"Wow, I wish I was a guest at that wedding."

After looking at some of my wedding photos Miss Magnolia reflected and thought, "Wow, I wish I was a guest at that wedding!" I was thrilled that she was able to feel that way just by looking at some of our photos because that was a HUGE priority for me. I kept our guests in mind in almost everything I did.


Click photo to enlarge

A guest having a blast! I guess my seating arrangement really made for great conversation


Here are a few of the ways I was thoughtful about my guests experience:

1) Booking all 14 rooms at the Willard Street Inn where Mr. Onion and I were staying -- this way it was a very intimate experience for our family and closest friends
2) Blocking rooms at two other less expensive hotels keeping every one's budget in mind
3) Placing welcome bags in every guests room with goodies and more info on what to do in the area along with a welcome booklet
4) Thinking about parking which they only had to do once as we all walked from the church to the ceremony
5) Having an open bar so they could enjoy whatever they wanted to drink
6) Picking a great restaurant so the food was excellent
7) Inviting everyone who was in town the day before to a welcome event at the Magic Hat Brewery
8) Inviting everyone who drove up the night before to the rehearsal dinner so folks could get to know each other before the wedding and feel a part of the celebration
9) Making them feel special and welcome at the wedding by having hand calligraphed place cards at assigned seats
10) Working really hard on the seating chart so conversation flowed (it worked like a charm)
11) Involving them by including a photo of almost every guest in our photo slide show

How are you keeping your guests in mind? Is it important to you that they are happy and enjoy themselves? Did you make any choices because of what you thought your guests would enjoy and not what you or your fiance wanted?

Attire close-up -- the men

Let's not forget the groom. Many grooms simply rent a tuxedo, but I knew from the beginning of planning that our wedding wouldn't be formal and I don't love the look of a tux (I know, call me crazy). We decided together that Mr. Onion should have a suit that he'd get to wear again and again. After lots of research we decided to have a custom suit made for him and found Alan David Custom in NYC. Mr. Onion also got a beautiful off white custom french cuff shirt for the wedding and a back up shirt.



Now I know what you're thinking -- "Mrs. Onion, that's great and all but we can't afford that." He will have the suit for a very long time and Alan David Custom offers free tailoring for the life of the suit. Yes, it's more expensive than renting a tuxedo, but it's not significantly more expensive than buying a nice suit off the rack. I happen to have fantastic taste (blast for our bank account) so I picked one of the more expensive fabrics, but their prices for a custom suits range from $695-$1,495.

Isn't the fabric rich and wonderful? Oh, and the boutonniere is white bouvardia (which was used in my bouquet) by our fantastic florist, Dana Barrow from Fresh Floral Design Studio.

Note: Have your fiance bring TWO shirts with him the day of the wedding -- you never know what might happen and you don't want a little spilled red wine to ruin your night.



And the groomsmen -- from left to right, his best friend, Mr. Onion, his brother and father. Another lesson learned with this one. When we first started planning I wanted the groomsmen to wear brown suits to compliment the bridesmaid's dresses. We hunted and hunted for a brown rental suit and could only find a tuxedo. So then we started looking for brown suits for them to buy but they were all too expensive and all three of them were adamant that they would never wear a brown suit again.

OK -- so here comes the compromise. We ended up renting black suits from Dante Zeller. The price was right and they looked pretty good for a rental. Then I found a stunning green tie at Bloomingdale's that really popped against the black and went nicely with all the natural greens of the flowers. The tie was our gift to our groomsmen.

At the end of the day it worked out beautifully, but at the time I was really frustrated I couldn't make it work. So, the moral of the story is, be flexible. Just because it wasn't your original vision doesn't mean it won't work out. This goes for attire, the venue, the dress....you name it.

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Attire close-up -- the women

What you wear on your wedding day should make you feel fantastic. More and more brides are expressing themselves with not only what they choose to wear but how they dress their groom, groomsmen, bridesmaids and flower girl.

