A Bit of the Bubbly

When I first made my appearance on the 'Bee, I proclaimed myself to be a lover of all things champagne.  However, since that proclamation, I have yet to incorporate any of the bubbly into our actual wedding plans.  I have a champagne shower coming up, and (of course!) will be making some glittery champagne glasses which so many bees have blogged about (I'll just show you the final product when they're done!), but now comes the time when Mr. Ly and I must decide on our signature drink for cocktail hour. There's only one thing I think it should be:

I do love me some bubbly.  Personal Photo 

Our wedding will have a full open bar, which was a non-negotiable for us. Upon arrival to our ceremony, our guests will be greeted with a glass of champagne before entering the ceremony space. (This alone sold me on our venue.) Our caterers are well known for their excellent service, and this is certainly one of the aspects that drew us to Cescaphe catering. However,  they are truly known for their cocktail hour (which is actually an hour and a half - more on that later!) Along with the food and standard open bar, they also offer a signature drink to be butlered with the passed hors d'oeurves.  Signature drinks are fairly common these days, but we can't decide on a drink.

Since our guests already will be getting champagne, and can get more if they'd like, we're opting against it for our signature drink. If I can't have just plain champagne, I will have a champagne drink of sorts.  It doesn't have to match our colors - would anyone drink something gray anyway?

This is where we're starting:

Image by Loku

The problem is we haven't tried any of these before, with the exception of mimosas and bellinis. Mimosas are out because they are too brunch-y.  As much as I love a good brunch and a good mimosa, it doesn't really match the feel we are going for in our wedding. Mr. Ly hates anything peach, so bellinis are out too.  The rest are pretty much fair game.  

My birthday is just around the corner, and with all the wedding stuff going on this year, I didn't want to make a big deal about it. With the shower at the end of the month, a bachelorette party in just 2 months after the shower, my friends are already going above and beyond.  Turning 32 is no big thing, so we're inviting over a few of our close friends/bridal party members to help us decide on our drink instead of going out for my birthday.  

We need to narrow this list down to a few choices to make for my birthday/signature drink party, and this is where I need your help!  

Of the following drinks - which would YOU choose? 

• () Champagne Cocktail 
• () Kir Royale
• () Black Velvet
• () French 75
• () The Ghost
• () D'Artagnan 
• () Queen's Cousin 
• () Pointsettia 
• () Pimm's Royale
• () Death in the Afternoon
• () Nelson's Blood
• () Champagne Flip (although this one freaks me out with the egg yolk) 
• () Other - let me know in the comments if you have a drink suggestion below! 

Don't worry, we'll be changing the name on whatever it is we choose (so, don't be deterred by "Death in the Afternoon" or "Nelson's Blood!!").  I already had a name in mind - as a nod to my Weddingbee moniker, we'll be calling our drink "Lyre's Libation" (unless you guys can convince me otherwise!). 

Anyone else use their birthday or another holiday to get some wedding planning done?  

The Blues (and Greys!)

A long, long time ago, I told you about how my bridesmaids were all choosing their own dresses, own style, designer, and color - so long as it was blue (not bright or pastel), or charcoal grey.

Well, all the girls have made their choices, and I couldn't be more pleased with the variety of the selection.  I did end up with a good variety of colors, fabrics, shapes, and styles.  I think it will look great when it's all together.  Here is a rough idea of what it will look like:

MOH Diane chose a Badgley Mischka Navy & Silk Sheer Chiffon Gown, she got it for a steal off of Rue La La, and it fits her like a dream:

Image via RueLaLa (no longer available) 

My sister, Liz, originally bought a dress from Ideeli, but it didn't fit her the way she wanted, so one of Mr. Ly's sisters is going to wear it (you'll see that below).  My mom and I went shopping and found her a few options, she chose the one from Nordstrom Rack, also at a steal (noticing a trend here?)

Adrienna Papell Draped Chiffon Dress in Blue Violet  via Nordstrom (no longer available)

BM Alissa will be wearing a Bill Levkoff strapless taffeta gown, in Indigo:

Bill Levkoff Bridesmaid Dress Style 187

Debbie will be wearing Alfred Angelo, style 7166, and it just came in this weekend - so I got to go with her to pick it up - and I snagged a picture of her in the dress!

Personal Photo

Linda will be wearing a Monique Lhuillier bridesmaid dress from Nordstrom in summer navy:

ML Monique Lhuillier Bridesmaid V Neck Gown

I also got to go dress shopping with one of Mr. Ly's sisters, Elizabeth, for her dress, and got a picture of her in it before she bought it! She will be wearing White by Vera Wang, style VW360059, in charcoal.

Personal Photo

Jenna got an Alfred Angelo dress as well, style 7006, in Indigo (which is a MUCH different shade of blue than Bill Levkoff's Indigo!)

