wedding

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 – Groomswear

| The Bee Life

Groomswear, because there is nothing better than a well dressed man. And one of the most essential parts of the wedding day should be making sure your man is dressed his best.  A perk of having a small bridal party is that we have the luxury of ordering custom suits and having a few more options on where to shop, since we don’t have to worry about rentals.  I’m personally not a fan of the renting tux’s – there is a huge risk for them to be incorrectly sized for any one of the groomsmen or groom in turn throwing off the entire look of the day.  Not a risk we want to take.
Groomswear Inspiration - the bee life
The photos above are definitely a mix of inspiration, pulling pieces and parts, fabrics and colors together to give B a completely custom, fitted and handsome suit.  B is deciding if he wants to go the bow tie route, or more of a statement tie.  I also love the idea of having a pattern or floral’s, and even if not for the groom perhaps the Best Man/fathers.  There are so many options for tie’s, we’ve looked into creating custom ties or shopping at a favorite spot; Grand Frank.

We also really like the idea of having a colored suit or a suit with a bit more texture and movement. A few other items that will also need to be determined once the suit is figured out is finding a great pair of shoes, belt, socks, pocket square and tie.  I can’t wait to go shopping with B to pull our vision to life for the big day!

Did you go custom for you groom? Share tips/tricks in the comments below or on social @mmariebee.

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 – The Cake!

| The Bee Life

Our wedding updates are going to be a little different this year leading up to the wedding. How? I’m going to share my inspiration and focus on different areas of the wedding. And maybe share a few thoughts at what we will be doing for our special day.  cake-inspiration_the-bee-lifeSpoiler: I love cake.
Another spoiler: This is surprisingly (or not) going to be one of the areas that we skimp on and save money. Why? Because wedding cakes average cost between $350-$600 based on cost per slice. I don’t love cake that much.

We are going to keep the cake simple and still delicious. I also want to have multiple cakes and maybe even come cake pops or other sweet treats for guests to enjoy.  I am 50/50 when it comes to a cake topper, so more to come on that – it has to be us, it has to be unique. One of my wedding DIY’s will definitely be making some cake stands, although I cannot figure out the style/color just yet. Like I’ve said before… the details are what is going to drive me cray! But I’m happy to essentially have this task crossed off on the to-do list.

Until then, enjoy some cake.

Inspiration Shared:  Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Catch up on all the wedding planning madness:
December Update | November Update | October Update

It’s Been Fun, 2016!

| The Bee Life

Wow – this year has been so epic.  I look back at pictures on everything that has happened and I just can’t get over all of it. In honor of the last 3-days of this amazing year, I wanted to share a look back at each months highlight, although I must admit it was hard picking just one.

2016 Highlights: Getting engaged, Katie & Travis’ wedding, celebrating 5-years with B, traveling to Denver, Jackson Hole and Kansas City, going to the World Series, Cavs NBA Championship and a new job! Among countless others!

January – NYE
February – Engaged!
March – Weekends in NY
April – Girls Weekends
May – Katie & Travis! Photo credit: http://www.iburiphotography.com/
June – Cavs Parade!
July – Neighbors & Picnics
August – Jackson Hole!
September – Wedding Prep
October – Weekends with Friends & Family
November – Saying Yes to the Dress
December – Christmas!

These 12 pictures don’t even come close to giving this year the justice it deserves.  I am sad to see this year end, but SO excited for 2017!

What were your highlights from 2016?

Cheers!

#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.

untitled_panorama_tlo_cc2-bwweb

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 —

#EmnBWed – November Update

| The Bee Life

The countdown is truly on.  The August countdown was a total fake-out, sorry gang. But B and I picked our second, real wedding date.   And our dream venue has officially been booked, so no take-backs now.  No destination wedding, no 30-people, no summer wedding – it’s happening in the city we fell in love with, with all our family and friends.

B and I celebrated our one-year out date this past weekend with some expensive champagne, a nice dinner out at a restaurant that screamed our wedding venue almost to a T and surprised each other with sweet gifts and love notes. It was perfect. wedding-inspiration-november-update

It’s getting to the point where the details just need to get finalized, since a lot of them are currently floating in my head or on pinterest!  Words to describe the vision of our day would be, classic, elegant, white/gold and effortless.

A few of the upcoming to-do’s include design of invitations getting started with our friend, figuring out a caterer and finding/purchasing the dress. We are slowly knocking off a lot of the big to-do’s on the list and then it’ll be the fun stuff like the details and decorations. Yay!

xoxo

#EmnBWed – October Update

| The Bee Life

Did my last wedding update scare a few of you? Have you been waiting anxiously for my next update, in fear of asking me in person? *winks*

Well we went to Jackson Hole this past August, mainly to plan our wedding. We really wanted to go the nontraditional route with a smaller destination wedding, something intimate, something different and in a place we both love. Something about us and not everyone else.

We went and met with florists, had a meal tasting at the venue, met with and visited the church. The details were nearly finalized, we just wanted to see everything in person and then make some deposits to secure the venues and date!  Our dream wedding out west was becoming reality, a reality I never thought was possible. There were a few bumps, a few stubborn people with opinions (not comprehending our initial intention or wishes – hence the September Update), we went back and forth on some details, the guest list and did the final number crunching.

But something was off. Delay of planning once again.

Fast forward to a few weekends post JH and days after my last update. We went to visit a venue in CLE we had made plans to see a long time ago anticipating a CLE reception post intimate JH wedding.

Are you staying with me?

So we visited this local venue and everything changed. I didn’t think I would get goosebumps walking into a venue, but I did, and I had them the whole time. We left there, looked at each other and both said, “Well that has to happen.” We both fell in love all over again.

Of all the things that had been unsure until that point, we had one moment of clarity and a moment in all of this when we just knew.

Plans had changed and planning was back on. We were going all in.

Photo credit: Timothy Logan Photography