MsFrenchie's Blog

Secret Life of Bees: French Bulldog Edition

2011-03-02T16:21:00.001-08:00

I wasn’t a Bee yet, when this series started, but I planned on applying and hoped they would bring it back because I really wanted to participate. I don’t even have any fun secret-y type things to tell you all. Seriously, I sat in front my computer screen for awhile trying to think of funny or interesting thing about me and this is all I could think of… I need to get out more.

1 – When I find an article of clothing I really like I buy a bunch of them and wear the crap out of it. In college it was overalls (What? It was technically still the 90’s), after that hoodies, and now cardigans. I’ve also recently re-discovered tights, so if Spring doesn’t happen soon, I may have another addiction on my hands.

2 – When I see a street with my name on it, I insist on taking my picture with the sign.
The picture on the left was taken about 5 years ago on a girls trip to Napa for a good friends Bachelorette party. I was the DD that afternoon, so when I saw the street sign, I pulled the SUV over and made my drunk friends take my picture. I believe there is also a video of me jumping up and down, yelling “It’s my street! It’s my street!” The picture on the left was taken a few months ago in San Diego. Mr Frenchie and I were driving around neighborhoods so see which ones we’d live in & I spotted this sign when we stopped for lunch. We got several really weird looks as I was posing on the street corner.

*Note: In the picture on the left I’m wearing a hoodie (my favorite one) and in the picture on the right I’m wearing a cardigan… I own that one in 3 different colors.

3 – I am OBSESSED with the television show Friends. I have every episode on DVD, thanks to Mr Frenchie who gave them to me for our first Christmas. Pretty much everything in life reminds me of an episode of Friends. For example, I cannot hear about Yemen without thinking of the time Chandler pretended to move to Yemen to get away from Janice.

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4 – Mr Frenchie & I don’t have cable (or a dish). We watch all our TV online via Hulu or Netflix. For the longest time Papa Frenchie thought we’d crowd around our computer screen to watch LOST with our friends every week and would politely decline our invites for LOST parties. He was relieved to find out we have a computer hooked-up to our television.

5 – It wasn’t until 2010 that I owned a Nintendo NES!

Growing up my mom wouldn’t let me sister and I have video games because she wanted us to go play outside. Mama Frenchie bought us (Mr Frenchie & I) a Wii for Christmas 2009, which prompted Mr Frenchie to research and buy a refurbished Nintendo NES. I cannot tell you how excited I was to have my very own game of Tetris.

6 – I had my tongue pierced a month into my freshman year of college. Which less scandalous than the tattoo I really wanted and I think it freaked Mama Frenchie out a little less. I managed to hide it from my parents 1 week after it was pierced, at Parent’s weekend and all the way to Christmas break when a friend of our family spilled the beans at a church party. She had accidentally caught a glimpse of the piercing a few months prior when I visited her store to see a friend. She thought my parents knew and started talking about it with my Mom. I think Mama Frenchie was more embarrassed that her friend knew, than mad a me for getting it pierced. Two years later I lost one of the balls trying to freak my roomate out & decided it was time to take it out. You’d think Mama Frenchie would have been excited to see it gone, but instead she got mad at me for sticking my tongue out at her :-P

Frenchie Kisses: The End… of the night.

2010-11-12T11:46:00.001-08:00

After the tosses we walked around and mingled with out guests as the night started to whine down.

We also got a few final pictures in with our wedding party.

Ohana, our photographers, set up these awesome shots with an old carriage, behind our reception area.

I have to give them props for rallying our wedding party and getting them to stand still for these shots because, due to all the free wine, they were pretty drunk by the end of the night.

In fact, I’m surprise I managed to stay serious in these photos because they had us cracking up.

We didn’t have a big exit at the end of the night, we’d already done our toss at the our ceremony.

Mr Frenchie and I walked around and said good night to as many people as we could. Then we disappeared to the parking lot to meet the car our hotel sent over.

It was actually really fun sneaking away with my new husband. We still had a lot of the night left because our reception ended around 9:30. We went to our hotel room and drank champagne on the balcony of our room and talked about the day.

The End :)

You’re not rid of me yet though, I still have a few more post planned with the Bee Series.

Did you miss anything?

The Beginning

Gettin' Sassy

Me & My Bridesmaids

Mr Frenchie's Morning

Waiting to go down the aisle

The "I Do"s

The Big 'Oops'

Family Portraits

Portraits with my New Husband

We're Here and We're Married Birdie Details

Papa Frenchie’s Speech

... and then there was cake!
The Tosses

The Other Details

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: The Other Details

2010-11-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

I’ve already shown you all the Birdie Details from our wedding, but I had to show off the other details.

I really didn’t want a flowery arch, but Mama Frenchie and my florist talked me into. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with the result.

A last minute DIY project, thanks to this post by Mrs Lightning.

My gorgeous bouquet, that still can bring myself to throw away.

Mr Frenchie’s manly boutineer and FIL Frenchie’s tie from the 60’s, gifted to Mr Frenchie around the time we got engaged. MIL Frenchie’s dress ended up matching the tie perfectly.

My bridesmaid’s colorful and wild bouquets.

My wedding clutch that Etsy seller, IMH Designs overnights to me days before the wedding. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to decided on clutch.

My bright yellow Calvin Klein pumps. Like the clutch, I couldn’t decide which shoes to purchase. In the end I decided to wear a pair of yellow shoes I already owned and they were perfect.

Our rings on a bunch of grapes from the vineyard.

The “Wish Dish” – at the meeting with our DOC 2 weeks before the wedding, Amanda suggested a “Wish Bowl” when we had no clue what to do for a guest book. Mama Frenchie surprised me by getting this made at Color Me Mine. We nicknamed it a “Wish Dish” because it wasn’t really a bowl.

Like many other brides I wore two garters. The one below was the same garter my mother and her mother wore in their weddings. Mama Frenchie also made me a similar one for the toss.

My favorite champagne… err, Sparkling Wine…

… and a closer shot of Mr Frenchie’s Grandmother’s glasses.

So Far...

The Beginning

Gettin' Sassy

Me & My Bridesmaids

Mr Frenchie's Morning

Waiting to go down the aisle

The "I Do"s

The Big 'Oops'

Family Portraits

Portraits with my New Husband

We're Here and We're Married Birdie Details

Papa Frenchie’s Speech

... and then there was cake!

The Tosses

Frenchie Kisses: The Tosses

2010-11-04T10:12:00.001-07:00

With everyone gathered in the same location happily eating cake we decided it was time to toss some stuff. For the garter toss Mr Frenchie chose the Pink Panther theme song, by Henry Mancini.

Mr Frenchie is a big Henry Mancini fan and the Pink Panther album was one of the first CDs he burned for me. We thought it was a great garter toss song without being too trashy.

I’m really ticklish so my facial expressions from Mr Frenchie getting the garter are pretty funny!

Mr Frenchie’s groomsman, Jeremiah, caught the garter.

He stayed true to the tradition and proposed to his girlfriend Tiffany, this past February. Mr Frencie and I are honored to be members of their wedding party.

For the bouquet toss, I chose Clumsy, by Fergie. No real significance other than I think the song and I thought there might be some “Trippin’” and “Stumblin’” to get at the bouquet ;-)

When we were trying to decide whether or not to do the toss, I tried to add up how many ladies I thought would participate.

I grossly under estimated how many ladies would tell me I had to throw it to them. I didn’t want to throw the toss (hardy har) but I thought I’d aim in Tiffany’s (Jeremiah’s girlfriend) direction.

You can see Lindsay (groomsman, Brandon’s wife) coaxing Tiffany into position, on the right of the picture above and below.

However, after all my single friends came up to me separately through out the night scheming to get the bouquet tossed in their direction, (*coughChristianne(front and center)cough*) I chose to just close my eyes and toss.

The next set of pictures are among my favorites of the night. When I threw the bouquet, I tossed it too high and it hit the ceiling, sending it straight to Erin and Christianne.

Both of them put up a good fight.

The guests look shocked and worried… who’s going to win?

With only one hand left on the prize, Christianne appears to be losing the tug-o-war…

.. and Erin wins the bouquet!

Having caught the bouquet at a wedding before, I know that feeling! I love Erin’s smile :)

Are you having a garter and bouquet toss are your wedding?

So Far...

The Beginning

Gettin' Sassy

Me & My Bridesmaids

Mr Frenchie's Morning

Waiting to go down the aisle

The "I Do"s

The Big 'Oops'

Family Portraits

Portraits with my New Husband

We're Here and We're Married Birdie Details

Papa Frenchie’s Speech

... and then there was cake!

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: … and then there was cake!

2010-11-03T16:05:00.001-07:00

After dinner, mingling and other wedding reception type things it was time for cake.

When we started planning our wedding I saw a picture of a cake buffet and fell in love. I wanted a cake buffet. I loved the look and also liked that it meant I could have several cake flavors.

Our baker had an amazing book filled with amazing she’d made for other weddings. I hope she wasn’t disappointed with how simple we wanted our cakes decorated, but I had a vision, you know?

We had three different flavors: champagne with champagne buttercream icing, almond with raspberry filling and almond buttercream icing, and chocolate with chocolate mousse filing and chocolate buttercream icing. Our favorite was the champagne and that is what we chose to cut into for out cake cutting.

We chose to cut out favorite flavor, Champagne, for our cake cutting. The top and bottom tier of the main cake were supposed to be the champagne flavor. We didn’t want to cut the top layer because we wanted to save it for our first anniversary. That meant we had to slice into the bottom tier, which was much easier in theory, but we managed ;-) Heck, when there is cake involved, I’ll make it work.

We cut and served the cake with the same silver cake server my parents used at their wedding.

Mr Frenchie is lactose intolerant and had run out of Lactaid pills at lunch, right before the wedding. Since, his meal was dairy-free he hadn’t run into any issues until it was time to eat cake with buttercream frosting. I had to try hard to get him a piece of just cake. I ended up serving him a teeny tiny piece and he gave me this HUGE bite. I kept telling him to make it smaller, which I’m sure looked funny to our guests.

While our caterer sliced the cake for our guest, we took the opportunity to thank everyone for coming and say a special thank you to my parent’s for throwing us such a wonderful wedding.

Our champagne glasses were from a set we found at Mr Frenchie’s Grandmother’s house. She past away before I was able to meet her, but about a month before the wedding Mr Frenchie and I drove out the her house to pick up a few things. FIL Frenchie told us we could have anything from the house that we wanted and I knew those glasses would be perfect when I spotted them.

FIL Frenchie was very happy we found someway to incorporate her into our wedding day.

So Far...

The Beginning

Gettin' Sassy

Me & My Bridesmaids

Mr Frenchie's Morning

Waiting to go down the aisle

The "I Do"s

The Big 'Oops'

Family Portraits

Portraits with my New Husband

We're Here and We're Married
Birdie Details

Papa Frenchie’s Speech

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

LA Bee Meet-up

2010-10-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Bees from all over LA (and one from Orange County, me) swarmed C&O's Bar & Grill. We dined on an endless supply of garlic bread knots and tasty Italian food.

Miss Glasses, Ms-MoxieMonkey, Meliss, Kirabee, Genesee,

Mrs Moonbeam, Mrs Stripes, Mrs French Bulldog, MeganCake

(Not pictured: Mrs Kiwi & Baby Kiwi)

I had so much fun meeting you all and hearing about your weddings. I say this every time I meet new people from Weddingbee, but this community is full of the sweetest and prettiest group of ladies. I hope we can meet-up again soon.

Have you gone to a meet-up? Check out the local boards for any meet-ups in your area or to organize your own.

Los Angeles Bee Meet-up - C&O's Bar & Grill

2010-10-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder for the LA Bee Meet-up this Saturday!!

I've tallied up the RSVPs, so far, on the LA Boards here. Please make sure I didn't miss you! Also, if you were a maybe, please clarify if you are coming or not. I'm looking forward to see you all tomorrow night :)

We're meeting at one of my favorite restaurants from my college days in LA and the home of the BEST garlic bread knots EVER!

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When: Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 @ 6pm
Where: C&O's Bar & Grill
3016 Washington Blvd
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

Note: There are there are two C&O's on Washington about 1 mile apart. We are meeting at the Bar & Grill because it's larger and easier to find parking.

Los Angeles Bee Meet-up - C&O's Bar & Grill

2010-09-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

Ask and ye shall receive! We have planned an LA Bee Meet-up :)

We're meeting at one of my favorite restaurants from my college days in LA and the home of the BEST garlic bread knots EVER!

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Inland Empire Bee Meet-up

2010-09-21T10:08:00.001-07:00

…or as we like to call it now, Sexy Cupcakes ;-)

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This past Saturday 5 Weddingbee lovers drove from all over Southern California to the beautiful Mission Inn in Riverside for lunch, girl talk and cupcakes… sexy cupcakes.

LaToya aka HELLOLVR, Ali aka Mrs French Bulldog, Joy aka Mrs Poodle, Laura aka Soon2BeeMrsLewis, & Jami aka Jami_Lynn (Behind the camera, Joy's friend and BM, Katie)

Why "Sexy Cupcakes"? The cupcake place at the Mission Inn, Casey's Cupcakes, is owned by former Laguna Beach "cast member", Casey Reinhardt.

