It's So Hard...

to say Goodbye...

One of my favorite songs that say goodbye. This was the first CD that I ever bought by the way!! If you're not familiar with Boyz II Men, you're missing out on some great late 80's/early 90's R&B.

I can't believe that I am writing this, but this will in fact be my last Weddingbee post ever. I remember way back when when I started to read WB: Mrs. Penguin was still engaged; there were barely any discussion boards; and even Mr. Bee would occasionally write a post. That was way back in the days of late 2007 (gulp!) months before I got engaged.

When I started to write a blog and even when I got accepted to Weddingbee, I didn't know how much it would change my life. I've met a great group of interesting and fun women from all over the country (and the world). I've discovered a new hobby and form of self-expression through blogging. I've learned a lot about social media. I've also gotten to interact with an encouraging, creative and resourceful community that are the readers of Weddingbee!

Now that I have been a married lady for a year and almost two weeks, I can say that marriage is fun, sometimes hard and rewarding. It's been a crazy year for me and Mr. Swan: getting new jobs, leaving old ones, and going through various types of personal change. That being said, it's all been good times, and we're learning to be better partners to each other everyday.

The biggest highlights of this year:

Cooking my first holiday dinner (Christmas) all by myself.

A few trips

NOLA

Bali

And just hanging out....

Governor's Island in NYC. Mr. Swan took the picture, so I guess he's in this one too! :)

I have not stopped blogging though. I have a blog about food and travel (two of my most favorite things). It's called Try Anything Once. The cool title is courtesy of Mrs. Lamb; and if you like the blog design, it's all Mrs. Poodle. I'd love for you to join me over there, if you don't mind hearing about what I eat and where, my travel adventures plus a little personal stuff thrown in. By the way, those of you who are thinking about or planning a honeymoon or trip to Bali, I'm currently blogging about it there.

So this is it. I wish only good things for all of the brides and blogging Bees out there old and new.

XX,

Mrs. Swan

Wedding Salon

Hey there, hive!

I had the pleasure of attending the Wedding Salon at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan on April 12. I most definitely had a wonderful time as it was my first bridal show. I never went to one even while engaged! It was a great opportunity to get a look at what vendors are offering and see some new bridal fashion.

I also got to see a special someone. Do you know her?

Courtesy of Miss Hamster

Miss Hamster and I were also joined by the lovely, MOH/Sister Hamster and Mrs. Lovebird and friend.

The event was divided into various rooms connected by a hallway and also occupied the Grand Ballroom, which was full of even more vendors and live music from various bands.

What I liked about the Wedding Salon was that there were vendors for every person's interests:

For the honeymoon daydreamers:

The Seychelles Tourism Board ( I soo want to go here!) and the Barbados Tourism Authority.

For lovers of all things sweet:

Amazing Truffles from Sweet Perfection Desserts

I was lucky enough to have two of these bite-size cake truffles in Chocolate Chiffon and Lemon Chiffon flavors. Swoon! They pack a perfect little sweet punch and would make a great addition to a sweets table or as favors.

A lush floral multi-tier cake from Make My Cake, one of my favorite bakeries in New York City. I used to live near one of their two shops in Harlem; and yes, I needed restraint not to stop by often.

For those in search of beauty:

Attendees had the opportunity to get free makeup trials and advice from a variety of beauty specialists such as Courtney Akai Salon.

And this was just the start of my trip around the event. Phew!

A view of the Grand Ballroom courtesy of Miss Hamster

When I finally made my way to the ballroom, I was definitely overwhelmed by all of the lovely tables filled with gorgeous, elegant table designs that many florists and event designers created.

Flowers by Topaz

The team from In Bloom created a table that brought the natural world inside with branches, soft candles and vibrant, colorful china.

Pure opulence from Disney's Fairytale Weddings by David Tutera (more on him in a minute!)

One of my favorite tablescapes was the table from Gubby & Swife, a husband and wife event design team.

