Is it cultural appropriation to have Japanese paper cranes at my wedding?
I started folding origami cranes obsessively back in elementary school after reading the very sad story about Sadako, a Japanese girl who survived the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima only to develop leukemia and die while working to fold 1,000 cranes. As a result, I would love to use origami cranes in our wedding. Is this cultural appropriation?
Planning tools 101: Your wedding guest list planner
In case you missed it, we recently launched a comprehensive and totally customizable document of wedding planning spreadsheets to get your wedding planning game on point. First we featured a big ol’ wedding timeline and now we’re rolling out the wedding guest list planner to keep track of all your guests, their RSVPs, contact info, food preferences, gift, blood type… everything you need to know.
Marriage legal changes you NEED to know about (in plain English, we promise!)
You’re married! Now that you’ve gone from “Friends with Benefits” to “Couple Sharing Actual Legal Benefits” there is a lot to do to put your married house in order. I now pronounce you… about to do A LOT more paperwork. You need to update the beneficiaries for ALL potential sources of income individually with the relevant institutions to ensure a smooth transition of funds/ownership. Fear not, offbeat couples! Here is a handy chart of who EACH of you should update, and for what. In plain English.
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….
Groomsgirl rules you HAVE to live by
These are the official rules that all groomsgirls, best women, and any ladies standing by their favorite dudes: there are NO rules. We recently spied Orange is the New Black’s Lauren Lapkus at this super gorgeous vegan and pink wedding as one of the groom’s attendants. She ROCKED a feminine suit that matched the groomsmen and even walked one of the bridemaids into the reception. Hell yes! After that, we knew we needed another reminder of how awesome groomsgirls and best women can be. (Oh, and spoiler: these tips totally work for bridesdudes, too!)
Here are the things you totally do not have to do as a groomsgirl:
Why dance when you can have a “first Rock Band song?”
If you’re not into dancing, how do you have a first dance, anyway? Can you skip it? Spoiler: you totally can. Crystal and Kalem opted to skip the forced dancing, which they weren’t into, and go with their roots: video gaming! Specifically, Rock Band. They rocked it out in front of their guests as their “first Rock Band song.”