Wedding Tips 101

Hello readers. As a friend of Katie's, I was asked to write as a guest blogger and jumped at the chance to write about some things I learned from my recent wedding last month. So for any readers who are engaged and planning a wedding, or planning one sometime in the future... just keep reading :) For all those who could care less about weddings, maybe you'll find some of my tips interesting one day! First (random side note) I can't believe it's already been a month since my big day. Here it is almost the end of October, freezing outside, and the holidays are just around the corner. How did that happen?!? What happened to summer....Did we even have a summer? Anyway, I'll get back on track to the wedding. I was married in September on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. It was the happiest and most wonderful day of my life. Daily I find myself reliving the day: reminiscing memories, looking at every one's wedding photos on Facebook, and wishing it was possible to hit a replay button. Over the course of the past few weeks, I've thought a lot about what I would or wouldn't do differently and how some (little) things that I learned from my wedding might help others plan for their special day.

So, here are a few Wedding Tips 101 that I hope you will find helpful.

1). The week before the wedding, as I'm sure you've heard, is just about the craziest time of your life. You are on an emotional high and so excited for the biggest day of your life that is just days away. My advice is to not leave anything at work to be completed during that last week. Your head isn't on straight, and honestly, you think nothing at work really matters because you are about to get married and all of your coworkers should just expect for you to not get anything done. WRONG! This is where I messed up. I had a list of Wedding To-Do's at home and a never ending list of To-Do's at work. My colleagues actually made me take off an extra day then I had originally planned, as they thought I might have an emotional meltdown at work. I was stressed with the wedding, and stressed at work. With me being the procrastinator that I am, I kept a lot of important stuff at work for the last minute. Get my point? Get your stuff at work completed before the last week of work so you can put all of your energy into the wedding during that final week without getting bogged down.

2). Soak in the moment. Sure, everyone tells you this. But the wedding day goes by SO fast that you honestly forget to take that step back and take everything in. I made sure to do this. It was at the cocktail hour. The ceremony had ended and it was the first time to see all my family and friends. I looked around - it was the most beautiful perfect sunny day. I had this moment where I thought... WOW... is this really all for me? Are all these people really here for me? Believe it or not, whenever I think back to the wedding, I always refer back to that particular moment when I stepped back and took everything in. It was at that exact moment that I felt so lucky and so thankful that so many people had traveled from all over to celebrate this occassion with me and my husband.

3). Avoid 'the blues' after the wedding. This goes hand and hand with #2. I find myself thinking back to that moment at the cocktail hour and reminiscing over the wedding and I start to feel a little down because I know all of those friends and family will never be together again and this ONE day that I planned for so long is suddenly over. It's easy to feel like this. You are on this constant high for months and months and suddenly it comes to an end. Anytime I start to feel this way, I attempt to turn these feelings into positive feelings. I look at all those photos again, I relive those special moments, and I force myself to feel happy and fortunate that I was lucky to have all those people at the wedding. Try to turn your sadness about the wedding being over into happiness for all that you have.

4). When it comes to packing for your honeymoon - pack ALL medications. I went to Europe for my honeymoon and sure enough, on my flight there, I got sick. The head closed up, the nosed closed up, I got a sore throat, and it was official - I had the worst head cold and was sick for the first 3 days of the honeymoon (and had NO meds!) You see, I packed all the basics - Advil, Tums, Immodium, Pepto, etc. I didnt think about the not-so-obvious stuff.... Sudafed, Nyquil, Vitamin C, etc. We got to the airport in Europe and all they had were "herbal supplements" for 14 euro... which is about twenty-some-dollars. Riiiiiiiight. I suffered for a few days until the cold eventually ran its course. And it sucked. So my advice is to pack every kind of med that you could ever possibly need. Avoid any kind of sickness that might come your way, as your immune system is typically down and your body is on overdrive.

So ladies, there you have it. These are just a few of my wedding tips and little lessons that I learned from my wedding day. Enjoy.every.moment. Your wedding day is one of the most wonderful days of your life, yet at the same time, it's a whirlwind, so remember....cherish everything.