Weddingbee: Snapshot Sundays

Mr. and Mrs. Cola



City: Woodside, CA (San Francisco Bay area)
Venue: The Mountain Terrace
Wedding Date: June 12, 2010
Bridal Gown Designer: Sophia Tolli "Alexandria" in Spun Gold

Florist: All arrangements were done my my mother, aunt and I
Photographer: Shoot Me Now Photography, Pacifica, CA
Music: Ceremony acoustic guitar played by a friend, reception iPod/laptop music monitored by friends  
Transportation: Peninsula Tour (Guest Charter Bus), Limo Bee (Bride and Groom's Limo)
Stationery: All paper products purchased from LCI Paper and Paper and More (DIY)
Cupcakes: Sibby's Cupcakery, San Mateo, CA
Catering: Venue catered (The Mountain Terrace)
Coordination: Sara Gorski
Hair and Makeup: Aimee Lam, San Francisco Bay area
Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Calvin Klein, from Nordstrom
Spouse’s attire: Charcoal grey suit, from Sears
Menswear: Charcoal grey suits, from Sears
Honeymoon: Kauai Love Shack, Kauai (private house rental) and Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, Ohau    Favors: Choice of cookies from the San Francisco Cookie Company, white cheddar popcorn from Thatcher’s Gourmet Popcorn, or Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares

Color Scheme and Theme: Alfresco Romance Under the Redwoods, featuring lavender, sage, butter cream and chocolate.

 

{All photos by Shoot Me Now Photography}

Thanks for letting me share some of my favorite wedding photos with you one more time! It was so nice to have an excuse to look through them again, since a little over a year after our wedding, I definitely don't spend hours drooling over our photos like I did right after we got them back from our photographer. ;)

I had so much fun looking back at the details from our wedding, I think I'm finally inspired now to do something with all of our leftover paper from making our invitations. I think I just realized how much I miss crafting with paper! To check out some more of my DIY wedding paper projects, or any additional details from our wedding, feel free to check out my Weddingbee Wiki and all of my archives, or you can find me these days over here.

And you can see the rest of the Snapshot Sundays posts here.

A Bee’s Life: Cola Edition

How I found Weddingbee:

Well, I got engaged on March 5th, 2009, on vacation in Mexico. We got home from vacation on March 9th….and it wasn’t more than a week or two later that I discovered Weddingbee!

(Personal photo from our Mexico trip, little did I know, I’d be engaged 2 days after this photo was taken!)

I already knew about the other big wedding website out there, and had tentatively looked at the prices of a couple local venues (hey, I knew the ring had already been purchased, just wasn’t 100% sure when I would receive it!), but it was through a Google search while looking for wedding inspiration that I found Weddingbee. And I never looked back—it just felt like home!

I stalked the blog and boards for a good couple months before I worked up the courage to start commenting, and once I finally started contributing, I found it to be such a fun experience! Reading the wonderful advice on this site, being able to ask questions in a friendly environment; it was really a great discovery for this newly engaged bride. I was so inspired that in June of 2009, I decided that I was going to start blogging myself, with hopes of someday becoming a Bee!

Applying to Weddingbee:

I’ll admit it, I tried to be very strategic about my application to Weddingbee.

First of all, just because I decided I would start blogging in June, a full year before my wedding, didn’t mean that I started publishing blog posts right away. I had to see if I could even cut it first! I had written for my college newspaper, as well as contributed tons of vacation trip reports to various travel sites, but I’d never really written about myself before, and put it all out there with a distinct audience in mind. So I started slowly, by first looking at all the projects I had planned for our wedding, and making a list of about 90 ideas for blog posts. Not bad, I thought to myself, maybe I could do this!

Slowly, over last summer I started writing more and more draft blog posts, but still didn’t pull the trigger on publishing them. Until last August, when I finally started to feel more confident in my writing, and I was hitting an average of 3-4 posts a week. I then went back through my drafts, cleaned some up, trashed some others, and felt ready to unleash my wedding ideas on whoever managed to stumble upon them on the internet.

I began to build a small following on my blog, and continued to write with enthusiasm over a few more months, always keeping in the back of my mind the thought that I was ultimately blogging to apply for Weddingbee. Come last October, when I reached the required 8-months-from-your-wedding-day date, I finally got up the courage to apply.

