The Tiffany Setting, with a brilliant round cut diamond not to exceed .5 carats in size. That’s all. Color, Clarity? Well, if they carry it – it’s good for me (Tiffany & Co only carries diamonds above a certain threshold. For example, I is the lowest color rating that they will carry).

Source: Tiffany & Co

Pretty simple. He could decide what color or clarity rating was important to him. The size thing though, I was pretty firm about that. We looked at sizes from .45 to .5 and any of them were fine.

Over .5, I really felt like the diamond was too big for my finger. Blasphemy I am sure, but remember, my finger is a mere 3.5, and remember, I’m a no-fuss, low maintenance kind of girl. 1 carat might look fine on larger hands, but on mine it looked like a boulder.

In the time between our visit to Tiffany and when Mr Pretzel proposed, he had a lot of fun ribbing me about my fancy dream ring. I also would give him a hard time about little blue boxes. In the end, I didn’t get a little blue box. Remember how Mr Pretzel hid my ring in the iPod compartment of his Nike Running shoes? I was expecting a box and he was paranoid that I would find a box, so he opted for the Tiffany Blue pouch.

I was kinda sad I didn’t get a box.

When we went in a couple weeks ago to get it sized again, Amy, our sales associate, wanted to hear all about our engagement story. She loved it, especially how he hid it in his shoe and made me cry. She was surprised to hear that he didn’t get a box with my ring. Mr Pretzel told her that he refused the box because he was convinced I would find it. In his defense, I did frisk him at the airport. When we finally went to pick up my ring, Amy had a surprise for us:

*Squeal! How pretty is it. I totally get the whole blue box thing no

This was just one little detail that was completely unnecessary, but done because I knew there would be quite a few cigar smokers in attendance at the wedding.

I purchased my plain, white matchboxes from efavormart.com.

To decorate them, I started by cutting paper rectangles to a size slightly smaller than the top surface. The dimension of the matchbox is 2” X 1 1/2 “, so I made mine just smaller in order to have a white border. I used the leftover green paper from when I made belly bands for our invites.

Once I cut out the rectangles, I stamped a small circle with black ink on to each. The stamps used in this project were from a $1 bin at Michaels.

Then, I used green ink and an “R” stamp to put our monogram in the center of the circle.

To make it your own, you can use any rubber stamp or even print out a design, cut it out and placed on the box.

To adhere them to the matchboxes, I turned them into stickers by running them through my Xyron machine, which was loaded with a removable adhesive* cartridge. Then, I just placed them on top of the boxes.

Ta-da!

There you have it—a quick DIY project that can be passed out as favors, included with sparklers used for your getaway or set out at your bar. I put ours in a small bowl by the beverage station and most of them were gone by the end of the night.

What little, unnecessary, but thoughtful details do plan on including (or did include) at your wedding?

*The cool part about using the removable adhesive was that I was able to remove the stickers from the leftovers and have plain white boxes of matches that I can either decorate again for another occasion or leave plain and set out around the house with my candles.

Etsy to the rescue. Etsy seller visualchemist has the most elegant, hip letterpress “Will you be my bridesmaid?” cards. Not only that, but she sent them in record time, wrapped in pink tissue paper, with a handwritten note. Just lovely.

How grand or small was your gesture of asking your friends to be your bridesmaids?

To the hive—thank you for your amazing support and every single word of encouragement and love you have sent my way. It has truly been an honor to share my journey with you, and I still have so much to share (funny how time just kept running out in the in the past few weeks!). Hang in there with me and I will have a lot more to show you as the wait for recaps begin! I really just cannot imagine where I would be without all of your ideas and feedback! Are there really brides out there who never find the ‘bee and make it to the altar while still sane? Because I would not have been one crazy gal had it not been for all of you!

To the bees- I consider it an honor and privilege to blog with you all! You are amazing ladies, and your support (especially in the past few days) has been incredible and means more to me then you will ever know!

And of course Mr. Cloud, the man of my dreams! I cannot wait to walk down the aisle towards you and begin the rest of our lives together. It has been a long, and sometimes hard road but after everything we have been through in the past five years I know we can do anything. I’m not sure what I did to deserve you, but I am so thankful to be able to soon call you my husband. Thank you for being my best friend, and thank you for making my life so magical. Your love keeps me going, I can’t wait to see what our journey together will bring us next!

Now I’m off to put on that beautiful dress, and even though I’m starting to get emotional, the goal is to have no ugly cry face! To anyone else getting married today, I wish you nothing but the best and many, many happy years!

Shout out to Miss Lab! I love you date twin! I hope your day is everything you ever dreamed of!

We met at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Mr. P’s family, although based in Vermont, has a history of attending university in Canada. Both of his parents graduated from a Canadian school, so Queen’s was a natural choice for him.

Mr. Pudding and me during Homecoming at Queen’s University in 2004.
(photo taken by a kind stranger with Mr. P’s camera)

When we first met, I thought that the fact that he was from Vermont was the coolest thing ever… I had images of snowy mountains, hot chocolate, and beautiful scenery. I loved going to visit him. Vermont truly is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been.

It didn’t take long for me to change my tune about Vermont, however.

After graduating from Queen’s in 2007, Mr. P went home to Vermont, and I went home to the Greater Toronto Area. We lived apart for almost two years, traveling back and forth to see each other. We tried to visit every other weekend, but the drive was not very glamorous (almost 8 hours, more than half of it spent on the 401).

Mr. P and me after our civil ceremony in 2008
(photo by FFIL Pudding)

So, our journey began with immigration. We had to make a decision about where we wanted to live. Initially, we decided that Canada was the better option. We figured that being near a city like Toronto would provide a good backdrop for a young, professional couple like us. We changed our minds at the last minute, and I have been happily reunited with Mr. Pudding for two months now. I am also rekindling my romance with Vermont.

Did you decide to relocate to be with your honey? Are you happy with your decision?

But when I suggested it, Photophil said he had one more idea he wanted to try out.

He took us outside the disco for a couple fun, funky shots. Check out those colors!

Then he asked if we’d mind going back to the gazebo where we had had the ceremony earlier. Mind? Of course not! Photophil, you know that you just say the word and we will follow you anywhere.

It turns out he wanted to give us a couple of romantic shots of the two of us dancing under the starry night. Aww…

With that, I thought the night was coming to an end.

Our friends, however, had other ideas in mind! Once everyone had danced their pants off and the adults (I still think of us as ‘the kids’, isn’t that funny?) had said their good nights, a crew of us went in search of some late-night sustenance.

The Majestic Colonial resort has this great little street right by the disco where there’s a fast-food restaurant that seemingly never closes, which is PERFECT for late night party-ers such as ourselves. We’d already become quite well acquainted with their to-die-for onion rings earlier that week, so that’s where we headed.

This photo and subsequent photos in this post are by our friends

I am not too sure how long we stayed there but let’s just say that much hilarity (and a little debauchery) ensued. I even think there was some singing involved. There also may or may not be a photo that exists somewhere of me inelegantly stuffing my face with a cheeseburger while wearing my wedding dress, but I conveniently can’t find it at the moment.

We were having the time of our lives and I didn’t want the night to end. But I soon had trouble keeping my eyes open and so the mister and I reluctantly called it a night.

The sign of a good party? You danced the soles right off your brand new shoes.

Our… uh… grand exit. (Oh look, I finally bustled my dress at some point. Hooray for me!)

The next day, Mr Breezy and I found out that the party still hadn’t ended there!

With a couple bottles of champagne in tow, all our friends simply moved to the beach and kept it going all until the wee hours o’ the morn.

Isn’t that fantastic? I’m so happy they had such a great time and while part of me wishes we could’ve been there, I know I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes before I was snoring in the sand.

It sure looked like they had fun, though!

The wedding day was finally over, but did you think the celebrating would end there? No way…

Credit goes to our photographers Photophil Steingard and Michael Steingard for lasting so long and having the good sense to pack it in before our friends got crazy(er).

DW in the DR: Pack It Up, Pack It In
DW in the DR: Airport Confessions
DW in the DR: Bienvenidos a Punta Cana
DW in the DR: The Guest List Is In the Bag
DW in the DR: The OOTs in Action
DW in the DR: Planning the Reception
DW in the DR: Planning the Flowers & Cake
DW in the DR: Planning the Ceremony
DW in the DR: Planning the Photography
DW in the DR: Stag and Showerette
DW in the DR: The Meltdown
DW in the DR: Final Touches
DW in the DR: The Guys Get Groomed
DW in the DR: The Girls Get Gorgeous
DW in the DR: We MacGyver the Flowers
DW in the DR: I Finally Get to Wear the DWess
DW in the DR: Girls Gone Wild
DW in the DR: The Reveal and Portraits
DW in the DR: We Are Family
DW in the DR: Here Comes the Bride
DW in the DR: Love Ceremony, West-Coast Style
DW in the DR: Love Ceremony, The Vows
DW in the DR: Mazel Tov!
DW in the DR: Sunset and Sand
DW in the DR: Sto Lat!
DW in the DR: Dinner Game Hijinks
DW in the DR: Cake Wreck
DW in the DR: Let’s Get This Party (Re)Started
DW in the DR: A Song and a Dance

So the search continued, I tried Macy’s, because I’m trying to save a few $$ at every step, but was thoroughly unimpressed. So, I headed over to Nordstrom, my trusty source for super-fun flats. They might be a little pricier, but their junior’s shoes are well priced and cute, and if I had to spend a little extra on my wedding shoes, I’d live.

I scoped the website first to see what I had in mind and found some great options.

I love the shoe jewelry look of these. And they’re ’something blue’.

source

These pearls and ruffles are too sweet and romantic to not consider.

source

These also come in bronze and the jewels on them are a perfect match to our wedding colors. There’s even a teal blue jewel in there.

source

Just an adorable bow to think about.

source

These jeweled ruffles are so cute and modern when done in metallic.

source

A fun pop of color and a great jewel.

source

After my search, I decided that some of my favorite brands are Kelsi Dagger and Jeffrey Campbell.

So, I headed out to Nordstrom to try these on. I still fear online shoe shopping. I buy so many other things online, but just can’t do it with clothes and shoes.

Nordstrom doesn’t carry all of their styles in the stores (like Kelsi Dagger, hmph), but I found three to try on that I loved. I was sitting there staring, calling and texting my Mom and I still came home with 2 pairs. Now I’ve got to decide. The third that I tried on and didn’t buy is that jeweled ruffle metallic, above. It fit well and was made well, but I fear elasticized heels, as they tend to rub my skin off.

I couldn’t find these ruffly ones online but, they’re made by BC (Because We Can) and were $45 (see, junior’s shoes). I love how feminine they are and they certainly fulfill my something blue.

These are the bronze versions of the ones shown above. There are purple, mustard and other fall colored jewels, including a dark teal to be my something blue.

So hive, ruffles or jewels?

It was still raining when we arrived at our final bed and breakfast, the Beaufort House, but that didn’t stop us from getting excited over the giant porch. We were even greeted by this guy:

I’m not even sure what he is, some kind of caterpillar?!

Our stay in Asheville was much like the rest of the honeymoon: relaxing, casual, fun!

We didn’t have any concrete plans for the first afternoon, so we got a map and directions from the super helpful inn keeper, and just walked into the downtown area and did some shopping and exploring. And eating, lots of eating.

We grabbed lunch at the Laughing Seed Cafe, while watching some dudes rock climb across the street. The jalapeno fries were amaaaaazing. At this point it was starting to get pretty chilly, so we grabbed tickets for our “event” of the night, and walked back to our room.

Vegan reuben and jalapeno fries!

If you are anything like me, before you book a hotel room or make travel plans, you check out tripadvisor.com. I use Trip Advisor for everything travel-related. When you go to the Asheville page, the number one tourist attraction is a bus tour, which sounded horrible to me. We are not old people, therefore, we aren’t exactly bus tour people. I decided to check out the LaZoom website anyway and discovered this wasn’t just any bus tour. It was a performance art-based comedy tour, 90 minutes of Asheville on a giant purple bus, and you are encouraged to drink. A lot.

The LaZoom tour was amazing and we seriously contemplated doing it again the next night. There were people on the bus that had experienced the tour several times. When you drive around town on this purple spectacle, everyone waves and calls out to you! All of the locals know about the tour. It was a blast. Mr. Sprinkle picked up some beer (I stuck with fancy local sodas; moving vehicles and booze don’t mix well for me!).

The tour operators quickly learned that we were honeymooners, and paid us some extra attention. It also helped that Mr. Sprinkle is a walking encyclopedia and he knew the answer to every single quiz question they asked!

The bus went all over Asheville and we got to see lovely houses, old insane asylums, and a rogue nun.

Our second full day in Asheville started off with an awesome breakfast. Since it was nearing the weekend, the inn was nearly full. We shared our breakfast table with guests from all over the south. It was great to get to know everyone. One of the best parts of staying in a B&B is the community experience. We had already met our fellow guests the evening before during the inn’s daily “wine and snacks mixer,” so it was easy to jump into conversation over breakfast!

While the Beaufort House is not specifically a vegan B&B, they were more than happy to make us a special dish each morning. We were served delicious apple crepes and yogurt parfaits, and on our second morning there I enjoyed the best tofu scramble I have ever had, and I have eaten many, many tofu scrambles all over the country!

Delightful soy yogurt and granola parfait.

After breakfast, we headed back downtown for some rainy day shopping and sightseeing.

