It's All About Love

Christopher Todd Studios

We are all overly obsessed with weddings. And I say "we" because clearly, there is something about weddings that drives me. There is something about a wedding that keeps us happy, keeps us hopeful, and allows us to dream big.

Now I am not saying that there is anything wrong with a wedding. Personally, I believe that your wedding day is an important day and should be treated as so. So the hours and hours on Pinterest and day after day reading my blog (hehe :)) are not a bad thing...at all! Your wedding day is a day you should never forget so the emphasis our society puts on a wedding day is great in my eyes.

But sometimes, through all of the planning, the stress, the dreaming, we forget what a wedding is all about. This day is all about love. It is all about marriage. And sometimes we become so enthralled by weddings in social media, that we forget to remember what a wedding day is all about. If I could give you one piece of advice to stay stress-free during the planning of your wedding, I would tell you to remember the ultimate goal of your big day and with that, anything that goes wrong will turn from stress and tears, to laughs and memories made.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I have asked for advice from all of you! I am absolutely not an expert on love, and none of you are either. But we all have felt love and can learn a thing or two from one another. Each of us have our strengths, and we have our weaknesses, so with each others' strengths, let's change our weaknesses. If you need some positive inspiration, some help with your engagement or marriage, or just want to read about love, then don't stop here :)

For more of my personal advice on love and marriage, visit "365 Days of Love."

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Jealousy isn't love, nor is it evidence of love. Jealousy is fear. Love doesn't drive people mad, it drives them sane. Desire, in its different forms, can drive people to do anything. Love never drives people to kill, steal, cheat or worry. - Katie

Love and marriage thrive off of three things; communication, commitment and compromise. If you can both master those and you both purpose it in your heart to use each day as an oppeotunity to make your partner happy, you will achieve a fulfilling and successful marriage. Butterflies and good looks don't make a marriage last, it's the mutual love and respect that does. - Amanda

Remember to always water the flowers and not the weeds. What you water will grow so always focus on the positive things about him. Tell him little things you appreciate and have him do the same to you - Kenadee

Listen...compromise...repair and always be grateful! - Jaisa

Love is an adventure. Don't forget to be spontaneous -- take a weekend trip, go to the park, or try a new restaurant. Love is all about blossoming into both individuals and a couple together. - Kellie

In today's modern society, it is very easy (and common!) to say "I've had enough," and to get angry and call it quits. But always remember, if you ever need to forgive, help, love, listen, and lift someone, it should be your spouse. It is easy to feel unloved and lonely, even in marriages. - Mary Helen

Be 100% honest with yourself and your partner. And adore your partner all the time.
- Kaitlynn

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." - 1 Corinthians 12:4-12 - Mari

Start and end every day with a kiss. No matter how busy, tired, irritated, or discouraged, make sure that your significant other knows that you love them despite any external circumstances. - Kelly

 

Giving Your Wedding A Personal Touch

Written with love, by Sherri Collis

So it is wedding season and this year you are getting married too! How many times have you gone to a string of weddings and they all start to blur together because they were all so similar? Don’t let your wedding be one lost in the crowd, let’s make it unique!

Think about the two of you as a couple. How did you meet? What do you like to do? How can you make that a part of your special day? How can we make your wedding stand out? You want to have the wedding everyone remembers, not because it cost a fortune, but because it was so you!

Let’s start with the ceremony…… honoring your heritage adds a special touch and creates a memorable service. There are many cultural customs that can be incorporated that would allow both of you to shine a light on your backgrounds but blend them to create your new family. Wedding broom jumping, myrtle leaves for your hair, henna painting, vase or glass smashing for happiness…..what would be meaningful to you? Consider unusual music choices. Harps, bagpipes, harmonicas, banjos, what sounds beautiful to the two of you? Are you a writer? How about composing a special poem for the ceremony? This is the time when you are pledging your life to one another. Be sure it reflects who you are and how you see your future together.

The reception is a time for fun. Colors, lights, flowers, accessories, and food are all ways to show your individuality. Consider a custom beverage that the two of you create together. It makes a mark of individuality on your reception and can actually keep down your bar tab!

Photo by Mike Doherty Photography

Think outside the box! Do the two of you enjoy sports? Consider a ball for your guests to sign instead of a guest book. It is much more fun to display and you are more likely to see it regularly. Maybe a baseball bat or helmet for signatures? Where’s that imagination taking you?

Are you country fans? How about a barbeque instead of the usual buffet dinner? Like the theatre? Let’s use velvet curtains for drama and add a stanchion and velvet rope entryway. Are you beach bums? Consider making some sand candles as favors. Don’t go overboard as it isn’t a costume party, but add flair in the little touches to show your personalities.

Let’s consider creating a logo that you can use on your invitations and put on an up light to shine on your ceiling or on a down light to shine on your dance floor, and on your favors and thank you notes to tie the day together. It can be your initials, or an outline of your pet, a motorcycle pulling cans like a wedding vehicle, let your creative juices flow. What means something special to you?

Are you scuba fans? May I suggest an ongoing slide show of your best underwater photos? The same could be done with hikes, bikes, or vacations. You could add theme related favors, table markers, and seat indicators.

This is the day when you celebrate bringing together two individuals and join into one family. It is also your opportunity to share with your friends and families what makes the two of you special together. You have memories and hobbies and experiences that brought you to this point and to the decision to get married. Share them! Let the ones that you love in on the journey. This is the time to be unique. You will have one wedding and I encourage you to let your personalities shine!

