dear weddingbee

Dear Weddingbee,

You were one of the first group wedding blogs I found when I started planning, back before I was even engaged right after J proposed. I enjoyed the variety in the weddings, the fact that you could always be trusted to have a new post up for me to read, and the different personalities of the brides/couples that you featured. I even kept reading after the big eHarmony disaster sell-out news. I figured I would give you the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to end it now though. You’ve just become too commercialized, WB. The new features are great, but the number of them is beginning to overwhelm me. And don’t even get me started on the number of bloggers. I’m sure they’re all great folks – they always have been. But I can’t even keep track of who is who anymore, let alone develop any sort of attachment. Every time I open my beloved Google Reader, there are at least 20 new WB posts! I’ve been skipping past the “Pro” and “Classifieds” posts for awhile (if I wanted info on a Pro or to buy something off of the Classifieds, I’d go to that section of the website… no reason to be redundant) but now trying to dig through them all for updates from my favorite Bees or to find good DIY instructions isn’t even worth my time anymore.

WB, I’ve really enjoyed our months together. And there are definitely things about you that I will miss. I’m sure I’ll stop by from time to time just to see how things are going. But you know how wedding planning goes. Time is precious… and I don’t have enough of it to dig through all of your posts any more.

I wish you the best in bringing inspiration to the newly betrothed everywhere.

Best,
DCKate

So You’re EnGAYged – A brand new LGBTQ wedding website!

I’m a huge fan of Kelly of the Two Brides Blog, so when she announced that she was teaming up with Lara Swanson of Lara Swanson Photography to launch an LGBTQ-focused wedding website, I was absolutely thrilled. The official launch of the site So You’re EnGAYged was yesterday, and the site looks absolutely fantastic. It features multiple same-sex wedding bloggers, LGBTQ-friendly vendor profiles, wedding tips for both the engaged couple and the vendors who serve them, and LGBT news.

The vendors DO NOT pay to be featured on the site – they are put through a verification process to ensure that they are actively LGBTQ friendly, and the site only accepts advertisements from vendors who have been vetted.  All I can say is it is high time for a website like this, and Kelly is an absolute hero for envisioning it and making it a reality. Please head over and check out all of her hard work!

Kelly (right) and her wife Natalie on their wedding day!

bridesmaids (and their dresses!)

Now that I’ve finished asking all of my wonderful bridesmaids to be in the wedding (and they all said yes!) I figured an introductory post was in order. First, there’s my maid of honor. This was never a position that was in doubt, the obvious choice was my fabulous younger sister, A. A is easily one of my most favorite people in the world. She is funny, sweet, gorgeous, and not to mention, she’s one sharp cookie – she’s in her first year of law school AND being my MOH! 😉

Next we have BM K, who I went to college with. We pledged our sorority together and have been pretty much inseparable since then, miles apart be damned! K is smart, practical and gets my zany sense of humor. She’s also in the middle of planning her own wedding right now! Then there’s BM E. The only people I’m still in touch with that have known me longer than BM E are my family. We went to kindergarten together, and we’re just as close as ever almost 22 years later! She is super stylish, creative, outgoing and one of the most supportive people I know. She’s a graphic designer and will be designing our invitations! J’s sister, BM A, rounds out the lovely ladies. We actually went to college together, but didn’t realize it until J and I started dating. BM A is outgoing, fun and always up for an adventure – whether it’s going to Costa Rica for two years with the Peace Corps or checking out disco night at the local skating rink!

Last, but most certainly not least, I will be having a BridesMAN, as well, my dear friend K. J and I are actually sharing BMan K between our parties. He’ll be doing the pre-wedding fun with the guys (so, bachelor party, not bachelorette party) and then standing on my side the day of the wedding. BMan K and I met in college and hit it off right away. He’s wicked smart, creative, hilarious, and quite the mastermind in the kitchen! (BMan K and BM A are planning to have a cupcake bake-off!) Even though he now lives several states away, we are still in very close touch and he and J have become good friends as well.

We’re planning to go dress shopping for the ladies the second weekend in March, when MOH A will be home from law school on spring break. Thankfully, the rest of the girls are local! (Obviously, we’re not dragging BMan K dress shopping!) I’m planning on picking a designer, color, and length and then letting the girls pick their own dresses. They all have very different body types and styles, so I want them to select something they’ll be comfortable in. Right now, I’m leaning heavily towards Dessy’s After Six line, tea length, in moss green. The color is exactly what I’m looking for, and the collection is expansive enough that I think each of the ladies will be able to easily find something she likes. My plan is to look up bridal stores in the area that carry the After Six line, and make appointments at several of them, and we can keep our eyes open for any other designers that pique our interest while we’re shopping. I also like the European celadon color by Bill Levkoff, but he has a smaller, pricier selection.