That is the beautiful Casey, posing with one of her creations. Pengy, may or may not, have made a comment about having a sexy woman pose with your cupcakes does not make you want to buy them. (To be honest, it does make me think twice about the calories!) Well, what about 5 sexy women?

Pengy, we took this picture for you! We make this look good! ;-) Not that the cupcakes need help, they a were mighty tasty!

Thank you ladies for driving out the Riverside for the afternoon. It was lovely meeting all of you and I hope we can do it again someday soon :)

Southern California Bee Meet-up – Inland Empire

2010-09-03T11:35:00.001-07:00

Mrs. Poodle, Soon2BeeMrsLewis and I are planning a meet-up and we hope you can make it too!

We thought it was about time the Inland Empire had a meet-up and we couldn’t think of a more beautiful venue than the popular wedding venue, Mission Inn.

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We hope you can join us for lunch at the Mission Inn Restaurant, followed by a cupcake at Casey's Cupcakes.

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Please comment below and let us know if you can make it, so we can add you to the reservation.

Frenchie Kisses: Papa Frenchie’s Speech

2010-08-03T15:50:00.001-07:00

As you can probably tell, The Frenchbulldogs didn’t shy much from your typical wedding timeline. Mr Frenchie and I had been to a few wedding while we were dating and took notes on the things we liked and didn’t like. We really like when couples would get the speeches out of the way at the beginning, when you were still full from cocktail hour and happy you were sitting down. So, after our first dance, we went right into the speeches.

Papa Frenchie went first…

I thought about posting his entire speec, but I since I start tearing up just looking at these pictures, I wasn’t sure I could make it through transcribing the whole speech.

My Daddy isn’t a “big talker” like me… or my Mom. He’s more introverted, like Mr Frenchie.

My Dad doesn’t say, “I love you” all the time, but I know how much he loves me through his actions. He bought a book on writing this speech. While we were waiting for my Mom and Sister to arrive at my birthday lunch (2 months before the wedding) he took out a piece of paper and pen, asked me questions and took notes.

He dedicated a lot of time an effort into writing a meaningful speech for our wedding and it showed.

I’ve only seen my Dad cry one other time in my life, and that was when we had to put my childhood dog, Muffy, down.

He brought up his Father and my Mother’s parents not being there that day. He cried and everyone else cried with him.

And, in the end he left everyone laughing when he brought up his love for poetry (totally untrue) and read a poem.

This was especially funny to me because earlier that day when I was pinning on his boutineer, he said, “I look like I read poetry.”

My Dad and my special connection has always been our cheesy sense of humor. He makes me laugh. They say girls marry their father and Mr Frenchie’s cheesy sense of humor is one of the reasons I love him so much.

Please tell me I'm not the only cliché, did you "marry your father"?

So Far...

The Beginning

Gettin' Sassy

Me & My Bridesmaids

Mr Frenchie's Morning

Waiting to go down the aisle

The "I Do"s

The Big 'Oops'

Family Portraits

Portraits with my New Husband

We're Here and We're Married
Birdie Details

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

SoCal Weddingbee Meet-up in San Diego

2010-05-05T10:32:00.001-07:00

Attention all SoCal Bees! Especially those close to San Diego! What are you doing this Saturday?

Do you like wine?

Do you like Dinning Al Fresco?


Join us this Saturday, May 8th, at noon for lunch at Cafe Merlot located at the Bernardo Winery.

Weddingbee reader, MsAshleyMarie, and I are itching to show off our wedding venue and brag about our caterer, Toni.

Please leave a comment below by 5pm PST this Friday, so we can make a reservation. I hope you can make it :)

Sources: Pic1, Pic2 & Pic3

Frenchie Kisses: The Birdie Details

2010-04-14T14:07:00.001-07:00

After our First Dance (P.S. there’s a video here, if you missed it) we sat down and went straight into the speeches. However, I want to show you the details first.

You may, or may not, remember our wedding had a birdie theme. Mr Frenchie was really nervous, once the themed started taking shape, that our wedding would have too many birds. (Is there such a thing?) I really tried not to go crazy, while Mama Frenchie kept finding more and more birdie things to add. I think we accomplished a nice balance of birdies.

Mama Frenchie found these birds at the last minute to jazz up our cocktail tables…

We had complete forgot that our cocktail area would have a few ‘belly bars’ scattered around. Two weeks before the wedding, when we remembered the tables, we were at the end of our DIY rope and couldn’t come up with a single creative thing to do with them. On a trip to Micheal’s, Mama Frenchie found these right after we’d decided to just leave the tables bear. It’s funny how a last minute addition can be such a hit. Here is one of the last things we added (those birds) with one of the first things we added, David Patrone.

Mama and Sister Frenchie worked their booties off executing all my birdie dreams.

Mama Frenchie found the cutest scrapbook papers at Tall Mouse, made templates and pretty much executed all the DIY goodness.

With only a week between finals and the wedding I relied a lot on my Mom and Sister to get all the DIY goodness done, and they ROCKED IT!

As you can see, we named each table after a bird. Some of the birds ‘matched’ the guests they were seated with, like the Oriole table for all my family from Baltimore, MD and the Penguin table for Sister Frenchie (she loves penguins). While others were locals birds or birds with names that fit on the wing. We also numbered the tables to make it easier for the guests (especially the elderly ones) to find.

When the guest’s found their table, we (or my DOC) had already laid out everyone’s place card. We color coded their names with their meal choice. Super original, I know! ;-)

Each place card had a Shrinky Dink birdie and was backed with the left-over envelope liners from our invitations.

There were a few other birds scattered around. Mama Frenchie found this white wooden bird cage, by pure luck, at a local vintage store and we used it as our ‘card box’. What’s a bird cage without a bird? We had to add a feathered friend to the top.

The extremely generous Mrs Gummi Bear, let us borrow her Ann Wood birds.

Mama Frenchie came through again a found this adorable nest for them to rest in. The nest sit atop a metal rod that she stuck in a pot of daisies, my favorite.

And last, but not least, the detail that started the Birdie theme, our cake topper!

We bought this topper before I’d chosen my dress, before Mr Frenchie bought his suit and LONG before Mrs Sea Breeze made my veil. It now sits in our china cabinet and every time I see it, I smile at how much it looks like we did that day.

Does your wedding have an obvious theme? or are you a little more subtle than we were?

So Far...

The Beginning

Gettin' Sassy

Me & My Bridesmaids

Mr Frenchie's Morning

Waiting to go down the aisle

The "I Do"s

The Big 'Oops'

Family Portraits

Portraits with my New Husband

We're Here and We're Married

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: We’re Here and We’re Married

2010-04-09T14:32:00.001-07:00

After taking our portraits we met up with our bridal party and got ready to enter the reception.

After our guest were all seated, the lead singer of the band introduced the bridal party. Groomsman Joe and his wife, BM Jane.

Groomsman Jer and BM Felicia…

Best Man Brandon with MOH, Sister Frenchie…

We waited for Brandon and Jen to get to their tables and then we were announced, “For the first time in public Allison and Jason French Bulldog.” (I stressed the the band leader that I wanted my name, just like in our ceremony).

The classic bouquet in the air pose!

From this picture you would never guess Mr Frenchie hates being the center of attention.

I however love it!

We decided to go straight into our first dance. We seen this done at most the weddings we’d attended, but mainly because Mr Frenchie wanted to get it out of the way so he could relax the rest of the evening.

Back when Mr Frenchie and I first starting dating (about 4 years ago) we took a dance class at my church. I was SO very excited to be dating a guy that would take dance classes with me and take me dance.

The little old ladies at my church thought we were so cute and even cut in to dance with Mr Frenchie… okay so maybe they thought he was so cute. I will never forget that date.

Fast forward three years, we’re engaged and planning our wedding, I ask Mr Frenchie about taking dance lessons for our first down and he’s not having it. *pouty face* Papa Frenchie brings up the idea that he and I could take dance lessons and Papa Frenchie talked Mr Frenchie into taking them too.

For a couple months I would take 2 dance lessons a week, one with Papa Frenchie and one with Mr Frenchie. Mr Frenchie admitted after the first lesson, that dance lessons were fun AND he’d actually go with me after the wedding. Thanks Papa Frenchie!

I’m not gonna lie, we only look graceful in these photos. You’ll see in the video, that although we took several dance lessons, we are nowhere near ready for Dancing With The Stars. However, I’m very glad Papa Frenchie talked Mr Frenchie into the lessons. Whenever “our song” comes around on the iTunes rotation at home, Mr Frenchie takes me hand and we do our dance.

Don’t worry I still tease Mr Frenchie about only dancing with me at the beginning of our relationship to get me to fall in love with him, once I was hooked he didn’t want to dance anymore.

After our first dance we took our seats at our “sweetheart table”

aka the Lovebird table and it was time for dinner.

Are you planning a choreographed first dance? Did you have to talk your partner into talking dance lessons? or get your father involved? ;-)

So Far...

The Beginning

Gettin' Sassy

Me & My Bridesmaids

Mr Frenchie's Morning

Waiting to go down the aisle

The "I Do"s

The Big 'Oops'

Family Portraits

Portraits with my New Husband

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: Portraits with my New Husband

2010-04-01T14:41:00.001-07:00

After the family portraits we dismissed our families and bridal party to enjoy cocktail hour while Mr Frenchie and I took our first photos alone as husband and wife. (Eeee calling him my husband still makes me giddy).

We talked around the winery taking places in areas I’d dreamt of taking wedding pictures, since the first time Mr Frenchie and I visited the winery years ago. Of course, we had to take a picture with the winery’s sign.

As I mentioned, there were a couple areas I’d dreamt of taking our wedding pictures, my favorite was this walkway in the middle of the winery.

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Our photographers had scoped out the same spot, it was perfect.

I love this picture of Mr Frenchie, it’s his classic trying to look cool, but I know I look silly face.

Mr Frenchie doing a better job of looking cool…

Me thinking he’s cute…

This is one of my favorites of Mr Frenchie…

And this is one of his favorites of me…

Next we moved into the barrel room… or snuck in because there was another wedding have a small reception on the other side. They were still milling around outside and we tried hard to get in and out before we were seen and intruding on their day.

This one is probably our best serious picture… if you haven’t noticed, we don’t do serious well.

Lastly we took advantage of this great light before we ran off to be introduced into the reception.

Although I was bummed we missed the entire cocktail hour, I wouldn’t have traded the time I spent with Mr Frenchie alone before the reception madness set in for anything. Are you planning on taking pictures during cocktail hour too?

So Far...
The Beginning
Gettin' Sassy
Me & My Bridesmaids
Mr Frenchie's Morning
Waiting to go down the aisle
The "I Do"s
The Big 'Oops'
Family Portraits

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: Family Portraits

2010-02-24T14:04:00.001-08:00

Last we left off, Mr Frenchie and I had just come down the aisle and were enjoying that ‘Just Married’ feeling. I asked what you guys wanted next and it looks like Family Portrait won the vote, so on we go with family portraits.

Like most couples, we decided to do family portraits right after the ceremony, during cocktail hour. We really wish we could have gone to cocktail hour, but had so sacrifice this to have pictures with everyone in our families and pictures with just us. My awesome DOC brought us over plates of our tasty appetizers, so we didn’t miss out entirely.

Let’s get this party started, shall we? If you’re wondering how we picked the order we tool the pictures, we did it in the order of people that were there. If you got the memo and came to get your picture taken, you got put in front of the camera. Meanwhile, I got all bridezilla and sent people to fetch those that were absent.

Mr Frenchie and FIL Frenchie

FIL Frenchie, Step MIL Frenchie, Frenchie Frenchie’s Step Sister and her Husband.

Mr Frenchie and my gorgeous MIL. Isn't crazy how well Mr Frenchie's tie matches her dress?

SIL Frenchie, Step FIL Frenchie and MIL Frenchie.

Getting ‘sassy’ with my new SIL.

Us with SIL Frenchie and her Boyfriend.

Mr Frenchie’s Uncle and his family. How cute is his cousin? She thought I looked like a Princess :)

Mr Frenchie’s other Uncle and his family.

Mr Frenchie’s Step Brother and his lovely Wife.

Getting sick of us yet because that was just Mr Frenchie’s side…

Papa & Mama Frenchie and Sister Frenchie (my MOH).

Adding my Dad’s sister (Aunt Frenchie K) and my Dad’s Mom (Grandma Frenchie).

Mama & Papa Frenchie.

My Mom’s brother and his wife, aka Uncle Frenchie C and Aunt Frenchie C.

Our lovely readers (and my favorite cousins) Jodi, Katie & Kim.

While someone ran to make sure we weren’t missing anyone, we snapped a few pictures with our wedding party.

Believe it or not I asked the guys about 4 times to stand closer, this was as close as I got.

Apparently when you tell ladies to ‘act silly’ we do weird stuff with our mouths.

We hung out in the shade for the last couple stragglers…

I adjusted the boobage…

And we took a group shot…

Raise your hand if you like weddings!

Are you going to try to get a group picture?

So Far...
The Beginning
Gettin' Sassy
Me & My Bridesmaids
Mr Frenchie's Morning
Waiting to go down the aisle
The "I Do"s
The Big 'Oops'

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

It’s Valen-time! (Part 6)

2010-02-17T08:26:00.001-08:00

The last, but certainly not least, installment of this years Valentines!

AllisonC’s box of homemade cookies and Valentine themed sweets.