The tallest building in the U.S. without stairs! (You have to use the building next door to get to each floor… bizarre!)

A giant iron!

That afternoon we were fairly worn out from all of the walking, so we grabbed some snacks and decided to spend the night playing the in-house board games, watching movies and just snuggling by our fireplace.

We also took some photos around the beautiful yard and porch.

We loved our guest rooms (we had the entire third floor to ourselves!) but Mr. Sprinkle could not get used to the slanted ceiling. He must have hit his head 30 times in the 48 hours we spent there!

The sitting room.

A little nook in our hallway.

The bedroom (I graciously offered to sleep on the side of the bed closest to the slanted wall!)

Sadly, after almost a full week of relaxing luxury, it was time to head home. We left for the airport early, because Mr. Sprinkle had no ID, and we were a bit worried about the whole security process. We really shouldn’t have wasted any time worrying! The Asheville airport is teeny tiny, and it only took us about three extra minutes to explain the situation and get through security. After one last stop in the dreaded Atlanta airport, we were back home in Los Angeles.

Our honeymoon may have been a bit unusual, but it was perfect for us! We will never forget our playful piggie friends, the people we met on the crazy bus tour, or the sounds the bugs of the South make to help you sleep. We are already making plans to go back for another visit!

Read up on parts one and two!

When I set foot in Brides by Demetrios, I was floored. The store was uh-may-zing. It was huge. So far, I had only tried on about 5 dresses, and I was about to try on about 25 more. I kid you not, their selection is virtually endless. I’m fully convinced that there is a dress there for anyone and everyone.

Walking in, I was immediately greeted by Deja. If you’re in Tampa and happen to go to Brides by Demetrios, ask for her, seriously! She is literally the nicest and most welcoming salesperson I have ever met in my life. Her sister also works there, and I felt like they were my sisters from another mister. Awesome, I tell you! This place was growing on me fast! Now if only there was a way to work a dress from there into my budget…

I temporarily put the budget issue out of my mind and told Deja exactly what I was looking for—lots of lace, no sparkle, A-line silhouette, empire waist. We looked around the store and gathered about 15 dresses that fit my criteria. Here are my favorites from that round (yes, I tried on so many I had rounds!):

This was by far the most simple one. It was lovely, and a great starting point, but I didn’t love it.

The lace on this dress was to die for, but the ruching on the bust made my already D-Cup ladies look even bigger. No good.

I loved the lace and the neckline, but it was working the hanger better that it was working for me, unfortunately!

*Sigh* I thought this was the one for a moment.

I didn’t get that fuzzy feeling, but I was starting to think that was all a myth. It was a gorgeous dress. If we could change the neckline to a sweetheart, it would have been everything I was looking for—so why was I not getting that “oh my god” moment? I put this one to the side as a “definite possibility” and kept the search a-goin’. I was determined to get that “this is it” moment, come hell or high water. Clearly, at this point, I was on a mission. I thought, maybe I’m not feeling my “criteria” as much as I thought I was. So I tried on some poufy dresses.

I thought this one was really pretty, but the flowers were a little much for me. I absolutely loved the drop waist, though.

I knew going in that I was taking a chance on this one. It’s even poufier than it looks in the picture. It just so wasn’t me. Next!

source for all above dresses

I really loved the style and shape of this one, but my only qualm was that is was a crinkly taffeta, or something funky like that. Basically, it was supposed to look all wrinkly, which really wasn’t the look I was going for.

I felt like I was doomed, so I tried on my favorite lace dress again, just to make 100% sure that it wasn’t “The One”… and it just wasn’t. Maybe lace doesn’t like me as much as I like it.

Ahh well. What’s a girl to do? I remembered I told myself that I would try on at least one dress that wasn’t really in my criteria, so I grabbed a pretty little sparkly one and tried it on. It was the only dress that wasn’t too big and needed to be clipped, and also wasn’t too small to be zipped. It fit perfectly. To be quite honest, it zipped up so easily that I was terrified. Is this it? Is this my dress? I walked out to the mirrors and almost died. Literally. I almost had a stroke. It was the only dress I had tried on that I felt like I didn’t need to change anything. Not one thing. I had tears in my eyes, the salesladies had goose bumps, and I had that fuzzy “I hope I don’t puke all over this dress” butterflies in my tummy “this is The One” feeling.

I tried on the lace one again, just in case, and then went back to my sparkly dress and got butterflies all over again. My sparkly dress. For a minute I totally forgot about the price tag. I hesitantly looked down at it and dun dun duuuun. At $1700, it was almost twice my budget. No, no, no, no, no! What was I going to do?! Then Deja looked and the tag and said to me “Oh my god, this dress has been discontinued, we don’t make it anymore, it shouldn’t even be out on the floor.” I was thisclose to crying when she said “you know… this one fits you perfectly… you can buy the floor sample and we can discount it because it’s been discontinued…” SOLD!

HAAAAAAAALLELUJAH!

And that’s how I found my dress. It wasn’t at all what I initially thought I wanted. No lace, all sparkle; drop waist, not empire; trumpet silhouette, not a-line; but it did have that elusive perfect sweetheart neckline that I was having such a hard time finding. She was right there waiting for me all along. My exact size, diamond white (I didn’t want stark white), and at 45% off, it came right under budget. Here she is:

source

*personal photo*

What about you? Was your dress completely different than what you had originally envisioned? Did you get that warm fuzzy feeling when you tried it on?

Fancy food, exactly the opposite of what I am looking for….

Yup, fancy food. Honestly, I’ve found that my favorite food experiences have been when the preparation is simple, the ingredients are fresh and everything is light and complementary. I don’t like a whole lot of differing flavors competing for tongue space!

I also really wanted to use as much local produce as possible, as well as local bakers and meat suppliers, if possible. A few of the caterers I spoke with were amenable to this; a few others said they were, but clearly were not (ahem, Classe…).

Anyways, I literally spent all my free time this summer looking for a caterer, to no avail. Just when I was thinking I would re-visit Woodstock Moveable Feast (in spite of my trepidations about how far from the venue they were located), or perhaps accept Classe as another option, the fairy godmother of catering took pity on me and dropped Debbie Freinberg of A Spice of Life Catering into my lap. Seriously, remember the scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where Ferris is absent? I believe the exact quote is:

My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night.

In our case, it was my mom’s carpool partner’s wife’s friend who is in the food industry and she knew someone who recommended Debbie to us (you got that?).

From her first email, I knew she was the one. Not only did she respond immediately, and not only were her menus delicious but she has done other weddings at our venue, including the wedding of a long-lost friend from elementary school! (I told you it was a small town…) Once we spoke to the mother of that recent bride and spoke with Debbie over the phone, we were hooked. She is a member of the Columbia County Bounty organization (dedicated to using locally farmed produce and livestock) and her menu spoke to my simple, rustic food visions. Nothing too fancy or overdone, just good, simple, delicious food.

I’m thrilled Debbie is going to be catering our wedding and I can’t wait to share our menu with you in another post! It’s true what they say: good things come to those who wait.  I’m very thankful we didn’t rush into a contract with another caterer I wasn’t completely comfortable with.

source

I think we’ve already established that Mr Pretzel and I are beer snobs (if we haven’t established that yet—we are, in fact, beer geeks). If it was up to us we would serve 5 different types of brews and forgo the wine and cocktails. But that wouldn’t make us good hosts. We’ll be offering red and white wine in addition to a signature cocktail. Mojito, Margarita, Mimosa? Not here. Our signature cocktail has a story. One that makes me both happy and sad every time I think about it.

My mom got married in the summer, on a blistering hot day. The reception was at my Grandparents’ house and they served wedding punch, among other things. The guests drank a lot of punch to quench their thirst. But, there was an itty-bitty problem: the recipe was almost all alcohol. Needless to say, it was quite the party. My dad refers to the punch as “White Lightning” and I think all of the attendees of their wedding remember the punch, even though some don’t remember how they got home.

My grandma learned her lesson. At my Aunt’s wedding she cut down the amount of punch she made. This is marked clear as day on the recipe card. Betty 4 batches, Jane 2. When I found the recipe among Grandma’s recipes I didn’t think I would serve it at our wedding. Punch, especially alcoholic punch, really isn’t in vogue anymore (gosh, I sounded like my Grandma there!) and I wasn’t acquainted with the concept of a signature cocktail. We were discussing drink options with our caterer when she suggested a signature cocktail, and instantly, the punch jumped into my head again. I looked at Mr Pretzel and we both had the same thought: we could update the punch, make it more cocktail like, and serve it at our wedding. I emailed a scan of the recipe to the caterer and told them the story. They thought it was the coolest.

I love this photo of my Grandparents. It always make me smile!

Why am I thinking about signature cocktails 9 months before our wedding? I’ve been thinking about my Grandma lately. Sadly, she has Alzheimer’s and won’t be able to attend our wedding. Mr Pretzel and I were able to visit her the days following the proposal. Multiple times we told her about our engagement and showed her my ring. Each time she was so excited and exclaimed how pretty my ring was. She took my face in her hands and gave me a hug. For an instant she shared our joy, but sadly it doesn’t last. I recently removed her from our invitation list, and this was hard. I knew that she wouldn’t be able to come but a part of me wanted to believe that she would get the invitation and for a second, remember and share our joy. Sadly, the invitation would just confuse her.

So, having her wedding punch at our wedding is my way of honoring her and I want to have a sign at the bar to share this with our guests. Here’s my first try at it. I am not sure if I am happy with it yet, but it really made me happy to get something on paper.

How are you incorporating your loved ones that can’t be at your wedding into your day?

One day in a closet far, far away, a Poodle bride wanted to take pictures of her perfect wedding dress.

(If you are not a male Poodle you can keep on reading the rest of the story after the jump. )

OK, maybe it was not a closet far, far away, it was actually in my FMIL’s closet. B let me store the dress there so it would be as far away as possible from Mr. Poodle’s eyes.

And today I went there so I can show you all my labor of love.

After I unpacked my dress from the wedding dress pillow, the crinoline looked like a big mess. But since I wanted to wash it anyway, the wrinkles wont be a problem. The good thing is that the dress did not suffer from this, and after staying in my FMIL’s closet for a few days, it looked like nothing ever happened to it.

Want to see it?

Here it is!

{ Front view }

{ Close up of the crochet endings Mom Poodle and I did }

{ Back view }

{ Close up of the top in the back }

{ Hand sewn button details }

Previously in my handmade dress saga:

The Early Beginnings
Handmade Undergarment
Crinoline – The Evolution

I am so happy with my dress and I can’t wait to have a sewing machine again so I can finish the sash and bolero I already cut while I was still down in Chile.

Want to see how I made my own wedding dress? Stay tuned, because you’ll get to see the behind the scenes!

I hope you love the shots I took of all the colors as much as I do…

Buildings in Oia on Santorini were bold and beautiful

Even when it’s mostly white, there are still fabulous infusions of that famous Santorini blue

I would love to get to walk through that door every day

Flowers that look as bright as they smelled

These aren’t even fancy buildings, everyday souvenir shops are decorated this nicely!

Everywhere we turned, there was a blue dome more beautiful than the next on Santorini

And colorful merchandise made up for any white walls in sight!

Even in the Archaeological Museum in Athens (an admittedly stodgy place!), there were bold colors

How fabulous would these be for wedding decor, right? Can we get married again?

I would love to paint a house like this and then my neighbors would hate me

Have you ever seen water so blue? This was off the side of the ferry from Athens to Santorini.

If I had chosen my wedding colors AFTER going on our honeymoon, I’m pretty sure they would have been Greece-inspired! Since my wedding planning is over, I’ll have to plan an apartment party of some type with these photos as part of my inspiration board.

What inspires you?

If you’re following along, the Star Honeymoon recaps are:

Ancient Sites, Of Course

Name the musical! (image)

As far as flowers go, I knew this was a place where we’d splurge (i.e. likely go over what we budgeted even after budgeting a larger percentage of our budget than typical… we might as well call it what it is!). I acknowledge the great irony that I am totally averse to an expensive dress because I’ll only wear it about 6 hours, but I am really excited about lots of pretty floral design that, after the evening, pretty much ends up in the circular wedding file.

I think this love of flowers and my desire to have beautiful floral design at our wedding comes from my parents. My mom swears she hates all design, decorating, and general crafty type things—except flowers and making bows (yes, she makes a killer bow!). Although I love design of all kinds (yes, I’m marrying a designer) I inherited some of my mom’s, shall we say, aesthetic minimalism. I don’t like fussy or super-feminine anything, and I always have a healthy “form-is-function” subtext running in my mind when I think about putting things together.

Even growing up in a pretty utilitarian house in regards to decorating and other design arts, my dad’s a photographer and both of my parents love to garden. Growing up, there were always fresh flowers—roses, gardenias, camellias, millions of irises, gladiolas, daffodils—in our house. My dad, a photographer, fills albums (and now screensavers slideshows and computer wallpaper) with photos of the flowers that he and my mom have grown. My mom’s been known to stop on the side of the interstate to dig up a particular wildflower she likes for her perennial bed, and when she came to visit here, the most notable thing she enjoyed was the delphinium growing weed-like around the city (no, she didn’t harvest it… but I think she regrets that!).

