The Ring: Part I

I realized I haven't written a post about my engagement ring, nor the proposal behind it.  This could possibly be because my own proposal was definitely not one with any earth shattering romance in it.  In fact, I kind of feel like the black sheep of the hive because I have no gut wrenching, heart string pulling proposal story and sometimes when I read them I feel a tinge of jealousy.  Sometimes.  But then I realize that I probably wouldn't even know how to act if Mr. Biscuit ever made an incredibly grand romantic gesture.

So here's my unromantic, completely practical, no surprise proposal story.  I hope it will serve as a juxtaposition to all of the other wonderfully romantic proposals of the hive.

WoopWoop Photography!

Recently, I realized I hadn't really talked about my photographer yet.  Well, actually, I just received my clinic induction pictures and realized that I currently look like Ugly Betty and that I needed to show off my engagement photos as an ego boost.  Don't believe me?  Check it out:

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At least my dress was cute...

Can't tell which one is actually me?  It's OK, I understand.

I was that creepy person who stalked photographers websites before I was even engaged.  It was mainly because I knew that the engagement was swiftly coming and I wanted to find a photographer who was familiar with my venue.  Back in those days, I really didn't understand much about how to choose a photographer.  All I knew was:
1.) I liked when the photographer posted their prices, or at least a starting price on their webpage (I really wish more vendors would do that--I hate inquiring about prices, and wrote off may talented vendors when they didn't publish prices).
2.) I felt more comfortable choosing a photographer with an aesthetically pleasing web site (silly, I know, but first impressions people!).
3.) I wanted someone who had photographed both my reception and ceremony site before.
4.) I liked the photo-journalistic approach, as did Mr. Biscuit.  In fact, this was really all he cared about, which is why many of my posts are centered on "I."  Mr. Biscuit is all about making 0 decisions, which makes it easier for me in the long run, though at times is incredibly frustrating.
5.) I wanted a woman to be my photographer.  I don't know why, I was just leaning in that direction for some reason.  It may have been because I had been photographed by a male photog before, and I didn't feel as comfortable as I think I would have with a female.  Or maybe during dress putting on pics, I didn't want a guy seeing my...well, everything.  Who knows.

As I continued my photography search, I started to get a feel for what I wanted in my photos, or rather what I didn't want:
1.) I didn't like the lined up family/bridal party photos that I'm sure many of you have seen in your parents' photo albums, so I wanted to limit these as much as possible.  I wanted pics of my family and stuff, but my mother's wedding pictures consisted only of different family member combinations standing on an altar.  I'd kinda like a picture of people acting natural as well.  Hence finding someone with a "Photo-journalistic approach."

Mother Biscuit's wedding photos: abridged

Miss Biscuit is in the Hizz-ive!

How ya doin' Hive?

I never thought I'd get the chance to say that on the big front page!   I was waiting for class to begin this morning and just happened to check my email.  Amidst all of the random wedding spam I generally get was an email from Mrs. Penguin!  Sitting in my chair, I loudly squealed, "I'm a Weddingbee!" and everyone just looked at me like I was crazy.

Luckily, one of my friends is planning her wedding and understood completely.  We spent the rest of the morning trying to decide which pseudonym would be best.  It was a close call between Crepe and Biscuit, but biscuit won out.  Why?  Well, crepes are quite refined and biscuits are cute.  I look like I'm 12, so clearly, I'm a biscuit.

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Now that the formalities are over, let's get a little better acquainted, shall we?

I grew up in Morgantown, WV, had a 4 year stint in Cleveland to get my degree in Biomedical Engineering, then was transplanted back to my hometown in order to learn all sorts of cool things about teeth.  I'm currently in my third year of dental school which means I'm super busy and have real patients, as opposed to the fake ones I had the first two years.  I currently have braces, which are SUPPOSED to be off for the big day *crosses fingers* and don't help me with the age situation.

I gots metal in my mouth!

Mr. Biscuit grew up near Morgantown and received a degree in Biochemistry from West Virginia University.  He is currently a chemist at a pharmaceutical company in the area, but has dreams of one day owning his own brewery.   We have two furbabies named Tsali and Tobias N. Fünkat. 

We've got a little over six months until the big day, and I'm so excited to have the hive on my side as I attempt the DIY wedding of my dreams. 

Mr. Biscuit riding a bike and being hardcore

Tsali

Tobias being cute

Mr. Biscuit and I met on a dating site, and we both admit that maybe we were a bit too awkward to have met in a natural setting.  We have been inseparable since our first date in January 2009.  Well, we've separated, I mean, we use the restroom at separate times and stuff, but we're together a lot. Follow us on our journey to eternal happiness!  Actually, no, that sounds morbid.  Just, uh, follow us.  On the internet.  Please don't follow us to WV.  It's really not that great here (well, it's nice and all, but it's definitely not Disney World) and stalking is creepy.

I'm so excited to bounce ideas off of you all, and share our plans for our Big Fat Italian/Sicilian/Polish wedding!

Happy Reading!
Miss Biscuit

 

*all photos are personal unless otherwise sourced*

On to "Bee"ger and "Bee"tter Things

Dear wonderful and awesome readers,
A few days ago, I applied to blog on a site called Weddingbee.  Most--if not all--of you found my blog on the forum there, so I'm pretty sure you know what the site is all about.  If you're confused, let me know and I will explain the site in more detail.  It was something I did as a long shot--I definitely didn't think I'd be accepted as a blogger, though of course I was hoping like crazy.  I also wasn't expecting to hear for at least a month.  Well, imagine my surprise when I got an acceptance email this AM saying that I will be the newest bee!  I am absolutely ecstatic right now, and I wanted my smattering of readers to be the first to know.