Amber1279’s adorable Valentine mailboxes to store all your other Valentines.

amariem25 sent beautiful flower pins from her Etsy shop along with Valentines made with her Cuttlebug.

BerkeleyBride sent her lucky Valentine’s this S’mores kit. An idea she got from Twig & Thistle

KimberleyBee’s adorable Valentine’s included an embellishment on the front that sweeps from left to right.

LaborOfLove used crepe-paper to add ruffles to her gorgeous cards.

LilacAvenue’s lovely card with handmade hearts in different patterned papers.

LilMissXMas sent love from the ‘Big Apple’ with a heart window that turns out the be an apple inside.

MissBonnieBlue’s adorable handmade Owl themed cards.

MrsWooHoo’s cherry blossom card, complete with a Valentine’s day Haiku.

TheDevineMissE’s colorful, Valentine word collages with glittery letters.

I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with next year :)

~~
Part1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5

It’s Valen-time! (Part 5)

2010-02-12T17:04:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks again to all you lovely ladies that participated in the swap this year! I've had a few straggling emails, so this will not be the last post. If you still have not sent me our Valentine pictures, this is the last call. Email now, or forever hold your piece ;-)

AZinAugust's valentines with homemade heart shaped crayons

thefuturemrsjewell's heart shaped cards with a beautiful quote inside

Mrs Nachos busted out the glitter and rhinestones for these personalized Valentines

BamaBaby's lovely hearts with adorable Bees on the inside

Miss Poodle's handmade boxes with a heart shaped whole inside to hold chocolates

SweetheartDealer's Bee themed Valentines with beautiful floral stickers

Krissybee's gorgeous Valentines included Goodies, Fun facts and Activities. Does anyone else think she should make this a business?

Leeser is thinking of using pinwheels in her wedding, she puts these ones in a buckets of candy. She also made some adorable 'I heart Weddingbee' magnets.

Mrs Quiche's beautiful bunting card, along with another one with different hearts.

Mrs Sprinkle's lovely cards included Valentine confetti and a nod to her Bee name "Sprinkle with love!"

Keladry’s beautiful Martha Stewart inspired puzzle with wax sealed envelope

Mrs Sushi's adorable monster themed Valentine card complete with teeth on the envelope.

Mithrasit's lovely envelopes bursting with love boxes and bags of candy.

MissBrightEyes' handmade card, a handmade envelope file to store 'lovely things' like photos or ticket stubs etc and a heart shaped lollypop.

Miss Stripes made her Valentines flower pin and wrapped them in these lovely boxes.

Bakerella made each of her swappers a personalized Valentine pillow. Raise your hand if you think she should open an Etsy shop!

and Me, Mrs Frenchie sent two of my favorite things a frosted sugar cookie and seeds to grow daisies.

If you still haven't seen your Valentine let me know in the comments or at WBValentine2010 (at) Yahoo (dot) com. I'm going to wait a few days to get the last few in and do one final post next week :)

It’s Valen-time! (Part 4)

2010-02-12T16:40:00.001-08:00

But wait, there’s more!

Elaineathon got a new sewing machine for Christmas and used it to sew these adorable pillows

Mrs. Green Tea’s song themed Valentines. You can read all bout them here.

Love_Pirate sent a bunch of candy these Beatles song themed cards

Mrs Moonbeam’s shades of pink and red with sewn edges

HeidiInWonderland’s needlepoint sewn Valentine’s, each with a different message.

LauraLou52’s gorgeous Valentines in different pink papers. I just love those satin bows!
Mrs Lamb included pictures of Lambs in her lovely and punny cards.

MudBug’s beautiful, water colored calendar

MissBiner sent chocolates, lip glass and a ring along with her Cricutted cards.

SammyJ’s puffy heart Valentine’s become a magnet for her swapper’s fridges

Miss Scissor’s personalized cut paper Valentine’s. How cute is that Sushi Roll?

Mrs Deviled Egg’s lovely printed cards with button accents.

Did you miss the previous posts? Don’t worry you can see them here, here and here.

If you haven’t seen your Valentine yet, don’t worry! There are still one more post. However, if you are worried I haven’t received your pictures, I’ve replied to every email I’ve received. If you didn’t get a reply back, that means I didn’t get your email.

If you still haven’t sent in your pictures, please email them to me at WBValentine2010 (at) yahoo (dot) com. In the email include your Weddingbee name so I can properly credit your work!

It’s Valen-time! (Part 3)

2010-02-12T15:58:00.001-08:00

Can’t get enough Valentine craftiness? Neither, can I!

MFeus’s stunning postcards with birdies, twine and buttons. She thinking of making this a business and I think she totally should, don’t you?

Mrs Yorkie’s unique and beautifully sewn Valentines

Twalila made her Valentine’s these gorgeous flower pins

Iggies used her Cricut to make these adorable Cards and attached a beautiful heart bracelet

Mrs Dee’s construction paper cuties. How adorable is that Bee?

ggsb’s individually wrapped chocolates in a heart wrapped box, topped with a Mrs Bee shrinky dink.

jrl03’s lovely pink Valentine’s with precious Bees

Amanda.Lynn used her Cuttlebug to imprint her Valentine’s with a super cute argyle print

Miss Buttons’ beautiful felt and rhinestone flowers

ColeB put these adorable sewn pockets on her Valentines

LovesTheBear’s cute idea to use multi-colored yarn to write ‘Love’ on the front of her Valentines

TifNicole’s birdie themed Valentines. I just love anything with a birdie on it!

Don’t miss out on the previous posts of craftiness here and here.

If you haven’t seen your Valentine yet, don’t worry! There are still a few more posts. However, if you are worried I haven’t received your pictures, I’ve replied to every email I’ve received. If you didn’t get a reply back, that means I didn’t get your email.

If you still haven’t sent in yout pictures, please email them to me at WBValentine2010 (at) yahoo (dot) com. In the email include your Weddingbee name so I can properly credit your work!

It’s Valen-time (Part 2)

2010-02-12T11:13:00.001-08:00

Ready for the next installment of Weddingbee Valentine Craftiness? Thought I’d never ask? Well feast your eyes on these beauties!

WhiteSonnet’s heart shaped mini bunt card inspired by How about orange...

TrixieStix busted out the glitter for these sparkly beauties with stickers

LaurenEB made three different cards, each with matching chocolate bar pouch

JeanL1984’s heart shaped cards with Bee, heart and engagement ring stickers.

KiraBee’s Mrs Bird & Mr Bee clothespin magnets accompanied with "Hope your Valentine's Day is your 'cup of tea'!" themed card and Tazo tea bag.

Hive Hostess LatteLove went to Paper Source after our Bee Meet-up to make these Valentine’s

LoveArdently’s heart and twine tied envelopes with pink circular Valentine

Mrs Sewing’s illustrated ‘Queen Bee’ with handmade candy bag and Cuttlebugged Envelope

SunnyDeb’s fabulous and fun collage Valentines

PieceACake’s cake themed Valentine’s with adorable cartoon Bees

Mrs Lemon used her Cricut to cut these beautiful wooden Valentines

Don’t miss out on the previously posted Valentines here!

If you didn’t see your Valentine in this post, don’t worry! Like I said, there will be a few posts. If you’re worried I haven’t received your pictures, I’ve replied to every email I’ve received. If you didn’t get a reply back, that means I didn’t get your email.

Also, I’m still missing a few Valentines! Please email me pictures to WBValentine2010 (at) yahoo (dot) com. In the email include your Weddingbee name so I can properly credit your work! :)

It’s Valen-time (Part 1)

2010-02-11T14:19:00.001-08:00

First things first, thank you to everyone who participated in the swap this year. You ladies are so talented, I can't wait for next year to copy everything... kidding, kinda ;-) Since we had so many participants in this years swap (about twice as much as last year) I’m going to break this up into a couple post. I want to give everyone a chance to shine!

afbacher’s Martha Stewart inspired garland with frames

Alps’s cards included her favorite mint chocolates, Frango.

AmyC’s cut paper valentine’s with adorable bow accents

AmyM83’s circular cards with sewn hearts

Mrs Avocado’s homemade heart shaped cookies with Valentine’s Day dish

Bree72’s Valentine candy and picture of her adorable dog wishing you a “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

yrett107’s handmade Bees on gorgeous paper

Mrs Bird of Paradise’s letter pressed Valentines with Red Hots

Miss Chicken Wing’s very ‘Bee’ cards with matching Bee Magnet

Sulli301’s Valentines with heart paper and precious heart-shaped Bees

If you didn’t see your Valentine in this post, don’t worry, like I said there will be a couple posts. If you’re worried I haven’t received your pictures, I’ve replied to every email I’ve received. If you didn’t get a reply back, that means I didn’t get your email.

Also, I’m still missing a few Valentines! Please email me pictures to WBValentine2010 (at) yahoo (dot) com. In the email include your Weddingbee name so I can properly credit your work :)

Saturday's Bee Meet-up in SD

2010-02-08T16:34:00.001-08:00

(L to R) Elena (ekittle), Ashley (msashleymarie), Ali (SanDiegoAli), Ali (Me, aka Frenchie), Laura (soon2beemrslewis), Laura (melodicsighs1) and Katie (Hostess LatteLove)

Despite the rain this past Saturday eight lovely Southern Cali Weddingbeers were able to meet-up in Carlsbad, CA.

I'm constantly amazed at how everyone I meet from Weddingbee is so sweet, friendly and just plain gorgeous! These ladies were no exception. We had a blast eating, drinking and talk about all things wedding and 'The Bee'.

Special thanks to the San Diego ladies for meeting closer to Orange County so Laura (aka soon2beemrslewis, aka my carpool buddy) and I didn't have to drive too far.

Check out the local board to see if your area is planning a Meet-up!

Saturday San Diego Bee Meet-up

2010-02-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Hey Southern Cali Weddingbeers as I'm sure you've noticed it's raining outside. Well, raining is in the forecast for tomorrow as well... Boo!

This puts a kink in our outdoor dining plans in Del Mar... Boo, Hiss! Sooo, we've moved this meet-up yet again. We'll still be meeting on Saturday at noon, but we've moved the venue to Karl Strauss in Carlsbad. We tried to make it as close as possible to Del Mar, while still making it convenient for those traveling from LA and OC. Plus, they have TONS of FREE parking.

Source

To recap...
Who: So Cal Weddingbeers

When: Saturday, 2/6 at Noon

Where: Karl Strauss in Carlsbad

5801 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008

Why: Why, not?

Check out the Board thread here and let Latte_Love know if you'll be able to make it!

'Bee' there or 'Bee' Square ;-)

Valentine's Day Swap 2010 Reminder

2010-02-04T11:16:00.000-08:00

**Sorry about the scare last week, but TODAY is the day ;-)***

Hi All, it's Mrs. Frenchie again! Just a couple Swap reminders...

1 - Today is the day to mail out your Valentines.

2 - Before you mail them, take a picture and email it to wbvalentine2010 (at) yahoo (dot) com. Around Valentine's Day I'm going to do a post with all your lovely crafty Valentines.

3 - Please include your Weddingbee name in your email so I can properly credit your craftiness.

Thanks to the ladies who have already sent me pictures of your Valentines!

Valentine's Day Swap 2010 FAQ

2010-01-26T14:34:00.001-08:00

FAQ

1 - How do I join the Weddingbee Group? Once you've created your account (directions here), select the 'Group' tab in the top right corner. Search "Weddingbee" and click to view. The option to join will be in the top right corner under where you found the 'Group' tab.

2 - I've joined the WB Group, how to I join the swap? Once you've joined the group, you have not automatically joined the swap. Under 'Group Swaps' click 'WB Valentine Swap 2010'.

At the bottom of the grey business about the swap there are two options - 1) 'Join Swap' or 2) 'Watch Swap' - You want to 'Join'... come on it will be fun, everyone's doing it ;-)

3 - When will I get my addresses? The last day to join is this Friday, Jan 29th. After that day I will be notified by Swap-bot to assign everyone's swap partners. I do not personally pick who swaps with who, but as the Swap Coordinator I push the magic button. You should get your addresses by Saturday.

4 - Is says cards, can I mail something bigger? Um, YEAH! Last year I got a padded envelope of goodies - stickers, candy etc. You can send cookies if you want! We just don't want everyone to feel they need to do that. The cards I received last year were just as lovely and I could someone put a lot of thought into them.

Please note... Once the swap closes on Friday (Jan 29th) we cannot add or delete participants. So , please don't join unless you're sure you can participate. It would stink for the person who mailed out 3 Valentines and didn't get three in the mail.

Cancelled SD Meet-up = SD/OC Meet-up in SD

2010-01-22T09:52:00.002-08:00

Hive Hostess, LatteLove, and I have been Tweeting about turning the cancelled San Diego meet-up into an SD & OC Bee Meet-up! This time the OC (or at least me) will come to San Diego :)

The new meet-up is Saturday, February 6th at the Pacifica Del Mar's Breeze Cafe.

Source

Mr Frenchie and I LOVE this place so much we tried to have our rehearsal dinner here and our wedding across the street at L'Auberge Del Mar. Anyway, we're hoping everyone from the cancelled meet-up can make, as well as those that couldn't.

Source

Hop over to the SD local boards and let us know what time works best! 11? 12? 1? Will you go shopping with me after? I've seen Louby's on sale there before! There are TWO White House/Black Markets!