So, I guess flowers have always held a bit of a special place for us as a family. As I agonized over florists (seriously, I care more about the flowers than the cake, my dress, and the food!), Mr. Snow sometimes looked at me like I was nuts. While almost all of our other decisions have been made by consensus (usually me coming up with some wacky idea and Mr. Snow saying, “Um…do we really need that?” or “How does that help unify the aesthetic we’re going for?”) he said he was totally indifferent toward the flowers, other than he really liked moss. Otherwise, flowers were totally my decision.

So, last night, we chose our florist. I’ll post more about that decision later, but I am really really happy about our decision.

If flowers are really important to you, how did you figure out what percentage of your budget you’d use for them?

I was stumbling around on Etsy, which is not all that uncommon for me these days, and I came across the most perfect piece of jewelry from Fabuluster. And it wasn’t even for me. Nope, not for my bridesmaids either (as you may have guessed from the title), it was for Mr. Fro Yo!

Did you see the inside of that ring? How about a close up?

Those, my friends, are fingerprints. Fabuluster sends you an impression kit in the mail to capture both your and your fiance’s fingerprints separately. THEN, he makes them into a custom ring with your fingerprints lining the inside! You can have this done in either gold or silver.

Wow. I’m in love with this, and thankfully for me, so is Mr. Fro Yo. This is seriously one of the sweetest things ever. No need for engraving, as my fingerprints are right there always with him! Sigh…

1. Price
The Chocolate Show was $35, and I treated Mr. Hammy, so I was out a cool $70. On the other hand, tickets to the Wedding Salon, with a coupon code, were free. I did *not* treat Mr. Hammy to the Wedding Salon, although we did attend the spring Wedding Salon show together. We had just gotten engaged, and I was young and naïve. Ladies, do you want to see true fear in your man’s eyes? Take him to a wedding show.
Chocolate Show: 0, Wedding Show: 1

2. Initial Wait
We went to the Chocolate Show on its last day (Sunday), relatively early in the day, so the wait wasn’t too bad. In fact, we were able to walk right in. For the Wedding Salon, the line was ginormous! I waited in line for about 35 minutes, and unfortunately ended up staying at the show around 20 minutes - it was a great show so it was really crowded, and I’m a crowd wimp.

There was a bit of a line…

Chocolate Show: 1, Wedding Show: 0

3. Fashion

The Wedding Salon had tons of wedding gowns on mannequins as well as models floating around the show - some designers I recognized included Ines di Santo and Romona Keveza. On the other hand, the Chocolate Show had dresses made out of chocolate. Beauty vs. Yumminess? Ooh, tough decision.

Chocolate Elvira vs. Taffeta Ines

Chocolate Show: 1, Wedding Show: 1

4. Freebies and Giveaways

My Wedding Salon confirmation allowed for one gift bag, while supplies lasted. When I checked in, the kind lady told me that they had run out of gift bags - I guess I arrived too late. But then, right after I left the check-in line, I saw other brides picking up their gift bags! This made me a really sad hamster - I love gift bags! And at least from afar, they looked pretty good too - a nice blue and white tote with some lotion products and edible goodies inside. Oh well. In contrast, the Chocolate Show had TONS of samples - cocoa nibs, truffles, 80% cacao, peanut butter, chocolate bark and hot chocolate, just to name a few. Then again, we did pay for this event, so I’d expect some chocolate!

Where is Hammy’s gift bag? Nowhere.

Chocolate Show: 1, Wedding Show: 0

5. General Awesomeness
The Wedding Salon had some pretty great vendors, including Sylvia Weinstock - and I finally, finally got over my shyness to approach her (I had seen her at several other wedding events and wimped out). That was really cool! Then again, the Chocolate Show had chocolate covered bacon. Chocolate. Covered. BACON. Yes.

Sylvia vs. Bacon

Chocolate Show: Priceless, Wedding Show: Priceless

Ooh, close call, but it looks like the final verdict is:
Chocolate Show: Priceless + 3, Wedding Show: Priceless + 2

Chocolate Show is the big winner! Go ahead and take your victory lap!

In all seriousness, the Wedding Salon was a great resource, especially for brides early in the planning process. There were a ton of vendors for you to talk to, as well as tablescapes for inspiration. And if you’re not a crowd wimp like me, it’s totally manageable. Also in all seriousness - I’d highly recommend the Chocolate Show. The hours of indigestion afterwards were a small price to pay for a stuffed and happy Hammy.

