No Regrets...OK, Maybe a Couple

I wrote before on the topic of having no regrets, absolutely loving your day regardless of what trouble/mini disasters came your way.
Well, I still believe in that positive affirmation, and regardless of what happened, whatever detail wasn't immortalized in our wedding album, our wedding was truly a very special day for the both us.
But...I would be lying if there are a couple things that I would reconsider if some magic time machine took me back to the moment we sat down and said, "Let's plan this thing."

1) Daytime versus Nighttime
We had a lunch wedding. It saved us a ton of money. Our wedding venue was a fantastic place. But...I still wonder, what if we had a nighttime wedding? Would more people have danced on the dance floor? Thanks to our fun-loving, energetic college buddies and my adorable flower girls, the dance floor wasn't empty. But my usually-dance-happy Filipino family just wasn't feeling it at 4 p.m. I don't really think of this as a regret, but it is something I do think about. We did search far and wide for a dinner option that fit our budget (that included everything else in our wishlist), but we decided that we could forego dinner for all the other things we deemed more important. The money we saved was a great asset to us--without it, we would have struggled big time financially. I wouldn't give up the things we did have in lieu of a dinner wedding, but sometimes I do wonder if there was a possible dinner venue out there for us.

2) The Guest List
Yes, I know, I've discussed the trials and tribulations of deciding who the "lucky" folks to be present at our wedding would be. I never would want to go through that torture again. I never really felt comfortable with putting a value on people I did care about -- who we like more, who would be rather see at our wedding. Growing up, my family always threw parties and it was always the more the merrier. I wish I had more of my family sharing in our special day. I wish I could have invited more of our friends. We couldn't invite children, and although our was a sophisticated affair, having children at the wedding probably would have made it more light-hearted and fun. But throwing a budget wedding, you have to be conscious of the number of people you invite. I still wouldn't have caved in to the pressure of the obligatory invites, but I think we would have tried to add more people. Of course, something else would have had to give...don't know what, but no use in worrying about it now!

So, yes, now you have it--sure there may be some things you would change if you had the chance, maybe researched a little more, and maybe some things you regret. But in the end, worrying about it, or dwelling on it, doesn't really do you any good. I say, when you plan your wedding really think about what's important to you. Realize that you may have to give up some things, but be at peace with it. 

I say, thinking about the would-have, could-have, should-haves every now and then is normal. We're human and our weddings were a big one-time deal. But I think about all the positives that made that day the unique, memorable, unforgettable moment it was for the both of us, and those tinges of regrets fade away.

Head to your nearest Borders...Now!

The wedding aisle at my nearest Borders -- some helpful planning tips at deep discounts!

When I heard Borders was closing and clearing out all of their books at discounted prices, of course this bookworm and book hoarder had to get her goods.
My finds? Well, they might bore you...
A  book on digital photography (for the aspiring, ahem, wanabe, photographer here), travel novels by late great travel writer Freya Stark, Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron, recipe books on baking and tea...
I'm a nerd.
But while combing through each aisle (had to make sure I didn't miss a gem), I found the wedding aisle, still with some useful resources - The Crafty DIY Bride, and other wedding planning books. I know when planning our wedding, a few books were pretty helpful.
Now each store might have different stock, and who knows how cleaned out your nearest Borders can be, but it's worth the looksey!

In case you didn't see it...the paper crane chandelier

Yes, our cranes made it safely north to Canada. Yes, they joined thousands of other cranes from around world in a gorgeous paper crane chandelier.

For each crane 50 cents was donated to cancer research.

Beautiful

*All photos from the Wedding Co.

Hello Again

No, your eyes are not deceiving you.

I am writing a post after, oh, nine months of letting this wedding blog languish untouched.

Obviously, I knew posting would be light after the big day...but I didn't expect complete abandonment.

So what's bringing on this renewed motivation for wedding blogging?

Well, the hubby and and I just celebrated our one-year anniversary.

It was a quiet, low-key affair. We went back to the restaurant/banquet hall where had our reception for a romantic dinner. We ordered our favorite dish on our reception menu.  Still as delicious as we remembered it.

But we were a little sad to see our wedding cake wasn't on the menu anymore.

Things change, that we know. But the memory stays the same, always there to come back to when we want to.

We sat there, held hands and reminisced. Even with all the crazy drama, guest list issues, things we probably would have done differently, we truly had a wonderful, memorable wedding.

And as time passes, new memories are created, new adventures, new lessons are learned...together.

I still love weddings, and as life goes on from our own special day, I start to realize yes, there are weddings going on every day. The day that you spent months planning becomes special only to you and your husband (or wife). You'll see a fabulous idea at someone else's wedding and wonder, "Darn, why didn't we think of that?"

But even then, I still enjoy being at weddings. I enjoy browsing over wedding porn (of course, not as much as I did during the planning stages). And I enjoy talking to brides-to-be and listening to the ideas and providing advice when I can, and when they want it (Beware, newly wedded wives! Do not be come a Wedding-Know-it-All once you tie the not! Engaged couples do not want to hear, "Well in our wedding..." )

A friend of mine snapped a photo of me walking down the aisle on the big day. It was of the beautiful veil my aunt made for me for free, basically with $20 of tulle and lace. She posted it on Facebook a year later to wish us a happy anniversary.

A reminder to thank my aunt again!