Some News

Well I've been bitten.
I am not entirely sure how it has happened... but I want to do genealogy work so bad! I am realizing that I know nothing about my grandfather and suddenly HAVE TO KNOW.
Unfortunately... It is so difficult to get information when you don't know anything! Especially when its out of the country... My grandfather was born in Wales and lived in Canada.

If any of you have tips and tricks let me know... I'd prefer free things because it seems like any website I go to to purchase a birth certificate has me typing in the info that would be printed and not giving me anything more. And I haven't figured out how to look at census information.

Thanks!

Wedding Advice (unsolisited)

A friend of mine is working on a bridal magazine and has a section about advice from brides to anticipating brides, and I thought I would write my responses to some questions as well as some advice I have, things that worked well for my wedding, things I liked, etc.

Former brides have any advice on what they wish they knew before they got married, to give to future brides? I believe all brides should look like themselves on their wedding, so that they look like themselves in the photos… that said, I do think that false eyelashes are a must. I hadn’t remembered that in the rush of everything, and the photos of me before eyelashes are blah and you can’t see my eyes as well, they aren’t very defined. The photos after I got my falsies put on are much better. 

What wedding traditions are the most important to keep, and if the reception is worth it?  A tradition I kept was the cake cutting, but instead of having it near the end of the reception, it was how we kicked off the reception, that way people were able to eat cake all night leaving us with less left overs to worry about!

Do the bride's parents still pay for the wedding?  I was slightly nontraditional, having two receptions… but either way our parents split the cost for both.

Are fresh flowers a necessity for center pieces?  I had my heart set on real fresh flowers… but leading up to the wedding it wasn’t working out in the budget, at least the florists I was talking to were not interested in working with my budget, so I went with handmade fabric flowers for $100, three bouquets, 14 boutonnieres and pins. My center pieces were buckets with candy, edible for my guests and went with my whimsical theme. I think it is more important to go with your theme.

Should we invest in both a wedding and candid photographer?  I had a photographer, whom I had talked with beforehand and she had printed up little cards with pictures I had said I NEEDED, so she could flip through and not forget the day of what photos we needed to do. I think that in this digital day and age, it is not necessary to have a candid photographer because so many of your friends and family will probably do it for ya. But, you need to decide how important the pictures are to you, because it might be worth it to use more of your budget in the photography section than others.

Are bridal parties even used? In the LDS culture the bridal party seems to be more a formality for fun photos. It is nice to have a maid of honor or a friend picked to help you throughout the day, like to make sure you eat or have water or repin your hair, do the little things that you might forget or not have time to remember to do.

And as far receptions go, it seems to me like the husband and bride didn't even want to be at the reception. So, why go through the effort? Decide that yourself, for me it was something I wanted, I had finally gotten married and wanted the world to know and to party with me! I had a blast at my reception and actually wished we could have stayed longer, been a part of the photo booth we had set up a little more, dance more, eat more food! My dad had offered to just give us money instead of having a reception, but for me it was what I wanted.

Toss Bouquet: I tossed a pair of sunglasses that said “Bachelorette.” It was funny and a lot cheaper than a toss bouquet that the catcher probably ends up throwing out anyway…