Alfred Angelo 7006 in Indigo 

Sarah will be wearing the dress she tried on the very first time we went dress shopping, and is the long navy version of the dress I wore in her wedding a few weeks ago.

Alfred Angelo 7041 in Navy

And last, but certainly not least, is Mr. Ly's youngest sister, Katie.  She is going to be wearing the dress my sister had originally bought from Ideeli, and luckily she loves the dress, so it's a win-win situation for everyone!

Max & Cleo one shoulder satin dress from Ideeli (no longer available)

I do have a backup dress just in case something happens, and one of the dresses doesn't turn out right.  I found a Dessy charcoal grey dress for $25 at a sidewalk sale, and figured it was too good to pass up. So in case something happens between now and January, and any of my ladies need a back-up dress - I have this one:

Personal Photo 

Dessy 2793  not in this color - (no longer available) 

So there you have the line up of dresses! I was nervous about how they might all turn out, but I am extremely pleased with how it turned out, the variety, and the styles.  I think they will all look gorgeous!

What do you think of my ladies selections, hive? Am I crazy for buying a back-up?  Has anyone else had a surprising success letting their ladies choose their own dresses?

Just One

I'm not holding out on you, hive. I promise.  I only got ONE picture back from our engagement session (that we just took on Wednesday this week - our photographer is not a slacker!)

So yesterday, I was lamenting not having a teaser picture to show you from our engagement shoot. And maybe an hour or two after posting that, Mr. Ly got an email from Mike Landis with a picture!!!  I immediately made him forward the email to me, and it went up on Facebook seconds later.  I'm obsessed, I've made it the lock-screen on my phone, and I've probably looked at it a hundred times.

So... you wanna see it?

Image via Mike Landis Photography

A couple of things about this photo.  First, Mr. Ly thinks he looks silly, which I'm not saying he doesn't... but it was how Mike told him to pose. I think it's amazing.  He's flexing or something, and while, it's not how we would ever pose for a picture, it just captures how much FUN we had during our entire shoot. (Mr. Ly I think was secretly hoping to see one of the photos he suggested we take, but he will have to wait patiently. Just like me.)

Second,  I am amazed at our photographer's eye.  Yes, he's a professional, and yes, this is what he does for a living - but he looks at things and sees backgrounds for cool shots, not a smelly boardwalk public bathroom (it didn't actually smell, but I bet it did inside!) - which is where this photo took place.   Who would ever know that? No one. And it created such a cool backdrop for our picture.  We stopped at so many different places, leaned up against lots of walls, even sipped a milkshake at a retro-style diner (I can not WAIT to see those!).  I am so glad that we did the engagement shoot, as it really helped us be comfortable in front of the camera and reassured us that we really did make the best choice when it came to choosing our photographer.

As you can tell, this one was from our casual portion of the shoot.  We had our formal pictures taken first, all around the hotel, which was an incredible back-drop for our Mad Men theme.  Then, we went back to our room (one of the benefits of shooting at a hotel you are staying at - you can change comfortably!) and changed into our casual outfits. We took some pictures on the boardwalk (my heels kept slipping between the boards - look at how thin those bad boys are!), a few on the beach and then finished up at the diner down the street.  Time just flew by while we were shooting, and I know waiting to see them is going to be the hardest part!

Despite how nervous I was before the shoot, I am so glad we did it.  We got a chance to work with our photographer before our wedding, relax  in front in the camera, and will have a pretty awesome set of photos to incorporate into the wedding.

Who else was nervous pre-photo session and ended up having a blast at their engagement shoot? How did you manage to wait patiently for your pictures?

Going Postal

Lots of bees have posted about the joys of getting mail.

This week has brought a lot of exciting things our way via the post office.  First, we got a thank you card from the tuxedo place we visited this week and put a deposit down to secure the guy's apparel. I thought that was a super nice touch, especially because a lot of vendors, once they have your deposit, they don't contact you unless necessary!  I'm not saying they have to, but it was a really nice touch to get a handwritten note, from the guy we met with, and just makes me feel really good about using a small town vendor, rather than a big store chain.

Wednesday, we arrived home from our exciting engagement shoot (I wish I had a teaser or something to show you, hopefully soon!!) to find an invitation to my little brother's wedding.

This is a special wedding, not only because it's my brother's wedding, but also because it will be the last wedding we attend as Mr. & Miss!  When we attend this wedding, we will be weeks from sending our invites! Which brings me to more exciting mail - well email - (that counts, right?), we have received and approved our final proofs for our invitations and they are being processed as we speak.  Sending that final approval was like the moment when it gets real!