I will continue to blog on here, and it will get transferred to Weddingbee.  Also, I will be receiving a new blogging moniker.  We are switching from Mr. and Miss Bicycle to Mr. and Miss Biscuit.  Easy transition, huh?  I'm not introduced yet, so shhhh!  Don't tell anyone.

Lastly, I just want to thank you guys so much for reading my blog, especially those who dealt with me from the beginning.  Without you all to read my ramblings, I never would have felt the impetus to keep refining my voice or blog.  You have no idea how excited I get every day to look at my blog and see that someone enjoyed something I posted.  Now, I get to write to an even larger audience, and hopefully, I will entertain and inform an exponential number more.  I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate you reading my little musings.  I have always loved to write, and never thought I'd find someone who was willing to read about little old me! I hope you'll continue to follow me, either here or on the Bee, as my wedding journey has just begun and I have so much more to ramble about.

OK, this is getting sappy and I'm getting emotional, which is always bad news.  I should wrap this sucker up.

Again, thanks so much for reading this!  And for reading other stuff too.  I suppose I should also thank a teacher, right?  Isn't that what those PSAs say?

Oh, and I wanted to give something to you all and have been looking for a reason to throw this cool stamp of a pepper in a drawing.  So you get a picture of a pepper for being so super awesome.  A+.

Tablescapes Part 3: Table Numbers/Place cards

So you've seen my ideas for centerpieces and linens, but how will people know where to sit?  Since I have had nightmares about some random relative not being able to find his table due to red green color blindness or macular degeneration, I've decided to take the double fail safe approach.

First, I would stick with the pattern coded fabrics.  I saw some pretty awesome photos and got inspired (thanks Mrs. Ribbons!):

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However, looking at the tutorials for these I got a little bit worried I would run out of fabric.  Plus, they looked uber time consuming.  So I did some tutorial searching and eventually found these:

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Sadness

I interrupt my scheduled decor posts with an outpouring of emotion.

Today, as I was browsing through my favorite indie dress website, I found this dress:

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Then I repeatedly hit my head on the coffee table while wishing I had seen this dress before I had found my BM's dresses.

Tablescapes Part 2: The Linens

OK, so you've seen my idea for a centerpiece, but you had to realize I wasn't going to let a Mad Hatter Tea Party's table be that simple.  Remember, I want this wedding to be a whimsical acid trip.

An abstract vision of my wedding

If you remember way back when, I had this lofty goal for my place cards.  If not, here's the Reader's Digest version: I wanted to color code each table by fabric and give guests little flags made out of said fabrics to denote which table they were to sit.  Well, reality set in and I realized a few things:

1.) I'm not that crazy about table runners on round tables and those are what my venue provides.

2.) 40 or more fabrics may be difficult to differentiate especially in low lighting. 

3.) Flags don't really fit with my theme.

4.) I like to make things harder for myself.

Tablescapes Part 1: The Centerpiece

One issue with having a 16 month engagement: I have quite a bit of time to change my mind repeatedly.  This is bad because I am veryvery indecisive about everything, from wedding stuff to what to eat for dinner.

I Win at Shoe!

Remember the shoe issues I was having?  Well, I finally found some shoes and--surprise!--they're not any of the ones I had originally looked at!  While browsing for purple shoes on my favorite free shipping site, I found these:

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Um...yes please!  Purple shoes with a blue undertone, something I never thought I'd find!  At first, I simply admired them.  Unfortunately, Badgley Mischka's often run a bit too arrow for my fat slightly wide feet.  I know this because of a very disappointing day at Nordstrom Rack in Baltimore.  While casually walking through the shoe aisle, I spotted a lovely ivory colored pair from BM.  I was very excited to try them on because the price was right and they were super cute even though the shoe was a half size too large for me.  Well, when I tried to stick one of them on, my foot couldn't even fit in it :(.

Want to Catch My STD?

I know you do...my STD's are finally getting sent out!  They're not perfect, there were some glue stick mishaps, but I think they're good enough.

Note: all photos listed are personal photos

The envelope:

I had originally had higher hopes for the envelope.  I thought I would screen print and then emboss a tea cup on it.  Actually, I was planning on embossing the full address, but to be honest, I just got lazy, and I figured I'd save the fancy stuff for my invitation suite.  Besides, no one looks at the envelope.  I don't even look at envelopes, so why spend hours upon hours personalizing something that will go directly in the trash?  I also nixed printing on the envelopes, because I think I have been scarred for life after having to do that when applying to colleges.  I don't care what anyone says, it is NOT easier than just writing out the addresses.   When I send out the formal invitations I will use some sort of faux-ligraphy, but, again, I just wanted to send these suckers out ASAP.  I think my VERY imperfect and slightly askew cursive works just fine.

I used black Paper Source A6 envelopes and wrote with a gold fine tip metallic marker I found at Michael's.  For the stickers, I bought some cool polka dot textured paper at Michael's, designed the Open Me in Gimp, cut them out using a round punch, and sent them through my Xyron sticker machine. 

The liner: