised one another to be partners for life. We ate, danced, and partied under sparkling chandeliers, and we had never been more in love than we were that night.
Our wedding was such an amazing day on all accounts, I’m hoping I can do it justice in these recaps. There was tons of laughs, some tears (mostly happy ones!), and enough love and joy to last us a lifetime.
As it has become somewhat of a tradition here on Weddingbee, I will begin our recaps with our Same Day Edit video. The SDE was one thing that drew me to our videographer in the first place. Having this memento of our wedding day, seconds after the day was done, was amazing. We opted to not show the SDE during the reception, we didn’t want to interrupt the party with a video, but it was still such a great thing to walk away with at the end of the night. It highlights our day from getting ready through the hora after our first dance. Some of my favorite parts include the ridiculous face I make right before our first look, because my bridal party was shouting out me from across the street, watching me mouth Mr. Ly’s vows in Hebrew along with him (which I didn’t know I did until I saw this video), and of course watching my beloved watch me walk down the aisle (seriously, makes me melt every.single.time.) Oh, watching my brother struggle with his suspenders is pretty comical, too.
I feel this short snippet of our wedding highlights how much fun we had, how much love we shared, and how much joy was felt between us, our friends and our family. But trust me, there is so much more than this.
Mrs. Wallaby, Houston
Age and Occupation: 24, Environmental EngineerEngagement Date: January 1, 2012Wedding Date: November 2012Venue: Oak Tree ManorAbout Me: I'm a free-spirited, adventurous girl who loves anything active, reading, traveling, cooking up new dishes for my fiancé, and working on my budding garden. My fiancé is an athletic, intellectual, animal-loving guy with an obsession with basketball and who treats me with the deepest compassion and respect. We are both engineers, and we met at our workplace. Together we complement one another and make a great team, and we are excitedly counting down the days until our outdoor wedding in Houston in November. We're planning a green wedding with lots of Persian cultural touches, and I can't wait to share all of the before-and-after details of our special day
OK, first, did anyone watch the Oscars last night? Jessica Chastain looked fierce. She made me wish I had worn my hair down at our wedding. Also, who swooned over Jennifer Lawrence’s big beautiful Dior gown? At one point we paused the Oscars to do a double-take—her dress took up three chairs when she was seated!
Although I could go on all day about last night’s best dressed (and the downfall of my Oscars bracket—there were a couple big surprises!), I popped in today to share my final recap. I started my recaps with our teaser by A Sweet Film, and now we finally have our full 18-minute wedding video.
Mrs. Unicorn, Atlanta, GeorgiaAge and Occupation: 22, Retail Sales ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Graphic DesignerEngagement Date: November 27, 2011Wedding Date: September 2012Venue: The FarmAbout Me: I’m an impatient, impulsive person with a creative side and a flair for the dramatic. I’m very much a DIY sort of girl, and I have the messy craft table to prove it. I worked at a veterinary clinic for the better part of seven years before diving headfirst into the totally different world of sales. I must say, the change has been one for the better; I no longer have clients that bite or scratch, nor does my workplace smell of kitty litter. My true passion, however, is aerial acrobatics and dance, and I hope to open my own studio one day. Mr. Unicorn doesn’t bat an eye when he comes home from work to find his fiancée hanging upside down from a pole. Together, we enjoy shooting things (with a camera), playing Xbox games (my strategy consists primarily of button-mashing), and enjoying the company of our spoiled pit bull named Leeloo. We are planning a fall wedding with lots of DIY details and a rustic-chic vibe. Our budget is tight, but we know we can work around it to plan the wedding we want.
Well look who’s back, hive! It’s none other than your very own MRS. Unicorn back from the dead. I kinda left y’all hangin’ after my last post, and I can’t apologize enough. I promise I have a pretty good reason for pulling that disappearing act, though.
Mr. U and I bought our very first house!
The Unicorn Residence / Personal photo
Isn’t it adorable???
Gratuitous picture of our couch because I am seriously in love with it and those amazeballs chevron pillows.
