No, I’m not talking about Spanx, Foot Petals, or Waterproof Eyeliner. I’m not talking about your fiancee, your dog, or your mom, either. For me, one of the absolute most invaluable pieces in my wedding planning puzzle has been my Garmin Nuvi 250 GPS.
Mr. Cupcake and I have birthdays that are just a week apart (although he’s two years older than me… that I will never let him forget), and for our birthdays last summer Momma Cupcake and now Stepdad Cupcake got us a portable Garmin to use in either of our cars. Within about three and a half seconds of beginning to use it, we were addicted. We even named it. (”It” is actually a “she” — her name is Nancy. That’s Navigational Nancy, to you.) We often have custody disputes over Nancy, because we both love her so. And we totally refer to her as a “her” when we talk about her. I’m not gonna lie, it’s a little weird.
I was not, by any means, blessed with a sense of direction when I was born. For years I have depended on printed Mapquest directions when driving to a new destination…. which has usually resulted in me being lost, frustrated, crying, or all of the above. I would always feel frazzled, stressed, and nervous venturing out without really knowing where I was going.
These days, I am always sure to bring Nancy along when trekking somewhere unfamiliar, especially when I’m zipping around the Philadelphia area to find a vendor. The day my mom and I attempted to hit up four bridal salons in one day (all in different towns)? Never would have been possible without Nancy (my mom has even less of a sense of direction than I do). The hair trial I traveled to in a residential neighborhood of Wilmington, Delaware? I would have totally ended up in New Jersey without Nancy.
Not only does Nancy tell me where to go, but she tells me when I’ll get there, how to take a detour if a particular road is closed, and where to turn around if I miss my turn. You can even give her a British accent, which is a little friendlier than her American accent. (We also made her speak German once. That was fun for about 2 minutes.) Nancy has been a serious blessing in making at least one aspect of all of this wedding craziness much less stressful.
If you are a sense-of-direction-less bride like me, or you’re planning a wedding in a new city or a foreign destination, I highly recommend that you invest in a Nancy all your own. Ours runs about $250, and although we didn’t buy it, I know that it is worth. every. penny.
Happy travels!
omg I could have written this post! Except mine is Margot. She’s practically a member of the family.
How did I live before garmin?
We have the Nuvi 200 and her name is Betty and I love the British accent! Both FI and I say that Betty saved our relationship! He hates being lost (who doesn’t) and get super frustrated and then I get mad! We LOVE Betty and can’t imagine life without her! Love your post…it definitely hit home!
DH gave me a GPS for Christmas. Her name is Gretta 
@Mrs. Petunia: treat yourself to a newlywed’s gift and get yourself a Nancy! (Or a Margo, Betty, Gretta, etc. )
i’ve done that — i thought i was going to wilmington but i ended up in jersey!! the horror. oh i need a nancy…
My boyfriends is Herbert II. The british accent is my favorite!
I have GPS on my phone (VZ Navigator) and it was really helpful when trying to hit up 15 open houses on a Saturday afternoon while house-hunting.
Miss Tiramisu, I have to say, I LOVE your GPS gal’s name — ‘course, as it’s also my own, I may be biased!
@rebecca: Before Nancy, I have way more embarrassing stories than that!!! Mr. Cupcake can’t even fathom how directionless I am at times. I even got lost in Target once (but in my defense, it wasn’t “my” Target that I’m familiar with!). I should stop talking right now.
Ours (really my parents) is Selena
My mom calls my dad’s Nuvi “His mistress”
Mr. Peng and I call our’s “Ingrid” (she has the Australian accent)
We all cant live without them. Seriously.
How hilarious is it that everyone has named their Garmins?
I can’t believe you named your nav system Nancy. My Dad bought me one of those for Christmas 2 years ago and that is what I named mine! Now, I don’t know if it’s funnier that we both actually named our nav systems, or that we named them the same thing…
We are moving soon for my FH to start his residency and during the interview process , with lots of extensive traveling, “Jack” (AKA Garmin Street Pilot c550) has been such a blessing. I don’t know what we ever did w/out him. I am completely lacking in any sense of direction, except for in shopping malls which is a different story for some reason…..
Switch from mapquest to google maps - it’s usually better.
My fiance has a portable GPS (we call Sue) and after using it I was convinced that I “needed” an in dash nav system when I bought my new car. I love it! I moved to a new town after I purchased it and it’s been great. I can find anything now.
N.
Oh I feel you! This entire post echos my sentiments exactly! We didn’t choose a new name for ours but call her Nuvi. FI has her right now and it was really frustrating to me today because I had to find the court house in a different town to pay a speeding ticket and ended up crying on the phone with FI looking at Nuvi to help. Such a great investment, I think I’m going to get him another one so we don’t have to share.
I have an interesting GPS story….on the way home from my first date with my (now) fiance’ last year, I was in a major accident and my car was totalled (I was fine!) and I had to call my new date to come and rescue me….made for a memorable first date! With insurance $ from that accident, I bought the GPS (whose name was Jason) that I wanted and needed for so long. My relationship with both of the men, Jason and my fiance’ went well and then my fiance’ proposed on March 1st. The night we got engaged, I think I was a little too excited about being newly engaged and I forgot to hide my GPS in glove compartment like I usually do. I go out to my car the next morning and was nearly in tears when I saw that someone had broken into my car and stolen my GPS! So sad….and I’ve been so lost lately, that my FH just bought me a new one!
My husband and I have a TomTom GO510 and we have affectionately dubbed him “Thomas”. We might note be terribly creative but at least we’re not lost!
I call mine George 
Ha! Mine’s named Charles!
Wow, I feel so left out for not having a Garmin.
Three Cheers for Gertie Garmin!
my fiance got a garmin for his birthday, and we share him too… he’s amazing! i just get frustrated when i know the short way home and he’s taking me the long way, lol.
i think i may one of the ones that didnt think of a name for mine. i have a garmin just not that one. but i love it though….cuts so much time from traveling…
haha i LOVE how everyone named theirs!! i got FI a TomTom for christmas in ‘06 and whenever we go to drive somewhere we check to make sure we got “Tom” in our bag. if he isnt connecting to the gps system fast enough (when were still in a parking garage, etc) we tell Tom to hurry up. sometimes i take it to my parents house (sad!) i love that you will NEVER get lost & you know exactly when you’ll get there.
There was an article on the front page of the Philly Metro today about how some 600 (!!) gps systems have been stolen out of cars this yr alone, and these are only the ones reported. a lot of times they break in if they see the round suction cup mark on the windshield. we dont keep ours in the car (or if we are parked mid-trip we put it in the glove, not in sight) but i never thought about that round suction cup mark making your car a target. so be careful!
LOL! And I thought that I was the only one who named my things. Mine’s named “Nuvi” and she sits in my car, “Snowball”.
Nice!! I have this exact Garmin and I named her “Nuvi”. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who named their GPS. I never thought I needed one. I used to just print out directions and go from there, but when I got this as a gift, I fell in love. I never have to worry about getting lost and the additional options (i.e. finding nearby restaurants, shopping, gas stations, banks, etc.) are incredible.
I also received that GPS for my birthday! How did we ever live without them?! I am somewhat comforted to know that I’m not the only directionally challenged bride out there, who has named their GPS I never leave home without Carla!
For any of you girls who might be interested, Best Buy carries a PINK Garmin!! If I didn’t already have a nav system, I would totally buy this. It’s super cute and girly and I am currently obsessed with it.
My FI and I both have TomToms, which I’ve affectionately named Tommy. 
Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
We have the same one, and I completely agree….indispensable. We named ours Carmen!