Surprisingly, it was the only one without a tall centerpiece. I love the light, crisp, pops of color and the understated floral arrangement, especially the palm details at each napkin. Also I'd like to send an extra special shout out to Farley Green, the Swife portion of Gubby and Swife. She was very pleasant to me while I peppered her with questions. Vendors take note! Please be friendly at bridal shows. :)

Lest I forget: the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. David Tutera, made an appareance. There was most definitely a long line of fans waiting to meet him.

This is the best pic that I could find (thanks, Miss Hamster!). Sorry I couldn't do better, DT fans!

Of course the main event of the whole evening was the bridal couture show produced by Bridal Reflections.

I was so excited to see my first bridal fashion show, and I wasn't disappointed. The fashion show included designs from Ines Di Santo, Stephen Yearick, David Tutera by Faviana and Marina K Couture. Here are some highlights:

I like that this dress by Stephen Yearick pushed the envelope with feathers on the bodice.

Ines DiSanto with her models

There was so much to see at the Wedding Salon, and I hope I'll be able to go back again soon.

*All photos by Creative Compositions unless otherwise noted

Engaged Abroad - Samba, Soccer & Sun (Part 3)

After a few days of rain spending most of my time indoors, the rain finally stopped. Rio was calling me outside to see its natural beauty. Rio is a very large and spread out city, so that day I enlisted the help of a guide, Madson, to get me around. Plus, I was a little starved for conversation, so it was nice to be able to talk to someone about everyday life as a Carioca (a Rio resident).

After many winding roads, a quick shuttle bus ride and an elevator, I finally made it to Rio's most reconginizable landlarks: Corcovado or Christ the Redeemer.

I'm squinting but I made it.

There were definitely some great views from Corcovado. It provided a great vantage points for seeing much of Rio, including Sugar Loaf Mountain (see below to your left).

After Corcovado I went off to see the Sambadromo (Sambadrome). Brazilian Samba isn't necessarily what you see on Dancing with the Stars. It's the music and dance form that is the heart and soul of Brazilian carnival that takes over Rio and Salvador to the north (and other cities) each February/March. The volunteer groups of musician, dancers and parading singers called Samba Schools used to parade through the streets, but the costumes and groups got so big that they built a staging ground for them to parade, the Sambadrome. Each Samba School gets an hour to parade to strut their stuff for judges who crown the best Samba School each year.

Here I am practicing my samba skills in the Sambadrome.

Off to the side of the Sambradrome, there was a small museum and gift shop. The picture above is actually a picture of a picture of one of the porta-bandeira (one of the lead women in the front portion of a samba school's procession) of the Beija Flor samba school that won a few years ago. As I am sure you can imagine this is a pretty big honor. Plus, in addition to the big schools that parade through the Sambadrome, there are small, local samba schools that play music, sing and dance through the streets of Rio. This was just a taste of Rio's samba culture, and I wished I had time to experience more.

One of my final stops that day was to Maracana Stadium, which is the main soccer stadium in Rio that hosts international and local games and will serve as the main stadium for the 2016 Summer Olympics. O jogo bonito (the beautiful game) is a national obsession just in case you don't know. Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka have all played here. It's like a living Brazilian soccer shrine.

Here I am at field level.

I even had a chance to see a real game a few days later. This was barely a playoff game and had the same energy as probably the Superbowl. People were going wild and screaming at least an hour BEFORE the game.

Here I am before a game between Flamengo (from Rio) and Atletico Miniero (from the Minas Gerias province)

Oh yeah, by the way, Rio has great beaches. You can pretty much get anything from food, a manicure, a massage and play soccer on the beach.

Yeah, Ipanema Beach is gorgeous.

All of the colored beach umbrellas are vendors.

Here I am at one of Rio's lesser known beaches.

Well, folks, those are the highlights of my time in Rio; however, I'm going to stop there.

UP NEXT: Wedding Recaps!!! That's right. After the holidays, I'll be recapping the wedding! Thanks for following my trip to Brazil.

A great holiday season to all!

Engaged Abroad - I Did What?! (Part 1)

Hello, everyone!

My how I've missed you! I'm in wedding blogging limbo still waiting for my pics to come through from my photographer. It's definitely hard, but I know that good things come to those who wait.

