I'm Guest Posting!

Today you guys can join me over at LauraLou's blog...Lucky In Love!  She just got married on Saturday and is enjoying a wonderful honeymoon down where it's warm and sandy!
So pop on over there if you'd like to see what I have to say for today.  And if you haven't been there before, make sure to look around, she has some great projects.

Guest Post: LauraLou at Lucky In Love

 Today I have a guest post for you from one of my very first blogger friends =]  Laura is literally my twin, not only in our wedding planning process, but in life too! It's so weird.  I'm really hoping to get a chance to meet her sometime in the near future.  She's getting married in about a month, so go follow along with the rest of her progress.

LauraLou at Lucky in Love:

I was SO excited when Kristin asked me if I'd be interested in writing a guest post for her while she was on her honeymoon.  Kristin and I call each other our wedding twin because of all the things we have in common and our similar taste in everything wedding related.  It's been so much fun getting to know her over the last several months.  When we first started talking, we were both finishing up school and in long distance relationships.  Thankfully, we're now both college graduates and living with our fiances/husbands (WEIRD!).


I've loved finding other brides who have similar themed weddings or projects.  It's always exciting to see how their projects turn out - It's like seeing someone accomplish exactly what you envisioned but couldn't ever quite describe.  I've never found anyone else who was quite as similar to me as Kristin.  Don't believe me?

Kristin’s coasters

My coasters

 

 Kristin’s hair flower

 My hair flower

Kristin’s ribbon pomander topiary

 My ribbon pomander topiary

I could go on, but basically, I found someone who is always thinking what I am and shares my personality and taste.  I've loved watching Kristin's planning process and I can't wait to see how all of her projects turned out! (Not just for my sake, but because I know how hard she worked on all of them!)

Kristin, I hope you had the wedding day of your dreams! I'm sure you were an absolutely gorgeous bride and I know I speak for all of your readers when I say I am soo anxious to see your pictures! I'm sure all of your details were beautiful.  Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon - you definitely deserve the rest and relaxation!

Guest Post: Burning River Bride

Okay guys, we're now three days out from my WEDDING!!  Since these posts are predated, I'm not sure if I'd had time to share pictures with you yet or not.  But if I haven't..don't worry, I'm not going anywhere!  There will be LOTS and LOTS of recaps =]

Today's guest post is from Em at Burning River Bride.   She's my date twin =]  And has been one of the few people I regularly converse with on Twitter and occasionally through email.  She's gonna have a pretty awesome wedding too...so make sure to check her blog out!!

Here's what she has to say:

Hello fair readers of Happily After All! Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Emily and I blog over at Burning River Bride. Kristin and I are date twins which means we BOTH got married last Saturday! She asked me to write up a guest post for her this week and I was more than happy to oblige. Just as a disclaimer, I can be really sarcastic and I tend to write how I speak in real life. I'm all for keepin' it real, yo.

So, have you guys seen this show on TLC called Four Weddings? Here is the description from the website:

"Four brides have agreed to attend - and score - each other's weddings. They'll be judging the food, dresses, venues and their overall experiences. The bride whose wedding rates the best wins a fabulous, a five-star honeymoon"
Immediately I thought of myself as the *ideal* candidate for the show. I'm like, REAL good at giving my opinion.  I judge, I can't help it.
So I tuned in because, well, what ELSE do I have going on at 10pm on Friday nights? (The answer is nothing. I kind of have no friends right now. Some one be my friend...please?)
At first, I liked it. Again, I could totally see myself on the show judging weddings. But then, something clicked. I thought of the brides watching the show back and seeing some of the things the other brides said about their weddings. And I promptly felt like poo for every mean/nasty/judgmental/snarky comment I've ever said about another wedding, be it one that I've attended or one that I've seen on a blog/facebook/tv show, etc.
I thought about what it would be like if I could hear ALL the things, good and bad, people have said about my wedding. And then I thought about if other brides could hear all of the things, good and bad, I've said about their weddings. Um, can we say mortifying?
It's one thing to have differing styles/tastes/aesthetics/opinions. How boring would life be if we were all the same? But there is a point where "differing opinions" turns into being just plain nasty. Unfortunately, I think I've been on the nasty side of the aisle one too many times and I'm willing to bet at least one of you reading is guilty of this as well.

Now that I've planned my own wedding, and heard remarks from Negative Nancys here and there, I'm vowing right here and now, to stop being so negative about other weddings. After all, haven't we been told (and told others), "It's *your* wedding, you do what *you* want" time and time again? If we truly mean that, who the hell are we to judge what that decision ends up being?

Please join me in vowing do your part to end the judgmental side of wedding planning. Encourage. Support. Comfort.

Guest Post: Mrs. Beever

Hey guys.  I'm writing this to you 5 days before my wedding.  By the time you read this, it will have come and gone, and I hope it went smoothly and that the day was full of love and laughter.  I wanted to schedule some posts while I was gone for the week, and today I have your first one.

I contacted a few ladies from the blogs that I read regularly and that read mine.  Over the course of the last however many months, these are the girls that I have regularly received positive thoughts from be it in the form of comments, Twitter, Facebook, email, etc.  I still think that it's so neat that I've formed these "online blog friends"  Maybe one day we'll get our act together and meet up!

My first guest post comes from Mrs. Beever over at Thoughts of the All Consumed Bride.  Mrs. Beever just recently got married at a gorgeous venue...a zoo!! And took what is looking to be a gorgeous and fabulous honeymoon in Australia!  Her blog is full of more than just the wedding fluff.  She really touches on what it's going to be like after the wedding is over and the two of you are now husband and wife forever.  She shares her faith and her values and thoughts and I've loved reading everything she's had to say.  Congrats again!!
Here are her words:

Let me start by saying that I am totally humbled and in awe of Kristin and her lovely blog here.  Humbled by the fact that she would allow me an opportunity to write a guest post for her and in awe of the amazing DIY projects and creations she comes up with almost daily.  I could never put together a wedding the way she has.  I know it will be amazing and I am so excited to read her recaps when she returns!

 

Today, I wanted to share with you a little something I found in my journal back from June 11th, 2004:

 

Today was Ronald Reagan's funeral.  I watched it on tv and cried a few times...because of the stoicism, his family, the good he did and represented...just because of human emotion basically.  Because while death is necessary, it also makes us realize the precious frailty of love and relationships. 

 

One of his children spoke of President Reagan's love for his wife, Nancy.  He said that his dad used to say of Nancy:  "I miss her even when she leaves the room."  

 

Don't we all want a love like that?  True love.  Where you are overwhelmed and consumed by someone and their presence.  I know that I have experienced times in my relationship with my hubby, Mr Fix It, where the thought of him leaving me or passing on would scare me to the point of physical nausea.  I can't imagine not having him in my life.  And I never want to take for granted the precious days and years that we will have together. 

 

A wedding day should not be a day filled with overly excessive affection and "I love yous," that are not typical of a daily relationship, but rather the acknowledgment that there has been so much affection and care invested between two people, that they are ready to commit to carrying it on for a lifetime.

 

It saddens me so much that people can't feel humble or comfortable or confident enough to express and give affection and true love regularly.  Today, I pray that we would all remember to thank the one we love for their presence in our lives.  I pray that you would say something sweet like "I miss you even when you leave the room" to your significant other or to your child.  It's so important not to skip over opportunities to give true, passionate love.  The kind of love that I hope Kristin and her now hubby are blessed with and feel for many, many years to come!