Valentine's Day Swap 2010

2010-01-19T13:03:00.000-08:00

Dust off your glue guns and bust out some glitter, because love is in the air (more so than usual, around here) and it's time for the 3rd Annual Weddingbee Valentine's Day Swap!

Like last years Swap, we'll be using Swap-bot to help with the coordination...

Here's how it works:

1 - Start by creating an account at Swap-Bot. (If you participated last year, you're already set-up, just take a moment to make sure all your info is current). Please note that your address will only be shared by your swap partners (otherwise, where will they mail your valentine?!). Once you’ve signed up, request to join the Weddingbee group. Once you receive a group acceptance, you can sign up for the Weddingbee Valentine Swap! The swap is a private one and not open to the Swap-Bot public. Only those in the Weddingbee group can participate in the swap.

2 - On January 30, you will receive an email containing the addresses of the 3 other swap participants you’ll be sending your valentines to. Once you are signed up and the sign-up date has passed, you will not be able to drop out, so please sign up only if you are sure you can participate. We want everyone to receive a Valentine!
3 - Create handmade valentines (or if you’re not so crafty, it's a proven fact that adding loads of candy to pseudo handmade valentines always sweetens the deal!).
4 - Take photos of your fabulous handmade valentines and email them to WBValentine2010 (at) yahoo.com. They will be included in a post on Weddingbee about the swap in February.
5 - Package your valentines and send one to each person on your participant list by February 9 (that's a Tuesday). If you are going to be late, please contact your swap participants. We want to make sure everyone who signed up to participate gets their valentines.

6 - Check the mailbox like a crazy bride waiting for her RSVPs because you've got sweet handmade Valentine’s Day cards coming from your Weddingbee pals!

*A note on international shipping: We do not have the ability to specify how many international addresses you will get so please plan for that. We also do not have the ability to create U.S. domestic-only swap groups.

Not quite sure what to make? What, you having been planning this for the past year? Check out the previous swaps here, here, & here for inspiration.

Frenchie Kisses: The Big 'Oops'

2010-01-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

Okay so, we left off here...

Mr Frenchie and I were just announced, YAY!

Our (actually mine, who am I kidding?) plan was for everyone to sing 'Prayer for the Road'.
The church I've attended since age 7, started singing this song at the end of every service when I was in Jr High. Plus, when I went to Scotland 7 years ago with the church choir we sang this at the end of every performance. As you can see this song has special meaning to me, so I really wanted to sing it at the end of our wedding ceremony. The plan was to sing the song standing up front and then at the "Amen" part, Mr Frenchie and I would walk back down the aisle while our guest tossed rose petals at us. Sounds good, right?

Well, it didn't quite work out that way. When the music started no-one sang, the band didn't have an intro to say, "Hey we're gonna sing a song here people. It goes a little something like this." I thought because about half our guests attended the same church they'd catch on a lead, but that didn't happen.

I looked at Mama Frenchie like, "What are we gonna do?" and she just started singing the song (now about halfway finished), everyone else caught on, and we went on with the show.

At first I was totally bummed the song didn't work out, but then I realized no-one really cared but me and I moved on. Mainly, I was just so excited the toss worked and we were married!

After the ceremony we spent a little time just us letting it all soak in. We had to take pictures immediately following the ceremony, so we didn't get to go off to a room and send sometime together like I would have liked. But our friends were really respectful and didn't bother us off in our little corner for a few minutes.

Are you planning on having some time alone right after your ceremony?

Up Next: Family Portraits or Details? You tell me.

So Far...
The Beginning
Gettin' Sassy
Me & My Bridesmaids
Mr Frenchie's Morning
Waiting to go down the aisle
The "I Do"s

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: The "I Do"s

2010-01-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

As I began to write this post about my ceremony I realized I completely left out a part that both Mr Frenchie and I found important, so I would like to rewind here...

Papa Frenchie and I have just made it down to Mr Frenchie and our officiant, Leanne.

Leanne greeted everyone and started the ceremony with a prayer:

Gracious God, You are always faithful in Your love for us. Look mercifully upon Jason & Allison, who have come seeking Your blessing. Let Your Holy Spirit rest upon them so that with steadfast love they may honor the promises they make this day, through Jesus Christ our Lord & Savior. Amen.

After the prayer, was the Declaration of Intent (which Leanne read to us each individually, but I've combined them for you):

Miss/Mr Frenchie, will you have Mr/Miss Frenchie to be your husband/wife, to live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him/her, comfort him/her, honor and keep him/her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him/her, as long as you both shall live?

We of course answered "I Will"!

Now comes the part I was super bummed I forgot to tell you about, The Affirmation of the Congregation:

Will you who witness this covenant between Allison and Jason, respect their marriage and sustain them with your friendship and care?

For us it was very important to involve our guest in our ceremony, even just a little bit. I mean, we did ask them to go to the wedding for a reason, right?

This whole time Papa Frenchie was still standing to my left, you may think that is a long time, Mr Frenchie did, but it past in a flash! Before I knew it Papa Frenchie was 'giving me away' on behalf of himself and Mama Frenchie and sitting down.

Next, my cousins on Mama Frenchie's side read Corinthians 13:1-13:

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Corinthians 13:1-13, is probably to most read scripture at weddings but it has been my favorite scripture since I memorized it in grade school and no-one was going to talk me out of using it on our wedding. We made up for it with a unique second reading... keep reading it's coming up ;-)

After the reading Leanne went into her Sermon, based on this quote byFrederick Buechner:

“The first stage is to believe that there is only one kind of love. The middle stage is to believe that there are many kinds of love and that the Greeks had a different word for each of them. The last stage is to believe that there is only one kind of love.

The unabashed eros of lovers, the sympathetic philia of friends, agape giving itself away freely are all varied manifestations of a single reality. To lose yourself in another’s arms, or in another’s company, or in suffering for all men who suffer, including the ones who inflict suffering upon you – to lose yourself in such ways is to find yourself. Is what it’s all about. Is what love is.

Of all powers, love is the most powerful and the most powerless. It is the most powerful because it alone can conquer that final and most impregnable stronghold which is the human heart. It is the most powerless because it can do nothing except by consent.”

Leanne, recapped our first date and told the story of the first time she met Jason. She poked fun at how much we love food based on conversations we had in our meetings with her and the sheets she had us fill out. Apparently, in talking about something we wanted in our marriage we both said:

"...trust, support and reliability are key. That you are challenged and encouraged to be the best you can be, all that God has created you to be. You each want to make the other happy. That you can grow old with and cook with as often as you can!

It got a few laughs.

That's Mama Frenchie's I'm-trying-not-to-laugh-too-much-this-is-serious face

After we all giggled, it was time for the Getting Married part! This is when I realized I was still wearing my engagement ring on my left ring finger. I turned away from our guests to hand my sister my bouquet and on my way back I switched it to my right hand. VERY crafty, if I do say so myself, because no-one noticed (as far as I know), not even Sister Frenchie!

We repeated the following vows, we chose from a list Leanne had given us:

"I, Miss/Mr Frenchie, in the presence of God, take you, Mr/Miss Frenchie, to be my husband. All that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you. Whatever the future holds, I will love you and stand by you, as long as we both shall live."

Leanne blessed our rings...

"Rings are a sign of the never-ending love of God toward us and the kind of love we should seek for one another as well as the value and worth of our spouse. Love endures as we grow together in Christ’s love."

"Bless, O Lord, this ring, that he who gives it and she who wears it may abide in Your peace and continue in Your constant love throughout their lives. Amen."

We repeated...

"Miss/Mr Frenchie, I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness."

Following our vows and the exchanging of our rings, SIL Frenchie read excerpts from Sandol Stoddard Warburg's "I Like You".

I like you and I know why 
I like you because you are a good person to like 
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special 
And you remember it a long, long time 
You say, Remember when you told me something special 
And both of us remember

When I think something is important  you think it's important too 
We have good ideas 
When I say something funny, you laugh 
I think I'm funny and you think I'm funny too 
Hah-hah!

I can't remember when I didn't like you 
It must have been lonesome then
Even if it was the 999th of July 
Even if it was August 
Even if it was way down at the bottom of November 
I would go on choosing you 
And you would go on choosing me 
Over and over again 
And that's how it would happen every time.

That may sounds familiar because it was also a reading in the Candy Corn's wedding and Miss Scissors also recently posted about reading at their wedding. I wanted to read the WHOLE book, but Mr Frenchie was nervous about having to stand in front of all those people that long, so we just chose some of our favorite parts.

Mr Frenchie later admitted the ceremony went by much faster than he thought it would, before he knew it were were repeating the Lord's Prayer.

And being pronounced as Husband and Wife!

"Inasmuch as Jason and Allison have made their solemn vows to each other before God and in the presence of this congregation, and have pledged their faithfulness to one another and have confirmed their covenant by the giving and the receiving of rings; and by virtue of the authority vested in me as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament, and by the laws of this state, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Therefore, what God has joined together let no one separate. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Which is my favorite part of every wedding. Hearing "...I now pronounce you husband and wife. Therefore, what God has joined together let no one separate..." for us, WAS AWESOME!

Then is was kissing time...

"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and give you peace, shalom, wholeness, fullness of life, both now and forevermore. Amen."

"You may kiss the bride."

Because we weren't going to a new venue for our reception, we decided to have Leanne announce us for the first time. We also LOVE Leanne, and no offense to our awesome MC, we felt like it would mean more coming from her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen: it is with great pleasure that I present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Jason and Allison Frenchie."

Is your groom (or you, Miss Pug *cough*) trying to make to ceremony shorter to avoid standing in front of all those people for too long?

Up Next: The biggest 'Oops' of the Day

So Far...
The Beginning
Gettin' Sassy
Me & My Bridesmaids
Mr Frenchie's Morning
Waiting to go down the aisle

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Ornamental Inspiration: Frechie Edition

2009-12-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

Every year for Christmas my mom used to let my sister and I pick out a new ornament for the tree. I look back at all the ornaments I chose when I was little and realize I was WAY more into the 'Bling' as a little girl. My Christmas Ornament inspiration board is in honor of that little girl, because she would have LOVED this ornament I found on Etsy by slvilov.

The current me loves this ornament because made or re-purposed materials, old jewelry. A few semesters ago I took an Ecology class in school and made a lamp out of my mom's old jewelry from the 80's. I didn't take a picture but this ornament looks a lot like my lamp.

Now for the board...

Row 1: Cotton Wedding Dress, Flowers, Groom's Tie
Row 2: Purple Vegan Shoe, Christmas Ornament, Purple Bridesmaid Dress

Row 3: Tablescape Vases, Aqua Bridesmaid Dress, Beaded Necklace, Clutch

Row 4: Sweet & Saucy Cupcake, Mrs Star's Purple Ranunculus

Happy Holidays Hive :)

Frenchie Kisses: Coming down the Aisle

2009-12-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

In the nine months we were engaged I put WAY more thought into what shoes I would wear (funny because I ended up wearing a pair I already owned) than how we all would get down the aisle. In fact, the night of the rehearsal while my poor DOC was stuck in traffic, I used my sister's notepad and pen to figure out who and in what order people would get down, and back up the aisle. Ooops. A little advice, if I may, make sure to figure this out before the rehearsal, that way you can make sure everyone you need comes to the rehearsal... we were missing a couple people, mainly FIL Frenchie and SMIL Frenchie. Ooops, again.

Luckily we are all pretty intelligent people and it all came together the day of. Thanks to our DOC for rounding everyone up!

Here we go... I waited, and trying to relax, out of sight while Papa Frenchie escorted Mama Frenchie down the aisle.

But first, MIL Frenchie and her husband, SFIL Frenchie...

FIL Frenchie and his wife, SMIL Frenchie...

Mama and Papa Frenchie...

As Papa Frenchie came back to get me the Bridesmaids song started up. I had asked for the band to play an instrumental version of The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun, but something got lost in translation in our emails and they played the real thing. At first I was upset, but everyone told me how much they loved it and now that I look back it was perfect.

Here's the song to set the mood...

BM Jane, my BFF since 4th grade...

Yep, I've known Jane for 20 years! Jane became my friend back when I had a perm and wore leggings with stirrups. I remember always being jealous of all the different jeans she owned, when I only had ONE PAIR. We've been friends through National Charity League, band (we both played the flute), Prom, college, family deaths, marriages, diabetes and the birth of her adorable son, Liam.

Janey is one of the most genuine, sweet and caring people I know. I rarely hear her say a mean thing about anyone. I could not be more proud to call her my Bestie.

BM Feli, my BFF since college and college roomie...

Feli and I met our second year at LMU. One night when I was walking down the hall and saw her walking with a guy wearing one shoe. Since my roommate had run into our room early and hide a shoe, I had a feeling they were looking for the shoe in my room. We hit it off immediately. I was a Film major and she was a Screen Writing major. She had a crush on a guy and I had dated him - it was my mission to talk her out if it, because he was bad news. We were BFF from the start!

Feli is one of those friends who is always honest with you. I may not want to hear what she has to say sometimes, but she keeps me in check... much like Mr Frenchie. Feli and I could also spend an entire evening quoting Friends episodes, You've Got Mail and Tommy Boy. We crack each other UP!

Sister Frenchie, my 'little' sister (she's taller than me)...

