mrs. cupcake's wedding blog

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Philly meet-up June 5!

Hey hive! A Philadelphia-area bee meet-up is being planned for June 5 — we'll be getting together for brunch/lunch, chatting and merriment, and we want you to join us! Please leave a comment on this post by May 29th if you plan to attend so we can reserve a table.

When: Saturday, June 5 at noon
Where: Silk City, 435 Spring Garden Street

images via Silk City

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Hope to see you there!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

The Cupcakes' Blurb Wedding Books

Ever since we got our wedding photos back from our photographers last February, I have had a very big to-do hanging over my head:

Mrs. Cupcake's to-do list
1. Create wedding albums for parents

Finally I was able to cross this biggie off of my list this Christmas (with glee, might I add). In early December, I hunkered down and designed 12" x 12", 50-page hardcover albums, which I had printed by Blurb. I had never used Blurb before so I was quite nervous for the outcome, but after reading so many rave reviews from the hive, I took the chance... and I am pleased to say that I am extremely satisfied with the final result.

I designed my layouts in Adobe InDesign, using one of the helpful templates that can be downloaded from the Blurb website. (If you don't already have a layout program you'd like to use, you can download the Blurb BookSmart® software to lay out your book.) The templates clearly show the "safe zone" for all images and text, and illustrate how much bleed to include in your layout for photos or other images that should bleed off the edges. This is especially helpful if you don't want to chop off the heads of any of your wedding guests :-)

I was also impressed by the cover templates, from which there are several to choose based on the number of pages in your book and the paper used for printing (which affects the width of the spine). I had created smaller, soft-cover books a few months back with Shutterfly, and my cover layout was not what I was expecting in terms of placement of the text on the spine (it ended up on the back). With my Blurb books, everything was lined up exactly as I had set it up on the cover, spine, and back cover.

I think the back cover is actually my favorite... I included our silhouettes and monogram that I had also used on the menus and drink signs at our wedding. I'm a sucker for silhouettes!

Overall, I was very pleased with the image quality and the vibrant colors. While I wasn't expecting absolute perfection, I didn't see any problems with skin tones, and I thought the ink coverage was impressive (and consistent) throughout each book.

(I look a bit pale, but, um... I am pale :-)

I ordered three books total — each 12" x 12", 50-pages, with image wrap covers and Premium paper. The final cost for each book: $85.95 plus shipping (which I actually got for free with a holiday coupon code). Compared to how much professional albums would have cost, we saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars and still had really beautiful Christmas gifts for our parents.

Does a Blurb book match the quality of a professionally designed and printed album from your photographer? Of course not. Even with the Premium paper selection and the image wrap cover, you aren't going to get the same attention to detail and the high quality printing that you would otherwise get from a professional album company. But for the money spent, I am elated with the final result, and I'm pretty sure our parents are, too.

In terms of timing, I ordered all three books together on December 8; I received free FedEx Ground shipping with a holiday coupon code. My books were shipped on December 15 and received on December 17. Considering the size and number of pages in my books, I think this is an exceptionally fast turnaround time.

If you're considering ordering from Blurb, a few pointers based on my experience:

Pay a little extra for the Premium paper; the final result is worth the additional cost.
Use the templates provided on the Blurb website (or download their BookSmart® software to lay out your book) to avoid unexpected cropping of photos off of edges or in the spine.
If you have questions, be safe and contact Blurb customer support before placing your order; I had a few questions and they responded very promptly.
Selecting the option to remove the logo page from the back of your book (like I did with my first upload) will add quite a bit of cost — for me, it would have cost another $20 per book! And once your book is uploaded, you cannot reverse this selection. Unfortunately, I had to go back and re-upload my entire file, which, because of its size, took a few hours, but was worth the $20 saved. And the small logo on the last blank page of each book isn't so bad :-)

What's your company of choice for self-made photo books?

All photos included in our album by The Wiebners

Please note: as with all vendor posts on Weddingbee, I have not received any discounts or kick-backs for this review, and I was not asked to review the Blurb products and/or services by anyone at the company. I'm just really thrilled with the outcome and wanted to share it with all of you!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

One Year

One year ago today, I married my best friend.

This first year of marriage has been simply wonderful. Perfect? Not at all. But wonderful? Yes, yes, yes.

I'm thankful each day for this amazing guy who puts up with me, takes care of me, makes me laugh, and even laughs at my terrible jokes.

Forever? Yes, please.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Love is All About "We": All Good Things Must Come To An End

All photos below by The Wiebners. We purchased a disc of all unedited images from our wedding day, so some post-processing has been done by me for the purpose of sharing the photos with you. Click on any photo to enlarge.