Just to give you an idea, here are a few of the many dresses that they could select from the After Six collection…

(non)floral inspiration

Let me start out by saying I love flowers, I really do, and there will be flowers at my wedding. However. I’ve always wanted a fall wedding (and I’m getting one, yay!) and fall has always reminded me of non-floral natural beauty. Leaves changing colors, pumpkins and squash and gourds, apples, berries, pinecones, all of these things are so warm and homey and beautiful to me. They’re so much a part of why fall is my favorite season.  So when I started finding bridal bouquets and wedding decor that incorporated non-floral elements of nature, I loved it.

Then I saw this gorgeous bouquet on The Knot:

Yes, artichokes in a floral arrangement! Then and there I decided that if my wedding has nothing else, there will be an artichoke in my bouquet. How fabulous is that?

Cross my heart, you can ask my bridesmaid Kara, I have been talking about artichokes since I first saw that several months ago. Well, apparently, I was on to something. Because earlier today, as I was catching up on my Google Reader from the holidays, I saw this fabulous artichoke inspiration board on Manolo for the Brides! I love the votives.

Then this evening, as I got home from work I was thinking about what to post about. I considered introducing you, my dear readers, to our wedding party, but, well, we haven’t finished asking them, so that’s out of the question. Then I thought about showing you the bridesmaids looks I like, but again, it’s probably only fair that I share that with them first. And as I’m musing post ideas and catching up on all of the weddings I’ve missed on Style Me Pretty, what do I see… but this:

That’s right. An artichoke boutonniere. Which is when I decided fate was clearly trying to tell me something, which I interpreted to be that I needed to write a blog post about artichokes.

But, back to the artichoke inspiration board for a moment. See, right there in the middle? Pinecones! I am now toying with the idea of not just any old green and brown wedding, but an artichoke and pinecone wedding!

Is this normal? I feel it’s too early in the process to be going completely crazy. But I am concerned.

of mice and cake toppers

I’d just like to start out by saying that I really don’t mind things like rodents and creepy crawlies, unless they are inhabiting my dwelling. And even then, I’m usually able to terminate/remove them without getting all squealy and girly about it (no offense to those of you who are squealy and girly, of course). However, I do have to draw some lines, at things like, well, these little guys. Courtesy of east side bride.

Note that it comes with the warning: “Although their hides are cured and dried, they still may appeal to pets.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that the nice folks at Paxton Gate do fantastic taxidermy work. Which is great for say, hunters. But, I can’t say I’m that kind of girl.

4th of july inspiration board

In honor of the 4th of July STDs I linked to earlier, I decided to make an inspiration board with a red, white and blue theme. This is tougher than it looks if you want to stay away from a seriously tacky wedding.

save the dates

Love these save the dates posted on Brooklyn Bride. Not only from a personal standpoint, but I think incorporating a timely cultural reference is a neat way for people to identify your wedding with a certain year or time period.

gothic wedding inspiration board

I was inspired by Jenny’s post earlier today at Geek in Heels, about Tim Burton’s forthcoming live action version of Alice in Wonderland, which stars none other than the deliciously creepy Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.

So, I decided to make a gothic wedding inspiration board!

See? delicious AND creepy!

blogger’s first inspiration board!

Okay everyone, get the cameras out! Thanks to the magic that is Polyvore I have created my first-ever wedding inspiration board! Not half bad for a first try, if I do say so.

I love love love green and brown as wedding colors, and since we’re looking at either a spring or fall wedding (we want it to be outside, summer is too hot) I figure I can make that color combo work with either season depending on what accessories and accent colors I use. Hope you like!

welcome to (sub)urbanity!

Hello! Thanks for stopping by my brand spanking new blog! I’m going through some big changes (good ones!) in my life and I find it easier to process things and make decisions when I write them out. Additionally, I’ve recently become addicted to the blogs of others at the same place in life as I am, and found them very helpful. So I’m hoping that through this blog I can provide the same sort of inspiration to others out there, as well as have a place to process my ideas and decisions.

Some basics about me. (Feel free to skip this) I’m a rare native of the Washington, DC area, having grown up in the Virginia suburbs – or “Nova”. If you’re not familiar with the city, it’s very transient, and it’s pretty unusual to run into folks who were born here, grew up here, and stayed here! My parents have lived in the same house since a month before I was born. After college I came back and moved to a younger, more urban area not far from my parents. I love it here, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

However, next month I will be taking the big step of moving in with my wonderful boyfriend of over two years, J. J owns a home further out from the city, so, I’m officially headed back to the ‘burbs! I am determined not to let this affect my stylish, youthful sensabilities, though! 😉 His home (soon to be “our” home!) is pretty sparsely furnished and hardly decorated at all. My goal is to create a chic, homey style on a very small budget!

Other things that I’m semi-obsessed with and will likely be turning up pretty frequently in the blog include (but are not in any way limited to) shoes, purses, books, feminism, politics, weddings and learning to cook. So, welcome, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you’ll follow my journey into fabulous domestication!