Have you been to any bridal shows? How were they?

~~~

What is your/your SO’s stance on pets (are you in agreeance on the kind, and how many, or does the subject make you fight ‘like cats and dogs’)?

Miss French Fries - When Mr. FF and I got together, I liked dogs, but he wasn’t a huge fan of cats because of allergies. He had a dog that I met on our 2nd date, and I loved him! I had a cat that he met pretty early on, and has genuinely grown to love (he holds her all the time and loves when she licks his nose!) and he’s built up some sort of weird allergy immunity towards her so that he doesn’t sneeze constantly when she’s around. It worked out really well!

When we moved in together, we weren’t sure how the dog and cat would get along, but it worked out great. They got along just fine… so fine, in fact, that we decided to get another dog! Our house is somewhat of a zoo, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

I grew up a huge animal lover, so I’m not sure I could marry someone that wasn’t a fan of pets. I’ve even made Mr. FF promise to move us somewhere warm when we retire so that we can open a shelter for cats & dogs.

Mrs. Deviled Egg - Right now, we are both OK with not having pets. We are away from home too much during the day while we’re at work and it wouldn’t be fair to any pet we would get. We both really love my mom’s dog, Gidget, so having her for an occasional weekend visit when my parents are away is enough for us.

Here is little Gidgalicious in her Christmas coat:

I’m not sure when we’d get a dog or cat of our own. Maybe after we have children.

Miss Hamster - Mr. Hamster and I are both huge fans of pets and animals, and are self-proclaimed “dog people”. That being said, I’ve had my furbaby cat for 6 years and she’s a total character! When the cat moved in, Mr. Hamster tolerated her enough, but the smart little bugger knew how to worm her way into his heart. I often find her on his lap, where she has been for hours, because (in his words) he had “no choice but to pick her up”.

This is Tilly. She’s working on her Weddingbee application (obviously).

Miss Trail Mix - I don’t like dogs. There, I said it and I’m not ashamed to admit it. People judge when I tell them that. Unfortunately, Mr Trail Mix is allergic to cats and is hell-bent on getting a dog. We will probably be getting one when we move into an apartment that allows dogs and is big enough but I have already set some guidelines:

1. No bigger than 40 lbs
2. I will never ever have to pick up its poop.

Mrs. Mary Jane - Mr. Mary Jane and I are both “practical pet people”. This means we don’t like to take on any pets that would increase our stress levels or be unfair to the animal. We recently got a cat, and justified that with the knowledge that a cat can fend for itself throughout the day. They don’t get lonely as easily as dogs do, and don’t need to be let outside to do their business. We both really like cats, and neither of us is allergic, so it is a good choice for us. Our little furball is so much fun! As far as a dog, we do both like dogs, too. We’re waiting until we have a different living situation. Namely: a normal daily schedule and a larger house and/or area where a dog could run around. We would feel cruel to leave a dog cooped up in our 1800 sq. foot home while we’re at work, and we do not want to be ‘those neighbors’ who just leave their dogs out barking in the yard all day. (We already have those neighbors. Heh.) Also, like Trail Mix, We’re not thrilled about picking up dog poop. It almost makes dog ownership not worth it to us. We both grew up with dogs, but in the country (where poop doesn’t get scooped!).

This is Tiberius: he joined our little family just about 3 weeks ago (he is somewhere between 6 and 10 months of age).

Mrs. Cowboy Boot - On our honeymoon, we were told we look like “dog people”. Yep, that’s true. We have two dogs (both two years old) that we adopted from a shelter here in Santa Fe. We’d wanted a dog together for a couple of years but lived in NYC and didn’t want to get a small breed. Thus, when we moved to New Mexico, we happily adopted our pooches, Rio and Odin. More than likely, we’ll have more dogs in the future. I mean, how can you say no to this???

Miss Frozen Yogurt - I LOVE pets!! I search Craigslist for animals that need homes, trying to entice Mr. Fro Yo with their sweet little faces, but he’s not having it. He likes pets fine, just not as much as I do. We already have one dog, but I think she needs a friend! It doesn’t have to be another dog though, maybe a cat, or a potbelly pig, or… you know, anything! I tell him a new pet could be my wedding present. I think it’s still a no.

Mrs. Beagle - Prior to dating Mr. Beagle, I was completely a cat person. I grew up with cats for pets and dogs just scared me. After I started dating Mr. Beagle, I found he was allergic to cats, like, break-out-in-hives allergic, so living with cats was out of the question. I gave up my cat, and we got the next best thing—a basset hound (which is really like a huge cat that shows a little more affection). I think we’ll probably get another dog whenever we move out on our own (right now we live with BIL Beagle and his dog, Oso) so that Kingsley has a friend. While I’m pushing for another basset, I think Mr. Beagle is leaning towards a Lab.

Miss Lamb - I am a dog person. I’m particularly crazy about large dogs (Newfoundlands, St. Bernards, German Shepherds, Mastiffs, Labs, etc.). Our family Lab that I grew up with, is the best dog on earth, IMHO, and it’s hard for me to live life without a dog. I had a roommate with 2 cats and I warmed up to kitties, too. Lambster doesn’t hate animals, but he hates hair and poop. He also hates that animals cramp your style as far as having to plan your schedule around taking care of them. Our current deal is that when we have kids, I can get an animal because kids cramp your style way more than animals.

The roommate’s kitties - Sylvester (of the dress story fame) and Spunky

Sage, our dog, and me near Camp David a few autumns ago.

Mrs. Penguin - Mr. Peng actually turned me on to little dogs. He grew up with his beloved Shih Tzu, Kirby, who is part Lhasa Apso. I just love Kirby so much that I wanted a dog of my own when I graduated from college, and got Billie Jean, my Lhasa Apso. Mr. Peng loves Billie as much as he loves me (probably more) and he often jokes that if we don’t have kids perhaps we can have our own Lhasa farm. It sounds like fun!!! We’re both fans of small dogs. HUGE fans! I don’t think I could have more than one dog at a time, but Mr. Peng thinks maybe we could, if we don’t have kids. They’d both be small/medium (like Billie) if we did. I like just the one.

Here’s Billie Jean! I kiss her on the lips. THERE, I SAID IT!!!

Mrs. Cherry Blossom - Poor Mr. CB. Let’s just say he went from zero dogs, to quite a few after we got married. It was always part of our relationship and as long as I’ve known him, my family and I own dogs, but over the years, we’ve adopted a few, growing our brood. The best part for Mr. CB is that they’re all yappity small dogs that drive him absolutely bonkers. When they are calm, he doesn’t mind them so much, but when something ticks one off, they bark like there’s no tomorrow and I completely understand that it is a bit much for him to handle. Overall though, he treats my babies well and accepts them even though at times, he’d prefer not to.

Mrs. Bunny - I grew up without any cats or dogs, so it’s totally weird to me that Mr. Bunny’s two cats are now half mine.

He is an animal person, in general, and would love to get a dog (or several) very soon. I would like a dog eventually, but I think I would prefer a small to medium dog, rather than a large dog. Mr. Bunny, on the other hand, would love a large dog like a Huskie. I can’t help but think about how much they shed and how big they are and how loud they bark. *wince*

For right now, we are happy with our two kitties, but we know we’ll have to deal with our dog differences at some point!

Miss Rainbow - Mr. Rainbow & I both love animals. Mr. Rainbow grew up around dogs and cats (and a few lizards and snakes) and I grew up with dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, guinea pigs, bunnies… you name it, we had it. We even had a baby squirrel and a baby duck at one point. Needless to say, we’re pretty much game for anything when it comes to animals. As long as we have the space, time, and money, why not give an animal a good loving home? We currently have three little dogs, and we would probably have a cat, too, but I have horrible cat allergies, so it’s just the dogs for now. Once we have a house with a nice big yard we’ll probably get a big dog, too. He wants a German Shepherd, I want a Great Dane. We’ll see what happens. I’m still trying to convince him to let me get a raccoon and a skunk (they can be de-sprayed) when we get a house. They are sooooo cute. I’m not so sure how that one will pan out, but how much would you freak if you went to someone’s house and a skunk came up to greet you? Hahahha, I love it!

Miss Potato Chips - I’m allergic to all dogs (even the “hypoallergenic” ones) and to most cats. And yet, we have a double-pawed cat named Thumbs. She showed up on our doorstep one winter and has been with us ever since. Surprisingly, she doesn’t bother my allergies too much, but dogs make me wheeze. And the big ones scare me. I’m on year three of five of allergy injections, so maybe a dog will be in our future. I’m angling for a bunny, but Potato Head is not having it… I like how independent and chill cats are, especially Thumbs.

Mrs. Mouse - The Dude and I have two cats, Oddibe and Crookshanks. They sleep with us every night—they’re our babies! We are definitely cat people. However, I also really like dogs, and I’ve wanted a pug or a bulldog (or really any kind of small- to medium-sized mutt) for awhile now. But the Dude is very much anti-dog. He doesn’t hate them, he just thinks they are too much work and rather annoying at times. I’m OK without a dog, but I wish I had one I could play with every now and then.

Mrs. Tulip - We have a dog and 4 cats. We’re like the Brady Bunch of house pets — we both had a “proper” number, but then we got married and all moved in together!

Ms. Swan - I am not a big pet person at all. It’s actually not because I don’t like animals. It’s because I don’t really have an interest in putting the time, energy and money into a pet. I think pets deserve loving and attentive owners, and I don’t think I would be one (the attentive part at least). We live in a not-so-big place and both can work crazy hours at times, so I just think a pet isn’t really conducive to our lifestyles. Also, Mr. Swan is allergic. At the same time, he claims having a pet is a good idea and that we should have one in the future for the sake of some baby Swans. I really prefer not to have pets in the future but if I have to compromise, I don’t mind having a pet if Mr. Swan doesn’t mind living off of high doses of allergy meds, and I don’t have to care for it.

Mrs. Candy Corn - If I could surround myself with animals as opposed to people, I totally would. I am like a crazy cat lady, but minus the cats because they make me sneeze and my eyes pop out of their sockets. Our/my pet obsession began in college when I decided I was going to be rebellious and get a chinchilla during our junior year. I had a really high bunk bed with no bed under it so I was able to hide the little lass in her huge cage under my bed by draping curtains down so the building inspectors wouldn’t notice a little critter. Then I found out that it’s best if you have two chinchillas so they aren’t lonely, so I went back to the chinchilla breeder and found Maude a friend, Ethel Funk (named after a lunch lady on our campus). It took a bit of warming up, but before we knew it, they were spooning BFFs. Once I entered my senior year and had an on-campus apartment, my bunny obsession began, and Mama Candy Corn was kind enough to encourage it by getting me a lop-eared bunny for my birthday/graduation gift. I named her Willamena Nelson and then realized a week later that she had bunny balls, so I promptly changed her name to Willie Nelson.

Once Mr. Candy Corn and I moved into an apartment, I knew it was time for us to rescue a dog from the shelter. We visited the local SPCA and found a terrified Westiepoo, shaking in the corner and too afraid to bark or wag her tail. Mr. Candy Corn decided she was the one, and every day I’m so thankful for his choice. Our pooch, Betty White, is incredibly neurotic because of her past abuse and is attached to me at the hip and terrified when we have visitors, but I love her anyway. (Even if she sometimes gets nervous and poops on our bed. Sigh.)

My bunny obsession continued in 2006, when we were getting pet food at PetSmart and the local SPCA was there with rabbits that needed homes. I gave Mr. Candy Corn my sad puppy eyes and he gave me his permission to have a fifth member of our menagerie. We were told by both the SPCA and our vet at the time that it was a boy, so we were a little surprised when “he” popped out five babies in the middle of the night a month later. Needless to say, we got a new vet. Cadbury, the mama, was really aggressive and trying to harm her babies, so we had to basically raise them on our own. I found safe, happy homes for them all except the runt of the group, who we had grown quite attached to after he had reached near death by having his mama grab him by the neck as a wee little thing. We decided to keep the little feller and name him Applesauce (Mr. Candy Corn selected that lovely name), and he is the sixth and final member of our four-legged family.

Once we have a house, we’d like to foster dogs as well. I’m a partner with the local SPCA and I really think it’s important to help as much as you can. I think it’s really given us a great sense of responsibility. It’s a TON of work, but it is definitely worth it in our eyes.

Mrs. Sprinkle - Mr. Sprinkle and I love animals. LOVE THEM! We have three rescued cats (Ike, Freddie Mercury and Sweet Kitten) and if we didn’t have a landlord we would probably have a whole houseful. We would love to get a small dog someday, when we own a home of our own. I also take care of two rats when I am at preschool (Elvis and Van Halen), but the rats wouldn’t mix with our cats, which is why they are classroom pets only. Luckily, we are totally in agreement about pets, although sometimes I see the feral kitties in our neighborhood and want to take them all in, and Mr. S has to gently remind me that we already have a full house!

Mrs. Duckling - I cannot wait until we get a dog! Mr. Ducky knows that I LOVE dogs and he loves them too. Ultimately I really want to have a yellow lab or two, but we will wait until we have a house and yard for them. We are in an apartment now and are thinking about maybe getting a small dog in the next year or so. Part of me really misses having a dog, but then I know that it will be harder to get away.

Mrs. Joey - I want a doggie — bad. He’s allergic to them (he thinks) but says he may be open to a hypo-allergenic dog (apparently poodles) once we’ve moved. We can’t have cats because we’re both really allergic. He really wants a Vietnamese potbelly pig but I just don’t think I can give up bacon.

Mrs. Bee - Mr. Bee and I lovelovelove animals. One of my dreams has always been to open a no kill shelter, and live some place more rural where we’ll be able to raise a variety of farm animals.

Mr. Bee has always been a huge dog person, but he wasn’t so much a cat person because he’d never owned one and he’s slightly allergic. I brought Smokey the cat with me with I moved to New York from Los Angeles after we got engaged. Smokey is a beautiful cat, but a spoiled princess. Last year I brought her sister Sparky to come live with us because she got cancer and I was better able to take care of her than my parents. Sparky looks like a common alley cat, but she is the sweetest cat of all time. She is the one that convinced Mr. Bee that cats can be truly awesome.

Mrs. Yorkie - We’re both animal lovers! Right now, it’s just us, and Mr. Y’s two adopted cats. In a couple of weeks, we’ll finally add Bella to the mix permanently. (I’m not as nervous about it as I used to be.) It’ll be great to have her to snuggle up with again whenever I want!

Since I was a kid, I’ve always had a veritable zoo: parrots, cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, a guinea pig, and even a huge white turkey named Tito. I’m really used to home being slightly on the crazy/noisy/squawky side with lots of activity. I kind of miss it, actually. If we had the space and resources to welcome home more pets, I know we would in a heartbeat!

Here are some of my favorite feathered family members, who are doing a great job of keeping Mama Yorkie company in her newly emptied nest.

Clockwise, from top left: Houdini (the escape artist), Tex (loves dancing to C&W!), Guido (figured out he was a she from the egg-laying), Mia (the sweetest, cuddliest thing ever!), and Pretty Bird (who has a thing for screaming “PEANUT BUTTER!” and “BELLA!” at the top of her little lungs)

Miss Pretzel - Mr P had a fish growing up for a whopping 3 weeks and he couldn’t keep it at his house because they didn’t have a tank for it. Me, I’ve only not had a cat for a year and a half. When he and I first started dating he told me he didn’t like cats. It was almost a deal breaker. In reality, he hadn’t spent much time around cats and had some allergies to them. Thankfully I didn’t press the issue, and as he started to spend more time at my place my kitties won his heart (it helped that over time his allergies subsided, too).

We currently have 2 cats. Cassanova is 11 and acts like a 3 year old puppy (no really, he fetches, waits by the door for me, and is about “his people”). Cheese (I got her in Wisconsin) is a 7 year old small, fluffy, orange cat. She’s the opposite of Cass; shy and more cat oriented than people oriented (no really, she’s in love with Cass). I say “we” because even though the furballs live with me and I had them before Mr P and I met, I think the cats might like him more. Since he has become part of our lives Cheese has come out of her shell and spends a lot more time hanging around “the people”.

As much as he loves them, Mr P has never lived with cats. When we move in together we both know there will need to be some getting used to. It’s mostly the cat hair that he thinks will bother him. We’ve agreed that they won’t be allowed in the bedroom and that will be a major change for them, as they love to lounge on my bed all day and snuggle with me at night. I think I’m going to have to kick them out of my room months before the move to get them used to it.

Mrs. Peep Toe - I adopted my belolved Huckleberry almost a year before I met Mr. Peep, and he rescued his beloved Ferris about 6 months before we met.

If Mr. Peep weren’t a dog person, he would have been kicked to the curb after date number one!! That’s how important Huck is to me. Now he refers to Huck as his dog and gets upset when he sleeps on my side of the bed (yes, he sleeps with us).

As for our lion (scratch that) cat, Ferris has moments when he is absolutely lovable and adorable, but some moments when he can be a terror. While he’ll always be Mr. Peep’s cat, he’s a part of our family and deep down, I love him.

I think we’ll stick to two pets for now. I don’t think we could fit more in our one bedroom apartment.

Mrs. Sea Breeze - Growing up, Mr Breezy had a dog named Sarah who was a huge part of his life. On our first date, he kept talking about Sarah this and Sarah that and how much he missed Sarah… that I thought she was maybe a daughter he had from a previous relationship!!

Not that I don’t get it. Growing up I had a beloved dog named Fifi… and also 5 other dogs, dozens of cats, oodles of bunnies, several horses, a chicken named Jaws a cow named Oly. Yes, I had quite the Dr Doolittle childhood.

Today, we live in a small place and we don’t have any pets. Mr Breezy is allergic to cats and I don’t foresee having another pet chicken anytime soon (unless they rewrite the city bylaws to allow condo owners to have them, in which case HECK YA; I want me a Henrietta and fresh omelets every day!) but I definitely think we’ll get a dog one day. Maybe not right away, but for sure when we have kids. We couldn’t imagine it any other way.

Mrs. Stiletto - We are definitely pet people, and have been asked (and I quote) - “Are you going to have kids or just pets?”

We have two cats - Linus, our big fluffy grey furball and Basil, our sweet, shy gray tabby cat. We’ve had Linus for almost 2 years, and Basil for 3 1/2 years.

Our dog, Charlie, is a beagle/foxhound mix that we got about 6 months ago. He has definitely completed our family!

The pets are ours, and we made the collective decision to get each and every one of them. All three are rescues from Chicago-area animal shelters. As we added each one into the family, we both have worked very hard to get them all to get along (a continual work in progress!) and our life together would be a little more empty without our own little “zoo” in the house!

Mrs. Taffy - Mr. Taffy and I are both ridiculously allergic to cats, and he is also very allergic to dogs… so it’s a good thing that we have birds!

Before we met, I adopted two adorable baby canaries, and named them Fluffenstein and Chirpenstein. (Chirpy and Fluffy for short!) By the time Mr. Taffy and I were dating, the aggressive male Chirpy was harassing Fluffy so badly that we had to return him to his former home, where he was very happy. Mr. Taffy helped me choose a new canary, and I asked him to name her. He chose to name her Luna, as she is white, silver and yellow.

Unfortunately, a month after our wedding, our adorable pet Fluffy was a victim of Vet malpractice, and she died a few weeks later. We will never trust another vet again!!! I raised her from the time she was 6 weeks old… I was completely devastated. We are just now starting to look for another bird, so Luna won’t be as lonely. Losing a pet is so difficult!

The best part of the story—Fluffy taught Luna to sing, and now Luna sings every day. I still really miss our sweet little fluffball, though!

Mrs. Hot Cocoa - I got my shih tzu, Jellyby, when Mr. HC and I broke up briefly several years ago. As a result, he sometimes feels like she was his replacement. And I have to say that she acts a lot like him; to see the two of them sleeping is hilarious — they both sleep with their hands/paws on their tummies and snore like freight trains! It’s very cute. Although I spoil her, he’s the one she fawns over. When he comes home, it’s like Hanukkah. She runs around him, jumps and tries to kiss his face, and squeals like a ten-year-old at a Jonas Brothers concert. Hrrmph.

For me, dogs are like cupcakes. No reason to stop at one! So if I had my way, we’d get at least one other dog. But Mr. HC thinks one is plenty of work already!

Mrs. Lovebird - Before we got our little Babu (I call him my lil’ Babu Bear), I was not an animal person, let alone a dog person. In fact, I was afraid of all animals! Birds, dogs, cats, you name it. I’m still afraid of all animals, but I’m getting better around doggies. I think it’s because I had a few traumatic experiences as a kid. Needless to say, I didn’t have any pets growing up, nor did I want any. Mr. Lovebird never had any pets either, but he’s always liked dogs. Last year, Mr. Lovebird said he wanted a puppy for our first Christmas as a married couple. I agreed to go to a pet shop with him (just to look), and made about three trips to the animal shelter (once he has his mind set on something, it’s hard to change it). The next thing I know, we are walking out of the pet shop with a puppy and I was even afraid to hold him in the car while Mr. Lovebird drove home. It took a little while for me to get over my fear, but with a face like this, how could anyone not love him…

Now, I can’t imagine our lives without him, and Mr. Lovebird is pestering me for another doggie to keep this little cutie company. We’ll see…

Here’s the first picture we ever took of him:

Miss Parfait - We loooove dogs! When we move in together, we’ll have two. One will be elegant and pretty (for me), and one will be short and shaggy (for him). That pretty much describes our current pets, so I think we’re all set!

Mrs. Labrador - Luckily, Mr. Lab and I have the exact same love of animals. Moreover, we have the same love of certain types of animals. We currently own 3 Labrador Retrievers. One was his before we met (Dixie, yellow), one was a gift from him our second Christmas together (Madie, black), and the last one we sort of adopted from my little brother when he could no longer take care of her (Gabby, chocolate). We hope to own a big enough home one day to never have to worry about taking in dogs. We were *thisclose* to picking up a linen-colored Lab a few weeks ago at a “Forgotten Friends” event being held at my university. The ONLY thing keeping us from doing it was not having enough room for our 3 fur babies as is.

My babies brought me wine (purchased by Dixie I’m sure, since the other two were underage!) and a balloon on Valentine’s Day! They’re so thoughtful!

Mrs. Glitter - We have one dog together, Emma. She is our spoiled child. She was a gift from Mr. G when we first started dating. Mr. G also loves fish, and we have two small aquariums at home. We both love animals; although Mr. G is very allergic to cats. We’d like to get at least one more dog. We aren’t in agreement about breed. He has always wanted a big dog… more of a “manly”-type tough dog. I wouldn’t mind another small/medium size doggy. Despite our differing opinions, we both agree that we likely won’t get another pup until we have a bigger place to live.

Mrs. Snow Pea - Mr. Snow Pea was the one who wanted a dog and I was anti-pets. I never grew up with pets so I didn’t understand the obsession people had with their pets. I don’t like the dog smell, the food, the poops. I was still anti-pet until we began dog sitting. The joy and entertainment that the dogs brought to us convinced me! We went in search for a specific breed and found our Basil from The French Bulldog Rescue Network. Now, I’m all about our dog. He’s the love of our life!

