bride to be

My Bachelorette Party – The Deets

| The Bee Life

I needed an extra day to recover and get all the deets from the Saturday evenings festivities.  It was my bachelorette!  From initial plans to head out to Vegas to see Magic Mike Live and the Backstreet Boys, to not knowing what the heck to do, but needing to do something for the sake of doing it – we settled on a “low-key” night out on the town. Dinner and a pit stop to a nearby club for some dancing would satisfy the bachelorette bug.

The night started with snacks and a champagne toast at the house before the limo arrived.  The girls spoiled me with a pantie box, a basket full of my favorite champagne to help celebrate upcoming firsts, and a fun pop-up photobooth, and of course jell-o champagne shots to help get the night started.  My bride tribe was greeted with adorable goodie bags on the limo, they were filled with essentials for the night from water, personalized wine glasses, snacks, hair ties, and of course mini-airplane bottle booze.
Bachelorette Party - the bee life
We headed to a local hot spot for dinner, Collision Bend Brewery. They also happen to have the best patio in town, and we were lucky to have the best seats in the place.  We arrived just as the sun was setting and it was incredible.  Not to mention our food and service was top notch.  The waiter was a blast, and the atmosphere and drinks only helped get the party started a bit more!

From dinner we took a quick limo ride to the nearby club, we arrived before all the cool kids, which worked out perfectly for us because we had first dibs on the dance floor! The music was on point and all we wanted to do was dance! After a few hours at the club, we continued the dancing and giggles on the limo back to the house to call it a night.

As much fun as it all was,  I am admittedly glad it’s over! All of these pre-wedding festivities have been fantastic, but also a ton of added stress/pressure, on top of high expectations, with an added layer of everyone’s opinion.  So I am glad to be able to just focus on the big day, that is quickly approaching! Eeek!

Cheers!

My Bridal Shower – Part 2

| The Bee Life

In case you missed it, part one was up yesterday, gushing over all my friends and family who came to my bridal shower this past weekend and helped make it so so special!  Part two, is all about the decor and food that was the cherry on top to everything else! And since I am used to running the show, it was hard for me to take a back seat and not be involved in the planning or decorating, but I kept myself busy and let them do their thing, and I was BLOWN AWAY!
My Bridal Shower P2 - the bee life
My mom, MIL and MOH<3 did an amazing job of coordinating all of this across state lines and literally building a beautiful space out of our garage.  From the food to the decor, everything was thought of and done to a tee, on theme, and exactly what I would’ve done! So now, here are the deets you’ve been waiting for!

The Menu: Cucumber cream cheese sandwiches,  egg salad sandwiches, turkey apple cheddar sandwiches, fresh fruit, and salad.  Accompanied with Sangria and a Mimosa bar!

The Dessert Table: Two amazing cakes from Scratch Bakeshop in Rochester (with GOLD!), peanut butter bars, raspberry bars, dipped chocolate pretzel sticks, custom sugar cookies, doughnut hole kabobs, and fruit pizza cups. OH. MY. GOD. It was a dream come true.

The Decor/Games:  Centerpieces filled with white and pink roses, gold, pink and black stripes everywhere and on the Date Night cards, the Who Am I? game cards, card table signage, and lots of balloons! It was all so beautiful.
Bridal Shower P1 - the bee life (2)
The shower was just an absolute dream, and I know how much everyone put into this to make it a special day for me, and it truly was!  The weather also shaped up and the sun was shining so it was a beautiful day for an outdoor backyard party.  I was overwhelmed by all the love and support.

Next up, the bachelorette party and then… the real thing!

My Bridal Shower – Part 1

| The Bee Life

This past weekend our wedding festivities officially kicked off!  We kicked it off with my bridal shower, and it was absolutely amazing! So where to even begin? My shower was hosted by my mom, my MIL and my MOH and we were able to have it at our house, as many people had to travel anywhere from 5-minutes to 4-hours, so I was very grateful to everyone who made the journey!  So bare with me through the upcoming sap…
My Bridal Shower P1 - the bee life
Family and friends are so important, and you truly learn who your friends are as you grow older in life – whether they’re new or old, it’s the bonds that keep you together. From our amazing neighbors, to a group of former co-workers, to B’s amazing family, to my best friend/MOH from high school and her amazing mom, to my incredible family, it was all the people who matter – just like our wedding will be one night with all the people who B and I love, and have seen us grow and become us.

The one game we played was called Who Am I? which allowed me to have a special moment to connect with everyone there, shower guests wrote a memory on a card, and Katie read them for me to guess who the memory was with!  I was definitely stumped a bunch, only because there were multiple shower guests at the same event/memory – but it was fun and funny to see what most people wrote about or remembered about me, (and maybe even a little embarrassing!).  The note cards will be a nice keepsake to have as part of our wedding memories!
Bridal Shower P2 - the bee life (2)
I’m just grateful for all of the love, plus the shower wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (the attention, and being on display opening presents!) … haha, I was a bit anti-shower for awhile.  It went so quick, that I wish I would’ve been able to socialize a bit more with everyone but I got hugs from everyone so that itself was a success!

