Weddingbee bios

He's a busy guy working as a mechanical engineer and wedding photographer, I work in fundraising for a national disability services nonprofit, and in my kitchen I'm a pastry chef, wishing I could just bite the bullet and go to culinary school. We live in the fabulous city of Chicago in a neghborhood full of diversity, including a wide variety of Middle Eastern and Korean cuisine. If we're not with our dog, Charlie, and our two cats Linus and Basil, you'll probably find us at the gym.

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We're (now) proud to say that Match.com brought us together. For awhile we weren't...we simply didn't speak about how we met. But those days are past us, we're getting married, so why wouldn't we celebrate what brought us together?!

For the record, I made the first move and "winked" at him. He responded back and we emailed like crazy. I had simply awful profile pictures and all of his were "artsy" shots where his face was covered or in shadow, so it was our mutual interests, such the importance of proper grammar and punctuation, that brought us together on our first date. Being able to put intelligent sentences together is must when the first steps of your relationship are via e-mail!

We first met for dinner, had some so-so conversation, a few drinks at a bar and called it a night. While neither one of us was wow'd, we made plans for the following Wednesday and we became inseparable! A  year and a half later we were moving in together and almost 2 years after our first date, he popped the question!

On the steps of our first apartment together...we miss this place!

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For a few months leading up to the proposal, I started getting wedding fever. A good friend was getting married later in the year, so I was going wedding dress shopping with her...after a few shopping trips, I had wedding on the brain like you wouldn't believe. So I starting dropping hints, measuring my ring finger and earmarking pictures of rings I might like in magazines. You know, just in case he might need ideas.

I did not, however, know that a ring was actually being shopped for or that a proposal was on the horizon. In fact, it happen months ahead of when I thought it could happen. Putting me even more off the trail, the proposal came the day after my birthday, after I had celebrated with friends and family. Surely he'd propose before we'd be seeing our loved ones, right? By that Sunday morning (the day after my birthday) I didn't expect any surprises.

The scene was set - me sleeping in and be awoken by my favorite song at that time ("Love Song" by Sara Bareilles), a tray of bacon, eggs and pancakes placed on my lap. Out of the napkin dropped a ring box. Bended knee. Tears. Words of love. Many phone calls!

It wasn't even a question that we'd do our engagement session in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago...where we fell in love! It was such a fun, fall day in September, enjoying the city with our own paparazzi!

All photos credited to Laura Peacock.

I wanted a 1950s feel. Lots of tulle. A bit poofy and a lot of fun. I ended up with this sweet little number showcasing tiers of organza. It's flowy, romantic, fits me like a glove and is so light I should be able to dance the night away.

When my bridal consultant suggested this dress I told her absolutely no. She encouraged me to just bring it into the fitting room. When this dress was next in line to be tried on, I again said "I don't think so." I put it on and fell in love. Not letting my stubborn streak take hold really saved the day here.

I've opted to not wear a beaded belt or a sash but instead am attaching a flower at the waist.

I wanted my bridesmaids to flaunt our black and white theme in a fabulous way, while buying dresses that could easily be worn again. These houndstooth print dresses from White House Black Market were perfect - they even have pockets! When the dresses went on sale to around $100, I had the ladies snap 'em up!

Image Source: White House Black Market

To add a pop of green - our accent color - I found these great patent peeptoe pumps from Newport News. They're fun, vintage-inspired and were under $30, so those who don't love coloful footwear like I do didn't have to invest a lot...but I certainly picked up a pair for myself!

Image Source: Newport News

Etsy Seller Precious Meshes created my fabulous "bridal bling" that I can't wait to wear! Both the necklace and the earrings were made from vintage chandelier prisms and are delicate with a bit of sparkle! I had decided I wanted jewelry that felt vintage but without pearls and to me these definitely are a perfect match!

Mr. S picked out my dream ring, a brilliant round cut solitaire with a simple white gold band. Absolutely classic. I love watching it sparkle! Picking out a weddng band, however, was difficult. After wearing my e-ring solo for so long, wearing another ring with it felt strange.

I finally found a perfect fit...a white gold band the same width as my e-ring, with round cut channel set diamond along the top. Mr. S wavered between two rings, but ended up choosing a shiny tungsten ring that is a little on the darker side.

Don't they look good together?!

These lovely shoes by Nine West were perfectly non-bridal for me! I love them. They absolutely don't match my dress - they're a satin off white/ivory and my dress is white...and I just don't care! They make me feel sexy and sassy and I love how 1940s vintage they are! Best part? They were only $40.

I didn't want to invest a lot in my veil since I only plan on wearing it for an hour...besides, I wanted something simple. This very simple 1-tier veil with a pencil edge was a perfect fit for me. Purchases from Etsy seller Bella Bridal Veils, I only paid around $30 and it's exactly what I wanted. I love tryin' it on!

Don't mind the mannequin...

 

We combined tasty goodness and philanthropy for our favor. We're purchasing fabulous Maple Cashew Granola from a bakery near our home, and the bakery happens to be a non-profit that teaches job skills to homeless and at-risk youth.

We're excited to buy tons off this granola from the bakery to share with our family, and also make a donation to the bakery! Just makes you feel good all over!

We're packaging about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of granola in 3"x4" ziploc bags and placing those in these 3"x5" muslin drawstring bags that we've stamped with the message "all you need is love." Three tags are bound with an eyelet and attached to the bag using the drawstring. Voila! A favor is born.

We wanted damask, green, a picture of us...and, of course, Madlibs for our invitations! We worked with a great designer - Kathleen of Plush Paper, who completely saw our vision from start to finish. The whole suite looks great together, don't you think?

The actually invitation reads like a Madlib, and we set our response card up so that guests could fill in some blanks!

The fabulous maps that Miss Snapdragon drew, the response card and the response envelope all were packaged together with ribbon and damask circles.

Our guests loved the invitations and we were so happy with the final result!