From My Wedding to Yours

Thank you notes are an absolute essential for bridal showers and wedding gifts. They acknowledge the receipt of your gift, as well as your thankfulness in receiving it. There are many "rules and guidelines" when it comes to writing and sending thank you cards. I have several friends who years after their wedding still have a cousin or some other relative who isn't happy because their thank you card didn't come in a timely manner, or thought the wording wasn't "appreciative enough." Personally, I am terrible when it comes to sending thank you notes. Seriously terrible. Even now, when someone brings me dinner or a gift, I verbally tell them thank you and am very honest in letting them know I'm terrible at sending notes - but that I truly appreciate their help or gift. Since I hate writing thank you notes so much, I never expect to get one. And if I do, I just glance over it, then into the recycle bin it goes. Note to reader: This technique does NOT wor

Looking for a modest wedding gown, bridesmaid dresses, or prom gowns? Be sure to go over and check out Latter-Day Bride's semi-annual Sample Dress Sale. All in-stock gowns are on sale and those that were used as samples for display, etc are deeply discounted. Prices start at $49! Check out their website for locations or online shopping.

Guest books are essential for any wedding reception - no matter how intimate or large your gathering may be. Guest books are one of those sentimental items you'll love to pull out over the years, read through, and remember all your family, friends, and co-workers. When you think of a guest book, most likely you think of something like this traditional book from USA Bride (all of the products featured today are from USA Bride). Traditional guest books may be white or black - some even come in other colors as well. They are all the same in that when you open the book, it's filled with blank lined pages where your guests will sign their names, and possibly add their addresses. If you're planning a truly large reception then a traditional book would be perfect. If you're looking for a book and find that the traditional rectangular ones are a bit on the boring side for you, then consider something a bit more flirty such as this heart shaped guest book . Another fun twist on

This past week has been very interesting for my family. My nine-year-old son had surgery and we spent the week in the hospital with him. Much of that time was spent sitting together, watching TV - well, at least he was watching TV, I was zoning out and thinking about other things. One of those things was how awesome Valentine's Day can be - and how much it can totally suck. (Not quite what you'd expect to hear on a wedding blog, eh?) I think a lot about marriage this time of the year. Mainly because the first time my hubby asked me to marry him (yes, I said the 1st time), we were considering getting married around Valentine's Day. Since things didn't work out that way, I often wonder what our life would be like today if we had been married earlier, rather than later. Today would have marked our 11th anniversary, rather than last August marking our 10th. Would we have had more children? Perhaps different job opportunities? Would we even be here in Kansas City now had we

YourLDSNeighborhood tagged me and asked that I share 25 things you may not know about me. How fun! Rules: Once you've been tagged, write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 10 people to be tagged. Please link back to the person who tagged you. 1. I grew up in Pennsylvania. 2. I love anything made by Hershey's Chocolate Factory. 3. In high school, I took second place in the VFW Scholarship Essay Contest. Sadly, I didn't get any money, but I did get a cool certificate! 4. When I was 7 years old, I won the Flaming Foliage Future Miss Clinton County contest. I got to wear a crown and an incredible velvet cape lined with white fur and ride in parades. I think that started my fascination with princesses - leading to my love of Cinderella and Prince Charming! (Although I must admit that with my dark hair, I looked a lot more like Snow White.) 5. I LOVE Anne of Green Gables books. I every year I watch the first two movies (Anne of Gr