There are a few things I learned while planning my wedding that I'd like to pass on to you. First, don't think that on your wedding day you have to look a certain way because that's what you see in a magazine or your mother said so! Be sure to pick a dress that suits your style. You should simply be a more dressed up version of yourself! If you're comfortable and confident that that will make you glow and look beautiful.



I bought my Romona Keveza gown (it's actually two pieces) from her Legends Collection at Mark Ingram's Bridal Atelier in NYC. It was a fantastic experience, from my first appointment, to the day I picked my dress up before my wedding. My sales girl Anju was fantastic -- supportive but not pushy in any way. I'd highly recommend making this one of your first stops while searching for a dress in New York.



When it came time to finding a dress for my bridesmaids I started looking very early (like 10-11 months early). I didn't want my friends to have to break the bank to participate in my wedding and bridesmaid dresses can be outrageously priced! I went to Ann Taylor to look at their celebrations collection with my BM who lives in the city and we found a dress we loved -- and score team bridesmaids -- it was on sale for $99!! This made my day. I love how our florist was inspired by the roses on their dresses for their bouquets with lavender freesia, purple delphinium, and creamy white roses.



And last but not least, our flower girl. This sweet little girl (who just turned eight a few weeks ago) is very special to me. I also didn't want to put any financial stress on her parents so I showed her mother the Ann Taylor Flower Girl Dress for inspiration because I didn't want her to have to spend $128 on a dress she'd outgrow so quickly. She ended up getting her dress on sale around Easter time -- so savvy. The one thing I did ask is that she get her the brown sash so she'd compliment the bridesmaids dresses.

Click to enlarge images

Up next...Attire close-up -- the men!

Getting ready teasers...

Blogging has changed the way weddings are planned. Brides are taking on more and more themselves with the help of great websites like our very own weddingbee.com. But it's not just blogs about weddings, but vendors sharing their work on their own blogs. Mrs. Ant compiled The Ultimate Wedding Photography Blog List. This was hours of entertainment for me (wedding photography websites are among my favorites) and I encourage you all to check it out.

In the meantime I wanted to share a few getting ready teaser photos from my photographer, Daria Bishop, that she featured on her blog.







I got my hair and make-up done at the Stephen & Burns Aveda Salon on Church Street in Burlington, VT. It took a number of trials at other salons to find the right one for me but I was thrilled with the results. Britney did my hair and Veronica did my make-up and both were so sweet and talented. Thanks ladies!



Mr. Onion got a trim and shave with the guys at The Men's Room also on Church Street just a few blocks away from the Aveda.



Mr. Onion's beautiful Hugo Boss shoes that I bought for him as a gift from Bloomingdale's. Tip: Open store credit cards for the 10% discount for big purchases. I also did this at Saks Fifth Avenue for our groomsmen's ties.

More to come soon!

Favor idea - Adagio Tea

I love tea. And what better favor than the gift of great tea? And at only $2 for their cute little sample tin (makes 10 cups) they are a cost effective favor too!



I'd like to share with you, Adagio Teas. My brother presented Mr. Onion and I with a number of their sample tins and a tea pot for two last holiday season. We quickly fell in love with their teas. Our favorite is called Foxtrot which is an herbal tea with a mix of chamomile, South African Rooibos and fresh peppermint leaves -- YUM! It's so calm and fresh.

I just ordered a 6 oz. tin of Foxtrot and they gave me a chance to share the tea with others. Do you love tea? If so, if you email me at onion@weddingbee.com with your email address and first and last name, I'd be happy to send you an email with a $5 coupon off your order! You'll be glad you did.

The Big Party

I've been dying to share some more photos of our flowers but was patiently waiting for our professional photos to do so. Just when I was getting restless waiting, our amazing and sweet florist, Dana Barrow from Fresh Floral Design Studio in Vermont emailed me to say that she had featured our wedding on her website. So cool!


My stunning bouquet

One of the things I loved about the way that Dana approached floral design, as well as her communication style, is she really thinks about how it all comes together. She had a great section on her website which shares all the elements that go into an event, not just a bunch of bouquets and centerpieces from an entire careers worth of work. This is akin to asking a photographer to see a few examples of one couples entire day instead of their "greatest hits" on their website from every wedding they ever photographed.