In the meantime, I thought I would tell you about one of the more fulfilling experiences that I had while I was engaged. Last October, I took a week-long trip by myself to Brazil. I'd never traveled completely by myself internationally before especially to a country where I didn't have total command of the language, so on many levels this was a total challenge for me (after a year of college Brazilian Portuguese I have the vocab of an 8 year-old...okay, better make that a 5 year-old.)

I had a different outlook on this trip though. It was the first time that I would be leaving my future husband at home. I will give Mr. Swan a shout out for being so encouraging and not freaking out when I said that I wanted to a plan a trip by myself to a city that did not necessarily have a reputation for always being super safe (Rio; I went to Salvador too.). Mr. Swan hears way too much about my wanderlust and has learned to appreciate (for lack of a better word) my independent streak. I so appreciate his confidence in me, and his willingness and ability to let me be me.

After the excitement of getting engaged I stopped myself one day and came to a deep realization: this is it, Swan...you've got another person who will be your partner in making decisions (even about things like vacations..uh oh :)), who may occasionally worry when you walk out the door for the day and for whom you'll need to do the same. I'm just letting you know that there's nothing wrong with that. That is by far the best part of marriage. In a way, I wanted to establish with Mr. Swan that while there was also going to be this new, amazing partnership that we were forming that there could still be this space for me to explore my own interests and challenge myself while still cherishing him. I knew that I wanted to do something fulfilling for me and only me before we got married. In the end, this trip to Brazil was about not only satisfying my yearly exploration cravings but also to explore how to be me within this new us.

Anyway, without further ado, here's a picture of me in Rio:

I will most definitely be recapping my trip, but I thought I'd get the mushy stuff out of the way first. :)

Are/did you do anything just for you as you make the transition into marriage?

Looking Ahead

With the preparations pretty much close to done and things beginning to move closer towards the wedding, I feel like I'm in a bit of a holding pattern here. I don't really feel like I can resume life as I know it just yet because I feel like I've got to put any extra energy I have towards finalizing the wedding planning. At the same time, I'm daydreaming. Oh yes, I'm daydreaming about a time when I will not have to travel for work OR have to partake in any wedding planning. This process has been a lot of fun for me, but I am definitely ready to move on. So, what am I looking forward to taking up or restarting?

1) Knitting - I think I am going to be taking up knitting. FMIL Swan has given me my own little starter kit, and I am excited to take a beginners' class at a local knitting shop. Perhaps knitting will let me get over my DIY insecurities? Any knitters out there care to give any tips to a beginner?

(source)

2) Being a docent - I don't know how this is going to work out. I had been chosen to be a docent at a major art museum here in NYC. Then I got my job, which requires me to travel to another part of the state for half the year on a weekly basis. That's not a good combination. Then I had wedding planing in the mix. Needless to say, I missed the rest of docent training. I'm not sure if I'll still be able to participate due to my prolonged absences, but I'd really love a shot at it again.

(source)

To partially retrain myself, I'm going to try to slip in a visit to an exhibit of pieces by Francis Bacon, a 20th century British painter who I know nothing about.

3) Seeing friends - not a hobby, but I am sorely out of touch with many of my friends due to travel and wedding planning. I'm so excited to see so many of them that I have not been able to see regularly.

4) Dance - "So You Think You Can Dance" as usual has made me want to get into a studio. I think I may need a dance accountability buddy to make sure that I get myself there.

(source)

Hmmm...what else? Trying out the the recipes in the "Nigella Express" and "Joy of Cooking" cookbooks we received as wedding presents; maybe finally making time to brush up on a language (or two) and ofcourse figuring out what to blog about next. In my mind, the possibilities are endless!

Are there any things that you are looking forward to doing AFTER the wedding and the planning are done?

I Can't Even Cut Paper Correctly...

(source)

but Mr. Swan can!!! :) As you all may notice from my posts I am not the DIY Queen around these parts; however, I discovered that Mr. Swan is pretty darn crafty!

We had this very, very basic thing we needed to get done that would technically require me to flex my crafty skills. Let's just say that the project won, and I sulked back into my little corner. Next thing, I know Mr. Swan whips out some scissors and away he went. Voila! I think it comes from years of art projects for fun (FMIL Swan was an art teacher for many years). Perhaps there is a Martha Stewart lurking inside of him!

