5 Wedding New Year's Resolutions

As my week of celebrating the New Year continues, I thought I would write a post on wedding New Year's resolutions. I saw a recent article on TheKnot that mentioned a bunch of rules that brides should follow, so that was my inspiration for wedding New Year's resolutions. These are resolutions that brides should take into consideration when planning their wedding in 2009.

1. I (The Bride) won't revise or peek at my gift registry.
Two problems are being addressed in this one, but one root of evil - the online registry. So now stores make it so easy for a bride with online registry access, right? Wrong! This only helps brides obsess over looking at their registry to see what people bought them and making tons of changes. Do it once and and make at most 2 revisions, then leave it alone and enjoy getting the gifts.

2. I (The Bride) won't make my bridesmaids crazy with matching shoes, hair styles, jewelry, nail polish, make-up or underwear. (And yes I have seen this one)
Now I can talk the talk, but I have to admit that I was a bit out of control when it came to this. Yes, you want to make sure that your bridesmaids look nice and the pictures will turn out great, but really, if you chose someone to be in your wedding who you worry will wear some crazy color shoes or gaudy jewelry, then you shouldn't choose them for your wedding.

3. I (The Bride) will stick to the budget.
One of the biggest issues couples have with weddings is going over budget. More and more I read about couples that blew way past their budget. What's even worse is that either the parents get stuck with the large tab or couples take on large credit card debt to pay for it. Take a stand, as much as I know you want to have the chocolate fountain, butler passed hors d'oeuvres, present-box invitations and fireworks - just take a minute to reevaluate what the most important elements are for your wedding.

4. I (The Bride) will not ask, whine, meddle, spy or get mad about his bachelor party.
This makes me laugh. I have had numerous friends ask me to go with them to spy at their fiancé's bachelor party and others that get into an all out fight over it. I say, if there is reason you are worried about him having too much fun at his bachelor party, then maybe you should rethink the wedding. Lighten up ladies. Go have a blast at your bachelorette party and enjoy your "last night."

5. I (The Bride) can make sensible weight goals.
I have heard horror stories on this one. Some brides get so into a diet or exercise that they actually make themselves extremely sick. Others have done crash diets and wonder why their dress is too big, and some even get mad at themselves when they don't reach their "goal" weight when really it wasn't that feasible at all. Yes you want to look your best on your wedding day, but diet and exercise the right way. No crazy fad or crash diets, it will only end up making you sick or causing other problems. Try going to a trainer, or go to Curves and have them tell you what your ideal weight should be. Then have them calculate what realistically you could be by your wedding date. That way, meeting that goal is safer, easier and a lot more pleasing when you meet it.

It's not too late to add these wedding New Year's resolutions to your list. Have any others on your list?

Wednesday Wedding Feature - Wedding Photo Calendar

In lieu of the New Year, I thought I would feature a product that a lot of people buy come January, a photo calendar. Lots of people head out to the stores to pick up a calendar and a lot of the times they don't really even pay attention to what's on it. Why get a calendar that you are going to have to look at for 365 days and see random images? Why not make it special to you and make a photo calendar of your wedding pictures? PhotoWorks offers a variety of photo calendars. You can choose from different sizes, styles and themes.


Maybe you aren't one of those people who likes staring at pictures of yourself. Try something different with your photo calendar. Make your own scenic photo calendar with pictures from your honeymoon.


The year after I got married I made 2 photo calendars. One had a variety of pictures of my husband and I with our friends and family the day of our wedding. The other had beautiful pictures I took of Jamaica on our honeymoon. We put one upstairs in our office, the photo calendar with the scenic pictures (reminding ourselves why we work) and the other one downstairs. It was nice to see those pictures around our house and they really were a conversation piece when people came over. So try something new this year and make a wedding photo calendar you can enjoy year round.