Mrs. Wallaby, Houston
Age and Occupation: 24, Environmental EngineerEngagement Date: January 1, 2012Wedding Date: November 2012Venue: Oak Tree ManorAbout Me: I'm a free-spirited, adventurous girl who loves anything active, reading, traveling, cooking up new dishes for my fiancé, and working on my budding garden. My fiancé is an athletic, intellectual, animal-loving guy with an obsession with basketball and who treats me with the deepest compassion and respect. We are both engineers, and we met at our workplace. Together we complement one another and make a great team, and we are excitedly counting down the days until our outdoor wedding in Houston in November. We're planning a green wedding with lots of Persian cultural touches, and I can't wait to share all of the before-and-after details of our special day
It was a last-minute decision, so I didn’t have a chance to blog about it.
Mr. W has always loved wedding videos. He used to watch wedding videos for fun in his spare time, before we even got engaged. (He chalks it up to a general interest in cinematography, but we all know he’s a closet romantic.) So, Mr. W was responsible for anything video related for our wedding. He took the responsibility very seriously and interviewed a lot of different Houston-area videographers. He’s very picky about style and camera angles, so for months no one made the cut. (Also, none of them fit into our meager videography budget.) Very soon before the wedding, Mr. W came across a company called A Sweet Film. He instantly hit it off with Orlando, the business owner and main videographer. Orlando was willing to work within our budget, and he promised to hand over the raw footage to Mr. W to play around with and make his own wedding video. Sold.
Orlando and his crew turned out to be awesome. They were very flexible, kept a low profile, and made me laugh all night long. They’re still working on the 10-minute highlights video, but they sent us a little teaser.
Turn down the lights, and turn up the volume: je presente le Wallaby wedding sneak peek!
Mrs. Doily, Cedar Rapids, IowaAge and Occupation: 25, Autism Paraeducator/ StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, IT Hosting SupportEngagement Date: August 27th, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Father’s Vineyard Church/ A Touch of Class Banquet CenterAbout Me: I’m an Iowan girl with a deep love of Harry Potter, classic movies, cardigans, and Post-Its. My type-A Virgo tendencies often cause me to drive my laid-back college sweetheart fiance batty with lists and PowerPoint presentations. I love to be crafty and do things myself, which explains why my two crazy kittens often will prance around the house covered in glitter and ribbons. When I am not bogged down with work, school, or wedding planning, I like to travel to visit my expansive family and have wild adventures with my best friends. After a rollercoaster ride of a love story, I’m ready to take that final plunge, marry the love of my life, and become a Mrs.!
It was over 17 months ago that I was introduced as Miss Doily in my first ever post “Miss Doily Is in the House.” During that time I flip-flopped over many wedding decisions, grew as a writer, and got to really get immersed in this wonderful community. I have made some lifelong friends out of board members and other bee bloggers. I have been introduced to other cultures and traditions that have only enriched my life even more. And along the way, I married my best friend and love of my life. It’s been such an incredible journey, and I still feel so blessed every day to have been chosen to be a bee blogger. Even more so, I feel so blessed that there were people who truly enjoyed hearing Mr. D’s and my journey and even took some things from it.
When it comes to our wedding, there is really only one thing left to share. Mr. D and I bought Flip cams shortly before the wedding to film the entire thing for his ailing grandmother who was not able to make it across the country to share our day. So we filmed everything and edited it to the best of our ability and shipped it off to her right away. She ended up passing only a few weeks after getting it, but it was a huge blessing to us and to her that she got to see it for herself.
Mrs. Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
Last time, I told you about why we wanted a videographer. But deciding you want one and actually finding one are two totally different situations. Luckily, we are not nearly as particular about our videographer as we are about our photographer. Neither of the Blue Whales wants to have a feature film of our wedding. We just want someone to do a good job of documenting the day with good quality picture and audio.
So a few weeks ago I set out to find a videographer.
The first thing I discovered is that the variety in quality of wedding videos is much more dramatic than the quality of wedding photographs. Maybe it’s because wedding photography has become such a staple for every wedding that the very low quality photographers have just been pushed out of business. But I saw some seriously bad wedding video samples. What really blew my mind is that some people had the worst websites, and yet they’re supposed to be technologically savvy enough to make a great wedding video! I don’t think so. If your website isn’t up to snuff, ain’t no way I’m trusting you to make my wedding video.