Although I always tease her about being born and stealing my Barbie room, my sister is THE BEST! We get along better than any 2 siblings should... well now. Like most siblings we went through those times when we found the other annoying etc. But ever since I went away to college Jen has been my best friend. No matter what, we can yell at each other and then cry about it, hug and make up.

We don't think we look a thing alike but people know we're sisters once we start talking. I was at the salon getting my hair done one day and the stylist in the chair next to me said, "Do you have a sister? Is her name Jennifer?" She had gone to Jr High with my sister and knew we had to be related based on my mannerisms.

Jen is the smartest and most hard working girl I know. I could not be more proud to call her my sister and my best friend.

After all my ladies were down the aisle the song switched to another Beatles tune, Till There Was You. I knew I wanted to use this song the second I read Mrs Taffy's post, Thank you Taffy!

We checked my train...

My Dad told a couple of very late guests to take their seat.

Thumbs down means, don't stand and wait for us at the beginning of the aisle, get your butt to your seat like everyone else.

And we walked...

He smiled, the biggest smile I've ever seen...

And everyone stood up. Let me tell you, I completely forgot everyone would stand up when I started down the aisle - WOW! That.is.when.I.LOST.IT! Everyone stood up and smiled at me, some were crying and some just looked so happy for us. The amount of LOVE I felt at that moment is indescribable.

Papa Frenchie and I met Mr Frenchie and our officiant, Leanne, at the 'alter'.
I gave Papa Frenchie a hug...

And we were really to GET MARRIED!

Up Next: The Ceremony

Frenchie Kisses: Waiting to go Down the Aisle

2009-12-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

About 30 minutes before our ceremony my dad drove me over to our venue. Don't tell the police but I didn't wear my seatbelt. I ran the newspaper headline through my head, "Bride flies through windshield on her way to the ceremony" and told my dad to drive as slowly as he needed too! We weren't going far, but aren't those 'famous last words'.

Source

My DOC made sure Mr Frenchie couldn't see me while Papa Frenchie dropped me off in the back parking lot and I walked, by myself, to the Bridal Room. As independent as I think I am, I should have waited for my dad or bridesmaids to walk with me. I was a ball of emotions at this point and a group of drunken Frat boys sing the Wedding March about made me chuck my bouquet at them. I managed to hold on to my bouquet and duck into the Bridal Room and my dad followed shortly.

While I tried to relax with my bridesmaids our guests started to mill around outside.

My Parent's friends...

My friends...

The ladies from Church...

SIL Frenchie and her boyfriend, Mark...

and friends from when we lived in Dallas...

As is got closer to "THE TIME" I tied Mr Frenchie's ring around Sister Frenchie's wrist.

You may remember Mr Frenchie and I decided not to have children in our wedding, this meant Sister Frenchie was in charge of Mr Frenchie's ring. Using some left over ribbon from our OOT bags Mama Frenchie came up with the genius idea to tie it around Sister Frenchie's wrist, because it was WAY too big for here to wear around her thumb and she didn't want to drop it.

Next, Sister Frenchie helped me with my garters...

and re-lacing my dress.

I put my shoes on all by myself ;-)

And we're ready to go!

Up Next: Walking down the aisle.

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Hey Internets, I'm married!

2009-12-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

By now I'm sure most of you have see the YouTube video of the groom who updates his Facebook status DURING his weeding.

If you haven't seen it here it is:

This video reminded me of a similar video I saw shortly after I met Melissa McClure. If you remember she Tweeted at her wedding.

In both cases I was surprised at how well their spouses accepted the interruption. Melissa's husband is so cute waiting for her to Tweet and kept her phone in his pocket.

Mr Frenchie (and Mama Frenchie) would have killed me if I did this! I did however update my Facebook status and Tweet the next morning.

In the age of instant gratification, how long do you think you'll take to tell the world you're married?

Another Cheesy Bar Joke...

2009-11-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

Four Dogs and a shoe walk into a bar while it's Sprinkling. Yep, another cheesy Weddingbee inspired bar joke with no punchline.

With my finals a week away, (anyone want to do my Residential Design boards for me? You get to use spray adhesive?) this weekend I got to take a much needed break with five lovely Bees. Miss Poodle (and Mr Poodle), Mrs Peep Toe, Mrs Sprinkle and Miss Spaniel and I met for Margaritas, Guacamole and other Mexican goodies on Sunday.

Photo by Mrs Sprinkle

With flaming margaritas, we celebrated Miss Poodle's arrival to California, Mrs Peep Toe being in LA and Miss Spaniel becoming a Bee!

Photo by Mr Poodle (via Mrs Sprinkle's camera)

It was fun to hear to compare wedding days, with Mrs Peep Toe and Mrs Sprinkle, hear more planning stories from The Poodles and Miss Spaniel. A special thank you to Mr Poodle for 'talking wedding' for 2 hrs! and an extra special GET WELL SOON to Mrs Meatball, who was too sick to make it with Mr Meatball.

Thanks for meeting up ladies!

Frenchie Kisses: Mr Frenchie's Morning

2009-11-17T13:21:00.001-08:00

My favorite part of most recaps is seeing what the boys are up to when the girls are running around getting pretty and taking pictures. In most cases the Bride has to wake-up earlier because it takes us ladies so much longer to get ready. Heck, I had to be laced into my dress! That alone takes longer than putting a suit on, right?

Although, I have no clue how long it takes to get a pocket square just right.

The day of, I had a hint as to what Mr Frenchie was up to the morning of our wedding. My Uncle called to get his cell phone number and that is when I found out Mr Frenchie was trying to get his shoes shinned. Groomsman JP stopped by our parents room a few hours later to drop of a bouquet of flowers from Mr Frenchie, so I knew he'd been to the store. But, other than that, I didn't know what he was up too until I saw these pictures.

Have a told you all how much I LOVE the country look of our venue? Because I love it! The French Bulldog style is very modern most days, but we like to think we're 'A little bit Country and a little bit ~~Rock N Roll~~ Modern' and we think our wedding definitely showed that.

Boys are silly!

They even shared wine for those pre-ceremony jitters. Mr Frenchie was so worried about standing up in front of all those people during the ceremony. I'm really glad Groomsman JP got them a bottle to share.

I promise, he shared. See?

Is your groom nervous about being in front of all those people?

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Up Next: Getting ready to walk down the aisle.

Frenchie Kisses: Me and My Bridesmaids

2009-11-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

In the last post, I promised you more pictures of your's truly, so here it goes.
After taking pre-ceremony pictures with my family, my bridesmaids and I headed inside, out of the heat, and back to the lobby.

The photographers set me up on a bench opposite the front desk and had me strike a couple poses.

I'm the first at admit I'm not very good a "serious" pictures, but a couple of these shots turned out to be some of Mr Frenchie's favorites.

I felt kind of like a celebrity posing in the lobby as people checked in. A lot of guest stopped to congratulate me and tell my how pretty I looked.

Mr Frenchie gave me that silver Tiffany bracelet for the first of my birthday's we celebrated. I wear it everyday! Just goes to show, you don't need to buy new schmancy jewelery.

Lastly, my bridesmaids and I posed for a few shots together. Look how good we are at ignoring each other ;-)

We're so fierce!

Exhausted from acting all fierce and taking so many pictures, the Frenchie BMs and I went back to my parents room for sandwiches.

Up Next: What has Mr Frenchie been up to?

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: Meet my Bridesmaids

2009-11-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

In the last post, I know I promised you more pictures of your's truly, but I thought I'd interrupt all the pictures of me to tell you about my bridesmaids.

The uncomfortable position we stood in for these pictures had us a laughing and teasing David (the photographer) about trying to get shots of our racks! I was really impressed with how well they turned out.

This is Felicia, aka BM Feli

Feli is one of those friends who is always honest with you. I may not want to hear what she has to say sometimes, but she keeps me in check... much like Mr Frenchie. Feli and I could also spend an entire evening quoting Friends episodes, You've Got Mail and Tommy Boy. We crack each other UP!

This is Jane, aka BM Janey

Janey and I met in the 4th grade. Yep, I've known Jane for 20 years! Jane became my friend back when I had a perm and wore leggings with stirrups. I remember always being jealous of all the different jeans she owned, when I only had ONE PAIR. We've been friends through National Charity League, band (we both played the flute), Prom, college, family deaths, marriages, diabetes and the birth of her adorable son, Liam.

Janey is one of the most genuine, sweet and caring people I know. I rarely hear her say a mean thing about anyone. I could not be more proud to call her my Bestie.

This is Jennifer, aka Sister Frenchie, aka MOH Jen

We don't think we look a thing alike but people know we're sisters once we start talking. I was at the salon getting my hair done one day and the stylist in the chair next to me said, "Do you have a sister? Is her name Jennifer?" She had gone to Jr High with my sister and knew we had to be related based on my mannerisms.

Jen is the smartest and most hard working girl I know. I could not be more proud to call her my sister and my best friend.

Aren't my bridesmaid beautiful?!?

Up Next: More pictures of your's truly, really this time.

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: Gettin' Sassy

2009-11-10T15:40:00.002-08:00

The reason we'd arranged to meet my family in the lobby before the ceremony was so we could get all my family portrait out of the way.

I knew I really wanted pictures of me with Grandma Frenchie,

Aunt Frenchie K,

the Frenchie Cousins

and Uncle Frenchie & Auntie Frenchie.

We didn't have our venue for very long and I didn't want those important pictures to eat up our reception. It also gave me time to practice my "Sassy Pose"... notice the bouquet hand on the hip? Yep, I rock it! Don't believe me? Check out the pictures with my lovely bridesmaids.

BM Janey

BM Feli

Sister Frenchie/MOH Jen

My Auntie C got in on the Sass...

And when Mama Frenchie was done getting ready, she got in on the Sass!

I love this picture of me & Mama Frenchie

Papa Frenchie will kill me for this one, but even he got in on the Sass!

Upnext: More pictures of your's truly.

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

Frenchie Kisses: The Beginning

2009-11-10T08:45:00.000-08:00

***Note: All photos, unless otherwise noted, are by the fabulously talented, and super awesome to know, Ohana Photographers***

My day actually started out pretty early. My sister and I stayed in the same hotel room at the Rancho Bernardo Inn the night before. We both had to shower, get all our crap together and get over to my parent's (larger) room to get ready. I also had to make sure everything I brought with me was packed and put together separate from Sister Frenchie's things. The hotel was going to pick-up my luggage and relocate it to Mr Frenchie and my room once it was available.

Sister Frenchie and Mama Frenchie had a 9:30 hair appointment and my make-up artist was getting to my parent's room around the same time to start making my bridesmaids prettier, so we booked it over to my parents room just in time for Mama Frenchie and Sister Frenchie to head off to the salon.

This portion of the morning was all a blur to me, while Mama Frenchie and Sister Frenchie had hair appointments I decided to do my hair myself. My morning went something like this...

Set hair in velcro rollers

Much like Briana over at Elizabeth Anne Designs (her picture)

Heat with hair dryer
Talk to Ashley and her assistant from AC Make-up
Answer my cell phone
Drink Starbucks
Heat hair with dryer
Get Make-up done

Heat hair with dryer
Attempt to put on dress, but have hotel employee try to come in the back door to load all our wedding stuff on a golf cart for DOC
Heat hair with dryer (see a pattern)
Anyway after my hair was finished, everyone's make-up was done, the guy with the golf cart was gone and my dress was on, we headed up to the lobby to meet my family.

"Hollah! I'm a bride!"

Wow, I was really excited!

This is about the time my mom came back from the winery with the bouquets and boutonnieres. Wait, I should say boutonniere because the florist hadn't made all the boutonnieres and bouquets she was supposed too, Poor Mama Frenchie wasn't even dressed yet and she had to call the DOC to tell the florist to make all the boutonnieres, corsages and bouquets we'd paid for.

Luckily we had everything we needed for the pictures at that point. While, Mama Frenchie got dresses the rest of us went to take some pre-ceremony portraits in a cool spot Ohana Photography had found. The day before had been slightly cloudy and it had even RAINED, but the day of our wedding it was in the high 90s... or so they tell me, I was on such a wedding high I never noticed the heat. So much for all my worrying.

Up Next: I get Sassy!

Frenchie Kisses: We're Good to Go

2009-11-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

Last week our photographers stopped by our apartment on their way back from Disneyland for Kimi's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMI!) and dropped off this...

a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, our favorite.

And this...

A 11x17 print of our FAVORITE shot of the day!

And this...

Can you guess what was inside?

Sorry, I'm a sucker for packaging.

Our discs are here!

I can't get over the awesomeness of our disc holder and Mr Frenchie loves that you can see my smiling face on the first disc. Isn't my husband sweet?

I can't wait to start recapping our wedding for you guys, but please bear with me if it's a little slow coming. This is the part of my quarter at school when things start to get crazy :-/ Believe me I would much rather recap my wedding than do homework.

Lastly, on a somewhat random, yet kind of related topic, here is another example of why we think our photographers are the coolest!

David's Halloween costume!

Frenchiemoon: Vermont, Part 3 - The End

2009-10-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

Mr Frenchie and I both agree that our last day in Vermont was the BEST day of our honeymoon.

When we knew we'd be starting and ending our honeymoon in Vermont, Mr Frenchie tried to find a way for us boat around Lake Champlain... in hopes of seeing Champ. Sea Monsters have been an inside joke between Mr Frenchie and I since we started dating and the Vermont Uhaul seems to follow us wherever we go.

