Guest Posting!

Still no reception photos. :( I know I keep saying this, but I'll hopefully have them soon! In the meantime, I had to share this post with you - I actually wrote it as a guest post for Amy over at Little Miss Wedding Planner who got married this past Saturday, but it's something I've been wanting to blog about for a loong time. You can read it here if you want, but make sure you still head over there and tell her congratulations! (I've successfully stalked her on facebook and she looked absolutely gorgeous!)

If you've followed this blog, it’s pretty obvious that I love weddings. I honestly enjoyed every part of our planning process and I especially loved blogging about it, reading other blogs and finding inspiration from them, and ‘meeting’ other brides. Unfortunately, I think there’s one downside to weddings today being all over the internet - Brides lose sight of the fact that each of those weddings is a celebration of two real people’s relationship. There’s so much judgment and forgetting that the point of a wedding isn’t the pretty pictures, the trendy details, or the hope of being blogged/featured in a magazine.

I’ve always loved crafty things, but I’d never really had a reason to be crafty aside from scrapbooking or making gifts. My wedding was a chance for me to enjoy tons of DIY projects and craft until I was sick of it. I loved that those details reflected my personality and hobbies. My husband, David, and I also decided we wanted to put as little financial burden on my parents as possible and that we didn’t want to go into debt for our wedding. It was our decision as a couple to have a budget wedding for 250+ guests.

Did I love our wedding? You bet I did!! But do I love weddings that have absolutely no DIY projects and cost $30,000? You bet I do! I love that each wedding is a reflection of a loving relationship and exactly what the bride and groom wanted. No bride has any right or reason to think that some detail of another wedding is ‘tacky’ (PLEASE get rid of that word!) just because she chose not to do it. You hate the dollar dance? Don’t do it. You’re convinced a first look is the only way to go? Have one. And let everyone else choose what works for them.

I can’t say that I’ve never made a comment about a picture of someone’s wedding on facebook or one of the weddings on TV (Four Weddings, anyone?), but I’m seriously making an honest effort to get rid of that negativity. The wedding blog/bride blogger network is such a great one - The only thing that would make it better is a huge push to eliminate the judgmental attitude that’s become so popular.

Ok, stepping off my soap box now. Do you agree or disagree?

Guest Post: Kristin from Happily After All

I just absolutely love Kristin. I'm sure most of you reading already follow her blog, but if you don't and you're even remotely interested in DIY projects or wedding planning in general you MUST check it out. She and I call each other wedding twins because we had so many of the same ideas, but she has some super cute ones that I wasn't able to get to that you need to see. She has wonderful tutorials too! And she's one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I feel like I could've written this exact post, so definitely take her advice to heart - Like she says, you probably won't believe it until you're on the other side, but every single thing she says is true! Enjoy!

 
Hey guys! Some of you might know me from over at my blog, Happily After All, or maybe you've stopped by my Etsy shop, Weddings by Kristin.

But for those of you that don't, I'm Kristin (aka Laura's wedding twin!). I just got married a few weeks ago on May 22nd, and I'm just beginning my recaps. So head on over and catch up on all of the DIY projects I had going on and look at all the pretty pictures, because if you're like me...that's my favorite part!

I had Laura do a guest post for me while I was gone on my honeymoon, so now I'm returning the favor while she is gone on hers. 

I just wanted to share a little advice about what I learned on my wedding day.
If you're anything like I was, I spent a year planning my wedding, wanting to make sure that it was the absolute perfect day. I was planning projects that no one but myself would probably notice, and I was starting to get stressed out towards the end of it all. In the last week or so, I was having to scrap projects that were half finished or that never got started, and I really had a problem letting go of them. I thought that if I didn't get everything finished, somehow it wouldn't be just perfect because it wasn't my original vision. I even managed to stay up until 4:30am on the Thursday before the wedding, 1 am on Friday before the wedding, and I was still working on a project the morning of and running around doing errands in town. I didn't get to enjoy time with my bridesmaids and I felt like the day was half gone before it even started.

