"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.

Click to enlarge images

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!