~~~

How do you and your SO feel about pets?

I am a High School English and History teacher who absolutely loves her job. I particularly enjoy teaching Shakespeare because, well, his dirty jokes make me giggle. I am slowly adjusting to my new life in Vermont with Mr. Pudding, although I am still fiercely patriotic when it comes to my adopted home land of Canada (think Robin Scherbatsky). Mr. Pudding and I met in college, and had a long distance relationship that lasted for two years after school ended. We are so happy to have that part of our lives behind us.

Our wedding will be heavily influenced by our common Polish heritage. When you come from a Polish-Catholic family, there are some conventions that you do not break. I kid you not, when I mentioned colourful (yes, the “u” is Canadian) shoes to Mama Pudding, she said: “That’s a wonderful idea, how about a nice gold or silver?” We are trying to incorporate unique and special details into the wedding without giving Mama Pudding a heart attack.

I leave you with my fave picture of Mr. Pudding and me. The English teacher in me likes to think of this photo as a metaphor for our situation right now: Mr. Pudding plunging into our life together with great excitement, and me learning to rely on him and enjoying the ride.

Anita & Keith from FilmJones on Vimeo.

I get butterflies in my stomach each and every time I see one of his films.

What Wes doesn’t know is that I’ve coveted his work for years before our wedding. There was just something about it - that combination of eclecticism and art reflected in film. Enjoy!

Devil’s Thumb Ranch
Photo by our friend, Amanda Wilson

This is exactly what I did on Saturday morning, the day before the wedding. Lucky for us, Devil’s Thumb Ranch has complimentary yoga classes in a window-filled room that overlooks the mountains. Bridesmaid AC and I indulged in this luxury and it was the best way to sink into the weekend with a calm, relaxed mindset.

The view with Winter Park Ski Resort in the background

After our 9 AM yoga class ended, it was time to meet friends and family for a group hike around the Ranch’s 5,000 acre-property. I had listed this event on our notes in our out-of-town bags as open to everyone but found that it appealed to our younger guests.

Friends from Jackson, Wyoming, with their dog Santos

From top left, clockwise: Three half-brothers-in-law, Brother CB, Brother CB’s fiance, me, Bridesmaid AC’s sister, Bridesmaid AC, friends from Wyoming

The day was beautiful. It was so beautiful, I wanted to take off my jacket but I was nervous about v-neck tan lines. As we hiked, we came across other wedding friends out for a horseback ride.

From left: Mama CB, SIL CB, and Papa CB

My dad was put on a mule! Ha.

Junior Bridesmaid Yahna

Brother and Sister CB

The day was so gorgeous, we had lunch out on the patio of Heck’s Tavern at Devil’s Thumb Ranch after the hike.

Heck’s Tavern patio

As we ate, our flower girl collected rocks in her dress.

Flower Girl Alma

After lunch, I thought I’d have a little time to relax. Mr CB was recovering from his bachelor party in our cabin. But, I had to be at the cabin next door for the only rehearsal we’d have all weekend: a quick music rehearsal with my aunt and grandmother and to practice a few things with our officiant, my uncle, before the ceremony.

I rushed a pulled pork sandwich to Mr. CB (get that boy some grease!) and went to the music rehearsal. I think I cried more during the rehearsal than at the actual ceremony—it was just so sweet to hear my grandmother and aunt practice what they were going to sing for us at our ceremony. My aunt gave a quick “Yes!!!” for making me cry before handing me a tissue.

About an hour after the music rehearsal, my dad and grandfather stopped by our cabin where Mr. CB and I were relaxing. My dad wanted to go over a few dance moves with me for our father-daughter dance. We sat on a bench overlooking the ranch, watching another wedding ceremony take place at their outdoor site.

My dad started to cry. It was maybe my favorite moment from the whole weekend.

How did we get here?

First, Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Boulder, CO.
Then, I spent a peaceful morning with my bridesmaids and maids-of-honor.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party that night.
The next morning, two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

Did you kick off your wedding weekend with any fun events?

Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee classifieds and you might see it featured on the blog!

Other great items for sale:

Three-tiered clear glass cake stand - $25 + shipping

Light pink crinoline/petticoat - $40 + shipping

1950s-style ivory bubble veil - $40

Let’s rewind back to last March. Mr Pretzel and I had just started talking marriage and engagement. I hadn’t even started to think about rings. Then, we were watching Sweet Home Alabama and I had my first engagement ring thought/comment.

You know the scene: Reese and Patrick are in a dark room, the lights flip on, the blue boxes are stacked high, and the diamonds come out.


Me: “Don’t you worry, I won’t be demanding a giant flashy Tiffany Ring.”

Mr Pretzel: “That’s good, ’cause if you did, you might be waiting a while for it. *grin*”

Don’t get me wrong, I had never actually looked at Tiffany Rings… I just had a caricature in my head of the type of girl who demands a large fancy diamond in a blue box. A caricature that I knew “wasn’t me”. We had a giggle and enjoyed the rest of the movie. Oh that comment, and how it would be my downfall.

Now, not only had I not looked at Tiffany rings, I hadn’t looked at any engagement rings. I thought it would be funny to email Mr Pretzel the most jewel encrusted, over the top, expensive ring, and pretend that it was “the one”. I remembered the quote from the movie, and my fingers quickly typed www.tiffany.com, with full expectations of over the top and flashy. In my mind I could see the look on Mr Pretzel’s face when I showed him a ring all blinged out and huge!

So NOT me!

As the page loaded, I lost my words.

*cue music and lights… behold the perfect ring*

When I finally found words, all I could muster was “Damn it!”

There it was, the Tiffany® Setting… so freaking simple and perfect. The lines were clean and simple and the diamond was beautiful and sophisticated, everything I didn’t even know I wanted in a ring.

ohhh… pretty

I did a little research about Tiffany and the Tiffany® Settin. This baby has history!

In 1886 Tiffany introduced the engagement ring as we know it today—the Tiffany® Setting—an innovation that lifts the diamond above the band with six platinum prongs, allowing a more complete return of light from the stone and maximizing its brilliance. -Tiffany & Cmpany history

The price was surprisingly reasonable and the quality high. Hmm… maybe I judged good ol’ Tiffany and Co. too harshly. I set aside plans to kid Mr Pretzel with an ostentatious ring in favor of seeing this one in person. *Sigh* In person, it was just as beautiful. The saleswoman was awesome and educated me on all things diamond. I was smitten with the ring. Smitten and a little sheepish; how ironic that I had fallen for a Tiffany Ring.

Armed with a Tiffany book on engagement rings, I met Mr Pretzel for dinner. He wanted to know how my shopping had gone and if I had seen anything I liked. I bit my lower lip and nodded my head silently not making eye contact. He asked if I was going to tell him about it. I nodded my head no. He gave me a funny look and I burst out, “I found the ring I love and now I am a hypocrite.” He gave me a blank stare, so I tossed the blue book onto the table. We both looked at the book, and together we burst out laughing.

That night I read him passages out of the book and we had a good chuckle. Our favorite quote accompanies this photo:

“Notice how the prongs hug the girdle without violating the table”

Honest to God, it really says that. I went to sleep dreaming of hugged girdles and un-violated tables.

What has been ironic in your wedding planning? How did you fall in love with your ring?

All Photos: Tiffany & Co

Take a look:

Laid-back and chill

(Source)

I like these guys’ shades

(Source)

How sweet is this couple? And I like the 3-piece look, too!

(Source)

I’m picturing a sharp khaki suit with a sky blue shirt and yellow tie. And of course, yellow and blue argyle socks!

Unfortunately, Mr Trail Mix’s style and taste differ a bit from mine and he was decidedly NOT appreciating this look. Since I haven’t quite morphed into a complete bridezilla (yet), I decided to let the mister have a say on this one and look further into other suit options. Currently we are looking into various shades of grey for the suit (Heather grey? Charcoal grey? Coal grey? Who knew grey had so many options?).

Here are my shirt and tie inspirations:

This is the color blue I’m picturing for the shirts.

(Source)

I love this tie! How good would it look against a blue shirt?

(Source)

I mostly love this picture for the yellow house in the background. But I like the ties, too.

(Source)

I’m still working on convincing Mr TM about the argyle socks. But I’m curious: which shade of grey do you think would go best with that shirt and tie combo? Or should, I try to convince him of how great he would look in a khaki suit?

Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.

Attempt #1: Mr. Lab and I got all the way to the courthouse with our paperwork filled out and money ready to go. But then we realized we forgot our certificate proving we completed marriage counseling. Said certificate would save us $30. We decided that was plenty enough to wait until our officiant could mail us the required notarized form and we’d try again.

Source

Attempt #2: We had the day off from classes because it was fall break. We wasted away the day because it was fall break. We finally decided that we should get something done and wanted to go get our license. It was 4:26 PM. The courthouse doesn’t process licenses after 4 PM.

Attempt #3: We were proud of ourselves because we had all our forms ready to go and we knew this was our LAST CHANCE to get the license before the wedding (we live life on the edge). Despite Mr. Lab delivering some seriously bad news about our ceremony site right before we walked into the courthouse (much more on that later), I was still looking forward to finally having the license in hand. But, we forget the payment! So Mr. Lab had to take a quick trip to the ATM to get cash. Now, here’s the fun part…

I got hit on while waiting to get my marriage license!!!

An officer saw me waiting on a bench and shot me a smile. I smiled back politely and turned my attention away. But the officer walked right up to me and the following conversation ensued:

Officer: “Hi. I’m from out of town and was wondering where a good place to eat lunch would be?”
Me: “Well, there’s a lot of options. If you want to stay downtown, you could hit Transmet. They have some great pizza.”
Officer: “Hmmm, have you eaten lunch yet?”
(Seeing where this is going, I lie.) Me: “Yeah, just finished up.”
Officer: “Would it have been a bad thing for me to have asked you to have lunch with me?”
Me: “Um… I’m actually getting my marriage license right now…”

AWWWK. WARD.

Officer: “Oh, well, he’s a lucky guy. Congratulations.” (turns and practically runs off)
Exactly one second later, Mr. Lab rounds the corner and walks right past the officer. He must have seen the tail-end of the conversation because he gave me a weird look. I explained what happened and he just gave a chuckle.

But yeah, we got our license and here’s the proof:

We both hate this pic, but we’re posting for the hive!

ONE DAY!!!

I don’t think I look terrible, and I shouldn’t feel so bummed after having lost over 100 pounds (well, 80 after the “Wisconsin 20″), so I’ll both work on feeling fit and healthy, but also on accepting myself as a worthy and beautiful bride even if I don’t drop a pound.

The model:

J. Crew Rebecca Long

link

Then me:

Me in short dress:

The bottom line: I still don’t know which one I like. The short dress is too small right now, but I think it fits better. The long one looks more “farm bride” but I don’t know if it is the most flattering fit… I think I need to *dun dun dun* physically go to a store and try on dresses. I was/am really nervous about this idea…

I’m a little frustrated/downtrodden about the whole dress issue.

How did you shake your nerves about trying on dresses? And which dress do you like better?

Here are what our pretty light blue envelopes look like all nekkid. So… this story is about my first epic fail, which could have been disastrous, but ended well.

Along with all things paper, I am also obsessed with calligraphy. I LOVE IT. I want to eat it, it is soooo yummy looking! Anyways. Obviously, at $2+ a pop, getting our envelopes professionally calligraphed was NOT feasible. Not even close. And printer labels were not an option to me. Because I’m crazy. So, OF COURSE, I, being the DIY-overachieving-crazy-bride-forgot-that-I-am-in-grad-school-and-doesn’t-even-have-super-nice-handwriting girl that I am, decided to tackle this monster. BAD BAD BAAAAAAAAD IDEAR! (That R is there on purpose, BTW.)

So I enrolled in the Copperplate calligraphy class at PaperSource. I got this cool bottle of black ink and this cool odd-looking pen which is conducive to Copperplate and Spencerian writing, which was included in my tuition of $55. The class was pretty fun - it was nice to have someone demonstrate how to actually write the letters, but I do think I could have self-taught. Seriously. It’s a nice basic intro class.

Once I received my envelopes, I made myself a template, which I slipped inside the envelopes to help me write in straight lines (which I can’t do for the life of me EVEN WITH THE TEMPLATE!).

Then I settled down with a DVD of Friends, and got to working. I probably practiced each address 4 times before I put inked nib to envelope. I busted out about 35-ish envelopes in 5+ hours. My hand was cramped, my eyes were tired, and I had to stop to study…. so I had laid the envelopes all over the dining room table to dry. And when I stopped to take it all in, I felt my world crumbling around me.