But none of these items in the mail really compare to getting the mail when it contains your shower invitation! That is exactly what came for me in the mail on Monday, and although my shower is not a surprise, I was a bit surprised to get an invitation in the mail.  Mostly because when I asked my MOH if I was going to get one, she definitely told me no.  So I was not expecting it. (I guess they did manage to surprise me after all!)  Turns out there was a bit of a misunderstanding as to whether or not I should get an invitation, and my sister (who sent them) figured I would snoop (ehm, research) my way into finding my mom's or one of my other bridesmaid's invites, so she saved me the time.  And I was TOTALLY caught off gaurd, and beyond pleased.

I am totally in love with my shower invites, and so impressed with how perfectly my ladies know me, and captured what I will L.O.V.E. for my shower:

Look at that awesome chevron striped back, and the amazing etsy store that created it!

Here it is!  Displayed on my fridge, I hate to blur it, but it's still gorgeous! 

 I am so excited about my shower, I can hardly wait the month until it's here. The fact that it combines two of my greatest loves - champagne and books - just adds to my anticipation!  I know I am way biased but how incredible are these invites?

Anyone else have an exciting week of mail? Do you think a bride should get an invite to her own shower if it's not a surprise?

Deep in the trenches!

Hey hive, sorry I haven't been around much this week. I'm at that stage in wedding planning where all the big stuff is sorted out, and in the middle of last week I felt like I hit a wedding wall. I couldn't wrap my head around anything I needed to do or wanted to do, I made check lists, contacted some vendors, and felt like I was doing nothing and getting nowhere. I could feel myself starting to go wedding-crazy. So I took a few days off, thought I was all better, and then I spent half of the day on Sunday working on a SINGLE flourish for our invitations.  I proceeded to get mad at Mr Ly because he just didn't "GET" it (I was being really ridiculous, and he was being really great, I was just super cranky due to no progress with the flourish...) and decided maybe a few more days off were needed.

Anyway, we are one week away from our engagement shoot.  Mr. Ly has both of his outfits set, ready to go.  I am between two for our formal shoot, and have the casual shoot ready. I'm really really nervous about our photo shoot.  I remember reading Mrs. Eagle's tips for nervous brides and engagement shoot phobia, it's for real. I re-read her post, and think her photos are absolutely breathtaking... so I'm going to try to deal with my anxiety head on.  I am deathly nervous about looking like an idiot, like the theme of our shoot won't come through - or we'll look like we're playing dress up, or I'll just end up hating our photos.  Mr. Ly is SUPER excited for our shoot.  It's doubling as our mini-vacation this summer, and he's looking forward to staying in a penthouse, having a day off of work, and taking some cool photos.  I need to take a page from his book - just relax, trust our photographer, and it will all be fine. I plan on doing my hair and make-up trial one more time, trying on the outfits with all accessories before the weekend, and then try to put my anxiety to rest so I don't stress the entire weekend.

I did DIY a gold pen necklace for our photo shoot, it was sooooo easy.  It doesn't even get it's own post.  I followed the tutorial found here.

The model paint was the only thing I had to buy, so all in all, this project cost me $2!!

Gold model paint & a free mini sharpie with jump ring already attached. 

A thin layer of paint is all you need (don't over-do it on the layers of paint - it will dry uneven) 

Creative drying techniques - suspended in a plastic cup so it doesn't hit any of the sides.  Also, this allowed me to paint the jump ring.

Let dry overnight,  attach a chain, and it's ready to be worn.

Ta-da! The final product in action! 

Super easy, super cheap.  I may try to find the pen used in the original tutorial, another $2 isn't too bad to add to the cost of this DIY.

Just be forewarned, once you start painting things gold - you will want to paint EVERYTHING!  I have a plastic cosmetic mirror that I may also paint to use a prop for the shoot.

So, anyone have any last minute tips or tricks or words of wisdom before our engagement shoot?  Any advice for getting around the wedding wall without ridiculous hissy fits if it hits again in the next 5 months??

Being a Bridesmaid

This weekend was the last time I'll be a bridesmaid before I get married, and the only time I was a bridesmaid while I was engaged.  It definitely changed my outlook on being a part of a bridal party, what it means to be a bridesmaid, and gave me some good perspective for things that can go wrong on my wedding day - and why it's so important to have people you love standing beside you to help you through.

Being a bridesmaid is an honor that I do not take lightly,  I know there are some bridesmaids that feel that their responsibility ends with the shower/bachelorette party,  the only thing they have to do is to show up on the day of the wedding and look pretty in their dress. More power to them, but that's not what I think a bridesmaid should be.

All Photos Personal


For me, being a bridesmaid meant helping my friend with crafts along the way:

Card sign made with the Cricut 

Or crafting on my own to make a special gift for my friend, no matter how trying it was:

Bride hanger in action, with her beautiful dress 

Or making her a bride hat for her bachelor/bachelorette party (they are huge country fans and did a joint party at the Brad Paisley concert) I am so happy she liked it enough to include it in her grand entrance for the reception: (I'm a terrible blogger and have no pictures of the hat itself!)