Now, on with the beautiful flowers...


Bridesmaids bouquets


Pew decorations


Alter flowers


Beautiful tables with lavender bundle place cards (with mini-moo cards attached)


On each table there were candles on square plates with lavender buds to continue lavender bundles look


The alter flowers were moved to the bar (aka the head table) at the restaurant -- they fit right in!


In the center of both long tables were tall cylinder vases filled with pears -- marzipan pears also appeared on our cake and on the sticker of half of our favor boxes was a "perfect pair" monogram from Creative Montage.



Dana was a treat to work with. She went to our church and reception location to get inspiration from the space, she looked at pictures of my dress, my bridesmaids attire, Mr. Onion's suit fabric and spent a lot of time really understanding our style. She isn't just a florist, although the flowers are beautiful. She really approached the event as a reflection of our taste and our love for each other and created a feeling that was just PERFECT.

To see our wedding flowers featured on her website click HERE and then click on the center image on the top row -- The Big Party, Adriana's, Burlington, VT.

I was thrilled and would highly recommend her to any bride. Fresh Floral Design Studio is based in Shoreham, VT. To learn more visit her website at www.fresh-studio.com.

All photos taken by Dana Barrow

A non registry item we LOVE

We got a number of things that were not on our registry some of which, I'm not gonna lie, weren't good. But there were a few pleasant surprises. Among them -- the Cuisinart Griddler which was a shower gift from my MIL.



I went on-line to find some more pictures of the Griddler in action and came across this video on a NBC news clip. See the video here if you'd like.


Photo from Linens 'n Things. The Griddler has two different plates -- one set flat seen above, and the others that make grill marks, seen in the photos we took below.







We made a grilled veggie panini with goat cheese for dinner earlier this week and it was really good. We simply marinated the vegetables in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and then grilled them on the Griddler. We grilled some cibatta bread and then spread soft goat cheese on and piled on the vegetables. It was nice to have the option to grill even with our limited counter space! I think we'll get quite a bit of use out of it for sure.

Did you get any unexpected wedding gifts that you really loved?! To share so those who are still working on their registries can jump on the band wagon!

Before and After

I forgot that I promised to post some before and after photos from Tony Yang after he post processed some of my images from our photos shoot. So, without further ado...on with the images.

Before



After



Before



After



Before



After



Before



After



If you'd like to learn more about Tony Yang's "intime" sessions, click here.

The big reaction!

I got a lot of questions about Mr. Onion's reaction to his wedding gift -- the album of "intime photos" that Tony Yang took. My earlier post, "Tony's Girls," created quite a stir and was a great conversation. You all seemed to have very strong opinions about the subject of "boudoir photos" but this is what weddingbee is all about -- sharing experiences and opinions!



Here is the hard cover album I ordered from www.mpix.com as my wedding gift to Mr. Onion. I'd highly recommend mpix -- the quality was much better than the Shutterfly album I'd ordered a few months earlier and the prices were competitive. $30 for a 10x10 hard cover book with 20 pages and it arrived so quickly! There was a choice of paper at no additional cost -- glossy, matte or linen. I chose linen because I wanted the album to feel soft and romantic. I'll be ordering from them again for sure.

Below is a quick glance inside the book






Right, so onto Mr. Onion's reaction. He gave me his gift first -- of course there were tears and lots of hugging! Then I gave him the book all wrapped up. I was really nervous. A little piece of me was worried he'd be jealous or uncomfortable that the images were taken by another man. But I got over that very quickly -- if I really thought that would be the case then I wouldn't have had the photos taken to begin with.

He was blown away. He opened the book to the first page, read it and kissed me :) I printed some text that read "With all my heart on our wedding day." I said -- "wait wait...there's more!" I watched him flip page after page with a smile on his face. It was a great feeling. When he got to end I said "Well?!?!" He simply said "You're hot" and laughed...then proceeded to kiss me some more. It was just the reaction I was looking for -- for him to be excited and thrilled.