Well you want to know something?? And you probably won't even believe me until you're out on the other side...but it really doesn't matter! Honestly. This is coming from a type A, super control freak. It didn't matter one bit that I only had enough cake picks for 1/3 of the cake or that none of my OOT stuff even got to the hotels, or that my grand plans for the kids bags never got finished, or the number of other things I scrapped. Once I woke up on Saturday morning, the day just flew by and it didn't stop until the reception was over. I didn't even have time to think about the things I didn't get to do. And you know what? Everyone loved it! I got raving reviews, and not one person thought that a thing was missing.

So here's my advice. Don't overdo it. Don't kill yourself during your wedding week finishing up last minute projects. Set a cutoff date by at least that Wednesday so you have time to just relax and enjoy family that is coming in from out of town, and take some time to be excited about the whole process! If you get to that point and you haven't finished little extra things that won't make a difference in the long run, just forget about it. It might be hard, but after the wedding, you won't even notice it wasn't there. Everyone is going to love your wedding because they're there to celebrate your marriage and love....not to critique your decorations and extra little details.

Remember the big picture. It's the day that you get to marry your best friend/soul mate/better half/what have you. It's the day you say I do...forever. That's what really matters. So enjoy yourself, take time to laugh and have fun. Make memories, take lots of pictures, and kiss your husband.

Guest Post: Amy from Little Miss Wedding Planner

Today's guest post is from Amy, who I've gotten to know through Twitter over the last couple months. She's so sweet and helpful, and I absolutely love her blog! This is a subject I haven't blogged much about, so I'm excited to see the responses to this post!

Hi, Lucky in Love readers!  My name is Amy and I blog over at Little Miss Wedding Planner.  I am so happy for Laura & David and so honored to be guest blogging here!  I have been following Laura’s blog and wedding plans for quite some time, so it is so exciting to see the wedding finally here!

Today I want to talk about something that doesn’t actually have a whole lot to do with wedding planning.  Today, I want to talk about something I call The Baby Boom—not the one in the 50s, but the one that seems to be taking place in my own life right now!

I don’t know about you guys, but I am at the age where all of my friends are starting to get engaged and married.  This summer alone, we are invited to 5 weddings, aside from our own!  And of course, you know the old line:  “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!” 

My first friend to get married was my best friend from high school.  She actually married almost 5 years ago now, and got pregnant a year or so later.  My cousin also had my lovely goddaughter (our flower girl!) around the same time.  Two other friends of mine got married in late 2009 (twin sisters, coincidentally), and both got pregnant with honeymoon babies.  One of my very best friends is getting married next year, and she too is planning on a honeymoon baby.  And just last night, a dear friend who was married in December announced that she is also pregnant…thus, I was suddenly struck by the inevitable Baby Boom that occurs when you’re in your mid to late twenties.  While I am no doubt happy for all of my friends and family, I still sometimes find myself asking this question:  “Don’t they just want to be married for awhile?”

(Source – I love their expressions in this picture…the kid on the left and the kid second from the right are definitely making the face I make when thinking about this subject…sort of a “Huh?  What the ?!”)

Many of you may know that I used to teach ballet to three-year-olds (I just “retired” from doing that last month), and as evidenced above, I am surrounded by pregnancy and babies…heck, I even confessed to reading a ton of baby & pregnancy blogs lately!  I definitely love kids and both my fiancé & I are excited to have some of our own…but we are not planning on having children right away.  I never thought I’d say this, but it feels like we’re sort of in the minority on this on…everybody else in our lives seem to be getting pregnant—and getting pregnant quick! 

So what’s behind our decision?  Well, our reasoning is simple.  Although we’ve been together almost 7 years and have lived together for about 5, we really just want to be married for awhile.  If it happens by accident, of course we’ll be excited and thrilled.  But in an ideal world (and as long as I take my BC correctly!), we are definitely not planning on getting pregnant until about 2 years after our wedding.  It might sound selfish, but we’d like to take some really fun trips…buy a house…and have the freedom to do whatever we want whenever we want, without worrying about kids yet.  

