Fear and loathing and wedding planning: working through your shit during the engagement
The engagement period, the period between “Yes” and “I do,” is transitory — a life-changing transition. We spend a lot of time focusing on the actual day. It is, after all, supposed to be the “best day of your life.” There are magazines, websites, and blogs dedicated to this monumental moment, but few people talk about the importance of simply being engaged. Marrying another person is a big deal. A lot comes with that commitment.
Here are my lessons learned…
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.