I'm glad that I gave the gift to him in private two days before the wedding instead of on the morning of the wedding in front of our photographers and/or his groomsmen (his dad was one of them -- not something I want my FIL to be thinking about)! Haha. All in all I'm really glad that I had this experience and was able to share these images with him. It will be a wonderful thing to look back on some day.

The gift of love

Mr. Onion and I drove from New York to Burlington, VT (6+ hours) the Thursday before our Saturday wedding. This way we had time to get our errands done and relax for the rest of the weekend. After we ran around on Thursday we took some time to rest at the Willard Street Inn before going out to dinner at our favorite French restaurant in town -- Leunigs Bistro. This is when we decided to exchange gifts. I gave him a nice album with my "intime" photos taken by Tony Yang and he gave me a journal.



But this was a very special journal.



The instructions inside told me, when ever I needed to be reminded of how much he loved me, to "submit a request" and the journal would be returned in 24 hours with "a recodring of [his] hearts essence." He's such a romantic and I LOVE him!



It's the gift of love that keeps on giving! All I have to do is ask and I get a poem or just his thoughts about why and how he loves me at that moment. Did your husband get you a thoughtful non-material gift like this?

Some things never change

I realized, as I was looking through my childhood photos for our slide show at the wedding reception, that nothing changes. Your personality is so solidly shaped as a child, that even though you grow and change over the years, you are fundamentally the same person.

See exhibit A:

A picture of me in San Fransisco when I was four years old

And exhibit B:

A photo from my intime photo session taken by Tony Yang (see the rest of my proofs in my post, "Tony's Girls").

SOOO similar, right?! I couldn't believe it when I realized it. When I pointed it out to Mr. Onion he just cracked up and said "some things never change!"

But some things can change. Most people would agree that the person you choose to marry should have qualities that compliment your own. I know that because of Mr. Onion I take everything much less seriously. I'm not going to say I was uptight, but I got very easily upset. I also am able to be a goof and enjoy being silly with him which is something I rarely did before.

Do you think you're a better version of yourself with your mate? What are the things about yourself that you've seen change for the better while with this person? Do you think you've "changed" your fiance or husband? If so, in what way?

Finger Mate

Does your engagement ring spin or flop to the side of your hand? Does it drive you nuts? Did you try to add those sizing balls and found out they hurt like hell?! Well, there is an answer!! I couldn't keep this my secret. I would like to introduce you to The Finger Mate.



My engagement ring was my mother's and she was amazingly generous and decided to give it to Mr. Onion to give to me! She started to get arthritis so she couldn't get the ring over her knuckle without the ring being so large that it spun around on her finger. Her jeweler installed the Finger Mate on her ring and solved her problem. The amazing thing is I was able to slip the ring on perfectly with no resizing and HOORAY, it doesn't spin around!! And I'm all set when I get older and have the same problem my mother did.


My engagement ring "locked"


To open the locking mechanism you simply pull up on the stone. It sounds scary but it doesn't hurt the ring one bit


The lock mechanism open



And another shot of the mechanism open

Click to enlarge any of the photos

I'd highly recommend you look into this if you thought there was no other way and you just had to live with your ring spinning. I love it and am so glad that I have a built in long term solution for old age because I plan to live to be very old and very happily married with this ring on my hand!

A Gold Lining

Mr. Onion designed his own wedding ring and we had it custom made by the same jeweler that custom made my ring. He didn't want me to share it with anyone before the wedding but now that the wedding is over all bets are off!



The outside is brushed platinum with polished trim. This is nothing unusual. But the inside is 18 carat yellow gold. It's like his little secret that only he knows about (until now)! The ring is displayed on a swatch from his custom suit fabric. It really looked beautiful together.

To learn more about his custom suit from Alan David Custom in New York City see my post Custom Suit.


He loves the weight -- the ring is quite heavy.



I'm confident this is something that he will love for years to come. We decided to "do it right" the first time instead of upgrading later on in life. I really like the idea of wearing one wedding ring your entire life.