OK, so perhaps that was a bit over-dramatic. But here is one of my better envelopes. And while it may appear to be nice, note that I took this picture AT AN ANGLE on purpose. Like I said, I can’t write in a straight line to save my life. My letters weren’t evenly spaced or sized… it was a disaster. I think I can write single letters fine - on practice paper. But connecting letters is not my forte. I can write a really pretty “Mr & Mrs”. That’s all.

At this point, I felt like crying my little eyes out because I had only ordered 25-30 extra envelopes to account for my mistakes and I had just slaved over these envelopes for NO REASON. And there was NOOOOO way I was giving these to ANYBODY, not even boys. Anyways, luckily for me, Kristin of Twin Ravens had some “goof” envelopes that she hadn’t sent to me because of these minuscule barely visible little ink smudges - so she sent them to me, not even knowing about the calligraphy crisis!!! Crisis averted!

Anyways, I ended up printing all 210+ envelopes on my computer. And because my laptop (before it pooped out on me) was being stupid, I couldn’t even copy and paste and had to type each address out. TWICE. SIGHHHHHH. This is the final result:

I’m really happy with how they turned out. They’re all evenly spaced out, and perfect. And beautiful. Much more fitting than my failed calligraphy. Can I point out the realllllly cute little heart symbol I used between the city and state? ANNNND the fact that I got to space out the zip code numbers? Hooray for happy endings and obsessions with odd little details that no one else cares about! As I continue to remind Mr. Ramen, I’m not doing it to impress anyone—the little details make ME happy. (Uh, sorry if that came off a tad Bridezilla…)

I also wanted to take a moment to point out the ADORABLE postage stamp frame that Mr. Ramen designed. We measured stamps to make sure that the dot frame would be visible. Why? I don’t know, because it’s fun? We also wanted to make sure our invites were standard weight so we could use our Forever stamps that we bought before the postage increase. Ghetto? Perhaps, but we saved a nice little pile of moolah by doing so. That means we can afford to eat on the honeymoon! Woo hoo!

Here are almost all 210 of my babies ready to be sent off into the real world!!! *proud tear*

I grabbed my box and headed to my local USPO - where seriously, I think all the best mail persons work. Minus this one nasty grumpy dude. But the rest of them rock! BTW, isn’t the outside really pretty? I was too shy to ask anyone to take a photo of me outside. I know, pathetic.

I kinda felt like it is this wedding rite of passage to hand cancel your stamps. To be honest… I didn’t care either way. HAH! I have heard that they sometimes get run through machines even if you hand cancel, but when I had stopped by to buy postage for the postcards, one of the clerks (I loooove her! Thanks Susan!) told me that she would let me use her stamp and hand cancel our invites. So, I did it for the experience. It was kinda fun! But then again, I like to stamp things. As a kid, I wanted to be a librarian, mostly because I wanted to stamp the book cards. Then, fancy computers happened. But back to the invites…

I wasn’t sure if it was OK to take pictures of the process, and like most of my wedding errands, I was flying solo. So here are all of my babies, hand-canceled and on their way!

Were you able to partake in the hand-canceling rite? Did you experience any almost-catastrophic setbacks with your invites?

Miss Pudding, Greater Toronto Area/Vermont
Age & Occupation: 26, High School Teacher
Fiance’s Age & Occupation: 26, Computer Engineer
Engagement Date: August 2008
Wedding Date: July 2010
Venue: Catholic Ceremony, Cultural Hall Reception
About Me: Quite literally a citizen of the world, I was born in Poland, grew up in Canada, and now live in the beautiful state of Vermont. I love reading historical biographies, multi-tasking, teasing my hair, and, despite my height, wearing high heeled shoes. I am the ultimate klutz with an uncanny ability to put on a graceful front. Mr. Pudding and I have been dating for over six years, and are very excited to finally merge our (very large) families. We are planning a traditional Polish-Catholic wedding that is anything but predictable.

Well that’s it—the whole shebang. We planned, we wed, we partied and we survived. The whole thing was very surreal. Some days it was too real and other days I felt like I was living in a dream (and sometimes a nightmare).

I really enjoyed sharing our wedding with everyone and I hope the hive found my posts interesting but helpful. I seriously get really excited when I see people mention on the boards that they are trying Craigslist out for wedding related needs or are thinking about poster invites or Goodwill makeovers. I hope flower girl poms, short dresses with bright shoes and funny t-shirts as bridal party gifts get more popular, too.

I’m really sad to be “out” of Weddingbee for good, so I won’t be. We’ll just say I’ll bee on a very extended leave of absence from the wedding planning scene. I’m sure I’ll have projects to share that can be wedding related.

While I won’t be blogging here, I will still be blogging. You can find Mr. Joey and me documenting our house building and decorating journey at Forty Twenty Four. I hope some of you will “hop” over and say hi.

I love this place; it really helped make my wedding experience. I hope it won’t be too long until I hop in for a hello!

Love,

Mrs. Joey

Source: Early American Imprints Database

I excerpt:

Madam,

…You are beginning to enter into a course of life; where you will want much advise to direct you from falling into many Errors, Fopperies, and Follies to which your Sex is Subject… It must be therefore your Business to Qualify yourself with those Offices wherein I will not fail to be your director, as long as I think you shall deserve it, by letting you know how you are to Act, and what you ought to Avoid: and beware of despising or neglecting my Instructions, whereon will depend not only your making a good Figure in the World, but your own real Happiness, as well as those of the Person who ought to be the dearest to you.

Tip #1, Do NOT Bring Sexy Back: I must therefore desire you in the first place, to be very slow in changing the Modest Behavior of a Virgin… if the Votes of Wife Men were gathered, a very great majority would be in favour of those Ladies, who after they were enter’d into that State, rather choose to double their Portion of Modesty and Reservedness.

Tip #2, No Canoodling In Front of the Help!: I must likewise warn you strictly against the least degree of Fondness to your Husband before any Witness whatsoever, even before your nearest Relations, or the very Maids of your Chamber.

Tip #3, While Your Husband is Away, You are Allowed to Stay in Jammy Pants and Watch Real Housewives while Eating an Entire Box of Mac and Cheese for Dinner. But Don’t Bug the Servants. And No Nagging! : …I should likewise advise you to differ in practice from those Ladies who Affect abundance of uneasiness while their Husbands are abroad, start with every knock at the Door, and ring the Bell incessantly for the Servants to let in their Master; will not Eat a bit at Dinner or Supper is the Husband happens to stay out, and receive him at his return with such a Medley of Chiding, and Kindness, and Catechizing him where he has been, that a Shrew from Billingsgate would be a more easy and eligible Companion.

Tip #4, Take a Shower, Smelly:…the Satyricial part of Mankind will needs believe that it is not Impossible to be very fine and very filthy, and that the Capacities of a Lady are sometimes apt to fall short in Cultivating Cleanliness and Finery together: I shall only add, upon so tender a Subject what a pleasant Gentleman said concerning a silly Woman of Quality: that nothing could make her Supportable but cutting off her Head, for his Ears were Offended by her Tongue, and his Nose by her Hair and Teeth.

Go forth, friends, and be upstanding wives!

What marriage advice have you received? And I wonder… what advice would you give to young gentleman, on his marriage?

But seriously, sometimes I feel disconnected from Mr. Fro Yo.

It’s not that we don’t talk everyday—we do, several times a day. Then we go home from our respective jobs, take our dog for a hike, maybe do a little P90X, make dinner together, curl up on the couch together where he often plays with my hair as I lay in his lap, and then go to bed and read together for a while before finally falling asleep. But sometimes it feels like we’re two people taking part in activities while in the same room, but we’re not really “together”.

So, I’ve decided to stop taking all these sweet little moments for granted and really appreciate everything we have with each other.

The truth is, whenever I have something that prevents me from making dinner with him or curling up on the couch with him, I’m sad and I really miss it. I am so lucky to have an amazing partner and I don’t want to just live my day to day life and forget that. I will stop making excuses about being tired, or stressed with work (though both of those can be true at times) and just enjoy this exciting time in our lives. I think sometimes it’s important to step back and reconnect and just tell your partner that you love and appreciate them. That’s what I plan to do tonight.

What do you do to reconnect with your partner?

[sources: cupcakes, pearls, pink/green bouquet, green shoe, couple, jewelry (my photo), men’s ring, courthouse, car, orange/green bouquet, green shoe, barrette.]

It’s pretty cool, right? It has some main themes to it (pale green, dusty orange, butter yellow). I was being practical with this inspiration board, expecting to scrounge for flower colors and styles on my day, and trying to keep it all simple. And actually, if you look at the colors above, they do a pretty good job of matching our beautiful venue (which I actually hadn’t even found when I made this board).

And yet, here’s what I ended up with:

[Sources: Shoes, bouquet, sash, and bout/tie photos - Shawna Noel. The rest are my own images.]

Don’t get me wrong. I loved my bouquet. I loved my sash. My shoes… they were alright, aside from the blister they gave me. But the thing is: I planned the wedding colors around those silly shoes. And I don’t even like copious amounts of green that much. I just wanted a pop of color, and the shoes I found were definitely sporting a decent pop. Given that I had this to work with:

[Shawna Noel Photography]

I instead chose to match everything to these. That, in retrospect, was kind of dumb.

The courtroom was so rich with vintage-y colors (they make me think of Shortcake’s colors). Muted, yet bold. Yet our main color was a rather limey-green, which clashed with that gorgeous turn-of-the-century venue. I definitely stood out… but was that a good thing? Many of my favorite portraits are black-and-whites, and I think it’s because I am ultimately a little unhappy that I didn’t take advantage of the dusty pinks, mustard yellows, rustic golds and minty greens that made our venue so special.

I think MIL Mary Jane was on to something when she suggested this paper and color scheme for our paper products.

Brown, dusty pink, mint green, a little muted blue. Why didn’t I catch on then? Our colors were bright, vivid and springy (for a September wedding, haha) instead of rich and vintage-y. While everything did turn out splendidly, in my opinion, I really missed ’the look’ I would have liked. Eh, oh well. If you don’t have any “if only…” moments after your own wedding, you’re probably one of the lucky few. We all spend months or even years planning these events, and ideas and preferences are bound to change over time. It was of course a wonderful day, and I am not interested in a do-over! You know what they say: hindsight is 20/20. I’ll leave you today, just for fun, with my ’hindsight’ (hint: clicking on it should enlarge it a little):

[Sources: Top Row: gumpaste roses, gold flat, cake, birdcage veil, roses, vintage dress; Middle: owl cameo, our courthouse, yellow mary jane, car; Bottom: man accents, bouquet, pink pumps, envelope, cupcakes.]

Are you considering matching your colors to your venue? Or, if your wedding day’s passed, are you happy with the colors you chose?

An afternoon later, I had a mini-Mr Pretzel and a mini-Miss Pretzel—for a whopping $8.37! If you have a selection of paint on hand, you could do this project for a mere $2. Seriously? Seriously! Alright Miss Pretzel, get on with the ‘structions!

Materials:

• Wooden Minis (2)
• 2.5 inch lengths of 1/16inch diameter dowel (2)
• Drill with 1/16 inch bit (or size to fit dowel)
• Pencil (with eraser if you draw like me!)
• Fine Grit Finishing Sandpaper
• Empty Cardboard Box
• Acrylic Paint
• Assortment of small paint brushes
• Aerosol Clear Finish
• Wood Glue

1) In order for these babies to sit pretty atop your cupcakes, they need some stabilization. Cut two 2.5 inch lengths of dowel. I cut mine longer to have a good handle to hold while painting, and cut them down to 2.5 inches when I was finished.

2) Drill a hole in the bottom of your mini to the approximate depth of 1 inch.

Funny story: this is the battery powered screw driver I had when I met Mr Pretzel. I insisted it was a drill—he just laughed at me. I have a “real” drill now, but it was loaned to friends of ours so I had to whip out my “baby drill”.

3) Insert the dowel, but don’t glue.

Notice the bottle of beer in the background- New Belgium Mothership Wit—an organic wheat beer. Yummm… in the Pretzel house we have brews while we DIY… that’s how we roll.

4) Using pencil, draw out the features of your mini. If necessary, erase.

drawing

erasing…

finished pencil “guides”

5) Use fine grit sandpaper to smooth out your mini. Your pencil marks will lighten up (this is good- so as not to show through light colored paints).

sanded and ready to go

6) Take the empty box, flip it upside down and poke holes the diameter of the dowels in the bottom. This is where you will rest your mini when not working on it. This is especially handy when the paint is drying.

Hint: when the whole mini is wet with paint or clear coat, you can guide your mini into its drying position from underneath the box, touching only the dowel. And yes, that is a beer box—is there any question why a brewery-themed wedding is totally us?

7) Apply paint. Don’t be shy—apply multiple coats if necessary. A good rule of thumb is to paint the light colors first. If you make a mistake, use a paper towel dipped in water to clean away wet paint. If the paint dries and you are unhappy with the result, erase with sandpaper and start over.

Almost done painting, but we still have to do the bouquet. I love Mr Pretzel’s cuff links and Converse All Stars!

*sigh* We’re cute as minis!

Admire you work… it’s coming along!

Mr Pretzel likes his mini, and boy does it look like him!

9) Spray with a clear coat. Apply liberally but be careful to avoid drips. Let it dry and repeat.

Notice the difference: Mini Mr Pretzel has been clear coated, Mini Miss Pretzel has not.

I’m so happy with how the bouquet came out! It’s time to clearcoat Mini Miss Pretzel.