Source

Mr Frenchie found a Lake cruise called The Spirit of Ethan Allen III. We took the "Lunch-On-The-Lake Cruise" - a 1 1/2 Hour Narrated Cruise with Buffet. Mr Frenchie LOVES buffets!

And Bloody Maries (Marys? What is the plural for that?). It was a gorgeous day and we saw and learned at lot about Lake Champlain.

Like, do you know the whole lake freezes over in the winter? YEP, so much so that you can drive on it to go ice fishing! I wouldn't recommend that though, according to our tour guild if your car falls in the lake the State of Vermont gives you one day to get it out or they do it for you and send you the bill. Plus, that kind of thing is NOT covered by car insurance companies.

Sadly, we didn't see Champ. Although, The Spirit of Ethan Allen did see him back in 1984, we think it was too bright outside for Champ that day.

Next we drove over to Shelburne Vineyard. The vineyard had recently re-located to a new building, so new that they were still planting new vines out front.

Having been wine tasting in Napa, Temecula and Rancho Bernardo I wasn't expecting to be tasting alone. It was, however, a Wednesday, so that could explain why we had the whole winery to ourselves. If I remember correctly we sampled about 9 wines, including my first ice wine. I'm sure you can imagine, I don't see too much ice in Orange County, CA, so ice wine isn't very common.
This is the last picture I have of our trip in Vermont because my battery died. Mr Frenchie was able to turn the camera on long enough to grab a shot of me in front of the winery and then it died.

Since I lack photographic evidence you will have to believe when I tell you when went to Shelburne Farms last for Cheese tasting. It happened I promise! We even bought some yummy mustard!

And that is the Frenchiemoon in a 8 post nutshell! Did you miss one?
Sheldon's Adventures
Vermont, Part 1
Canada, Part 1 - Quebec City
Canada, Part 2 - Quebec City/Montreal
Canada, Part 3 - Montreal
Canada, Part 4 - Ottawa
Vermont, Part 2

Tablescape-spiration

2009-10-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

Mrs Avocado's post on A Twist on the "First Look", made me think of a blog resource I should share with the Hive.

Head of the Table is a great source for wedding inspiration.

I'm loving this lime and orange color scheme, it's so fresh and crisp!

A cute, simple and cheap idea for serving beverages at an outdoor wedding...

Damask and a tissue pom! A little more complicated than the pitchers, but really pretty!

I love this tablescape she used for Father's Day.

I think it would be really cute for a backyard rehearsal dinner (or wedding).

There is even inspiration for signature cocktails!

Special thanks to Landlocked Bride for pointing me towards this blog on Twitter!

Do know of any new websites for Wedding inspiration?

Frenchiemoon: Vermont, Part 2

2009-10-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Our trip attitude immediately started to change the moment we saw the US border.

We decided to enter in on the New York City of Lake Champlain, drive down the islands in the middle and then over to Burlington.

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again, we LOVE Vermont. These islands were completely charming.

We plan on coming back here in a couple years to say on an Inn with Adirondack chairs on the lake and go kayaking.

Doesn't that sound relaxing and fun?

Fun side story: We stopped just inside the border at the first gas station we found, obviously to get gas. Went inside to "Put $10 on pump 3" and the lady behind the counter said, "Is it not working? Did you lift the handle?" In California, you have to pay before you pump, in Vermont you pump and then pay! That was really hard to get used to, we felt like we were stealing, even though we fully intended to pay right after. Also, Mr Frenchie couldn't get over the choices of unleaded gas.

Once we were in Burlington again we checked into another Marriott, in Williston. This hotel was night and day compared to the last one. The lady at the front desk was so pleasant, our room had a king bed, it was awesome.

We freshened up in the room a bit, planned out everything we were going to squeeze into our final full honeymoon day (the next day) and went to dinner. Mr Frenchie and I still talk about the dinner we had that night, and it was the dinner we had the whole trip. The Vermont Brewery & Pub is tast-eee!

Source

You better believe the first thing I ordered to drink was an Iced Tea! (What? were you expecting me to say, Beer?) Mmmmm Iced Tea, how I missed you.

Fun Bee Fact about Mrs French Bulldog: I don't like beer. True story. Mr Frenchie is forever trying to get me to try his beer and see if I like it. They all taste the same to me, gross, I'm sorry.

So, believe it or not, I drank my fair share of this flight!

As you can see Sheldon helped, but I'd say Mr Frenchie and I split this pretty evenly. I did drink the fruitier beers, but it was still beer goshdarnit! And, when our waitress forgot to put our order in and offered us a free pint each, I drank mine. Have I had a beer since? No, but I've had sips of Mr Frenchie's beers and they just don't taste as good.

Moving on to the "and this is the food we ate"* portion of this post...

I still cannot believe we ate all of that, plus onion rings AND beer! Oink, Oink!

*Mr Frenchie always makes fun of me and says, "and this is the food we ate" every time I take pictures of our food. He just doesn't understand that the hive wants to know what we ate!

Up Next: Our last day :(

Did you eat/drink something on your honeymoon you would normally never touch?

Frenchiemoon: Canada, Part 4 - Ottawa

2009-09-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

I want to start off this portion of the Frenchiemoon recaps by saying, Miss Chicken don't worry, we loved your city of Ottawa!

When Mr Frenchie and I got to Ottawa we were really excited.

We had planned the Canadian portion of our honeymoon to end in Ottawa, so we could be there for Mr Frenchie's 29th Birthday. You see, the company Mr Frenchie works for gets Marriott hotel benefits, we get a nice room discount and a 20% discount on food. Meaning we could have a fancy Birthday dinner at the Merlot Rooftop Grill, atop the Ottawa Marriott Hotel for a little cheaper than most.

When we arrived at the Marriott to check in, the valet was really nice. He explained how to park the cheapest in the under ground parking, by only paying to "come and go as we pleased" on the days we knew we would need the car etc. We parked the car, grabbed our luggage and made our way to the front desk. This is where our trip went sour, some how our reservation had been mixed up, according to their computer we were supposed to have checked in the night before. The girls at the front desk was very rude and unsympathetic. She told us we would be charged for the night before. We explained to her there was no way we would have booked our reservation for the day before because today was Mr Frenchie's birthday and we had always planned on arriving on that day. We were told we could come tomorrow and speak to the desk manager, who may, or may not, be here between these hours... um, thanks?

Trying not to let this ruin our day we took our keys and went to drop our luggage off in our room. I entered the room first and quickly realized we had been given 2 full sized beds. Romantic no? Mr Frenchie immediately called down to the front desk and got the same girl.

"Oh, it's your honeymoon AND your birthday? Yeah, well we don't care." Was basically the response we received. We could get a new room for an additional charge (per night) but we figure, it was our honeymoon after all, we could sleep snugly. After a potty break I decided to call and make a reservation for dinner. Since the Merlot Rooftop Grill is only open for dinner, I had to call the front desk and again we got the same girl. I didn't care what time we ate dinner, I just wanted to make a reservation near the window, it's a revolving restaurant after all. Apparently, they cannot guaranty a window seat and she wouldn't let me know if I could come and hang out in the bar long enough to get one.

Her: "We cannot guaranty a window seat. "

Me: "I understand that but do you think if we got there early enough and waited in the bar we'd have a better chance of getting one?"
Her: "We cannot guaranty a window seat."

How I detest poor customer service! By the way, Mr Frenchie comes up as Marriott corporate through the discount. Why anyone would be this rude to someone who works for corporate? I don't know.

We decided to get out of the hotel and roam the streets of Ottawa, I was determined to improve Mr Frenchie's birthday.

Ottawa is a beautiful city...

Our favorite part was the Rideau Canal and Locks, North America's oldest operating 19th-century canal. Most of the locks are still cranked open the old-fashion way, by hand!

Also, Mr Frenchie, finally, got his Canadian mall experience. To answere Mrs Mouse's questions, Mr Frenchie did not want to go to a Canadian mall in hopes of seeing Robin Sparkles, he just wanted to see how it differed from those in the states. One store he found that we're sad isn't in the states is RW&CO. Total bummer too because he looks damn good in their stuff.

On our way back to the hotel from the mall we spotted a Bride and Groom! It was so exciting seeing an newly married couple on our honeymoon.
We yelled, "Congratulations!" to them as they passed. Any chance she's a Weddingbee reader?

Back to the hotel I was able to speak to the hostess of Merlot Rooftop Grill and she assured me that we would have no problem getting a window seat, especially if we didn't mind waiting in the bar. Mr Frenchie and I got into our fancy clothes and headed to the roof.

Our dinner Merlot Rooftop Grill was fantastic!

Oh, how I want that soup again, everyday! It was SO TASTY!

We had ordered Cheesecake (Mr Frenchie's favorite, if you haven't figured that out by now) to take back to the room, so they brought us a mini Happy Birthday dessert.

We went back to our room, had our cheesecake and tried to sleep in one of the full sized beds. It was the worst night's sleep we've had in a long time :( The next morning we both had sore backs and couldn't imagine spending another night in that hotel, let alone paying for it. We decided to leave a day early and go back to Vermont. It was the BEST decision we could have made!

Up Next: The rest of our Honeymoon in Vermont.

Frenchiemoon: Canada, Part 3 - Montreal

2009-09-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Caution: One of these photos may not be suitable for work.

The most exciting part about the two FULL days we spent in Montreal, (besides our free breakfast, and happy hour) was the into a museum I'd seen in our travel book. Pointe-à-Callière, was just 3 blocks down the street from our hotel, it was nice not to need our car to get somewhere.

Yes, they had a Pirate exhibit, and we made it there too, but our favorite exhibit was the Archaeological site below the museum. The exhibit was amazing, Mr Frenchie kept thanking me for thinking of coming to this museum. There is something incredible about learning the history of the very spot you are standing. If you ever find ourself in Montreal I cannot recommend this exhibit highly enough.

The next day when were off exploring again, the museum had set up an old farmer's market.

The most fun was seeing how the had tied it into the exhibit we'd seen the day before.

Even excited in the rain! I'm horrible with history, so I was probably more exited because the whole market made sense to me.

The rest of our time in Montreal we finally found Mr Frenchie's Starbucks.

We realized when he was going to order that is standard coffee with an inch of cold soy wouldn't work with their metric system. He felt really silly saying it in centimeters.

We saw some interesting shops...

Yes, those are what you think they are.

Um... yeah, this Christmas store wasn't as cool as we thought it would be. But, it was good for a laugh.

Sadly, because of our day of rain, we didn't make it to a few places we wanted to see. Mount Royal, the Biodome,

Olympic Stadium

and Pixel City.

But, as you can see, we did get to see them from afar. (Pixel City was my favorite it was across the river from our hotel).

Did weather keep you for any activities you wanted to do or places you wanted to go on your honeymoon?

Up Next: Ottawa and why we cut our trip in Canada short.

With a 'Tweet, Tweet" & a Smile: We've Been Blogged!

2009-09-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Warning: Lot of exclamation points ahead!!!

Yesterday, almost a month on the nose (Happy Monthaversary Mr Frenchie!) we got the best news on Twitter - We've been Blogged!

Ohana Photography's images from our wedding are blowing me away! They would like you to believe is the photo above they "brought the light and [we] brough the awesome". No, guys you brought BOTH!

Here are a few of our favorites, like my Favorite of Mr Frenchie...

Watch out Don Draper!

His favorite of me...

Apparently I wrinkle my nose when I smile really big, Thanks Kimi!

Our favorite...

I got my flutter...

birds...

and ring shots that put mine to SHAME!

Want to see more? Check out the whole blog here and leave them some love, they deserve it!

Frenchiemoon: Canada, Part 2 - Quebec City/Montreal

2009-09-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Let's see where did I leave off?

The second day in Quebec City was interesting. We started off the day trying to find Starbucks coffee and/or Breakfast. Mr Frenchie wanted nothing more than to find a Starbucks and, interestingly, go to a Canadian Mall. (My husband is a little weird). At this point I still hadn't quite grasped how badly Mr Frenchie wanted to see a Canadia mall so I tried to avoid it. We ended up going to breakfast/lunch at St Hubert, or as we like to call it Shaky Finger Chicken.

Source

Reminds me of someone I know...

You know I love you CC! (Source)

St Hubert was probably the only unpleasant experience we encountered with the French Speaking Canadians... that and we disagreed on what is considered good iced tea. BLECK! is all I really have to say about the iced tea I encountered in Canada. I shake my finger back at that bird and say that was NOT iced tea. There was a little mix up on the sugar content of the iced tea they served, they said it had no sugar and I (and the bottle it came from) strongly disagreed. I will say, however, my sandwich wasn't too bad.

After brunch(?) we drove down Grande-Allée, described as the “Champs Élysées” of Québec City.

The street was super cute and we had grand plans of walking back up the street later for dinner, but I got a blister from my new Coach tennies and we decided to stay closer (and cheaper).

Back inside our fortified city, I changed into my tennies (that would later give me a blister) and we walked around the streets near our hotel.

I could totally live here!

And shop here!

How cute is this place?!?

We walked all the way over to Fairmont Le Château Frontenac for a fancy drink.

