Procrastination: 2 years later

It has taken me two years to finally get my wedding dress cleaned. As I have been nesting and getting our home ready for baby bear, I realized that my wedding dress (still in a garment bag) was in the corner of the room waiting to be cleaned. I am not usually a procrastinator, I am usually a planner who gets things done right away. But when it came to getting my wedding dress cleaned I just never got around to it. Well, it is finally off to get cleaned and boxed up. It is definitely time. I loved that dress and although I don't expect Baby Bear to ever wear the dress, I do want to keep it for me.

One of my favorite pictures of my dress:

Let's Stay Together

One last blog entry reminiscing about the wedding and of course I have to round out the week with one more wedding photo (gotta get my moneys worth from my fabulous photos by Amy Squires).

Our first dance was to Let’s Stay Together by Al Green. In our 7 years of dating, we never had a song. From the time we got engaged, every time I heard a song I would listen to the lyrics to see if it could be our song. I liked Better Together by Jack Johnson, but that was a very popular wedding song, and Mr. Bear didn’t want to go with what was popular.

Mr. Bear probably doesn't remember but he was the one who actually picked out our song. At a friend’s wedding reception, Let’s Stay Together came on and Mr. Bear asked me to dance. As we were dancing underneath the moonlight, we looked at each other and I told him, “This is a great song.” Mr. Bear said, “This is our song.” And so we have it. Several months later, when it came to choosing music for the wedding, I remembered. Of course, Mr. Bear did not remember the conversation but then again there was alcohol involved. :-)

Let’s Stay Together
by Al Green

I’m, I'm so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is alright with me
'Cause you make me feel so brand new
I want to spend my life with you

Since, since we've been together
Loving you forever
Is what I need
Let me be the one you come running to
I'll never be untrue

Let’s, let's stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad

Why, why do people break up
Turn around and make up
I just can't see
You'd never do that to me
Staying around you is all I see

Let's, we ought to stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

Let's, let's stay together
Loving you whether, whether times are
good or bad, happy or sad

Photo by Amy Squires Photography

Wedding Planning: It doesn’t have to be stressful

Pinyo from Moolanomy is having the Best Wedding Tips and Stories Contest. I figured that since we just celebrated our first anniversary a few days ago that this was a great opportunity to reflect on our wedding and share a few tips.

I can’t believe that it has been one year since our wedding. What a wonderful time that was! I am a planner by nature and I loved every bit of planning my wedding. My wedding day was everything I ever dreamed about.

However, I did experience times when the planning got to me and became stressful. There are so many possibilities and so many choices and let’s face it, we all want our wedding to be special or better than the next person. But planning a wedding doesn't need to be stressful.

Remember the big picture.
Yes, this is one of the most important days of your life, but don't lose sight of what the day is truly about, it is about marriage. It is about marrying your best friend and the love of your life. The wedding is one day but the marriage lasts a lifetime. Luckily, my husband was my rock and reminded me of that when I needed it.

Do your research and hire people you trust.
Get some recommendations for vendors and do your research. But also remember that just because a vendor received rave reviews on a wedding website or from your friends, doesn't necessarily mean that they are the right fit for you. Every bride is different and every bride has a different expectation and vision of what they want, so trust your gut. If a vendor doesn’t feel right to you, then don’t book them. Keep looking; you want to trust your vendors. I interviewed several photographers until I found the right one who was within my budget and who I felt a great connection one. I felt that I could trust her with documenting one of the most important days of my life.

Don't do it all yourself.
Delegate! People will help you if you ask and people do truly want to help you. Accept some help from your wedding party and families and delegate. I had a lot of do-it-yourself projects and wanted things to be perfect. So letting go was hard for me. I realized that I needed help and in the end, hiring a day of coordinator and trusting my vision to them was the absolutely best thing I could have done. There was no way I was going to get everything ready and set up without them. I actually had the chance to sit down and eat food at my wedding. I was so happy at how smoothly the wedding flowed and how all I had to do was enjoy it. You don't have to spend a lot of money, you can even enlist the help of a friend or two (my day of coordinators were actually a couple of friends) to take care of the details the day of the wedding.

