3 Unique Wedding Gifts to Give

Guess what! Wedding season is all year round – so if the Save the Dates are starting to fill up your fridge, here are a few ideas to stash away, or better yet – order ahead of time to give as the perfect shower or wedding gift this season.  Trust me, I’m not one to promote veering away from the wedding registry but after receiving a few of these ourselves I was shocked and taken aback by the thoughtfulness!

Okay – let’s get to the good stuff!

1. Custom Family Cross Stitch – We got this as a wedding gift, and I nearly cried when I opened it and saw our little family stitched into a beautiful frame.  Yes, it even included MOZ! which I think is what made me the most happy – upon further viewing behind my tears I noticed that the outfits B and I wore were the same from our engagement pictures! It was seriously one of the most thoughtful gifts and we have it hanging it a prominent spot to swoon over it.  Here is a similar one on Etsy. This could also be done as a custom painting or portrait of the couples new/first home or engagement picture! Better yet, if you’re crafty enough you could make this yourself!
2. Monthly Wine Club Subscription – This could even be a food box service for a few months (while they’re adjusting to married life) or some other beverage/cocktail service that the couple can enjoy and experience together.  Giving them a few months free is a great way for the couple to get excited about something new and make a new married tradition.  Check out Winc, Clubbubbly or Home Chef.
3. Honeymoon Help – A lot of registries, like Zola allow couples to add a Honeymoon Fund to their registry.  This is something to keep an eye out on! Another way to help a couple on their honeymoon is with a gift certificate to a restaurant for a dinner date on their honeymoon!  We greatly appreciated this as it helped us plan a special night out and around the rest of our trip. Does this couple love traveling? This 50 States Photo Map on Etsy is also another great gift and keepsake to help traveling couples document their travels!

The important thing when giving a gift is knowing the couple! And if you’re just not sure, but want to give something a little different talk to a closer family member or friend to gut check or figure out where they’re honeymooning.  Cheers to wedding season!

Why I Finally Decided To Change My Last Name

Confession time:  I wasn’t planning on changing my last name once B and I tied the knot – in fact I was pretty adamant about not changing it.  Everyone always asked me, “Well what does B think about it?” … and at first he didn’t love the idea, but as we talked about it over time he grew to understand my perspective and was accepting of the idea.  And no matter what people’s responses were to me saying I wasn’t going to change my name – because people definitely had opposing opinions – I knew that B and I were on the same page and that was all that mattered. In fact,  we actually joked more about B changing his last name instead of me changing mine.

Now, it’s only fair of me to not share ALL my reasons of why I didn’t want to change my name – and those closest to me know. And if someone asked and REALLY wanted to know, sure I’d tell them, but I’m not going to just offer it up. *tongue out emoji*

But onto the good stuff about WHY I decided to change my name and HOW I shared the news with B. The reason why might sound really really stupid or even a little silly… but I wanted people to know that B and I were married.  Sure, most people knew, we both wear rings – but there were little moments in everyday life, that made me pause and have to explain, “No my husband’s last name is Wildebeest.”  I also felt that the whole point of being married is being one with each other as a union and in those little moments it didn’t seem that way at all.

So, as these little moments in life continued to happen over the course of our first year of marriage, I began throwing around the idea of changing my name – first to friends and then worked on convincing my stubborn self.  The first anniversary gift is paper, what better gift to give B than surprise him with my new social security card with my new name on it? … as the year went on, I continued to pitch myself on the change while those little moments continued to happen and build the case.  Plus, I knew B would be psyched, deep down happy, and not expecting it at all.

Needless to say, I was a little nervous when I finally told B for our anniversary, because he’d gotten so OK with me NOT changing my name – that I wasn’t sure if he would really care anymore.  But he was so excited about it and not to mention completely shocked (and in a bit of disbelief)!

Final confession.  It’s still a bit of a struggle for me, I fought against conforming for so long and have a deep love for my maiden name that it hurts my heart a little – dramatic? Maybe, but I know that in time the change won’t even phase me, and that I’ll always be EB deep down.

To help with my name switch I enlisted HitchSwitch they provided detailed check-lists and pre-filled paper work to make the transitions easy while helping me feel not so lost navigating all the different updates! I still have a few updates to make, but all the major ones are checked off the list. ❤

 

Beach Portrait Session Photo Credit: Marina Claire & Co.
Wedding & Engagement Photo Credit: Timothy Logan Photography

8 Wedding RSVPs You Won’t Be Expecting

About to send out your wedding invites? Get ready for the fun with these 8 real life wedding RSVPs you may not be expecting… I realize that in the grand scheme of life, they’re not a big deal, but in the moments of wedding planning they are excruciating annoyances on top of all the last minute details. Perhaps these will even prepare you so that you might be able to laugh it off, and not be so surprised by your nearest and dearest who made it onto your guest list.  I am a super organized person and we RSVP immediately to weddings (unless it’s a destination), so this was a particularly frustrating part when it came down to it. So, please enjoy this little rant… *smiles*

Image: Timothy Logan Photography

The Text Message. Yup. Sadly this happened, and it happened with a question inquiring about what the food options were available, because they ‘lost their RSVP card.’  They had texted B – had it been me, I probably wouldn’t have responded, tough luck.

