Every Last Detail Images

{Photo credit: Every Last Detail}

Wannabe a Weddingbee

Weddingbee.com... best place for brides around.

I know I've said Style Me Pretty (SMP) is my favorite wedding website of all time and it's true, I do love SMP. In my opinion (no offense to all the other awesome blogs and websites out there), there's really no other place online you can go and find as many beautiful real weddings. SMP has more than one stunning real wedding featured everyday and I'm not kidding when I say stunning either!

However, there's another cyber place I love where you can go and find something reliable everyday as well... not a real wedding, but real wedding planners. SMP is the place I go to see weddings, not talk about them. If you want to talk weddings, the real deal about weddings -- not just the flowers and fufu -- you go to Weddingbee (WB).

There's loads and loads of great feedback and "real" wedding stuff on WB. You've got brides talking about their image, their flowers, their shoes, a classifieds section (hello! That's really cool and very useful), boards, bios, and galleries!! Everyday bride stuff. The nitty gritty.

{Picture credit: Shans-Shananians}

To be honest, I've sat and read WB posts for hours whether it was on the way home from work while I'm on the bus, on the metro on my way to the club (I'm not kidding), or at work taking a (ahem) break... IT never fails, every time I go, I'm intrigued by the real stories, the real concerns, the real of it. I always leave feeling like I've learned something.

It's kind of like when I go to SMP and think, "I want my wedding to be beautiful." When go to WB, I think, "Give it to me straight," or "I want to hear from a bride like me."

The coolest part is feeling supported.

See, most of my friends are single and while they're really happy for me and my soon-to-be, they're not into weddings yet. I'll be the first of my click to get married and so for most of my friends this is a new experience, a dry run. It's not like I don't have amazing friends, because I do, but they aren't interested in talking weddings all day everyday.  

They don't understand the planning that goes into making invitations and save the dates, or the obsession that occurs about details like flowers and place settings -- no offense to them, but it's something only brides can understand.

I go to WB to read the planning, the execution, and aftermath of weddings. The good, the bad, and unfortunately the ugly. It's just a real website with a lot of real information and well, that's what I wanted this blog to be. A place where other brides (or at least one other bride) would come to be inspired and really care about my journey to the aisle. One bride to another, you know what I mean...

So here's the thing, you have to apply to be a bee! I know you guys (my friends) are thinking, wait, you have to apply? Well, yes, duh! If you knew the website like I did, you'd understand. It takes a lot to be a bee. Recounting your every wedding thought and movement, being honest and upfront about all the wedding everythings you're going through, and writing it all out and caring about your readers, your commenters.

It's not a task to be taken lightly.

Like with many things in life, if it doesn't happen, I suppose it wasn't meant to be. Nevertheless, it's a honorable and courageous undertaking, I must commit myself to. And there are always the bees that did make it in, there to support me and offer guidance, which is the real treasure about this site... So wish me luck and say your prayers... hopefully I'll be considered.

The Brides Bouquet

GASP!! 

It's obvious at this point that I'm obsessed with flowers... Have you seen all my flower postings -- Bouquets, Obsessing About Flowers, More Flower Inspiration, B-B-Beautiful Bouquets, and Color Consensus... Finally! 

Well, consider those posts just a start, because I'm no where near making a decision about the flowers we're going to have. Think about it though, there's a lot to consider! What will the ceremony and reception flowers look like, the centerpieces, the bridesmaids bouquets and of course, my bouquet?

My mom said she regrets having an all-white bouquet. She didn't like the white-on-white look, but I thought brides are supposed to have white bouquets -- not like that really matters, because I don't have to follow tradition, but what have you heard?

Does a bride have to have a white bouquet? I hope not, because I like this one for me (from Flower School, an amazing blog -- great for woman obsessing about flowers)...

Lanterns

To Light Our Path...

During the snowstorm, my mom and I compiled a list of items we're going to need to decorate our venue. Oxon Hill Manor is a very large place with really big rooms to fill, which became more and more apparent as we added up the number of centerpieces, candles, and other things we'll need.


One of the items we're going to need a lot of is lanterns. We want to line the outdoors with lanterns, all along the patio and down the steps, but in order to do this we will need nearly 50 lanterns, just for the outdoors! 

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The pictures we took when we visited Oxon Hill Manor proved to be very helpful during this process. We were able to look closely at each space, each room and estimate the number of decorating supplies we'd need.

{Pictures by me}

These are the types of lanterns we have in mind. We like the rustic look, becuase I think it will match up to the wrought iron that's in the house very well. It will also be perfect for the time of year, fall that we're planning to have the wedding.

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{Photo credit: Rajee Sood Blog}

{Photo credit: Weddingbee}

What kind of outdoor decorations are you planning to have at your wedding?

Have you considered the amount you'll need for the space you'll be in? 

Starting Our Save the Dates

Pretty early on, we knew we wanted to use our engagement pictures for our Save the Dates. We're really happy with the amazing artwork that our photographer did and since we already paid for them, we figured it was a cost effective way to utilize the photographs.

Mama Brooch suggested using more than one of our photos for the Save the Dates, because we have a lot (we actually have more than 700 pictures, but that's a different post for a different day!!!). She suggested we send the pictures we feel are appropriate for the recepient, instead of sending everyone the same thing. This way we're making the most of our awesome variety!

Last night we started sorting through our pictures and picking the ones we'd like to send to my family, his family, and our friends. I was so thrilled that we were finally starting this project that I began playing around on the computer with the photos. You can see below my start to our Save the Dates (a total rough draft!), which I don't think are too bad for a first-time-diy bride like myself, eh? There's a lot still left to do with these, but at least we've got the ball rolling! Hooray!

For his family:

 For our friends:

 

 For my family:

  

So I realize there are a lot of mistakes on these, but rest assured they will be perfect when they're finished! This is just the start! Something wonky was going on with the program I was using. I actually thought the designing part would be a lot easier than it is. 

Even though they don't look bad, we've got a long way to go. I want them to look more professional like the Save the Dates below with a nicer font and layout for the text, but there's time. If I can't improve my designs (the ones above are not going to work obviously!), I might just order them!

 

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How did you design your Save the Dates?

Did you DIY or order them online?