Something old, something new...

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." I figure, a time honored tradition hasn't led too many people a stray, so why not? 


My new was traditional - I bought my wedding dress new - very easy. I loved wearing my white dress for my wedding, but it felt, well, common. How do you stray from traditional without straying too far away from my traditional wedding?

Why, my shoes of course! Payless Shoes has a line of dyable shoes that happened to work perfectly for what I needed. I chose to make these bad boys the same blue that I put throughout my wedding and reception. Periwinkle is a difficult color to make matchy-matchy with everything, but who knew - shades of the color work really well together. 

Metzer Photography

Something borrowed - Oh, you have to love Mom. Well, I love my Mom. She is a very religious person, and during any of her travels, carries several rosaries, all of which I'm sure she used at some point during her trip to Washington for our wedding. The conversation of whether or not I had all of my elements for the wedding. I sheepishly replied, "Well, I have new and blue." She pulled out several rosaries and said, which would you like? I chose this one pictured, periwinkle and absolutely beautiful. She initially told me I could borrow it, and it would be my old and borrowed. 

We wrapped it around my bouquet, and throughout the day it reminded me of my Mom and her incredible faith and love for our family. Today it hangs in our son's room as a constant reminder of my Mother and her faith in God and in us.

Did you take on this wedding tradition? How did you make it work for you? 

Idle Hands are the Devil's Workshop

My high school math teacher had that saying posted in his classroom. I remember looking at that sign daily. We had quizzes often, and if I didn't know the answers, my eyes would wander upward. I wasn't looking to cheat, I think I was hoping I would get some sort of answer from the Math Gods, and they would help me get through the quiz.

I've been married for over a month now. And I have idle hands. I feel like I should be crafting something, or trying to figure out what to do with a tablescape. I've spent the last 11 months of my life trying to figure out the minutia of my wedding. Now that the wedding is over, the gap in time between getting home from work and crawling into bed at midnight is well, gaping. I feel lost, and I find myself circling our apartment wondering what in the world I'm supposed to do next.

Is this bizarre? Probably.

What do I do with myself? Well, besides the regular post bride activities (writing thank-you notes and trying to get my house back to normal), I'm still reading the blogs I used to read (I call it wedding porn these days), and I'm trying to find ways to reinvent myself. This, I think, is proving to be incredibly difficult. Where most self-reinvention should be enlightening, I'm finding this forces me to look back at my wedding critically, looking at every detail and how I should have executed it differently. And, though this is a great exercise to grow as an event planner, it's a horrible way to reflect on your own wedding. In fact, it's down right depressing, and I'm sure incredibly unhealthy.

It's been a serious wake up call. But, I think it's teaching me some valuable lessons. First, the wedding isn't the have all-end all. The wedding is just the tip of the iceberg. I plan to have many amazing years with my husband, and eventually I'm going to replace wedding crafting time with new, fun and exciting adventures with my family. Until then, I'll be recapping my wedding, and hopefully I can extend some helpful party planning tips to you through my successes and failures. Don't get me wrong. I love my family, and would do anything for them. This is less about them and more about my ability to transform from bride to wife. It's a strange and lovely journey - I hope you join me for the ride!