10) Take your minis off their dowels and pose them around the house. Warning: this is seriously addictive! Ours are currently hanging out on the fireplace mantle… chillin’. When you are ready to put them into service, be sure to glue to dowels inside the minis—you would hate to lose the dowel in your cupcake!

Meet the Pretzels!

They are even cute from behind!

*Kiss*

My favorite quote of the day came from Mr. Pretzel holding his mini: “What do you want me to do with… umm… me?!”

Note: This tutorial can be adapted for larger Wedding Cake toppers using larger wooden people and a base rather than pegs.

I hope you enjoy making your own Minis!

All photos: Miss Pretzel or Mr Pretzel

But, we struggled again with the visa process. This time it was not our K1 Fiancé Visa, but my family’s. Since they were not able to start their process until our visa was accepted, we’ve now realized accepted the fact that the timing (for our January wedding) was just NOT going to work. And since we would have only been able to have a few of them with us at the wedding, we have decided we are going to move our wedding celebration date, so that way ALL of our Chilean guests (OK, all 4 of them) can be able to make it to our special day.

It sounds crazy to think we are going to change our wedding date just for 4 guests, right? But they are my special invitees (including Poodle Mom and Poodle BM Sister) and they mean the world to me.

After our talk, we decided the best month for us will be April, since it will be Mr. Poodle’s brother’s spring break (he is his best man). This will assure that the most important people in our lives will be able to make it.

We’ve faced different delays with our plans, and at this point we decided we were not going to fight it any more. It’s time to start planning for real, and while some things need to be changed, we do feel that everything will be for the best.

During our talk, we decided to focus on all the good things that can come from moving our wedding celebration date to April, so I could have a big smile on my face again!

• We will have our loved ones by our sides
• There will be better weather in April than in January (we hope)
• We will have more time to complete the “oh so crazy” DIY list I put together… hehe
• We will have time to send STDs!  (I was doing the happy dance for this one!)
• And, I’ll have more time to BEE in the hive as a MISS! So you’ll see more of my crafting adventures!!!

After that list, the change in date did not sound so bad any longer. I finally felt relieved because having my family with me is my dream, and Mr. Poodle could not be any sweeter about it.

Changes can be really stressful, especially when we were just two and a half months away from our original wedding date. But at the same time, we now feel happy about it, ’cause our celebration will be all about having our loved ones with us. After all, that’s what weddings are all about… celebrating LOVE! <3

Have any of you faced an unexpected change in your wedding plans? Have you had to change your wedding date for any reason?

Mmmm… (Tummy rumbles)

When it comes to food, I know what I like. I am one of those people who LOVES food. I definitely live to eat.

Anyways, when it came time to talk about the menu, Mr Trail Mix and I had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted. Since all the food will have to be cooked without access to a kitchen (our venue is essentially a field), we wanted to keep it simple and easy but tasty.

A nice cocktail spread, including cheese, crackers, fruit, hummus, croute de’tats and few passed hot hors d’oeuvres would do nicely. Then, either a Caesar or fresh mesclun salad, choice of fish or steak with some version of potatoes and a summer veggie or two. And finally, our yummy strawberry dessert. Easy, right? HA! This is where the fun begins…

Love the simple shrimp dish and summer corn…

I was truly unaware of how to go about finding a caterer. After we found out my first choice was booked (that’s what happens when you live in a small town with one local caterer, dammit!), I was taken aback and unsure of what to do next. So, I did what any wedding-versed chica would do and hit up The Knot for vendor recommendations. I emailed a few and one responded, inviting us up to do a tasting.

Eric and Catherine of Woodstock Moveable Feast were the first ones to respond and we really like them. We went, tasted multiple delicious courses and threw our original menu right out the window based on how good their food was! They were also willing to take care of rentals for us, which was a huge plus in my eyes. We left the tasting feeling full and confident. Unfortunately, after thinking about some important details and doing some MapQuesting, we decided that they were simply located too far away (about 1.5 hours) from our wedding. However, for anyone getting married in the Hudson Valley Region, I highly recommend them!

Classe Catering in Albany, NY was my next option. They are a much bigger catering company (one of the biggest in the Albany area) and are full service, so I wouldn’t have to rent plates, cups, flatware, etc. I also got several glowing reviews from other brides on both The Knot and Brides.com. But after one of their representatives sent me a sample menu, I was honestly so uninspired and disappointed by it that I didn’t really pursue them much further. I did get so despondent looking for a caterer over the next two months that I kept revisiting Classe as an option but was never excited about them.

The next two caterers I contacted simply didn’t respond to my email and phone message. The 3rd said she would send me a sample menu with prices and never did. Who knew some caterers were so dang flaky? Isn’t it a recession? Aren’t they hurting for business? Don’t they want mine? Apparently not.

Did we find a caterer? Stay tuned to find out…

Was finding a caterer one of your more difficult wedding tasks?

When we left off, Mr. Sunbeam and I were busy as could be to get everything in order before our friends and family arrived. Besides visiting our reception site, I visited our church to make sure our decorations would hang properly, we were stuffing OOT bags, fluffing poms, emailing vendors, and running to Pittsburgh to pick up cheese for our reception. I was starting to wonder if I should miss out on the bachelorette because there was so much to be done, but decided ’no way!’. We had to let go and start having some fun!

Our wedding party and a few of Mr. Sunbeam’s coworkers flew in two days before the wedding to join in on our bachelor & bachelorette parties… or should I say PARTY!? Everyone met up at a B&B where our groomsmen were staying and the next thing we knew, a party bus rolled up. Okay okay, I knew there might be a party bus, but Mr. Sunbeam was surprised to see it!

Just before getting on the bus, our best man #1 handed out t-shirts that he and his wife had designed based on our invitation motif and tweaked to be slightly inappropriate (at least my mom thought so!).

From the front… innocent kids in costumes. Err wait, it looks like the clown got her face paint all… over… that skeleton boy!

And from the back! Please ignore our butts in your face. The clown’s face was blended with the Gerber baby face. I will leave it at that. I looove that they made us t-shirts! Now I wear it to bed, to the gym, and just around the house. It reminds me of all the fun we had!

Remember my bachelorette party bags? I think the ladies enjoyed them! I know we were all munching on the contents at some point, thought if I could do it again I’d sew names on them because I’m pretty sure they got all mixed up by the end of the night. I know I crunched on a few candy necklaces that night!

Then we were off to Pittsburgh! I loved that we were all together on the party bus. I love all of our friends, and of course Mr. Sunbeam, so the more the merrier to me! We were sharing transportation and the bus was going to drop us off at different locations unknown to us, that is, after a quick stop at the Primanti Brother’s for a cheese steak.

The ladies took me bar hopping and dancing, while the men… well they went to a strip club. I knew about the club possibility ahead of time, and luckily some of the guys talked to me about how far to take it with Mr. Sunbeam. He had never been to one before and I knew, while he was probably curious about them, he wasn’t going to be comfortable with too much shenanigans. While I wasn’t worried about Mr. Sunbeam seeing dancing nudie girls, I was worried about germs and body fluids, of all things. He told me he was good and I believe him, because it sounds like he’ll never want to go back to one!

Needless to say there are not pictures from his adventures, but there are some from mine! A bit of dancing on a bar…

Maybe getting a cop or two were involved…

Eventually they picked me up, but they were so worried the picture would be all over “Yearbook”, um… Facebook? I decided to post this one instead. Then we headed back inside for more fun together!

One odd thing that happened was that we kept getting mistaken for G20 protestors! Yes, our party in Pittsburgh was during the G20! I mean I can kinda see it—a bunch of girls in matching t-shirts among a city full of protestors. I should have asked my ladies to get me a veil and some fuzzy pink things to wear so people knew I was a bride!! It all worked out though, and we had a great time.

I was really happy when the two parties met up again and to see Mr. Sunbeam wasn’t traumatized. Getting a party bus together was the best idea, even when the bus made sudden stops or turns!

BTW, my hair was look’n fabulous because I had a hair trial that morning! It wasn’t planned that way; I actually missed my appointment earlier in the week, but I was happy to have fabulous hair for the party!

After the party bus departed. The men headed up to my parents’ cabin, while we ladies went home to get our beauty rest! It was 3 AM—time for this Sun to set. There was only one more day to go! Eeek!

Up Nnext: Only one day to go!

Are you planning to party with the boys and do a joint bachelor/ette party? Or do you hope for some alone time debauchery?

pic by me

First, thanks to all who expressed such concern, support, generosity, and kindness about the loss of Claxton Farm’s beautiful barn and about our wedding plans.

Luckily, the owners that manage the site have made plans to rebuild over the next six months. Mr. Snow and I have decided maintain our wedding plans for this location, old barn, new barn, or no barn. In one respect, the natural beauty surrounding the barn makes for a gorgeous wedding location, and the spirit with which the owners and event planners approached this crisis meant a lot to us. In another regard, this tragedy (more for the owners and who depend on this space for their livelihood) reminded both Mr. Snow and me how little a venue matters in the large scale of a marriage.

Sure, we were sad (as I’m sure you all picked up in that post titled “sadness”… LOL), but we also realized how we could wed, as Mr. Snow so hilariously stated, “in a ditch” and our marriage would still be grounded in our love for one another. We’ve been through much worse than this, and we know we’ll face other tough times over the course of our marriage to one another, but that’s what marriage is all about, right? The good times and the down right lame times.

It was frustrating to feel back to square one with planning (even though we’re most likely not!), but comforting to know that Mr. Snow and I really are one heck of a team, prepared to handle bumps in the wedding and marriage road together.

Now, let’s get back to the fun DIY projects.

So, did you have a wedding crisis? What’d you learn from it?

Mr. Doxie and I went as (a very last-minute) Frankenstein’s Monster and his bride. We couldn’t get the bolts to stick to his neck with the safe-for-skin glue, and after he rejected Super Glue suggestion, I decided to just draw them in for effect. You can see the Halloween-fabric bunting I made hanging in the background.

After our Friday night Halloween festivities, Mr. D and I headed down to Los Angeles to continue our celebrations.

We had planned on going to West Hollywood for Halloween night and partying it up with a few close friends, but Mr. Doxie was being a major party-pooper. He didn’t feel well and has a pretty big aversion to cities in general. In LA he was miserable.

So, we skipped West Hollywood and went to sleep early. The next morning, determined to cheer him up (and because I knew that a certain paper store was in the vicinity) we sought out the most deliciously over-priced cupcakes in Beverly Hills.

A few pumpkin cupcakes later, we were on our way to Paper Source when what did we see!?

source

A beacon of light shone down upon that modern roof-top. So what if we’re registered at Crate and Barrel when the nearest one is three hours away? We’d added a few things to the registry via the internet, but there are some things you have to see in person.

“Can we go update our registry!? PRETTY PLEASE!?”

“Uggghhhhh,” Mr. Doxie groaned.

“But you’ll get to play with a really cool scanner gun!”

“Ughhhhhhhhhh,” he repeated as I pulled into the parking structure.

Everything started out great! Mr. Doxie, though I doubt he’d admit it, was having fun scanning things in. (That’s an Altoids tin in Mr. D’s pocket, not chewing tobacco!)

We even agreed on the first item that we looked at, our flatware! This was going to be effortless!

Uhhh, or so I thought. We started disagreeing on everything else. I knew Mr. D and I had different styles, I just didn’t think he’d care very much about it. I was wrong.

We disagreed on our everyday dishes, wine glasses, cutting boards, sofas…

And then there were the items that were a bit overwhelming. Forget disagreement… neither of us could make a decision to being with! How do you choose one design from a whole wall of glasses?

We managed to survive, even though I did have to do some online registry cleanup when we got home; Mr. D was a little trigger-happy.

Despite our disagreements, I’m relieved that we did decide on quite a lot of registry items. Though, I think I need to find a comprehensive checklist of registry basics so that I can cross-reference our C&B registry with the one from Macy’s. All-in-all, I’m happy that we made it down to Los Angeles to get this taken care of. And, I got all of our STD envelopes and paper without having to pay for shipping!

Were you and your fiance in agreeance when it came to your registries? If not, how did you come to see eye-to-eye? Do any of you have recommendations to organize multiple registries?

First off, these bad boys are a lot bigger than I thought they would be. To refresh your memory, here’s the pic from Etsy over at Fincara along with “my look” board:

Now, here’s a pic of them at my house next to a quarter.

Holy vintage rhinestones, Batman! Those are enormous! So they’re a little on the big side…

Ha! And of course I love them! I’m going to be rocking the bling like it ain’t no thang.

Just like this:

Look at those dangles! Can’t get enough? Neither could I. I worked it for the camera some more.

Right… I think I thought this hair/arm thing would look model-ly. Instead it’s my ghost arm and fake smile/snarl that’s taking the cake here. But it gives you a good idea of what they look like from the front.

One last one of the earrings with a special appearance of my furry goatee culprit from the earlier pic:

I know you’re asking yourself, “What is that marvel of beautifully crafted fabric flowers, silk flowers and dreamy feathers?” Why that’s just be my lil’ ole bouquet! It’s not quite done yet, but more pics are forthcoming!

When I had my earrings out for their shoot, my ring got jealous and demanded that I pay her the attention she deserves. I guess she gets it from her mother. What I can I say, we’re both just camera lushes *shrug*.

Here she is posing with an item contributing to our favorite pastime - sewing.

