Wedding Blog

In addition to the books, chocolate, and video games we normally receive every Christmas (Hooray for Max Brooks, Purdy’s Chocolate Hedgehogs and Zelda Wii Games!), people factored in our engagement/upcoming wedding when they were giving us presents this year which ended up being incredibly cool.

So, now that we’ve unpacked and we’ve actually had time to digest everything (including the food from the five gigantic holiday meals we put back), these are the five* cool wedding related things we received for Christmas this year.

1) The Zen Bride Kit - As well as I think I’m doing and as much as I hate to admit it, wedding planning does occasionally stress me out. I don’t know why, but I think there is something kind of built in to the planning process itself that, even when you are on top of things, forces you to believe that you are somehow years behind and are destined to get married in a field in your underwear. So when I received this gift, which includes a book of relaxation techniques as well as a bunch of lovely lavender-scented pampering products, it was actually the perfect gift to stop the compounded stress of the holidays and the planning process from getting to me.

2) The Guest Book - When I actually think about it, every wedding I have been to has had a guest book. However in the haze of my planning craziness (Under six months to go! Run shrieking in the opposite direction!), I can pretty much guarantee that a guest book is something I would have forgotten in the shuffle. Perfectly enough, my FMIL had seen the invitations I was lusting over and made an executive decision to pick up a little green guest book for us. Hooray!

3) The Photo Albums - As I mentioned in our Choosing the Wedding Party post, my FSIL and MOH Erin has been a huge help when it comes to wedding stuff. Need a second opinion? Call Erin. Need some help figuring out a game plan for the wedding day? Call Erin. Have a question about what you should be asking vendors? Call Erin. She’s been supportive of all of our ideas and thoughtful with the advice she’s provided. And continuing in the thoughtful vein, for Christmas Erin took a bunch of the digital pictures from our engagement party back in July, printed them and put them in a bunch of albums for us. Not only are the albums beautiful but they are something that, in the midst of the moving, work and planning, we hadn’t been able to get around to.

4) The Rehearsal Dinner/Bachelorette Party Dress - Every year at Christmas, I help my Dad shop for my mom. Although I am taller, we are generally the same size in clothing, so not only do I provide my opinion on purchases, but I try on tops, skirts and dresses to ensure they are the right size before they get put under the tree. This year, when we hit Tristan America, I spotted an absolutely gorgeous black dress which I was sure would be good, so I picked it off the rack and tried it on. As soon as I put it on, I loved it, but as it was for my mom and as I was incredibly broke (Hello $500 Mastercard!), I pushed it out of my mind and continued shopping for my mom. Little did I know, when I popped into the change room, my sneaky dad called my mom on his cellphone and asked if she was cool with him buying it for me as a Christmas present. I haven’t decided whether or not I am going to wear it to the rehearsal dinner or my bachelorette outing, but rest assured it will be worn for some wedding related activity!

5) Money - I hope this isn’t too tacky to say, but considering we had to move and then were hit with Christmas expenses directly afterwards, getting a little bit of money at Christmas time was absolutely awesome. Now, I have a little extra breathing room and cash on hand to purchase the fabric that will be used to construct my one of a kind custom wedding dress!

How about you ladies? Did you get anything wedding-related during the holidays?

*I originally wrote this post directly after Christmas before I received my lovely Secret Santa present from Mrs. Snow Pea. Not only did I love the beautiful green gift cards (crafted to match the stationery I’ve picked out for our invitations) and plan to use them for my shower Thank You notes, but the package also included a lovely ribbon I hope will be big enough to wrap my bouquet in! Below is a crappy webcam photo in which I express my Christmas delight!*