...and 7 months later...

This just in, Todd and I have been married for seven months. I repeat, Todd and I have been married for seven months! In that time, I feel like Todd and I have gotten a pretty good handle on marriage. There are fun times, frustrating times, funny times, boring times, lovey times, and annoying times... (That last one was for him... For some reason, I find joy in being a little annoying!) 
Earlier today though, I was looking back at some of my old school emails. The oldest ones I found (of any sort of interest) were from February of last year. If you have at all been following these little blog posts, you know that Todd and I got engaged last February! The emails I found were to and from my dad. We were talking about the date Todd and I chose, and whether or not a lot of his family would travel to Lyons, were we were planning on having the wedding. These emails, sparked a past want that I had. I really wanted to share some tips and thoughts with you that could possibly help you out on your big day, or at least get you thinking of things that you might not have thought of.... Thinking, things, thought... Anyone else catch that? So here it is, a list of ten things to think about prior to the big day! Disclaimer, this list will probably grow in the future!
1. Save the notes, cards, letters, and emails you get in those early days of your engagement. As you prepare for your wedding, you will get sweet things like this! Save them. They are fun to look back on, and they make you remember how awesome your wedding day turned out to be!
2. Your veil... I know some of you won't wear one, and that's SOOOO okay! I did choose to wear one, after thinking I wouldn't, and then being told by my oldest sister that "I would feel more bridal" if I did. Anyway, should you choose to wear one, and should it be shoulder length of longer, (birdcage girls, you're safe!) Please  take if off after the ceremony. I wore mine to the church , during the ceremony, and to the reception, and by the end of the night, I was so tired of it. It looked great, and stayed in, but my issue came when someone would hug me. (You get hugged like 5,000 times on your wedding day, BTW!) Every time someone would hug me, my head would get pulled back, or I would be frozen because my veil would be stuck to my head, pressed against my back, and weighted down by their loving arms. 
3. Cry when you want. I cried so much on me wedding day. I cried on the way to the church (You'll hear about that shortly.) I cried when I saw Todd for the first time. I cried before I walked down the isle. (As my ring "bears" help up their teddy bears and roared.) And I cried as I walked down the isle. (Those beautiful pictures can be seen in the wedding photos section!) Cry. Do what you want! It's you're day!
4. Have a drink from Starbucks! Come on, we've all pinned those cutesie pictures of brides holding their Starbucks cups with "Bride" scrolled across the cup in cursive that looks like someone from Disney wrote it! It's fun, just do it!
5. If you are getting yourself to the ceremony, and you are as bat-poop crazy as I am, (Can you say CONTROL FREAK) have someone with you who understands your crazy. Not *you're crazy* because heck, if they know you, they already know that. I am taking about your crazy. (My crazy... My specific brand.) I had my cousin writing notes upon notes of things that people needed to do or check on, in order for my to feel like things would go well.. (Which they did! Go me... I mean, go her!)
6. GO WITH THE FLOW. I know after the confession I made in number 5, you're probably laughing at me right now, but bite your tongue! That was BEFORE everything go started. Once the first bridesmaid walks down that isle, buckle up. You're on a wedding roller coaster! And beautiful bride, your coaster will be perfect!
7. Eat the food at your reception. Our dinner was amazing. The cake that I licked off my face, after Todd smashed it there was delicious. The bite of one of my four different cupcake flavors was delectable. But that's all I got. Todd didn't even get any of our cake! If you're busy, which you will be, have someone pack you a to-go box of a little bit of EVERYTHING. You can't taste all of the compliments that you will get on how great your cake was. If I could have, this tip wouldn't be necessary.
8. Be willing to use decorations and things like that from the people who have them! We took hundreds of empty wine bottles from friends and family. We borrowed Christmas lights, my father in-law cut our centerpieces from trees on his property, we borrowed trellis from family. We used candles, tealights, and beading from my sisters' weddings. This day is expensive enough. Borrow stuff!!
9. I had three... oh what's the word?... Wedding helper-outer-girls! One who helped out at our church, and then two of my best friends. They were wonderful! They handled everything. My list of crazies. Done. My last minute concerns, they had them done before I could even ask. NOTHING went wrong on my wedding day!... Okay, a lot probably did, but did I know about it? NO. So, like I said. NOTHING went wrong! It was the best day! So, you have as many wedding helper-outer-girls as you want! And the word just came to me. Personal attendant. But you can call them what you wish. 
10. Finally, number ten... and something that I've kind of done, but still not yet really. Go to Hobby Lobby and buy (or have your handy hubs make you) a memory box. Todd's cousin had one that I was able to see a couple weeks before our wedding. It was beautiful. There was a wedding program, her garter, her jewelry, her hair clip, a little item from their head table, and a couple sweet memories from their honeymoon! Mine are in a shoe box! I'll make it to Hobby Lobby one of these days! (Was that a read on my not-so-handy hubs?! Why yes, yes it was! If he could build me one out of teaching, writing, or journalism skills, mine would be so much better than anything at Hobby Lobby!)