I spent a good two weeks tweaking my application email and really trying to express who I was and why I wanted to write for this amazing site. I knew that the applications were usually reviewed on weekends, so I swallowed my fear of rejection and submitted my application on a Wednesday in late October. And then early the following week I strategically posted a really cool, set-me-apart, “wow, she’s so creative, we’ve got to accept her” DIY project. Hoping, of course, that my application would be reviewed that weekend, and the committee that reviews the blogs would see my super-cool DIY skills front and center when they visited my blog. I was a sneaky one! Whether or not this actually had any bearing on my acceptance, I really have no idea. But it was worth a shot, right?

Either way, exactly two weeks after I’d held my breath as I hit “send” on my application, I got THE EMAIL! The one that every Bee hopeful both can’t wait to receive, and dreads opening. But it was great news, I was officially a Bee! My 5 months of planning out my blog ideas, finding my voice, and editing and re-editing until I felt my posts were strong enough had paid off.

On Being a Bee:

Honestly? I feel like it’s been such an honor blogging for the hive! I know it sounds a little cheesy, but it’s so true.

The feeling that my contribution has made a difference in other bride’s lives is so rewarding. Be it advice I gave, an inspiring project I wrote about, or just sharing something that other brides have felt too—it’s a wonderful feeling. And I feel like what I’ve contributed has been repaid 20 fold, in the lovely comments, suggestions, ideas and “hey, I used your idea” PMs I’ve received over the past year. I love hearing from you guys! And that’s what makes this such a great community, the support we all have for each other.

But I won’t lie, it’s also quite a lot of work blogging for Weddingbee (but definitely fun work!). On average I’d say I probably spend at least 10 hours a week taking pictures, sorting and editing them, writing blog posts, uploading photos, editing, saving, editing some more, and then editing my posts again. And working on recaps have taken even longer! I always save my posts as drafts for a week or two, because I always seem to find something to improve upon, or something that needs to be worded differently. It’s quite a commitment, both in the time spent blogging, and also in putting yourself out there for the world to see/read about 3-4 times a week! But again, the reward is SO worth it!

So thank you for reading my blog posts the past year. I’ve still got some more in me, but I know sooner than later my time as an active Bee will be over (sniff, sniff!). And Mr. Cola also thanks you. Without the hive, he would have had to endure a whole lot more of my talking his ear off about our wedding!

(Photo by Shoot Me Now Photography)

The rest of the Bee's Life series can be found here.

So Excited to Bee Here!

Halfway through day 2 1/2 of a grueling 3 day company sales summit, I innocently snuck a peek at the e-mail on my phone, only to find one of the best e-mails of my life! I'd been anticipating getting my Weddingbee application results for the past two weeks, how I'd see it in my inbox, my heartbeat would quicken, and I would prepare myself for the worst. But instead, I was bored out of my mind at my meeting, and just opened the e-mail without even thinking about what it could or could not mean.

As soon as I read the magic words, that I would be the next Bee, I shouted out a loud "YES!" that everyone in the meeting heard. Whoops! Everybody turned around and gave me a funny look, and then the VP of Sales continued on with her presentation. Luckily we got to take a break shortly after, so I was able to go to the restroom and jump up and down and freak out a little, before composing myself, touching up my lipstick, and having to go give my own presentation.

{Letters PhotoShopped by me, images from The Knot, Nordstrom, Men's Wearhouse, Weddingbee and Craftster}

Needless to say, I'm psyched to be a part of the hive as Miss Cola (chosen because I love me some caffeinated pop, and the icon makes me think of rum and cola, my go-to drink of choice) and to start sharing our wedding plans! But first, a little about us:

(personal photo)

My fiancé and I both grew up in Washington State, but about 4 hours away from each other. It wasn’t until freshman year in college that we first met; he actually lived next door to my boyfriend at the time in the dorms. After being roommates our sophomore and junior year, we quickly became best friends, but I was slow to realize my love for him. It wasn’t until the end of our junior year that we started dating (I waited a whole week after dumping my loser ex until I kissed him!), and have been together ever since.

We’re kind of nerds, always watching our favorite TV shows while both playing on our laptops, but we also enjoy camping, traveling, spending time with our friends, hiking, and playing with (or being angry with!) our cats and leopard gecko. He and I have been through a move to California, his grad school at Stanford, several jobs, and the first few of a lifetime of amazing travels and adventures. We can’t wait to start our next adventure as husband and wife, and I can't wait to share the road there with all of the Weddingbee hive!