No, you don't have to.
With so many wedding resources available to brides such as websites, magazines, and the many reality TV wedding shows; wedding ideas are endless. But the downside to all those resources is the feeling that you have to have everything. You have to have favors, pin tuck table linens, chiavari chairs, you have to do a garter toss, and the list can go on and on. No you don't have to. Decide what is important for you and what will work with your budget. Don’t break your budget over some fancy chairs that no one will remember or even notice.

Enjoy yourself.
Last but not least enjoy yourself. Enjoy the engagement, enjoy the wedding, and enjoy your marriage. You are going to marry the love of your life, be happy and enjoy your engagement and most importantly enjoy some time with your fiancé. Don't get so absorbed into the planning process that you forget about him and neglect him; he is the reason why you are getting married. Take time away from planning to spend time with him. (And dragging him to meet with a vendor is not spending time with him.) Mr. Bear always said he couldn’t wait till the wedding was over so he could have me back. Don’t get so wrapped up in the details on the day of that you fail to enjoy your wedding, remember to delegate and let go. It is only one day so enjoy it while it lasts. And most importantly enjoy your marriage. After the focus is off of you and your husband, enjoy the time you have together.

Photo by Amy Squires Photography

To Great Family and Friends

I am in awe of all the anniversary wishes that we have received. Of course, our wonderful and loving parents remembered our anniversary. The kindness and love we received from our parents is so amazing. We are just so so lucky. My parents and my in-laws are absolutely just amazing people. My grandmother was so sweet, she called to send us happy wishes and she is just the cutest and sweetest. Plus, so many family and friends have also been so kind in recognizing our anniversary, from shout outs on blogs, text and email messages to cards and phone calls. We are so blessed to have so many people who love us and care so much about us that they have taken the time out of their busy lives to remember us on our special day. It is just so thoughtful. We are so fortunate to have such amazing people in our lives who shared our special day with us just a year ago. Thank you to our family and friends, we love you and we are so appreciative of the love and support you continually provide us. We are better people because of you.

I guess it also helps that it is an easy date to remember, there will always be some kind of party or celebration on Cinco de Mayo! We’re a little sneaky like that, we wanted to make sure no one would forget the date (least of all, Mr. Bear!) and I guess it worked, hehehehe, my plan worked :). I know, sometimes I am such a silly bear.

Photo by Amy Squires Photography

Happily Ever After!

You know what today is… Cinco de Mayo! And you know what that means… Mr. Bear and I celebrate our one year wedding anniversary today!!! It also marks our 8th anniversary. Mr. Bear and I met 8 years ago and 7 years later were married on this date.

How did we meet?

We met at a Cinco de Mayo party back in 2000. Neither of us were planning on going to the party. I didn’t want to go because a guy that I had gone on a date with was attending and I wasn’t really interested, but my best friend, Mrs. Bunny talked me into going. Mr. Bear was spontaneously invited the day of the party when a friend ran into him at the local Circle K. I guess it was serendipity, we were both supposed to be at that party and meet.I remember seeing him at the party playing the congas with the band that was playing and thinking that he was awfully cute. Later in the evening, we got to talking and really hit it off. At the end of the night, he discreetly gave me his business card before he left.
I waited 3 days before calling him; I had never called a guy before so I wrestled with the idea for a while. But he didn’t have any of my information, so if I wanted to see him again, I had to make the first move. I called and we went on our real first date and today we are married! Who knew where that one phone call would lead to? I am glad that I made that phone call!

7 years later

We were married 7 years later, it was a beautiful wedding. Everything was perfect and best of all I married my best friend and my partner for life! It was a beautiful day and definitely the happiest moment of my life. From my beautiful white dress and flowers to the food and even the De La Hoya fight on a big screen (It was the biggest fight of the year, and we Tivoed it so that people could watch it after the main festivities. Otherwise many of the men would have left the venue to find a sports bar nearby, this way everyone was happy). It was a perfect day!

Marriage

I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man, he makes me so happy and his love is everything to me. I have truly been enjoying marriage, every bit of it. For better or for worse, I look forward to many more years of happily ever after! I love you Mr. Bear!!

Photo by Amy Squires Photography