This little project isn't the only aspect of the wedding that Mr. Swan has played a very helpful role. I've depended on his handy dandy Excel spreadsheets, his phone calls, haggling and words of support. He's definitely stepped up in the last month and a half. While the wedding is really the product of primarily my vision, Mr. Swan has definitely handled a lot of tiny details. I am so appreciative of his help.

How involved has your fiance been in the wedding planning? Do you wish your fiance was more involved....or less? :)

Bacheloretting in Brooklyn - Release (Part 3 )

We'd relaxed at the spa, ate good food, and then we proceeded to partake in the ever popular dance portion of the bachelorette party. You all know I love to dance, so I didn't mind this part of the evening at all except for the fact that all of us were yawning by the end of dinner. :) I guess this is what happens when you reach the 30+ age range? We all definitely joked about the fact that we were all little shells of our former partying selves to some extent. Therefore, the car ride over to Williamsburg, Brooklyn consisted of opening windows for some fresh air to keep us awake and calling each other out for yawning. :)

Of course by the time we got to Bembe in Williamsburg and the music hit us, were were okay. Bembe primarily plays a mix of Latin music (I guess we had to keep the Latin theme running) so there was steady mix of salsa, samba and merengue with some dance classics thrown in for good measure. I have not been out dancing in a LOOONNNGG time, but somehow remembered how to dance. :)

A mojito on the dancefloor

Ike and I tearing it up. Go, Ike!

Being an old fogey, I proclaimed the night over at 1:30am (we started at 3pm, so it was time to get some beauty rest).

I feel like dancing is the universal element in a bachelorette party, but maybe I'm wrong. Did anyone NOT have dancing as part of their bachelorette event or is it just such a traditional element that you couldn't give it up?

Bacheloretting in Brooklyn - Relate (Part 2)

After getting super relaxed at the spa, the ladies and I were ready to get our grub on. We walked a few blocks away to Luz, a Pan Latin restaurant. I've been to Luz before and really enjoyed the meal, so I was definitely excited to come back. We started off with some great appetizers consisting of amazing arepas (sweet corn and cheese cakes more like fritters), a trio of ceviches (my favorite being the langosta passion: lobster, passion fruit, mango citrus sauce and aji amarillo). Between those and a great caipirinha (Brazilian rum, muddled limes and sugar), I was feeling pretty darn good. 

We had a great time over dinner. The wonderful thing about my group of friends is that they got along and had lively, engaging conversation even though they didn't all know each other well.  It was so nice to catch up with them since a couple in the group actually don't live in NYC. I was so grateful that they'd made the trip. One thing my bachelorette made me realize is that while I have a small group of friends, they are an amazing group of women. Our time together that night made me appreciate them even more for the interesting, sweet women they are. I guess the quality versus quantity saying is pretty true. 

Here's Ike and Mitts (not their real names and I wish they both lived in NYC)

Here I am with Special K, my bachelorette party planning extraordinaire.

We got our main courses and were really excited to eat our meals. Two of us got the San Pedro which included a banana leaf-wrapped tilapia with lemograss-coconut sauce, mofongo (a Latin Caribbean dish of mashed fried green plantain often mixed with the meat, fish or vegetables; in our case it was shrimp..I think) and charred string beans. 

I had the Quinoto, which consisted of grilled jumbo shrimp, quinoa with something in it that made it taste amazing (I should have asked) and grilled asparagus.

We had great desserts that included a molten chocolate cake and a lovely guava tart with cheese ice cream. 

For me, good food and good conversation is my kind of celebration. 

Did you include a nice meal as part of your bachelorette event? 

Bacheloretting in Brooklyn - Relax (Part 1)

When I wrote about having a bachelorette party way back when, I didn't think I would actually have one. I am not into particularly "bride-y" things, and the idea of penis pops, a tiara and boa didn't sound fun to me. I will admit though I love watching ladies out on bachelorette parties at night doing those things. :) I really just wanted to have a nice, low-key evening with my friends especially since my girl time has been in pretty short supply lately. 