I’ll be sharing part two featuring all the perfect details and decor, tomorrow!

Weddings: Creating Your Sweetheart Table

| The Bee Life

One trend that seems to be increasingly popular is the idea of a sweetheart table for the bride and groom. I’ve read a few articles about the pros and cons of having a sweetheart table, and I am sure each bride and groom have their own reasons. For us, it’s simple. We have a small bridal party, and I think it would silly to make them sit without their sig-o’s at a table! Plus I love the idea of B and I having our own intimate spot to sit together and watch the magic of our wedding unfold.

And since we’re doing a sweetheart table, I wanted to do it right, which means pulling in the key elements to really make a statement with our table. Those key pieces to help make your sweetheart table standout are; the chair(s), floral accents, pop of personalization, and placement. Creating Sweetheart Table - the bee lifeThe Chair: Consider a furniture rental vendor that has awesome vintage chairs or a bold settee, these will stand out from the rest of your chairs in the venue signifying these are for the bride and groom.

Floral Accents: My personal favorite for a sweetheart table is a garland floral arrangement. This adds texture and depth to your table, while also calling it to be different from the rest of the tables.  Also consider bold arrangements that could be placed along side the tables or back flanking the space.

Pop of Personalization: The go-to seems to be adding Mr. & Mrs. on top of the table or a sign hanging from the back of the chairs. But consider other meaning full words that might be used or even using the initial of your new last name to make a bold pop.

Placement: When considering all of these elements for your sweetheart table, think about where this will be – if you’re going to have signs on the back of your chairs, will your chairs be in a place that others will be able to view and admire? Is a floral arch behind your table going to flow with the space or look out of place?  You can also work to make your sweetheart table to be the focal point of the venue if it’s lack luster our outdoors.

Pulling these key elements together will create a special place for you and your groom to dine to enjoy your first meal as husband and wife! Happy planning!

Image Source Inspiration: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

The Truth: Weddings & Registries

| The Bee Life

It’s that time of the year again, wedding season! And with every wedding season, comes the cycle of bridal showers, multiple registries to review, and the actual wedding gift…  As a bride-to-be this upcoming fall, and a guest to four-weddings before then, I feel your pain! But here are answers that will help ease some of those questions and help you conquer all your gifts with success this wedding season!
Weddings &amp; Registries Guide - the bee life
The Gift. If you’re like me, you’re often conflicted with wanting to give the couple something unique and not on the registry.  But I’ve also heard from many past brides/friends say; “I just want the stuff off my registry!” I always thought buying off the registry was boring! But, news flash, it’s not about you or me!

Ultimately it comes down to knowing the bride/couple.  Will they like something specific and personalized if you stray from the registry? Or are they picky and have a specific style, so it’s best to just buy off the registry?  When in doubt, buy off the registry.

Money. Yes, it is tacky to talk about money, but it’s a topic many people struggle with, myself included! How much is enough? Especially if you’re attending four or more weddings in one year!  So I did a little research, and asked my friends and fellow brides-to-be. The consensus for a bridal shower gift was around $50. Although, there is an exception if you’re in the wedding party/close family friend.

Okay, so now how much for the wedding? The going response was basically covering the cost per person/per plate. As you can imagine, this could vary depending on the city, venue, type of food, but a low, but safe baseline is about $50 per person. So between you and your hot date, grand total/minimum of $100. But again, this all depends if you’re in the wedding party, family, or simply just a guest!

The Wedding. So back to that $100 for the wedding gift.  Do you just write a fat check? Or do you head back to that registry for more goodies?  Well consider this; a box of envelopes is much easier to transport after the wedding for whoever gets stuck with gift duty vs. 50+ different sized presents. Also, logistically as the guest, lugging around a gift during the ceremony and cocktail hour might not be the most enjoyable! The couple will most likely buy items they didn’t get off their registry (with a discount) with that cash anyways. So when it comes to the wedding, stick with cash/check.

Before I dived into all my registries, I jokingly talked about creating an online fund for our kitchen remodel! But I found something better, Zola Registry! Zola is a one stop shop for planning the big day, registering for your standard gifts from a number of known/unique brands, but also allowing couples to register for experiences, trips, and personalized cash funds for a kitchen remodel or honeymoon!

As a bride-to-be that has spent many hours searching for the perfect pieces, I’m learning a new found respect for gifting off registries and knowing when it’s okay to just gift with cash.

Happy Wedding Season!

Wedding Planning – Flowers

| The Bee Life

When it comes to flowers for your wedding, there are a lot of things to consider, like… first and foremost if you even want real flowers at your wedding! There are so many alternatives from realistic fake flowers to paper flowers! For me, I knew I wanted fresh flowers at our wedding. Flowers are something I’ve always dreamed about for my wedding, lots and lots of flowers… everywhere.  But as you’ll quickly come to find out, like I did, flowers are not cheap! In fact, I had a few vendors reply first stating their minimum price for an event, and it was double my budget, so I kindly responded and said thanks, but not going to work for me!