After the good ol' traditions and wedding rituals were checked off of our list, there was little left to do but catch up with good friends...

... take a few last spins on the dance floor...

... capture some memories on camera...

... and savor every possible moment with all of the amazing people surrounding us.

Oh, and remember our friend Beth who caught the bouquet? She and some friends had a little fun with said bouquet in the photo booth, and needed to tell me about it.

She caught a glimpse of their pictures while the photo booth attendant was holding on to them...

... and this was the result of their shenanigans:

Before we knew it, it was time for one last round of photo booth pictures and our "last shot" with the Wiebners.

The day seemed to go by in a flash, yet so many incredible moments were squeezed into that one teeny, tiny day — moments with loved ones who came from near and far to support our love and share in our happiness; moments with each other where we felt every bit of stress and worry simply melt away as we looked into each other's eyes and could do nothing but smile.

There were planned moments, unplanned moments, and moments I never could have imagined I'd be lucky enough to experience. They are all moments that I will remember forever, and I'm so fortunate to have been able to relive them with all of you.

Perhaps in the future, we will look back on our wedding day as just a miniscule blip in time compared to the magnificent lifetime we have vowed to spend together. We can only hope for so much, but regardless of what other wonders our future holds, I believe I will always look back on our wedding day as one of the most wonderful days of my life.

Our day may have been over, but it was not the end at all.

It was only the beginning.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Love is All About "We": Traditions and Tasty Surprises

All photos below by The Wiebners unless otherwise noted. We purchased a disc of all unedited images from our wedding day, so some post-processing has been done by me for the purpose of sharing the photos with you. Click on any photo to enlarge.

The dancing at our wedding would not have been dancing at all without a little traditional Philadelphia Mummer's Strutting. When that familiar string band sound started wafting from the speakers, my family couldn't jump to their feet quite fast enough... Mr. Cupcake's family (who mostly live in Central PA and New York state) and many of our friends, however, looked on with confusion :-) It is definitely a Philadelphia thing!

Not sure what I'm talking about? Check out the video of what went down here.

Look! It even got my hubby back on the dance floor! {guest photo}

{guest photo}

While some of us were dancing up a storm, many guests were still having a blast with the photo booth... a.k.a., one of the best wedding decisions we ever made. It was so wonderful to see our guests having such fun with it, and having some good laughs over the resulting photos.

The memo board I made with foam core and satin ribbon (a smaller scale version of the "guest book" memo board I whipped up) held some photos while they dried on their cozy little mats that I made.

I almost made it through the whole reception without any wardrobe malfunctions, but then my bustle decided it couldn't handle one more slick Cupcake dance move. DOC Jenn and MOH Nicole came to the rescue with some safety pins, and I was as good as new!

Pretty soon, it was time for the bouquet toss. This was one silly tradition that I was set on having... if for no other reason than a great photo opportunity :-) Mr. Cupcake and I both agreed to forgo the garter toss, but the bouquet toss was a definite in my book. However, we only have a small handful of single female friends and family members, and I had always hated being called out as one of the single ladies, so I didn't want to put any of our guests through the same thing. Instead, I asked the DJ to call ALL the ladies onto the dance floor. While KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" played, I tossed my little toss bouquet with all my bridal might...

Check out the determination and anticipation on those faces!

Our friend Beth, who can just barely be seen in the far left of the above photo, somehow managed to grab the bouquet. We got such a kick out of this because Beth is, perhaps, the most competitive person we know... the friend who always jumps at the opportunity to host a game night. It was not shocking at all to me that she was the big winner :-) She's already married with a beautiful little girl, but hopefully that bouquet will bring her some sort of good luck! If nothing else, it made for an excellent story ;-)

We then had a little treat in store for our guests, a detail that came together in the week before the wedding...

Along with the Mummers, Tastykakes are another Philadelphia tradition, so we couldn't resist a little late night snack of some Peanut Butter Candy Cakes, Krimpets, and Chocolate Cupcakes. (Because really, "nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake.") Thanks to Mr. Cupcake and his parents who bought out the Tastykake supply at a few local grocery stores, we were prepared for some ravenous guests.

And really now, you can't serve all that chocolatey and icingy goodness without milk!

I think they were seriously on the table for maaayyybe five minutes. We definitely had some Tastykake-lovin' guests who were NOT going to let that delicious sugary goodness go to waste!

As if the Tastykakes weren't enough, the Desmond also put out some fresh baked cookies and delicious chocolate covered strawberries. Mmmmmmm....