On our way in we past the CUTEST wool sharf and sheep shop. I'm kicking myself because I can't find the shop owner's card right now (I'll have to think of another Christmas present for Mama Frenchie), but the name of the shop was Lambert & Co.

I'm totally wearing that outfit as I'm typing this!

The sheep were really soft and made with really curly sheep's wool. She also made smaller sheep with yarn made from the same wool. (Dang it! Where is that card?) After our drink we ate our cheapest Canadian dinner at L'omelette and then went on a mission for Cheesecake.

The next morning we drove to Montreal...

Mr Frenchie printed the directions to our hotel, Auberge Du Vieux Port, from the computer in the hotel lobby. We didn't realize until we were all packing in our rental and on our way, that the directions he printed were in French. Luckily, it was very easy to figure out, so it was more funny, than anything.

On our way to Montreal we stopped to get food at a Tim Hortons. We'd seen there signs along the side of the road and thought, "Well it can't be any worst that PFK (KFC) or McDonalds, right?" (P.S. I haven't eaten at a McDonalds in 8 yrs)

Lemme tell you, I heart Tim Hortons! Where else can I get a sandwich (for me), a doughnut (for Mr F) and a coffee (for Mr F) in a combo? Nowhere I've been in California.

We got to our amazing hotel around mid afternoon, settled into our hotel room and updated my Twitter status... what?

The hotel staff was extremely nice at this hotel! We were given a free Jazz CD when we checked in and they left us Maple Chocolates as a "Congratulations" gift, in our room! This was BY FAR my favorite hotel we stayed at on the entire trip, but I am easily swayed by free breakfast (actual breakfast), free wine & cheese happy hour and nice soaps. I'm a sucker for good smelling soaps.

Once we were settled in (and the Twittersphere knew what I was up to) we went to our free wine and cheese Happy Hour and found dinner down the street. Mr Frenchie was very excited to find a place with a drink and lasagna deal (lasagna is his favorite).

Up Next: More Montreal!

Nesting: Part 2, How 'bout now?

2009-09-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Since Mr Frenchie and I got married, two commons question have been, "Do you feel different?" and (because getting married also met moving in together) "How is it, living together?"

Do I feel different? A little. Our officiant told us that after she pronounced us Husband and Wife and we walked back done the aisle we would feel different. She said, "It's the best feeling, I'm so excited for you."

I'm content and I feel peaceful... that sounds weird, but there you have it. I'd say I feel more relaxed in my relationship with Mr Frenchie. I can't really think of any other way to explain it but I know he's there and he knows I'm there and it will always be that way to matter what life throws at us. That really is the best feeling :)

How is it, living together? Guess what guys? I live with a boy. It's not too shabby. Mr Frenchie's told me he never had any concerns about living with me (I had to be better than his past roommates) and neither did I. We're both pretty clean, some of us (me) more than others (him), but it works. I have a cooking partner in crime. I'm not drinking wine alone after work, we can go out on our terrace (we like to call our balcony a terrace) and drink together. The best part, at the end of the day I don't have to hop in my car and go home, I'm already at home!

However, living with Mr Frenchie was ever my concern. My concern was moving. Confession - I do not to well with change. True story - I moved to Huntington Beach about a year before I met Mr Frenchie. The difference in my commute and not knowing where everything was, turned out to be such a shock to my system that I had a major anxiety attack and moved back. I was really worried I would freak out about living in a new place. However, I'm in a much better place in my life and, as I've explained before, our place is in a great location. I have pretty much the same commute, I know where everything is AND I'm actually closer to my favorite grocery store and other things. The best part is, I have Mr Frenchie. He can tell when something is wrong, he asks me how I'm doing, gives me a hug and tells me everything is going to be alright and he's here. He's here, I don't know why I was ever concerned.

So, there you have it, almost one month into being married and not much to report. Does it feel different? Yes, a little. How is it living with a boy? Great!

Did you feel much different once you were married?

My Favies

2009-09-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Mr Frenchie and I are settling into our new apartments and finding a home for all our stuff - old cwrap and shiney new presents. In an effort to spend less money (and because we think its pretty darn fun) we've been cooking at home most nights.

Our first night cooking was pretty interesting, we tried to make tomato soup (to have with paninis) and realized we didn't have a can opener. The next morning, we attempted to make pancakes, and realized we didn't have a spatula. Thankfully, last Friday we were able to open up the remainer of our Wedding presents at Mama and Papa Frenchie's house. Here are a couple of my favorite wedding presents, in case your in need of more things to add to your registry.

1 - Utensil Set - This 10 Piece Utensil Set by OXO has been a lifesaver! Can opener? CHECK! Spatula? Would you like solid or perforated? Because, we have both!

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This set comes with a crock (to hold everything), 2 spoons (perforated & solid), fancy nylon headed tongs, 2 spatulas (perforated & solid), can opener, whisk, swivel peeler and a flexible spatula.

2 - Pyrex Set - Mama Frenchie has more Tupperware than you can shake a stick at (well you could actually shake a stick at it, but you would have to back up A LOT to get the whole kitchen in your shaking area) because she attended many a Tupperware party in her day. I don't think they have Tupperware parties anymore, or if they do I haven't been invited to one, and there has been some debate on microwaving food in plastic containers. Our solution was this Pyrex Clear Glass 17-pc. Bake and Store Set from Target.

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We've already started storing leftovers in these containers. Plus, it came with a measuring cup! Something we realized we needed when trying to measure ingredients making tomato sauce Sunday night.

3 - Towel Hook - I don't know what man designed the bathroom in our apartment but they put the light switch right below our only towel bar. Thus, making it impossible to find the light switch if you, I don't know, want to hang-up your towels. Before we opened this Cero Spa Over-the-Door Hook Rack from Target, I had to give our guests lesson in where to find the switch before they used the bathroom.

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Now, the light switch is super easy to find (it glows) and my towel is closer to the shower, SCORE!

What is your favorite wedding present?

That's My Jam!

2009-09-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

I interupt the Frenchiemoon recaps to bring you a post I was working on before our wedding, our song list.

Although, we had an awesome band for our wedding, we also had a DJ for the main "dancing" portion of the evening. To assure that Celine Dion or Mariah Carey didn't make an appearance at the French Bulldog wedding, Mr Frenchie and I put together a little play list. We spent an afternoon listening to our iTunes and writing down songs wanted to hear and thought our guests would enjoy... and enjoy they did!

Anniversary Dance - "When I'm 64" - The Beatles
Bouquet Toss - "Clumsy" - Fergie
Garter Toss - "Pink Panther Theme" - Henry Mancini
Cake Cutting - "How Sweet It Is" - James Taylor (We wanted to do "Ma Na Ma Na" by The Muppets by we didn't think our older guests would get it)

Dance Tunes

"At Last" - Etta James

"Brick House" - The Commodores

"Brighter Than Sunshine" - Aqualung

"Brown Eyed Girl" - Van Morrison

"Build me up, Buttercup" - The Fountains (BM F & my song)

"Celebration" - Kool and the Gang

"Come On Eileen" - Save Ferris (version)

"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" - Queen

"Dancing Queen" - Abba

"Don't Stop the Music" - Rihanna (Club Mix)

"Float On" - Modest Mouse

"Get Off My Cloud" - Rolling Stones

"Gimme More" - Britney Spears

"Got My Own Thing Now" - Squirrel Nut Zippers

"Groove is in the Heart" - Deee-lite

"Hip to be Square" - Huey Lewis

"I Can't Help Myself" - The Four Tops

"I Want You to Want Me" - Cheap Trick
"It Had to be You" - Harry Conick, Jr
"It's My Life" - Bon Jovi
"Jump, Jive n Wail" - Brian Setzer Orchestra
"Just Dance" - Lady Ga Ga
"Life is a Highway" - John Cochrane
"Love Shack" - B-52s
"Moondance" - Michael Buble (version)
"My Girl" - The Temptations
"Old Time Rock n Roll" - Bob Seger
"Pennies from Heaven" - Louis Prima
"PYT" - Michael Jackson
"Rebel Yell" - Billy Idol
"Respect" - Aretha Franklin
"Shake It" - Metro Station
"Son of a Preacher Man" - Dusty Springfield
"Stayin' Alive" - Bee Gees
"Straight Up" - Paula Abdul
"Sussudio" - Phil Collins
"Sweet Caroline" - Neal Diamond
"Thriller" - Michael Jackson
"Walking on Sunshine" - Katrina & The Waves
"We Are Family" - Sister Sledge
"You Spin Me 'Round" - Dead or Alive

What are your favorite dance tunes?

Frenchiemoon: Canada, Part 1 - Quebec City

2009-09-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

After lunch at The Essex, Mr Frenchie and I piled our suitcases in our trusty Rogue and headed for the Canadian border.

Once across the border (which was totally easy by the way) we drove about 3 hours to Quebec City. Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America and also the only remaining fortified city.

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See that adorable entrance to the city? We drove through that 4 times looking for our hotel. Inside the walls, if I remember correctly there was only 1 two-way street. We had printed directions to our hotel from the address that was on Google. Oh, trusty Google, you had never steared me wrong until then. We drove down Rue Saint Anne 3 times without seeing Hotel Acadia.

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We noticed some restaurants and hotels on the part of Rue Saint Anne that you can't drive on, so we decided to park the car and walk down that street. We found a parking structure, parked the car, unloaded all 3 of our suitcases and started walking. We walked down the other side of the street and noticed the numbers were going in the wrong direction, FRICK! and then is started to rain (and my hair does NOT do well in the rain), double FRICK!

We ducked into the first hotel on St Anne to asked if they had any idea where our hotel was...

Me: "Parlay voo englay?" (pheonetic spelling)
Concierge: Yes
Me: YES!

I had been practicing my French phrases from the back of our Quebec/Montreal travel book. Since we hadn't spoken to anyone but ourselves since we entered Canada, we had no idea how much French, or English, we would encounter. The concierge had never heard of our hotel and kept asking, "Hotel or Motel? That is very important." Ummm HOTEL, HO-TEL! Mr Frenchie did not book us a Motel for our honeymoon, thankyouverymuch. After asking around and Googling our hotel he discovered that Google has the wrong address list and our hotel was a couple streets up.

A short, but slightly wet, walk later we found Hotel Acadia and checked in. Hotel Acadia was a cute little 41 room, boutiquey hotel.

Photo by Me

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Although, they couldn't care less that their address is incorrect on Google, we found the rest of our stay to be charming. Even though we had the smallest room, on the 5th floor, with no stairs, I wouldn't complain and would totally recommend this hotel. The valet always offered to carry whatever we needed to our room and the staff was very nice. I'm sure it didn't hurt that we LOVED Quebec City!

Our first night (since it stopped raining) we decided to go back down the undrivable portion of St Anne and eat dinner outside at one of the restaurants we'd seen earlier.

This time I remembered to take pictures of the food...

Mr Frencie and I LOVED the parmesan fondue! We had no idea it was going to be more like parmesan croquettes, with a little salad. We didn't find on the menu in any other city, but we did find a recipe online that we want to try out soon.

Did you eat any foods on your honeymoon you want to recreate at home? Do you have a recipe to share?

Up next: More Quebec City and Montreal!

Frenchiemoon: Vermont Part 1

2009-09-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

Mr Frenchie and I left the very early the Monday morning after our wedding. It was nice to have a complete day to relax by the pool at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. (Fun little fact about RB Inn: they have 3 pools - 1 is @ the Spa, 1 is the "adult pool", and the last is the "kids pool". The bar, is at the "kids pool"! But don't worry, we stopped off at the kids pool and got drinks to take to the Adult pool.) I would advise any couple to take a day after your wedding to relax before hopping on a plane (or in a car) to your honeymoon destination. I don't care where you're going, traveling can be stressful (especially if you're flying). It was so nice to wake-up at a reasonable time, go to our morning after breakfast, relax by the pool, and go to dinner with some friends.

Okay, where was I? Oh, right! We left, at the crack of dawn on Monday morning. Papa Frenchie dropped us to San Diego International Airport, long before it was this light outside, and we were on our way.

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Mr Frenchie and I had grand dreams of telling the lady behind the ticket counter we were on our honeymoon and getting bumped up to first class, or moved around so we would have an entire row to ourselves. No such luck! Our flight was completely packed, the lady at the counter pretty much laughed in our faces.

After a layover at Dulles International Airport, we arrived in Burlington, VT around 6:30 pm. At the rental car counter the "It's our Honeymoon" line FINAL worked and they guy upgraded us to a bigger and newer car. We had booked a compact and ended up with a band new Nissan Rogue.

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The Rogue was perfect! It was small enough to easily drive around the tiny streets of Old Quebec City and Montreal, but sat up high enough for a good view of an area we weren't used to driving. Oh, and it fit all 3 of our suitcases... that's right I brought 2 suitcases. What? We were gone for 9 days and that is a LOT of shoes! So, it doesn't hurt to occasionally bat your eyelashes and say, "It's our honeymoon, do you think we could get something newer."

We stayed in Burlington one night before driving up to Quebec City. I found us an awesome hotel in Burlington, on Priceline, for about $5o.

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The hotel was called, The Essex, and it also the home of the New England Culinary Institute. We missed out on dinner in one of their restaurants, so we hung around long enough to have lunch at The Tavern.

Mr Frenchie graduated from Cal Poly Pomona and got a taste of the culinary school experience in a 3 quarter long class working at The Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch. It was extra fun to see another school kitchen in action!