As I said above, lately, I’ve felt as though I am in the minority on this topic…so, I’m curious.  Where do you and your fiancé stand on this issue?  Of course I want to know if you agree with me, but I am really interested in hearing from those of you who want to have children right away.  What are your motivations?  Is it just that you’re ready?  Is it an age thing?  If you feel comfortable, please share your thoughts (and if you plan to write a baby blog, please share that, too—because you know I love me some of those!)

Guest Post: Em from Burning River Bride

I have some of my favorite fabulous bloggers lined up to guest post while I'm gone this week, so make sure to give each of them a warm welcome! The first is Em - She's one of my 'blog friends' that I talk to almost every day and have really gotten to know over the last few months. She's hilarious and one of the nicest girls ever, so if you're not already following her, you should be! Enjoy!

Hello, Lucky in Love readers! My name is Emily (but you can call me Em) and I write over at Burning River Bride. I'm a 24 year old newlywed (my wedding was May 22) and I'm so excited to guest post for Laura! She and I have become great Internet friends over the past few months. I know she was a beautiful bride (come on, have you SEEN this gorgeous gal?) and I can't wait to hear all about her wedding day.

Laura and I are both relatively "young" brides (although I do have about 3 years on her). I wouldn't change getting married at the age I am now, and I'm sure Laura wouldn't either, but that doesn't mean it isn't without certain challenges.

The issue: Haters. Lots of 'em And they come in all forms: well-meaning adults, not-so-well-meaning adults, jealous girlfriends, immature boys, complete strangers...the list goes on and on. It's frustrating but it's inevitable.

How to deal: Confidence. If you show that you *know* you're doing the right thing they have a baseless argument. While being nervous is expected (and totally FINE), it's also a sign to those "well-meaning adults" that you're not ready. Don't let them see you sweat!

The issue: Being a fairly young bride also means you probably don't have many people in your inner circle who relate to what you're going through. Sure, the wedding blog world is filled with brides who are happy to listen to your ideas/successes/failures/vents/etc, but sometimes you just want to talk to some one who actually *knows* you. There's nothing like talking to some one who gets you, the real you (not the wedding blog you). 

How to deal: Luckily, chances are you have at least one person you can turn to when you're in need. Make sure this person knows how important they are to you and how you'll need to lean on them during both the good and the bad parts of wedding planning.

The issue: Clueless bridal party members. Now, please don't interpret my use of the word clueless as something negative. Let me explain: out of my six bridesmaids only two of them had been in a wedding during their adult life (it doesn't count if they've been a flower girl, greeter, etc). Not that this is a bad thing or at all their fault, so to speak. But it can definitely be frustrating. Many of them legitimately didn't really know what to do. Being a member of the bridal party involves more than whooping it up at the bachelorette party and putting on a pretty dress for the wedding.

"Clueless" manifested itself in a few ways during my wedding planning. These included not understanding the importance of RSVPing ("You mean WE have to RSVP, TOO?!") and confusion about our wedding photographers' style ("You mean we have to ::gulp:: pose?!"), to name a few.

**Please note: My husband is 4 years older than me, so most of his groomsmen pretty much knew what was going on, but they're boys so I didn't have high expectations for them either way.

How to deal: Spell out exactly what you need them to do and do it early and often. The last thing you need in the weeks and days leading up to your wedding are your bridesmaids asking you seemingly "duh" questions. It's not that their questions aren't valid, it's that you just won't have the time or the energy to answer them 4, 5, or 6 times.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you like what you see, please stop on over to Burning River Bride where I'll soon be recapping our honeymoon and wedding! And if you just can't get enough, follow me on Twitter @Em219. Thanks for having me, Laura!

Giveaway Winner and Another Guest Post

I'm excited to announce that the winner of my giveaway is...

Tova

(one of my newer followers!) who said she would use the poster print to make a large print of one of her wedding photos for her grandma! Tova, if you could get me your email address as soon as possible I'll have Online Poster Printing contact you!

Also, I wrote a guest post for Kristin at Happily After All for today, so be sure to head over and check it out!

Updates coming soon! :)