Look at that gorgeous afternoon light pouring in the window. Look at the years of paint built up on the window frame. Look at how I don’t wind my thread properly and how the end bits are all willy nilly. Oh, and look at my cathedral setting. Good fiance! Good boy!

Here’s another ring pose with the same props to give you an idea of how I played around with each prop.

Alright, enough with the thread, you want more bouquet, you say??? Alrighty then. (Can you tell I’m in the middle of Season 4 of Sex & the City where Trey says, “Alrighty then,” every two seconds? Other random aside, does it creep you out that Trey is the murdering husband on Desperate Housewives?)

What amazing diamond and feathery goodness next to a very plastic and painted stamen. Hmmm . . . well, nobody will be looking through a macro lens at my bouquet on the wedding day. I’ll show less stamen in the next rounds of bouquet pics. I promise! In the meantime, how about next to a beady eyed bird?

I’m showing you this one because it’s kind of a fail. The light wasn’t that great and I forgot to raise the blinds, so it’s a little on the ugly side. During post processing though, it began to grow on me. Still, not the best one of the bunch. No, the best one I saved for last. It combines my two favorite things. Can you guess what those are?

If you answered gourmet and diamonds, close but no cigar. If you answered food and weddings, DING DING DING. There’s my beauty sitting atop one of the recent Bon Appetite issues - that gorgeously roasted chicken. Seriously, seeing that mag when I walk into the apartment makes my mouth water. Much like seeing a gorgeous wedding, I just can’t turn off the Pavlovian response.

Like many a bee to go before me, I consulted the Ann Ruthmann tutorial before snapping these shots. If you’ve given Ann’s tutorial a whirl, I’d love to see what you came up with in the Gallery! Happy shooting and happy chicken eating!

• 90 glass candlesticks of varying heights, shapes, and styles — $350
• 45 wax candle adapters — $8
• 15 yards of thick eggplant satin, used for draping at our ceremony site — $50
• 30 LED tealights that were only on for an hour — $15
• 8 strands of 100 white lights with white wire that are still in the packages — $30
• Approximately 100 8″ untouched sparklers — $15

Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee classifieds and you might see it featured on the blog!

Other great items for sale:

Ivory veil & Swarovski crystal tiara - $100 for both

Brand-new Maggie Sottero “Jean” gown - size 4 - $650

50 pink, white and brown lanterns - $80 for all

Brand-new Absolute Audrey “Zoe” shoe clips - $20 + shipping

First off, let me say that I missed you all. So much. I checked into Weddingbee every few days during our honeymoon (all the way from Greece!), but refused to let myself comment on anything or post. You know, just to avoid addict status… oh, who am I kidding? Checking into Weddingbee from my honeymoon officially made me an addict, but you catch my drift.

So, we spent two amazing weeks in Greece together. Greece was fabulous, but the best part of our honeymoon was the spending-time-together part. You see, in three years of dating, Mr. Star and I had never had the time and/or money to take a vacation together that didn’t involve visiting one family or the other, so it was incredible to have so much time just to ourselves to talk and explore together.

On a side note, I highly recommend the book How to Love Me for anytime when you A) have a lot of time to kill with your significant other, and B) want to jump start deep and meaningful conversations about things you never would have thought to talk about otherwise. Mr. Star and I spend a nauseating amount of time talking to each other, and this book still finds things that we’ve never discussed before.

Aaanyways, our itinerary for the two weeks consisted mainly of Athens, Vravrona, Epidaurus, Delphi, and Santorini. I thought that instead of recounting our travel tales day by day (since 14 days is a lot of days and I think you’d all hate me by the end of our 800+ plus pictures!), I would share with you our trip more categorically, organized by the way things struck me. Don’t worry, this cryptic description will become more clear as this series continues.

I’ll start off with what everyone thinks of when they think of Greece: ancient sites. You know, the white columns and crumbling temples deal. I happen to be a self-proclaimed dork and hugely into history, so we saw a lot of these historically significant (and sometimes nearly unintelligible) sites. I’ll just share with you the highlights:

This was in Athens, in front of the Roman Odeion (theater) that they restored in the 1800s and still use today to put on performances. It was a really cool sight and I was totally wishing that we were around in the summer to see a show there. Only the weather in Athens is much nicer in October, so there you go…

Us in front of the Parthenon in Athens! This is the big kahuna of the ancient sites in Athens (and really, in Greece), of course. Situated high atop Athens on the acropolis and visible from much of the city, it is a stunning landmark and pretty amazing to contemplate how many people have walked around that very important spot!

This is a shot of the Ancient Agora in Athens. This was the marketplace and economic center of Ancient Athens, so there are acres of ruins all grouped together. There aren’t too many particularly well-preserved buildings here, but the site is so extensive that you can get really get a feel for what it must have been like to walk the ancient streets. And Socrates was put to death in the Southwest corner, which made my history buff self go crazy. This was one of Mr. Star’s favorite sights in Greece!

This is the Temple of Artemis in Vravrona. Since we weren’t staying directly in Athens (hello, timeshare membership getting us a great deal!), we were able to catch a few sights that were off-the-beaten-path. This temple, for instance, was literally two miles from our first resort, but since it’s in the middle of NOWHERE, it hardly gets visited. We loved seeing such a relatively well-preserved site and had the place all to ourselves the whole time we were there, which made it feel so peaceful. Two thumbs up, for sure!

There I am, just chilling out at the ruins of the Oracle of Delphi. Being theatre majors, we had to read most of the ancient Greek dramas and I’m pretty sure that every one of them has a character who makes the trip to Delphi for advice at one point or another, so it was really cool to actually stand in the place that we had read ancient playwrights write about so many dozens of times. The actual ruins were alright, but the mystique of the oracle and the absolutely breathtaking location were well worth the many hours we spent driving through rural Greece to get there.

The Stars at Epidaurus, one of the most intact and impressive of the surviving ancient theaters! You can probably guess how giddy we were to be there and I promise that you’ll be seeing more pictures of the theater at a later date. For now I’ll just say that the acoustics in this place were the most astounding thing we encountered in our whole two weeks in Greece. You could stand in the middle of the stage and whisper and the people in the back row (55 rows back, mind you!) could hear you clear as day. When I stood onstage and sang a few bars, I was totally thrown by the fact that it sounded to me like I was singing into a megaphone! Very, very cool.

I’m going to wrap up this first post (of many!) about our wonderful honeymoon with another shot of the Parthenon on the acropolis in Athens. As much as I loved seeing it during the day, the way they light it up at night is truly gorgeous.

It’s something that everyone should see in their lifetime.

Next up, “The Colors”! Stay tuned

That isn’t the actual load we have to take today, but it IS what I hauled on my last trip to Savannah. It has taken 3 jam-packed car trips to get all our DIY and wedding supplies to our host city.

It has been difficult, mostly because Mr. Lab and I currently share a single (small) vehicle.

Word of advice to any destination brides: start early on your hauling trips! Had we put off even one trip, we wouldn’t have had enough room to fit all of our stuff! Luckily, Mr. Lab’s sister lives in Savannah and has let us take over a room in her house to store all of our wedding stuff.

Well hive, there are only 3 more days until our wedding! I’ll try my best to crank out a few more posts before the big day. But if I can’t get around to it, I’ll be sure to fill the lag time between the flip side and pro pics with stuff I didn’t get a chance to share!

Back to the convo, though. When I told the individual that I would be changing my last name, their response was, “Well…that’s because you’re getting married pretty young. If you were older, you’d feel differently.” Now, I can see perhaps where this person’s train of thought was going – maybe if I was older I’d have a PhD, or a MD, or a JD, and I would want to keep my last name because I had contacts or professional affiliations or a book of business built around that last name. Or, maybe they thought that perhaps I would be more attached to my name the longer I had it (? I’m grasping at straws here).

I realize that there are many things they may have intended with their comment and I really doubt they meant any offense… but I couldn’t help but feel like they automatically pegged me as a young, impressionable bride because of one choice I was making. I don’t consider myself a “young bride”, but maybe I am by other people’s standards? I’ve stood on my own two feet as a professional adult for some time now, so perhaps that’s why it struck me the way that it did. Either way, I don’t see my age having anything to do with my decision to change my name – they’re mutually exclusive to me.

What type of reaction did you get from people when you decided that you would/would not take your significant other’s name?

Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.

source

Mr Pretzel loves cupcakes… no, no, no, I don’t think you get me… he LOOOOVES cupcakes. According to him it is the perfect serving of cake. They are like little cake nirvana in your hand. I like cupcakes and I’m not too crazy about wedding cake. So it was a no brainer early on—we were having wedding cupcakes.

While that was an easy decision, how to top the cupcakes was not so easy. After trolling Etsy, I quickly realized that most traditional toppers would not work on cupcakes. So, it was time to brainstorm mini-toppers that would work on cupcakes.

First, I looked into using LEGO Minifigs, since Mr Pretzel is a LEGO fan.

In my head, I saw a Princes Leia and Han Solo Minifig topper. But I soon found out that the Leia I envisioned, the one in white with cinnamon bun hair, was hard to find. Ironically, the bikini clad Slave Leia was readily available… ummm yeah… no. While searching for Minifig Leia, I found out that Lego actually made Bride and Groom Minifigs. Most of the grooms were sporting tuxes, and Mr Pretzel is wearing a vest—no jacket. I stumbled on this vest clad groom and bride on eBay for just under $40:

source

Done—check it off the list! I was sure Mr Pretzel would be thrilled with my LEGO find. Surprise, surprise he was not very excited about the Minifigs—actually, he downright didn’t like it. *sigh* I was back to square one, so I went back to Etsy and did something novel—I searched on exactly what I was looking for: “Cupcake Wedding Topper”. *DING DING DING* We found a winner! Right at the top of my search results were Custom Cupcake Toppers by goosegrease. These adorable painted wooden people won my heart. Let me introduce you to my cupcake topper obsession:

source

These little guys set you back $40 and are customizable to look like you and your groom. I could see mini-me sporting turquoise pumps, and mini-Mr Pretzel rocking his signature Converse All Stars. *eeek! Yay!*

$40 was within the range I was wiling to pay, but it was the upper limit. At the back of my mind something was tugging at me. “I could do that… and it would be fun!” I put the topper into my Etsy favorites and would come back to “check in” with them from time to time over the next months. They even graced a couple of my inspiration boards.

Have you not purchased something because you thought you might do it yourself? How did your DIY version come out?

Also, be warned, I do not own a Gocco or Cricut or any of those serious tools that many of you talented crafters out there have in your homes, so all of my attempts are on the “homemade” side of cute. But not to worry, for the real deal I’ll be getting outside (e.g. Staples) help with printing and cutting, etc.

I have about 50 Save The Date cards left over and was hoping to incorporate that image into our table numbers somehow. So I started by cutting out, very carefully, the image from the rest of the card. This took a while but since I’ll only need 20 or so table numbers, it shouldn’t be too torturous of a task. I didn’t have any white cardstock lying around so I used what I could find: a white Anthropologie bag (I KNEW saving those puppies would be good for something!).

Here’s a shot of all my materials, minus the Scotch tape I used to tape the paper together:

I cut out an unmeasured rectangle of paper (in hindsight, should have used my paper cutter!) and folded it into a tent a la Martha Stewart, securing the bottom with tape. I taped my cut-out image from our Save The Date to the side and wrote out a number in blue, using a Sharpie. Easy enough, right? Here’s what it looked like:

I decided it needed something else, so I took the metal lid off of one of my treasured mason jars and taped the paper tent to it, so it has a base. And voila, table number prototype is done!

It will look better when I make the real ones, I promise. For starters, the paper won’t be all wrinkly (and I’ll probably pick a heavier cardstock). I’ll also either print the numbers out or use cut-out numbers for each one. I was just sick and unable to make a trip to the store that day (and of course, our printer was out of ink).

gratuitous mason jar shot

I’m excited about these for a number of reasons. One, I’m using materials that I (mostly) already have (the STD image and lids from the mason jars), which saves both money and the environment! I also think the final product will be sweet and go great with our mason jar centerpieces.

Since I happened to have some yellow flowers in the house, I filled one of the mason jars with them and threw in a candle, just to get the basic effect.

Overall, I’m pleased but I still think it lacks something. I’ll definitely have to play around with some more ideas, but this was a good start!

Anyone have any suggestions for how to rework this table number idea? What inspired your centerpieces?

Behold, the beauty of the Rotary Cutter and Screw Punch*:

(please ignore my gross ironing board cover)

*No, really, I Googled both of these in the hopes of finding them cheaper online, and they’re not! Well, maybe the rotary cutter, but the cheap ones aren’t as lovely… *sigh*

Today they shared our wedding “trailer” with us. This is a preview to the full highlights package. I am so excited… seeing this gave me chills. They really captured some great moments.

Alan & Carolyn :: Wedding Trailer from FocalPoint Cinematic Weddings on Vimeo.

FINE ART
This album design displays one image per page, like a gallery in a book, allowing each image to stand on its own and command the full attention of the viewer one image at a time. Images are usually centered on the page with a white or black background or matting, with or without contrasting border/bevel (the sample below is black background with contrasting white border/bevel.) If the book is printed with images on the front and back of each page (allowing two images to lay side by side when open) there are opportunities for pairings of images that uncover hidden or implied relationships. If you’re a minimalist, or want your album to look like a portfolio of art, this is the album design for you:

Fine Art Album Design Sample

Read more…