Category Archive

Friends & Family Advice

Whether it’s your mom pressuring you to lose weight or not inviting family to your wedding or how to fire a bridesmaid… this is our archive of how to handle wedding planning drama with friends and family. Be sure to check out our archive of copy ‘n’ paste conflict resolution posts, too!

Lost ships: When election results strike fear in your wedding planning heart

Lost ships: When election results strike fear in your wedding planning heart

It’s safe to say this recent election has brought increased tension to the (often already-dysfunctional) dynamics in many families throughout the nation. As the weeks go on, many of you (especially on the not-winning side of the election results) may now find yourselves feeling lost at sea in turbulent political and emotional waters. And if your shipmates in this metaphor are the family members with whom you most butt heads, it can feel like there’s mutiny afoot.

Oh, and all your seemingly-mutinous shipmates? They are invited to your upcoming wedding.

Wedding pirates: making peace when a friend steals your wedding ideas

Wedding pirates: making peace when a friend steals your wedding ideas

Wedding planning is hard, you guys. This we know. You’re inundated with ideas, traditions, must-haves, how-tos, and a general sense of “whatthefuckdidigetinto.” So you start to panic. You search Pinterest or Offbeat Bride or wherever to figure out how to plan this hugh jass party you’ve never planned before. But wait, you know something. You’ve been to weddings. You’ve been to friends’ weddings. And that’s where kernals of ideas start to happen. Is it a slippery slope to “stealing” ideas from friends? Yep. And if you’re the friend with the ideas, you may not like it. Not when you’ve carefully crafted your aesthetic and DIY projects and authentic-to-you ideas. Here’s how to deal when you feel that a friend has stolen your wedding ideas…

4 ways to get out of being a bridesmaid

“The dog ate my dress”: 4 ways to get out of being a bridesmaid

Declining to be in a wedding party or worse, backing out after you’ve already committed, can be a delicate maneuver. Sometimes it’s financial, sometimes it’s too much of a time commitment, and sometimes there are just personal or emotional reasons that you can’t commit. But sometimes it has to be done for logistical reasons or just for your own self-care. Here are four ways to get out of being a bridesmaid if you’ve found that it’s not in the cards for you.

Should I schedule my wedding for the same day as a family member's wedding?

Should I schedule my wedding for the same day as a family member’s wedding?

My fiancé and I have been together for over nine years. Each year we celebrate our anniversary on the day we made our relationship official, and on our 2016 anniversary — he proposed to me. After all the emotional dust settled from this, my first thought was: we’ll get married on our anniversary in 2017!

Then I remembered, my half-brother’s cousin already announced that they would do their wedding on that very date….