Have you ever wondered what other brides are doing? What centerpieces they are picking, whether or not they’re also freaking out over guest lists, and if they’ve found the perfect dress yet? Now you can! We’re excited to announce a brand new feature at Emmaline Bride called Real Bride Bloggers. These are Real Brides–just as the name suggests!–planning a wedding in the next year and filling us in on the wedding planning adventures as they happen!

And today, we’re doing a short little introduction so you can get to know them!

Real Bride Bloggers

How They Were Picked

Our Real Bride Bloggers were hand-picked by our team after a call-out we had on Facebook a few months ago. Miranda, Sam, Vanessa, Victoria, and Virginia all anxiously emailed as quickly as they could, all excitedly wanting to join in on the fun. These fantastic brides are from the United States, British Columbia, and Australia, so we’ll have a few different perspectives on planning across the globe. We’ve had a chance to get to know them a bit and we just know you’re going to love what they have to contribute behind the scenes. They’ll be posting in the blog coming up soon, so stay tuned + subscribe so you can follow along. To follow the Real Brides, you can also visit this category page.

Now let’s meet them!

Meet Miranda

Name: Miranda
Wedding Location: Kelowna, British Columbia
Wedding Date: October 3, 2015

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Meet Sam

Name: Samantha Robinson
Wedding Date: January 17, 2015
Wedding Location: Werribee, Australia

Engagement Story

Our engagement was a complete surprise to me, Otis had picked out a beautiful ring for me (who knew I like gold!) and proposed to me at the state rose garden during a walk in May. We then celebrated our engagement with friends and family with a Mexican themed party at my parents place in Geelong.

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Meet Vanessa

Name: Vanessa
Wedding Date: September 6, 2015
Wedding Location: Outside Philadelphia

How They Met / Engagement Story

In October 2011, Boyz II Men – an R&B group known for their sumptuous love songs – unknowingly brought my fiancée Jason and I together; the group was holding an album listening party in New York at a swanky gallery, and while others were sipping champagne and feasting on hors d’oeuvres, I was meeting the man with whom I’d spend the rest of my life. I was one of Boyz II Men’s publicists at the time, and he was a music journalist covering the event. We became friends and kept in touch via email after I had deserted publicity soon after that night, and six months later, I held a birthday party at a Manhattan dive bar and tossed his name into an invite list. When he came to the party, he told me he had to leave in 10 minutes, but wanted to stop by and say hello. Those 10 minutes grew into an hour, and then a few hours, and he ended up being one of the last people to leave.

Since that night, we haven’t stopped talking to each other. When we began dating, I was living in Philadelphia, plotting my next move after leaving publicity and choosing to start a long-distance relationship. Whenever I would visit him in New York, he would leave for work in the morning and I would leave his apartment to catch my bus back to Philly soon after – but not before leaving him a post-it note, or a hastily written love letter, in his bedroom. I thought they would be smiled at and tossed away when he came home later that evening, but fast-forward two years, and the post-its resurfaced.

Last April, my brother was in New York on business from Boston and I was doing dinner with him; Jason said he couldn’t make it, because he was stuck at work. I was waiting with my brother at Penn Station but his train kept getting delayed, so I texted Jason that I would be home shortly but was staying with my brother while he waited for his train. Who knew I was supposed to be in a rush to go home and find a surprise!

When I got home a few hours later, I opened the door and found the dozen post-it notes I had written Jason to be taped to red ribbon and hanging from the ceiling, along with roses and candles everywhere. In my mind, I was thinking that this was simply a sweet gesture for my 30th birthday, which was only a few days away. Then Jason appeared from behind our bedroom door in a suit, holding a rose and a new stack of post-it notes. He began handing me the post-it notes one by one – each one saying something sweeter than the previous message. Finally, he handed me the last one and it read, “I guess it’s time to get down on one knee…”

I made the craziest noise of excitement and of course said “YES!” when he asked to marry me. After the proposal, I found out that he had been sitting at home playing video games in a suit that day, anxiously waiting for me to come home from dinner with my brother! It may have taken a little while, but it all worked out perfectly.

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Meet Victoria

Name: Victoria

Victoria is our newly married bride who will be giving us tips on planning her DIY wedding, along with what to do as it gets closer to the big day. We’ll be featuring her wedding later today!

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Meet Virginia

Name: Ginny
Wedding Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Wedding Date: will have determined right before Christmas (shooting for Spring 2016). Got engaged May 23rd, 2014

Engagement Story

Josh came back from checking the mail and there was a note in our dogs collar that he told me to open and read. It read: “Will you be my mommy?” Next thing I see is him with the ring in his hand, I’m freaking out, and he ask me to marry him. Best surprise of my life. It was 100% unexpected and absolutely perfect.

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Please join us in welcoming our Real Bride Bloggers! We’re excited to learn more and share with our readers as each of you plan your big day.