Now it's Time to Say Good-bye...

I opened with a Disney reference, so it seemed only fitting to close with one as well.

Yesterday marked my 10 month anniversary blogging with Weddingbee (hard to believe) and so I, somewhat reluctantly, pushed "publish" on this post.

Hive, it has been an absolute pleasure to share our wedding journey with you. From our engagement to our wedding day; the good times and the not so good; and plenty of tips along the way. Thank you for reading our story and, in many ways, being part of it - from helping me make a decision on a bachelorette location to dressing Mr. Turkey.

a phiLOVEdelphia story: After the Party it's the After Party (and Brunch)

The photographers left just after midnight, meaning that we had professional photographs technically covering 2 days!

Despite them leaving, I promise you...the party did NOT stop.

Instead, there were photos (and incidents) like this

A Perspective on Blogging (From the Other Half)

Before I officially  "close" the Turkey story (yup, we're just about there), the Mr. wanted to pop in and share his perspective on our journey. So, Hive, please welcome back Mr. Turkey!!

Hello - Mr. Turkey here! Over the past year while Mrs. Turkey has narrated our wedding odyssey, I have had the chance to watch and observe the process of going from an applicant, to an accepted blogger Bee; from Miss Turkey to finally Mrs. Turkey. 

I always found it interesting that at every major milestone I would be able to sum up the highlights to my parents in under 60 seconds, however, that same milestone would somehow inspire two weeks worth of individual blogs, stories, reviews, and recommendations (with accompanying visuals of course).

I was forced to take pictures to support all these stories.
This one didn't make the cut when telling the story of our 1 month anniversary (is that a thing?)

Philadelphia Vendor Review - Part II

If you missed it – here’s Part I of my Philadelphia vendor review. As a reminder, there are 4 ratings:

• Highly Recommend 
• Recommend 
• Recommend with Reservations 
• Do Not Recommend 

…and everything is based on experience / opinions from me and Mr. Turkey (info on timing for booking vendors can be found here).

STATIONARY: Two Paperdolls

Paper was very important to me – I mean, this is the Bee who wrote 4 posts on Save the Dates (I, II, III, IV). And, because of that, I 100% splurged in this area.

Full paper suite

Nicole was my point of contact throughout my time working with Two Paperdolls. She was incredible to work with and the designers were so responsive to feedback. They also just "got it". I went in with sketches on paper and ideas and they brought it to life in a way that I definitely could not.

From my scribbles in our initial meeting to a beautiful welcome map (right picture by Two Paperdolls)

a phiLOVEdelphia story: True Life - We Had a Wedding Crasher

I’ve been holding out on you Hive, but the title says it all.

Sometime late in our reception, I recall looking over and seeing a woman in purple dancing next to me. Thinking perhaps the signature cocktail had gone to my head, I turned to someone next to me, asking, “is that person wearing a tank top?” and was answered in the affirmative.

All photos are by Philip Gabriel Photography (with some obvious photo destruction editing by me). 

Head image from here

Philadelphia Vendor Review - Part I

I’m a big fan of vendor reviews…heck, reviews in general. From Trip Advisor to Yelp, I often rely on the “wisdom of the masses”. So, to pay it forward, I will be reviewing our wedding vendors over the course of two posts. I have also put all of these reviews online, although in slightly different form (not as narrative).

I’ve also chosen to give a quick “rating” for each vendor to somewhat mirror the online starring systems (Weddingbee vendor reviews use 5 stars, for example). I came up with 4 ratings:

• Highly Recommend 
• Recommend 
• Recommend with Reservations 
• Do Not Recommend 

Essentially, we gave the highest recommendation to anyone who we felt went above and beyond what was required for their role.

Before I jump in, want to mention that all these comments/thoughts are purely mine and Mr. Turkey’s, based on our experiences. For information on when we booked each of these vendors, you can reference my post here. If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out.

a phiLOVEdelphia story: Our Favorite Dance of the Night

Don’t judge us, but our favorite dance of the night was not our first dance or even the dances with our parents.

You may recall our interest in the “Cupid Shuffle” (you can see a video of how that went) and we asked for Journey’s anthem “Don’t Stop Believin’” to close the night, but it was Jellyroll’s rendition of LMFAO's “Party Rock Anthem” following my dance with Turkey Dad that was our favorite memory.

All photos are by Philip Gabriel Photography.

How could it NOT be? We ended up with this amazing photo