The Resended RSVP. In a nut shell; “Yes! We are coming to your wedding” Then, one-week before deadline… “Some family emergency popped up, we won’t be able to make it in a month on that day.” … oh BTW there is a thing called social media, remember what you said you were doing when. #busted

The White Out. We had a few folks actually white-out the ‘M’ as a placeholder for Mr./Mrs. and replace it with their Dr. – I mean we addressed the envelope properly to them but god forbid the RSVP card be generic to everyone. We get it, you’re a Doctor!

The Dog Ate the RSVP.  But didn’t eat the envelope! So they did still end up sending a piece of paper with all the correct RSVP info filled out and a sweet little note AND we received it before the deadline! It was actually kind of cute.

No RSVP.  There were a handful of peeps who we never received an RSVP of any sort, no text, no call, no card… it will forever be a mystery if they just didn’t receive the invitation or if they’re just plain rude.

Directions? What Directions! We had asked people to initial what food option they wanted, since we had 4-different choices to choose from – when a family of 5-RSVPs with numbers instead of initials, it just meant we were back tracking to see who wanted what meal. People also reached out asking “what kind of fish?” or “what’s with the steak?” … and I’ll just leave it at that.

No Show RSVP. There were about 5-people who RSVPd ‘yes’ with meal choices who came to our ceremony and then completely didn’t show to our reception.  That’s essentially an entire table – which is also a floral arrangement, linen rentals, centerpieces, favors, alcohol, a plated dinner, shall I continue?

The Late RSVP. This is unavoidable and extremely annoying – so to try and make my point I posted a nice little reminder on my Facebook page that read the following ❤

“RSVPs received after October 16th will be submitted into a review and approval process. Upon completion of the review process, applicants will be notified if approved or denied based on receipt of submission.

*To improve your chances of RSVP approval, be sure to do the following: send RSVP via mail in the addressed and stamped envelope, indicate if your accepting/declining, initial your desired entree (i.e. check mark, X or other symbol by entree will further delay review process and/or you may not receive your desired entree) and be sure it arrives by October 16th. Text messages, DMs, comments or other ways of RSVPing will delay and lessen chances of approval.

Thank you to those who have already RSVPd.”

So that’s it. Those invitations that you hemmed and hawed on will get lost, they won’t even get sent back or read, those stamps you bought for RSVP envelopes will go to waste… and all those hours assembling the pieces and parts will simply go unnoticed (by many, but not all!)  On the flip side, we did love receiving these in little batches day by day, guessing who it would be from. A lot of closer friends wrote sweet notes on the cards or envelope so that made it even more special and exciting to receive! I am also pretty sure I had almost everyone’s meal memorized by the time our wedding rolled around… *grins*

Have a wedding RSVP that tops these? Comment below, I want to hear it!

Image Source: Timothy Logan Photography

Life After Wedding

Let’s keep the love train going! This weekend, B and I will be celebrating our 2-year proposal anniversary!! Yah, I know it’s a little obnoxious to celebrate every little anniversary or moment – but that’s what makes life special! And we always love an excuse to drink champagne and order Chipotle.

It’s crazy to think it’s been 2-years since we started this new journey of being engaged, wedding planning, and now living life married! After the wedding and all the holiday crazy, I had a weird lull – as I know many brides tend to have – where I kept asking myself; “Now what do I do?” We were consumed for almost 2-full years of planning, meetings, parties, and more planning for one single perfect day… and now it’s all over!  I loved planning our wedding, I would do it again, but our day was also so perfect and special I’d never want to replace it.

So back to the question, now what? Well, we need to figure out a few trips this year, we have some ideas but nothing is finalized yet, we went on 4-trips last year, and I want to keep that up.  We are also figuring out and prioritizing house projects that have been on the list for the last 3-years… *smiles* … so looking forward to those, since that is something we both enjoy doing. Also, just continuing to experience more things together like more of our city, new foods, new adventures with friends and family and new hobbies.

I am also in the process of scrapbooking our wedding, which means I’ll continue to swoon over all of our gorgeous pictures, randomly post one or two now and then on instagram (or here!) and this lull will quickly turn into getting back on track to a normal life! A normal, beautiful life with B.

XOX