I had to get Mr Frenchie's picture with the student chefs. (Please ignore, the fun face, I believe I caught him with taste bread in his mouth).

Being the bad honeymoon blogger I am, I forgot to take pictures of all our tasty food, but I did get a shot of my SUPER YUMMERS shrimp tacos.

All in all I would give The Essex and The Tavern an A. The hotel is gorgeous and our room was really quaint.

We loved Burlington! Hack, why do you think we came back early?

Did you want your husband try out the ,"It's our honeymoon" to get any upgrades or free stuff? Did it work?

Frenchiemoon: Sheldon's Adventures

2009-09-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Hive, I'm back! Mr Frenchie and I got back from our fabulous honeymoon Wednesday night and we're already back at work (but only for 2 days, thank God). I'm trying to catch up on work in the office, but I can't stay away from Weddingbee. Like many married Bees before me, I'm waiting for my Pro photos to recap our wedding. In the meantime I have a few last minute projects to fill you in on and a honeymoon to talk about :)

I forget where I saw this, but I read about a couple that brought a tiny stuffed animal with them when they traveled and took it's picture along the way. I told Mr Frenchie about it and we thought it would be fun to bring the desk gnome, I bought him a few years ago, along on our travels.

I bring you Sheldon's Adventures...

Sheldon, stretching his legs on our layover at Dulles International Airport. Traveling can be cramped in my tote bag.

Here, Sheldon is claiming first dibs on the Keurig coffee machine in our room at The Essex in Vermont.
San Diego based, Stone Brewery, was coming to The Essex for a brew and food pairing! Sheldon could not get over the coincidence.

Enjoying the bustle of the streets in Vieux Quebec at dinner our first night in French Canada.

Sheldon posing with a souvenir from our cheapest meal in Cananda at L'omelette.

Don't worry, he wasn't going to jump! Sheldon, is just admiring the view of Old Montreal from our hotel room.

Sheldon was totally stuffed after burgers at Harvey's. He may have gone a little overboard on his toppings.

Celebrating Mr Frenchie's 29th birthday overlooking Ottawa at Merlot Rooftop Grill. Sheldon, felt a tad undressed that evening.

Sheldon, finally, got to see a Keurig in action in Ottawa. We need to get on of these for Mr Frenchie's desk!

Celebrating our early return back to Vermont (from Ottawa... why did we leave early? You'll have to wait to find out)! Sheldon was most excited to try the Stout at Vermont Pub and Brewery.

Perhaps, a bit too excited... but don't worry, he wasn't driving.

Our last day in Vermot, Sheldon enjoyed a lunch cruise on Lake Champlain aboard The Spirit of Ethan Allen 3. Sadly there were no Champ sightings, but there was a buffet.

Sheldon is too white for the flash, after being picked up from the airport by GM B. Not honeymooning on a beach really hinders your tanning.

So, now you have a sneak peek at our honeymoon (or the Frenchiemoon) and you know all about our crazy new traveling tradition.

Have you and your Mr started any fun traditions?

Pssttt...

2009-08-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

I got married this weekend!

The day was amazing! Mr Frenchie and I were surrounded by so much love we are still on cloud nine. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

By the time you read this we'll be on our way to Canada, for 9, GLORIOUS days! Words cannot express what the Weddingbee community has meant to be this last year and I cannot wait (okay, I can a little... I mean I will be on my honeymoon) to come back and tell you all about it. To my fellows Bees, especially Mr & Mrs Bee, BIL Bee and Pengy, you are incredible! And, although I have only met a handful of you in person, I love you. Thank you for all your support and kind words.

P.S. I got to refer to Mr Frenchie as my husband, about 5 times today :)

Another reason I love our officiant...

2009-08-19T14:40:00.001-07:00

Mr Frenchie is SUPER nervous about our wedding ceremony. He hates public speaking and being the center of attention (one thing we are complete opposites on). Standing in front of all 130 of our guests with all eyes on us is really stressing him out.

Last night we got together to run through our ceremony so he knew exactly when things were happening and when and what he was supposed to do and say. I'm really glad we decided to do this because I found a section of out service that didn't sit right with me. At the beginning of the ceremony under "Welcome & Statement of Marriage" there was this paragraph...

"Marriage is a gift from God given to us as a holy mystery in which a man and a woman are joined together and become one, just as Christ is one with the church."

I know this is common statement at weddings, but as a supporter of Marriage Equality, this just didn't sit right with me. I sat there wondering if I should bring this up to our officiant or just let it slide. The more I thought about it the more I knew I needed to ask her to change it. I was a little nervous to make waves so close to our wedding, but I love Leanne, and I knew she would take my feeling and beliefs into consideration regarding this issue, whether or not she agrees with me.

So, I called up Leanne this afternoon and asked her if we could change it to read...

"...in which two people are joined together and become one..."

She was very supportive of my request and understood my reasoning behind it. I know I'm very fortunate to have an officiant who will let me alter our ceremony and I'm even more fortunate to have one that will let me change something to include Gay marriage. That (among other reasons) is why I LOVE our officiant.

Were/are you able to alter you ceremony to more reflect your relationship and beliefs?

Perfect and Simple

2009-08-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

Perfect and Simple are the two words I would use to describe my wedding band.

I had a hard time finding the perfect wedding band to match the gorgeous ring Mr Frenchie gave me when he proposed. James Allen, has a band that matches the ring perfectly, but it just wasn't my style. I found it to blingy and I thought all the little diamonds overshadowed the beautiful center stone Mr Frenchie looked so hard to find.

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I toyed with the idea of having just a plain white gold band, but I really wanted a little bit of bling on my wedding band. Elsa Peretti makes a ring for Tiffan & Co., that is a simple band with a single tiny diamond set inside.

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Mr Frenchie and I went to Tiffany & Co. one day to check out the ring, but unfortunately it only came in platinum or sterling silver. I really wanted my rings to be from the same metals, so they aged similarly, so that was out.

I searched around Blue Nile, Robins Bros etc and got so discouraged I pretty much gave up for awhile. Until, Miss Stiletto blogged about Michael C. Fina and I saw this ring.

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It was perfect, simple, yet still had some bling. I had to have it. Since this band was not available for online sale I decided to try and find the ring somewhere else.

Where did I turn, but Etsy of course. Searching around Etsy I came across seller singleBbeautiful. I fell in love with having a custom ring and loved that she used recycled metals and only conflict free diamonds. Justine, had this ring in her shop for just the right price, so I emailed her.

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I made sure that I could get the ring in my odd 6.75 size, the width of the ring wouldn't be bigger than my engagement ring and it would be made in white gold. Justine, got back to me right away and answered all my questions. I bought/ordered the ring the same day I discovered it.

Yesterday, when I got home my ring had arrived. YAY! Of course, I had to try it on to make sure it fit (and take pictures for all of you)!

In the box... I'm going to miss that bedspread when I move in with Mr Frenchie

On my finger - I'm going to leave the better pictures to the pros.

I even wore it when I went to pick-up our dinner at Pick Up Stix because I knew I would have to part with it as soon as I saw Mr. Frenchie.

For now my ring is safely with Mr Frenchie in our new apartment... so I can visit it when he's in the bathroom, I guess.

Did your engagement ring make finding your wedding band more difficult?

2 Down, 1 More To GO

2009-08-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

Early this week I went to my second dress fitting, I only have one more! I cannot believe the countdown to the French Bulldog wedding has entered the teens! EEEEE!
Monday, with about a half an hour left of work, something told me to check the card where my next appointment with Mahtab had been written. Thank God, I did, because it was scheduled for 5:30pm that day. (After my Bride Brain confession, I started taking steps to become more organized and I have written everything on a calendar at my desk, I got the card out to add her to my calendar).

*** Mr. Frenchie, with umpteen days left to go, I'm sure you can make it without peeking, No Lookie por favor***

After work I had just enough time to go home, grab my shoes and rush over to Mahtab's house. Everything happens for a reason though, because if I had remembered, in the morning, to bring my shoes, it most likely wouldn't have occured to me to bring my veil. I hadn't been able to take any pictures of it since it arrived two weekends ago because I misplaced my camera.
So, the stars aligned and I remembered my appointment, grabs my shoes, my veil and my camera and drove to Mahtab's. PHEW!
I wish the picks of my dress had some dramatic change from the last time, but if you remember, there wasn't a whole lot to fix to begin with. Mahtab, took in the top of the dress so it lays flatter in my boobal area, added my bustle and took up the bottom a little. In the pictures, it looks pretty much the same as the last time I showed you. However, up-close the hem is AMAZING! Mahtab cut the lace detailing off the bottom, shortened the dress and is re-sewing it back on! I thought forsure I would just lose the lace on the bottom, but Mahtab is awesome and that is why I heart her.
Check out the goofy grin! Geez, I must love you guys for putting this on the internet.

Now for the back...
The bustle is finished... or should I say almost finished, we decided to add one more hook so I can take the middle of the bustle (below the bow strings) and pin it up just below the bow. It's hard to visualize but I'll take pics for you when I got back next Tuesday.
Now, for the really exciting part, my veil. I had tried on a couple veils at a few different salons. I knew I wanted a shorter veil because I kept pulling the veil around my shoulders when I would try-on the longer ones.
I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do, but then I saw Miss Bruschetta's post on veils and I feel in love with the look of this veil.

Isn't my buddy, Bru, GORGEOUS!?!

A lot of people suggested she contact Mrs. Sea Breeze who started her own business making veils, so I decided to take their suggestions and I emailed Kasia. First off, Kasia is a total sweetheart, and a absolute joy to work with. I sent her pictures of my dress and the picture of Miss Bruschetta and, although she had never made anything like it before, she agreed to try.

I couldn't be more happy with the result.

She put three layers of tulle - the top and bottom layers are a tighter weave tulle and the middle layer has a larger weave. I love that it's a mix and I love that it's poofy and short, but still covers my back a little. I'm so happy Kasia agreed to make my veil because I found nothing like this in my area... Canada is SO lucky!

Did you have to go somewhere other than a bridal salon to find the veil of your dreams?

Bees at the Bird

2009-08-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

As you may have read, Red Robin had a swarm of Bees last week. Yes, swarm, there were 14 of us! Can you believe it? On a Tuesday?

There were burgers, french fries, lemonades and I think I even saw a milkshake! Our waitress was SO excited to be serving a table of brides she brought us 2 complimentary mud slides at the end of the meal. Forget my wedding dress, I dug right in!

How beautiful are Weddingbee Brides!?!?!

Top Row: Lauren, Laura (Soon2beMrsLewis), Sarah, Laura (melodicsighs1), Sarah (naangel55), Janine (futureshoolz), Courtney (CourtneyCrocker), Laura (Charm Bracelet)

(You'd think we made all the Lauras and Sarahs stand together).

Middle Row: Michelle (Miss Duckling), Jamie (PrettyKitty), Allison/me (Miss Frenchie), Megan (Miss Sprinkle), Mary (ContraryMary)

Front Row: Stephanie (poli2b)

It was so much fun having a table of brides to talk wedding with for an evening. Thank you all so much for coming, I had a wonderful time meeting you! Hopefully we can do it again in October, after Miss Duckling, Miss Sprinkle and I are all officially Mrs's.

I also want to say CONGRATULATIONS again to our new Mommy-to-be, PrettyKitty! You are going to make an amazing mother :)

Hello Birdies!

2009-08-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Last week when I said Good-bye to my cute birdie place-card holders, Mama Frenchie and I tried to figure out a way to get some birdie goodness back in. Here is a sneak peak at what we've been working on.

It started with some of this...

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Cut out some of these...

Shrink 'em down to these...

Who doesn't like Shrinky Dinks!?! Our original plan was to make our own birdie place-card holders, but when we found the heartshaped memo clips we decided to put the birdies somewhere else. You can probably guess where, but you'll have to wait to see them in action.

We made 130 of these bad boys! Did some thing that was once simple end up taking you a lot more time?

OC Bee Meet-up Reminder

2009-08-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hi OC Bees!

Miss Duckling and I (Miss Frenchie) and getting really excited for our Bee Meet-up tonight!

If you haven't already, RSVP on our Evite, so I can give Red Robin a heads-up on our head count.

Also PLEASE send some good car vibes to Miss Sprinkle, she having a little car trouble (I feel her pain). We really want to meet our newest California Bee!

I can't wait to meet you all!
xoxo,
Miss Frenchie

Dear FedEx,

2009-07-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

I just received this email from my wedding band designer (no, you did not miss a post, I haven't told you about it yet).

Hi Miss French Bulldog,

I just wanted to update you on your ring order. Right now I am waiting for the diamonds for you ring to arrive by fedex, which will be this afternoon. If I can get all of the stones set before 5pm, I will be shipping the ring today. Otherwise it will be tomorrow morning.

Ok, let me know if you have any questions!

Justine

If it goes out today, I will get it tomorrow! But if it goes out in the morning, I won't get it until Monday! The early I get it the early I can try it on and forget to take it off and the earlier I can tell you all about it...

Dear FedEx,

Please deliver my pretty little tiny diamonds to Justine early enough for her to get them set by 5pm.

Thank You,
Miss French Bulldog

P.S. Did I ever tell you you're my favorite express delivery service? *bats eyelashes*

What wedding item are you waiting on pins and needle to receive?