Something old, something new...

Something borrowed...well, that's kind of gross, isn't it?

I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but I have a dress. A wedding dress. A dress for my wedding. Because I'm getting married.

It's white and I love it. That's all I'm going to tell you. I like being mysterious. That and Le Fiance doesn't want to know ANYTHING about what I'm wearing that day. Nothing. Which is kind of okay with me, it just gets hard to keep my mouth shut. Oh, the things we do for love.


But now that I have the dress, I'm running into problems. The old adage "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" is great and all, but what's old that I could wear on my wedding day? That kind of weirds me out. And I'd like to borrow something, but what? What do you borrow from people? Thinking about it kind of gives me the shivers. The new part is easy: dress, duh. And so is the blue. One of the first presents Fiance gave me was blue rope bracelet; it's plain, it's kind of camp-y, but I love it. When he gave it to me he said "Every time you look at this think of me" (cheesy, judge) and I do. And he has a "matching" yellow one, so somewhere on my person will be the blue bracelet. But can you double up on them? Can I get blue shoes, too? Then it would be "Something old, something new, something blue and another thing blue" right? Does that count? Or can I just change it altogether?

I know that somehow, some way I will have all things "something." But what do I borrow? I want to borrow accessories (again, can't say much because of Fiance) but I'm kind of (okay, REALLY) picky. And can I buy shoes and wear them and count them as "old"? I just don't know these things.

But the main thing is I have a dress. OH and a fiance. A wonderful one, at that.

What did you borrow on your wedding day? Or did you opt out of that tradition?

The "I Dos"

I think hands-down, one of the hardest things about wedding planning is remembering what comes after: the marriage. Don't get me wrong, I think about the marriage part all the time. We're going through premarital counseling right now, so we're DEFINITELY learning about how things "really" go (I know what you're thinking, "Wait, it's not all cuddles and romantic dinners?" I know, it surprised me too! Kiddingggggg.). But somewhere between the cake tasting, decoration making, and vendor confirming it's easy to lose sight of what the wedding means and symbolizes, the joining of two people. Forever.

And maybe that's why I struggle so much with the vows. To me, the vows are what "make" the ceremony. The vows are, in essence, a snapshot of the couple; it's the part I wait for and look forward to at every ceremony. What are they promising to do? To have and to hold? Or to take out the trash every Tuesday and let her cook one chocolate dessert every week? I think traditional vows are perfect for some couples, repeating words that have been voiced for centuries and saying the same things your parents said is a powerful thing. I also like non-traditional vows, ones that are unique to the couple.

But I see issues with both. The traditional vows are just that...traditional. I love them, I do, but Scott and I aren't exactly traditional people and our wedding will reflect that. I think the words are touching, but just not "us." Then there are non-traditional, which are cute, but sometimes leave people out of the loop and asking "Wait, what'd he just say?" or "Was that supposed to be funny? I don't get it." Granted, I know this is our ceremony, but it's still a day that we're sharing with people and I don't want to have to plant people in attendance to laugh at the right time. That's just awkward.

So I think we'll combine both, traditional and non-traditional. Maybe we'll just re-word some things and make it more "us" or maybe we'll google "vows" and see what happens (Is that bad? Because that's probably what we'll be doing.).

Either way, I can practically promise you that some of what this darling couple says will make it in there. Seriously. I cry every time I watch this.

Gene + Jill // Two Pease in a Pod from capture studios on Vimeo.

I mean, really? So adorable. I die.

So what were your vows? Did you go the traditional route, or choose to write your own?

My Nightmare

I've had wedding nightmares before. You know, it's my wedding day and Mom says, "Oh, hey, p.s. I forgot to send out wedding invitations so we just used the phone system at church and everyone will get a voicemail about it." And then the flowers show up and they're huge, gaudily pinkish-mauve roses and the wedding planner whips out forest green tablecloths and everyone thinks it's beautiful. Sick. I've had those before.

But this nightmare, this is of an entirely different caliber. I think every girl dreams not only of the day itself, but what she will look like; her hair, make-up, and of course, the dress. She looks stunning and she feels like a knock-out. That's what girls dream of. So when I start having nightmares regarding how I look and feel...well, that's just downright nasty, subconscious.

It goes a little something like this: I'm walking down the aisle with my Dad. He's smiling and patting my arm, while I'm a little bit teary eyed but can't keep a grin off my face. I shift the positions of my arms a little bit....and something feels wrong. As I lift my arms, I realize that I haven't shaved under my arms in what appears to be, oh, three months or so. Horrified, I slam my arms down and keep them there the remainder of the day. In every picture, my arms look huge because they're glued to my sides.

And the worst part? This is not a one-time dream. To date, I think I've had it about seven times. Awesome.

So, friends, if you see me move in limited ways, you'll know. If you come up to hug me and it's like hugging a T-rex, you'll know. And most importantly, if you see Emily slip me something pink that glimmers in the sunlight in the middle of the ceremony, oh, you'll know. So don't mind me if it looks like I'm doing a strange dance mid-ceremony, I'm just sparing everyone the trauma of unsightly underarm hair. You're welcome.