After writing my post, I got a great suggestion from Weddingbee reader, Jenny. I'm gonna have to make a special Shout Out to her because she recommended that I check out Body by Brooklyn. It's a new spa in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn not too far away from my apartment.

I loved the idea of their private room for my ladies to chill out. In addition to the private room you also have access to their wet lounge/sauna area with two types of saunas, a jacuzzi and a plunge pool. My primary motivation for going there was that I wanted us to have a private space (plus if I can make people come out to Brooklyn I will...hee hee!!)  I think what sets it apart is the fact that they have a bar. You can even have brunch there! (Although it's my understanding that Great Jones Spa in Greenwich Village has one too). We didn't really have the food except for the snacks they gave us, which weere alright by me. It consisted of great cheese, grilled veggies, crackers, strawberries, petit fours and some sparkly wine...YUM!

Since I don't have a bridal party, I got the help of my friend Special K to organize everyone. We had some last minute cancellations due to people having to travel for business, etc. but I was fine with our very small group. 

Here we are settling into the room. My friend, Becks (not her real name) is trying out the flat screen. 

Pretty much it was a whole lotta girl talk. My friend, Ike (not her real name either), was telling a pretty funny story here. I don't think I want to retell it. After  awhile, I was told that I was being whisked away to get massage, which was a special treat from the ladies. I have been so busy with things I completely forgot that I was going to a spa and didn't book anything for myself! I was pretty grateful to say the least. 

After my lovely massage, we played a brief game. I couldn't believe that I could not answer some of the questions that were asked about Mr. Swan. Oops! It's good to know that you love your Mom's pumpkin pie, honey. Have you mentioned this before, Mr. Swan?

I also got to open some gifts. Since I don't want to get Mrs. Bee in trouble and change the nature of this site, I won't divulge what I got. 

Yeah..I'll keep that to myself. 

Anyway, we had a nice time, and I was glad to incorporate some quiet downtime with the ladies. 

Up next: some darn good food 'cause it ain't a night out without a good meal. Do you expect anything less from me? :)

Did anyone incorporate a spa experience into their bachelorette event?  

Sweets for the Sweet

The idea of incorporating cupcakes into our reception meal has evolved throughout our wedding planning process. At first, I decided that we'd have cupcakes from one of the local bakeries that specializes in Red Velvet cake here in Brooklyn. I LOOOOOVEE Red Velvet cake. I'm not even a huge sweets person, but I crave this particular bakery's huge slices of Red Velvet on the regular. 

Then I thought about the fact that not everybody likes Red Velvet. What to do? Luckily, one day I was taking a break from reading wedding blogs (I advise that once in awhile), and  I read about Kumquat Cupcakery again.  I say again because in my Brooklyn/foodie blog reading of the past, I had heard of the founder, Keavy Landreth's wonderful mini-cupcake creations. 

She and/or her cupcakes can usually be found at the Brooklyn Flea, a really great weekend market not to far from my apartment. I decided to stalk the cupcakes one Saturday at my first time at the market, and I was NOT disappointed. I was blown away by her Red Velvet mini-cupcake. What's great about Keavy's cupcakes are that they are bite-size (or I guess two-bite size)  and come in a wide array of flavors. Not only that, she also takes great care with presentation, so the cupcakes not only taste great but look great. 

We had a chance to have a tasting with Keavy this past weekend to taste some of the other flavors that I've intially chosen for the wedding. Here they are:

Let's start with the simple yet tasty vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. Sometimes things are best when they're simple. And yes, the cupcakes are that small. 

Chocolate raspeberry. The mix of the fresh creme, raspberry and chocolate was wonderful. This is one of Keavy's specialty cupcakes.

Banana cake with light cream cheese frosting and carmelized banana.

Strawberry cake with a little piece of strawberry for the top

The ever classic Red Velvet

Orange Poppyseed. I'm not a big fan or orange flavor, but this made me a believer.

We figure that with these variety of flavors, everyone will find something that they can enjoy and perhaps try something new. 

Are you having special flavors for your cake? How did you decide which flavors to choose?