A Bear and Bee Wedding: Debra + Beau

I just love how personal today’s wedding it! Debra + Beau based their entire wedding around their nicknames – his is “bear” and hers is “bee.” They have little bear + bee cartoons of each other that they’ve drawn for years, so they used them in their wedding stationary and as the cake topper. The color palette for the day was black + yellow – so all of the groomsmen wore black tuxes (with black and yellow striped socks) and the bridesmaids wore yellow dresses. The bridal party was transported in a black + yellow school bus and did a choreographed dance to “Black and Yellow” during the reception. They had honey jars as favors and one of the cutest details – the flower girl was dressed up like a bee and the ring bearer like a bear! So cute! Big congrats to Debra + Beau and thanks so much to their amazing photographer Michele M. Waite for the photos!

bumblebee flower girl

yellow bouquet with roses

groomsmen in tuxs

bridesmaids in yellow bus

bumblebee wedding invites

yellow bouquet

black and yellow wedding yamakas

black and yellow wedding umbrellas

bumble bee flower girl

What song did you walk down the aisle to? “Moonage Daydream” by David Bowie was the song for the processional. One of the groomsmen played it on the keyboard and when I approached the aisle, another groomsman did a guitar solo to heighten the drama. For the recessional, we did “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder, which was played with live horns.

yellow bridesmaid dresses

bride and groom exit

black and yellow bridal party

Aren’t the bridesmaids dresses amazing?! The dresses are by Two Birds. They all have the same dress, but it is designed so you can wear it in 15 different ways, so each girl can wear the dress in a way that is best for her body + comfort. Would be so easy to wear this dress again for another event and it could look totally different – gotta love that!

bridesmaids in yellow

bride and groom with rings

bumble bee wedding bride and groom

bride and groom with bouquet in orchard

bride and groom in orchard kissing

wedding toast

bumble bee wedding favors

umbrella wedding decor

Debra + Beau made a custom website called “www.roastortoast.us”, where they invited their guests to submit roasts or toasts about them online and vote for their favorites. The winning “roast” and “toast” got to give speeches at the reception. What a fun idea!

wedding-toasts

umbrella wedding decor

bride and groom kiss

Most memorable moment of your wedding day? Our favorite part was the “Hora” (a Jewish wedding tradition) where we were lifted up in chairs during the reception. Our favorite local band, “Eldridge Gravy”, provided a live funk rendition of the traditional Jewish “Hava Nagila” song to accompany the dance.

Any advice for those planning now? Don’t stress too much about the little things – you won’t even notice them on the big day!

vendors

photography: Michele M. Waite // venue name: Freeland Hall, Whidbey Island, WA // wedding dress: Enzoani // bride's shoes: Christian LaCroix // bridesmaid dresses: Two Birds // hair stylist: Gary Manuel // makeup artist: Gary Manuel // groom attire: Calvin Klein // paper goods: Katie Phipps // catering: The Island Chef // cake: JW Desserts // music: Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme // event: Tracy Taylor Huffman of Farmhouse Flowers // floral design: Tracy Taylor Huffman of Farmhouse Flowers // event planner: Hoa Tran // invitations: Katie Phipps // DJ: Chris Graves

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