Something happened today that I am sure many of you can relate to. There I was, reading my email, when I saw something that made me giggle. What was it, you ask? An email from Periwinkle Dude…
Source: openclipart.org
Yes, Periwinkle Dude has a knack for making me laugh, but this was unintentional. In fact, the email wasn’t even addressed to me. The email was written to one of our wedding vendors, and the message was something to the effect of: “…further to my wife’s email below…“
As brides-to-be or newlyweds, I’m sure you’re aware that it is common to receive gifts for your engagement, bridal shower, and wedding. And we brides know that wherever gifts abound, thank you notes are sure to follow!
Source: www.esquire.com
According to Emily Post, wedding thank you notes should be sent within 3 months of receiving the gift. This was unfortunate news to me since I’ve always been a believer (and supporter!) of the common fallacy that couples have until their one year anniversary to both receive and send thank you notes for wedding gifts. Oooops! Here are some other tips from our favorite etiquette mentor, Emily Post:
Money is a very important issue that needs to be discussed when you’re getting married. Based on studies, money is one of the leading causes of divorce. John and I talked about how to handle our finances way before we even moved in together. We made sure we were on the same boat. We also made sure that all our debts are paid for before we got engaged.
There are three ways to handle your finances as a couple: joint, separate, and mixed (joint & separate). John and I decided that the mixed method is the best one for us.
They say you have a year to give a gift for a wedding, but that you should send Thank You’s within a month. What about Thank you notes for your vendors? Is prompt payment and a tip enough? We don’t think so, but unfortunately we’ve left our vendors un-thanked for almost six months. I was great about sending our guests thank you notes within 2-3 weeks of the wedding. For gifts received later, I usually sent the thank you card out the day we got the gift in the mail. We tracked all our gifts and when thank you notes were sent through the WeddingWire feature. But because I was so focused on thanking those that gave us something, our vendors got the short end of the stick. Then I was sending thank you notes for friends helping us move, for housewarming gifts, etc. I kept putting the vendor thank you notes off.
The year, months, weeks and then days leading up to our wedding honestly flew by so fast, I didn’t think I could ever lose time that quickly again. In a way it all seems like a distant blur, far back in my memory, yet somehow it also feels like just yesterday. In fact, our wedding was 6 months ago. That’s a whopping 183 “yesterdays” to be precise! That’s right, Periwinkle Dude and I have made it to the 6-month mark, woohoo! I know that’s no sweat to you old pros out there, but hey, we’re infants in the world of marriage… this is a milestone for us! When Periwinkle Dude and I married, we promised to love each other through all kinds of ups and downs, which comes in handy because we have already faced a few challenges in the past few months, and we’ve faced them together. And so for our 6 month anniversary, I dedicate this beautiful song to my husband, the love of my life.
UGH!!!! Please don’t assume that one partner will take another partner’s last name when they marry!!!!
from http://teriberi.wordpress.com/2009/04/
I have always known that I wanted to keep my name, and Calla Lily Dude is more than supportive about it. All my coworkers, friends, and family knew that I would be keeping my name.
I don’t mind it when people call me “Mrs. Dude.” I get a kick out of it when people call Calla Lily Dude “Mr. Blossom.” However, I ran into a major problem with someone assuming that I was taking the Dude last name….
So, designing my own beautiful wedding album went off without a hitch, and the album that was shipped within 1 day of placing an order, but it took over 2 weeks to get to me at no fault of Shutterfly…
Why, you ask? Because my apartment manager assumed I would be taking the Dude last name… and took it upon herself to not keep my last name on our mailbox directory. Apparently, UPS will not deliver a package to an address if the receiver is not listed on a posted directory. Good for UPS, bad for me!
It took a week and half of back-and-forth between me, my apartment manager, and UPS. I got the album delivered, but my last name has not been added to the mailbox directory yet…
So, the moral of the story is to be more up front whenever your name is concerned, whether you are changing or not. While people should not assume that you are going to change your name, you can’t assume that people are going to double-check with you about it either.
We did it! I can now officially write my first post as Orchid Blossom…or should I say Mrs. Orchid Blossom!
We made it through both our ceremonies and are now busy packing for our move tomorrow, but I wanted to say a quick hello to everyone before any more time flew by.
We tied the knot!
Both of the ceremonies went off without a hitch and turned out to be fabulously fun days. Our Halloween wedding turned out just as I envisioned. It was wonderful to see all the hard work and planning we had done come together the way it did…and I had a blast partying and dancing into the wee hours of the morning!
As you may recall, me and Calla Lily Dude both wore engagement rings, which were simple wedding bands worn on our right hands.
We switched our rings to our left hands during our ceremony, after we said our vows.
"With this ring, I join my life with yours."
Since I was fresh out of college and blew my savings on the trip to Italy where we got engaged, our rings were inexpensive sterling silver. We planned to upgrade to white gold before the wedding, but it got pushed aside in the flurry of all the other wedding stuff we had to take care of…
You might think after the big day you will be free of to do lists and be done with juggling a bunch of wedding-related tasks… but, trust me, this is not the case. Welcome to the world of the newlywed…
from http://digifree.blogspot.com
…and your new to do list! Imagine that, after two and a half years of wedding stuff, I still have some wedding stuff to do now that we are married. The Nest provides this list of newlywed to dos.
I don’t often watch The Office myself, but Periwinkle Dude is a faithful fan and asked me to watch the long-awaited nuptials with him last week… so how could I refuse?! The episode was actually pretty funny, and stirred up some nostalgia of our own engagement and big day.
picture borrowed from Give Me My Remote blog
During the rehearsal dinner, Jim made a toast to Pam. In his words:
“Four years ago I was just a guy who had a crush on a girl who had a boyfriend. And I had to do the hardest thing I ever had to do, which was just to wait. Don’t get me wrong I flirted with her. Pam, I can now admit in front of friends and family that I do know how to make a photocopy. I didn’t need your help that many times. And do you remember how long it took you to teach me to drive stick? (Pam: Like a year). I’ve been driving stick since high school. For a really long time that’s all I had. Little moments with a girl who saw me as a friend. And a lot of people told me I was crazy to wait this long for a date with a girl who I worked with, but I think, even then I knew, I was waiting for my wife.”
Periwinkle Dude and I also met at work. He had a crush on me; I thought we were just friends. Needless to say I was oblivious, but I eventually saw the light and we started dating… You know where the road led (I am a Blossom now after all!), but ours was definitely not a high-speed romance. By the time our wedding day rolled around, I had loved Periwinkle Dude for 4 years.
I know that’s no sweat to you old pros out there, but hey, we’re infants in the world of marriage… this is a milestone for us! When Periwinkle Dude and I married, we promised to love each other through all kinds of ups and downs, which comes in handy because we have already faced a few challenges in the past few months, and we’ve faced them together. And so for our 6 month anniversary, I dedicate this beautiful song to my husband, the love of my life.
