A Bee's Life: Pug Edition

Sigh. 

[ahem]

Sigh.

Oh man I'm sad and I haven't even really started this post.


So hive, now that I'm at the end of my Weddingbee journey, maybe you'd like to hear how I got here and what I think of this whole operation? Oh you do? Please read on. Oh you don't? Meh.

How I found Weddingbee:

I was searching for NYC makeup artists long before it was necessary for me to even think of having a trial (like, summer of 2008 for my March 2010 wedding--before we, um, picked a California venue), and I came upon posts by Mrs. Peony and Mrs. Canary.  When I clicked to see the next posts, it was a post from another character. What the...? I was confused and slightly ticked off.

It took a few times circling back to Weddingbee to figure out the site, but once as I did, I was absolutely hooked. I distinctly remember becoming a consistent reader in October 2008, and like many of you, pored over every Bee and the archives to see what I had been missing!

Applying to Weddingbee:
After finding Weddingbee, I kind of thought--hey I can do that!  I had relied extremely heavily on Weddingbee for ideas and planning, and wanted to pay it forward by sharing my experience with other brides.  I know, my altruism astounds me as well. 

So I dutifully blogged every other day, met the 15-post minimum requirement for applying, and submitted my application. And was rejected. I was seriously bummed that my bribe to Mrs. Penguin didn't get me anywhere (you can return that box of bacon to me), but alas it was not meant to be.

I swore off Weddingbee for about 5 whole minutes and went straight back to reading and blogging.  The second time I applied, the bribe worked! Ha! The first shipment of bacon must have gotten lost in the mail.  But besides a bribe, what do I think it takes to be a Bee?

Blogging for the Bee:

Well, take my answer with the big hulking caveat that I was rejected the first time.  But in all seriousness (but only kind of)--let me mention "voice" and "frequency".  Also keep in mind that this is just my experience, and what do I know.

Voice
While thinking about how to improve my blog (oh yeah, it took me like 1 day to decide that I was going to apply again), I kept reading Bees mention developing your own "voice".  I wasn't quite sure (and still am not) what that is, but after being turned down, I took a critical look back at my blog.

In examining my past blog entries, I could see that I had tried to conform to what I thought would be a sweet, informative, happy voice that readers would like, but ended up being generically cheery and bland. I also chronicled every single detail, twist and turn of wedding planning, which I now realize was a bit confusing and probably didn't hold readers' interest. Basically, I could easily spot instances where I was trying too hard, not trying hard enough, or rambling--in other words, where I wasn't being myself or putting my best foot forward.

The biggest thing I did was pare down and hone my posts. I eliminated paragraphs, entire posts, dumb jokes (okay not all of them), boring details, etc. I added a ton of pictures.

My forte is not DIY/crafts, finding lots of photo inspiration, or even sharing tons of research.  Wow, I'm useless.  I was more comfortable blogging when I tried to write as I would speak to a group of friends, and make my wedding details actually sound interesting to them (except that this group of friends would be a captive audience that had to zip their lips).

Frequency

For me, posting 3-4 times per week was not easy. It's a serious commitment and takes planning. During the 3.5 months I had before my wedding, which is on the shorter end of the spectrum for Bees, I had about 100 posts go up on Weddingbee. 

But it's not just the number of posts (because admittedly 100 isn't terribly high)--it's the effort required for me to write the posts.  I have to think of an interesting topic, research, decide how to frame the post, find pictures and/or take them, and edit, edit, edit.

I edit a post at least a dozen times before I put it up, because I have nothing better to do with my life.  I build up a queue of at least 5 posts and edit them like crazy before making them live.  Other Bees can write on the fly and post them immediately--it's whatever works for each person. Point is, at least for me, it was a time-consuming albeit very rewarding experience.

On Being a Bee:

While I talked about the effort and time above, I am so glad to have blogged for Weddingbee.  It's been incredibly fulfilling, and I've enjoyed blogging for Weddingbee more than I can say. I love being part of this community.  You all are truly an amazing bunch, with ideas, support, humor, wisdom--the list is endless.

Nonetheless, I have blogged about as much as I can about my wedding, so I'm going to be, well, you know, whatever it is people do when they stop doing something without really saying goodbye because it sounds so final.

This is a great community, and I thank Penguin, Mrs. and Mr. Bee, BIL Bee, the hostesses, every other person behind the scenes, my fellow blogging Bees, and most of all you readers, who make Weddingbee what it is.

iiiissss thiiissss looooooonngggg eeeeennnnoooougggghhhh???

Haha gotcha! Totally not done yet.

As I mentioned, I try to have pictures in all my posts, so I leave you with these...

Whoa, excited much?

My babies

My honey