I will admit, I was a bit discouraged, and started mentally talking myself off the ledge of needing over the top florals, and starting thinking of how I would be able to simplify everything in order to at least have some flowers that I could afford.  Well upon many searches and reaching out to a few more unknown florists, I found my one.
Wedding Planning - Flowers
Here are a few tips for when you start the chats with potential florists:
1. Have pictures ready on pinterest to share with your florist! If you’re talking over the phone, try and send these ahead of time or a link to your pinterest page so you can talk through your vision live
2. Know ballpark numbers of how much you’ll need of hand bouquets, boutineers, centerpieces, ceremony space, hand corsages, etc. this of course helps with that estimating part
3. If your florist is asking you questions about your venue and ceremony space that is making you think, for example – does your church expects that the bouquets/centerpieces are donations?  You’ll want to gut check to see if other florists ask the same question, this verify’s experience and level of detail
4. Because…. if they’re considered donations you may not be able to reuse them in your venue space as additional decor or a centerpiece. Speaking of which, talk through with your florist how pieces can be used in both the ceremony and receptions spaces
5. Get ready to take notes and google a lot of different flowers, I know the basics, but a lot of what I wanted I only knew by seeing it – also ask about similar more affordable flowers that might work to get you the look you want
6. Don’t be afraid to ask your florist for a mood board/image to support pricing to make sure the vision and reality will match!

Our flowers for the wedding, are one of the things I am most excited about – besides the stunning venue and marrying my B.  I can’t wait to see how they’ll turn out, they’re definitely close to the level of my wildest dreams, and I can’t wait to see them come to life, in our venue, on our wedding day!

Sources: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Wedding Planning – Shower Dresses

| The Bee Life

Happy First Day of Spring!

As I am planning my wedding, I can’t help but try and find the perfect dresses for other wedding festivities, like the Bridal Shower, Bachelorette, and the Rehearsal! Since most of these festivities are in the spring/summer the clothes and options are starting to become endless and the decision is going to be tough!

Although I haven’t found my perfect dress(es) yet; I’ve pulled some looks that are serving as my inspiration, as there are a few different routes that I could go and you might be in the same boat!
Bridal Shower Dress Inpiration - the bee life
01 | 02 | 03 | 04

If you’re like me and already started your hunt, consider the following…

All White: This is definitely an easy way to go and a classic option, wearing all white at any one of these festivities keeps you as the bride and truly the focal point!

Make A Statement: With a bright color! Showing up in a bright pink or patterned dress will help keep the focus on you.  This might be a fun way to show off a bit of your personality too!

Know Your Venue: Is your shower/rehearsal a sophisticated backyard soiree? Or is it a casual setting at a family members house? Or maybe a tea party theme at a local country club? Be sure that you’re standing out but also dressing to your venue to keep the theme of the day/night on point.

Will You Wear It Again? Ask yourself this question as your picking out the dress. You’ll want to make sure you can wear it again for a date night,  the honeymoon, a friends shower or family function! That way you won’t feel so bad if you invest a little more money that you were planning!

Happy Shopping!

#EmnBWed – MOH Dress

| The Bee Life

In prep for our upcoming shopping trip, I been doing some searching for MOH dresses. I definitely have a lot of ideas and want something that is unique, stunning and going to make a statement for my right-hand MOH.

moh-dress-inspiration-the-bee-life

I’d like to say I have the color figured out and style – but about the only thing I am certain about is the length. I have some color ideas, but it ultimately comes down to what Kates feels comfortable in and what looks best on her! Since Kates is my one and only in the bridal party we can totally work and find what she likes, be picky and shop around more.

I think Nordstom has a lot of stunning bridesmaid dresses, but the price point (no surprise) is a bit higher than I would want my bestie to spend. And as much as I would love to check out one of the newer sites with dresses, there are just a lot of styles and fabric combinations that just need to be tried before buying. We will make the rounds closer to Katie so that she can work to order and pick-up at her convenience.

More to come on the first shopping trip!  I am hoping we find something so we can cross it off the list and start looking for accessories, but I also don’t want to rush it and make sure it’s perfect from all aspects!

Sources: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right 

#EmnBWed – December Update

| The Bee Life

It’s time for our monthly wedding update and the last one for 2016! With less than a year away and according to The Knot’s wedding checklist I think we’re doing pretty good, especially with those “Essential” tasks.

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Within the last few months we were able to accomplish;
– Venue = Booked
– Church = Booked
– Caterer = Booked
– Wedding Dress = Bought
– Rings = Purchased
– Hotel Block = Reserved
– Invitations = Being Designed
– Photographer = Secured
– Cake = Figured out

What else is there to do? *smiles* … But in all seriousness we are both feeling really good going into 2017 to be full-on wedding planning mode, with some fun and breaks in between! A few things we’ll be continuously working on/really need to get started on is working out and getting in shape, whitening our pearly whites, and slowly buying some of the little details as we find them and go.

With that being said going into our wedding year,  I would love some ADVICE from any current brides planning their big day or all you veterans out there with anything you learned, would’ve done differently, cut costs on, etc.

This past year has been a whirlwind and I just know this upcoming year is going to be pretty much the same (if not worse!) and I want to enjoy every single moment of it, because 2016 was amazing.

XO —