At the Brad Paisley Concert (top) and making her entrance at the reception (bottom)

Or making sure her nerves were calmed the day of by providing copious amounts of (pink!) champagne for the bride and all the bridesmaids:

I embrace any reason to drink a bit of the bubbly! 

Or providing the bride with some cute gifts to wear on the night of/after/honeymoon:

Bridal Underwear from Target (not available online - but they are on clearance this week at the Target near me!!)

There are many things I did with my friend in the weeks leading up to her wedding, going to the florist, going to taste the tap water at the venue with her, and just generally trying to keep her nerves calm while sharing in her excitement for her big day.

Things went wrong the day of -  a huge storm rolled through and there was a fire, the hotel lost power, obviously the timeline was thrown off track and the make-up artist couldn't get all the bridesmaids make-up done in time, so I volunteered to just get my base airbrushed and I'd do the rest myself - so none of the other girls would have to skip getting their make-up done.  Because of this, I was the last bridesmaid to get dressed, missed seeing my friend getting into her dress, her first look with her dad, and all of her bridal portraits before we left the hotel - but my main concern was not that I was missing these moments, but rather that these things were happening as she wanted and she was staying calm whether I was there to see it or not.  Whatever part I could play in making these things happen as perfectly as possible, I did because in my mind that is what a bridesmaid does.

Maybe I tend to go beyond the norm for bridesmaids. There were times throughout it all that I felt a bit resentful that more of the other girls didn't do as much as I did, but any time I felt those feelings creep up, I had to remind myself that this day wasn't about me. I was doing these things because I really wanted to, not because I ever felt like I had to.  There needs to be the worker bees in the bridal party, the ones who will be there to pick up any slack, stop catastrophes before they start, and keep things running smoothly - no matter the cost. I gladly take on that role, because I know my friend will do the same for me.

When my day comes, I have nine wonderful ladies that will do everything in their power to make sure that my day goes seamlessly, and no matter what that day throws at us, they will be my guardians to make sure I'm unaffected by anything that dares try to get in my way.

My final stint as a bridesmaid - with the newly wedded couple 

What have your experiences as a bridesmaid been like? What type of bridesmaid are you?

Wire Hangers: Redux

Guys, you are the BEST.  Seriously,  I know it's hard sometimes to be like... yeah, your DIY sucks. But the feedback I got on my hangers was awesome, and helped push me in the right direction.  This is why I love the 'bee.  I get supportive feedback and don't feel like a complete moron for having tried, and failed.

So, after my last post about the hangers went up, and you saw the disaster that I was planning on giving to my friend for her wedding this weekend, I went out and purchased some stiffer wire from Lowes.  It's the same gauge wire (14), but it's galvanized, which as far as I can tell makes it harder to bend and a little less shiny.  Also, it didn't dent quite so easily when I was using the pliers to bend it (and didn't leave "teeth" marks on the wire, either).

Just as a reminder, this is what we're starting with:

I practiced a bit with the new wire,

Practice makes perfect

And, VOILA!

I think it looks SO much better.  Not perfect, not "Etsy" worthy, but considering where I was a day ago, I think it's a win!

So, thank you bees for your help! I couldn't have done it without you!

Anyone one else improve upon a DIY disaster?

No Wire Hangers!

Anyone else think of this classic scene from Mommy Dearest when people talk about DIY wire hangers?

My bridesmaid Sarah is getting married this weekend, and I asked her a few weeks ago if she had a special hanger for her dress. She said she was thinking about buying one, but I convinced her that I could make her one for her wedding and she did not need to buy one. I have never made a name hanger before, nor do I have any experience working with wire - but I was convinced it couldn't be that hard. I've made jewelry before, and had all the tools I needed, I just needed to get some wire and get it done.

Easier said than done.  I bought some 14 gauge floral wire from Jo-Ann's Fabrics, and promptly made this mess:

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

So, you can see my second attempt got a little better, but it still looks like a hot mess.  I turned to the internet to garner some inspiration.  After a quick search and some Etsy inspired designs, I realized I should abandon the capital b all together, and created this much better version:

Still having trouble with the "i", but I found a way to resolve that... 

The last attempt turned out so much better, and it actually looked like something I could give to my friend.  However, attaching it to the hanger was just more complicated than I thought (really, it's just hot glue in a hole, but I managed to mess that up somehow)  So two hangers later, and my attempt to attach it to the hanger was a bit messier than I hoped. So I used some accents, like a pearl on the "i" and flowers to cover how messy the ends are.

The final product (without flash)

And again, with flash. 

I have a few days, and one more hanger, I could potentially try again. I would need to buy more wire though, I used over 6 feet on four attempts.  But I think I might have a better handle on it.

What do you think I should do, bees?  Make another one or give my friend this one?