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Creations by Collis

We handle the work and worry so you can be a guest at your own event. I specialize in working with couples who realize a wedding is a day and a marriage is a lifetime and therefore want to stay on budget to allow for the lifetime to not start off in debt.

Should Eloping Be Frowned Upon?

We all live very busy lives, and adding wedding planning into the mix doesn’t always jive well...unless your name is Raquel, in which case you will always have time for weddings! We realize that with different couples there are different circumstances and this can affect the style of the wedding. There can be a lot of details to think about while planning your wedding, that’s why you’re here with us now isn’t it? To figure this whole wedding planning thing and straighten out the details, right? Well, regardless of whether there are 500 guests 30 guests, there is the food, the music, the photos, the flowers, the dresses and so much much more! And what if there are only two people - the bride and the groom? What if the couple wants to elope? What if you want to eliminate all the costs, all guests, and just spend your wedding day with the one who matters most to you? Well, to that I say, go right on ahead! Elope!

There is nothing wrong with eloping! Some couples just don’t want to deal with all the craziness that can be created while making sure nothing is forgotten in the planning stages. I can actually think of a few couples in my circle of friends and family who have eloped. Now, when I say eloped, a couple different interpretations come to mind: secretly running away in the middle of the night to marry the man of your dreams or just the small ceremony in the courthouse with your best friends . I kind of think that if a couple whisks away in the middle of the night to get married it adds a certain dreaminess to the whole scenario! But, I’m sure there is a lot of explaining to do in the morning! Hehe!

The wedding day has been exaggerated to the extent where brides are spending up to hundreds of thousands of dollars on their wedding day. Then, there is the opposite side of things where the bride and groom spend money on the marriage license, head over to the justice of the peace and then go to a nice dinner at their favorite restaurant afterwards. In my opinion, a wedding is a wedding and both scenarios count. We have to remember what the whole point of a wedding is this: to marry the man or woman of your dreams! If that involves everyone that you have ever encountered in your entire life or just the man or woman of your dreams, it’s a successful wedding day! Each couple is different and each couple has their own style, along with their own circumstances that affect how the wedding day pans out.

There are many factors that determine whether or not a couple will elope...

Budget: This is one of the biggest reasons why I feel many couples choose to elope. I’m not even engaged yet and my boyfriend has said to me that we’ll just elope! Now, I love weddings to their finest detail and would love an extravagant day to celebrate (all who know me know this is true, it’s quite sad how obsessed I am) but the reality of things is that weddings are expensive!

There are some couples who check out some loans or credit cards for their wedding day, and there are others who pay out of their savings. I don’t plan on going into debt, so what I have in my savings and what will be used for the wedding. So, as you can see, I will have a pretty small wedding! Which is fine! Weddings are special events that just mean celebrating the love that you and your future spouse share together. So, if you want to have just your groom and your best friend present then that’s great! That’s intimate and will make your wedding day special. Why will it make it special? Because it will be the wedding day that you and your groom want. That’s what’s important here. The ultimate goal of a wedding day that I spoke of earlier...to get married to the one you love!  

Other couples feel that instead of draining their savings account (like future me, meh.) or going into debt, they will use the money that would have gone towards a wedding and put that towards the down payment of a house, or towards starting a business, or starting a family! So, they would choose to have a small wedding ceremony of close family and a few friends and then invest the money into their future life together. Then later on down the road, you can have a big party with everyone, maybe renew your vows too!

Another reason that couples might choose to elope is to avoid drama. Sticky situations with families, second marriages, kids, or even job situations might be playing into this decision. If a couple has lived with each other beforehand, been married before, has to switched jobs and move, or anything else that might cause stress related to planning a big wedding ceremony and reception then it might suit the couple better to just keep it small and (hopefully!)drama-free.

Eloping used to be something that people would look down on, something done in secret. But in our world today it can be a practical response to what life throws at a couple. Don’t get me wrong here, I loooove weddings so I am all for a couple celebrating with everyone right then and there but that isn’t everyone’s style or available to everyone.

Some things to keep in mind when planning an elopement:

1. Remember who you might want to share the experience of getting married with. Your parents or grandparents? Your siblings? Your best friends? What about the groom’s side? Mentors? If the list starts to grow, and you can’t think of not spending this precious day with them, maybe eloping isn’t for you. There might be some people in your life who will be hurt if they aren’t involved in your wedding day. I know it’s your day but they might be dreaming of your special wedding day as well. Just think about it first, make sure this is what you want, it shouldn’t be a spur of the moment decision.

2. Check out some venues near you, some have nice packages for eloping. I know of a place near me who offers a “Wedding for Two”, complete with a romantic breakfast in the morning. What a sweet idea, huh?

3. Just because the wedding might be small, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep the memories forever! Don’t forget to hire a photographer so you can look back and remember the day for years to come :)

4.  Will you wear a wedding dress? Will you carry flowers? Where do you get your marriage license? Are there any traditions you want to incorporate? Hiring a wedding planner can still make the whole process smoother by organizing and helping you along the way.

A wedding doesn’t dictate the marriage. Whether it is only you and your love or you, your love and everyone you’ve ever met, your marriage will be successful if the two of you are happy together. At the end of the day, if your're married then I’d say it ended well.