I was fortunate enough to go to a fabulous wedding the other day (congrats and mazel, Lauren and Jon!), and even though the music was pumping, the setting was top-notch, and the food was flawless, it’s their ceremony’s that stuck with me. I realized as different as it was from every other of the 22 I’ve attended (yes, I counted), the most enjoyable ones shared some key characteristics. Continue reading
Mere blocks away from the chaos and carnage that marred the annual Boston Marathon, a more serene scene was the background for a very special wedding for two runners. As Buzzfeed reports, a pair of athletes, who got engaged at the Chicago Marathon last October, planned their nuptials immediately to follow the Boston Marathon long before anyone had any inkling that a tragedy would take place there. Less than four hours after dual explosions rocked the Back Bay, Kelli Johnston and Robert Watling tied the knot in their running shoes in Boston Common. The couple thankfully had completed the race before the bombs detonated. Continue reading
Having worked for wedding magazines and websites and blogged about weddings, I’ve learned a few things along the way. My friends know this. My Twitter followers do, too. And because the world of weddings can be downright confusing, they often turn to me when they have a planning conundrum or an etiquette question. Some queries pop up more than others. So consider this the FAQs page on my site for brides and wedding guests. Continue reading
I love wedding ceremonies, but I wouldn’t have faulted any of our guests if they chose to skip witnessing our vows. Despite brides’ best efforts, ceremonies can be boring. (Besides, I’ve missed the temple portion of bar/bat mitzvahs–listening to someone in the middle of puberty sing in Hebrew at 10 AM on a Saturday can be downright painful.) But other couples want full attendance for the ceremony so badly, they may use this trick I just heard about to get them there. Continue reading
It seems there are two general schools of thought on hosting a wedding on a holiday: It’s always okay and it’s never okay. Really, though, there are some special days that are better for weddings than others. But even those better holidays come with caveats. Continue reading
Hurricane Sandy had the power to knock out wedding venues’ electricity, and worse, flood them to the point of destruction. While losing your venue so soon before your wedding is horrific, it’s an obvious problem, one you’re hyper-aware you need to remedy. Other Sandy effects, like those that follow, aren’t as apparent–and you may not even know about them until it’s too late. Continue reading
Ordinarily, I crash almost as soon as I get home from a wedding, especially after a two-hour drive, most of which was spent in traffic. But I didn’t want to fall asleep and risk forgetting some important things that occurred to me at this afternoon’s event. Continue reading
Paul and I decided to do something special for Memorial Day Weekend this year because it was the first time since 2008 that we didn’t have a wedding that weekend–and in 2008, I had my bachelorette party around the holiday, so it really had been a long while since we were free. So we drove up to Albany to visit our friends and their baby Grady. Then, we headed up to Montreal. And guess what I found… Continue reading
Yesterday was my first wedding (of six) for 2012. It was also the first-ish time I went to a wedding without Paul since we were married, and I had some funny realizations. Continue reading
Brides and grooms: You don’t have to invite anyone you don’t want to for any reason. And if an invited guest asks to bring someone you didn’t invite, you absolutely have the right to do this… Continue reading