Staying sane

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Staying sane

Anne Helps Plan a Wedding!

Okay, so I’ve definitely mentioned those two lovebirds in the photo above before.

What can I say? I kind of love them. It helps that I’m related to one (yep, that’s my baby brother!) and have been convinced that the other is one of the sweetest people out there since the moment I’ve met her.

I talked about them a year ago when they got engaged. Honestly, I’ve probably mentioned them on a monthly basis since that date. But I don’t know if I’ve ever told you their whole story.

See, Danielle lives in and is a citizen of Canada. And Andrew, my brother, is from the U.S. They met, fell in love, and decided to get married.…

Plan a Group Date Night With Your Friends!

If you are in the midst of wedding planning (or even if you are a newlywed), chances are that you may have completely forgotten what your friends look like. And to make matters worse, your bank account has probably seen better days. Solve these two problems at once with a group date night on the cheap.

Host a game night. Break out the board games and a couple of decks of cards. Have everyone bring one ingredient for nachos and stock some ice-cold brewskies (yep, I’m bringing that word back) in the fridge.
Enjoy a day at the park. Dig through the garage and unearth the kite and croquet set you have yet to use. Everyone can pack their

…

Newlywed Perspective: Anne Gets to Know her Husband

I think that, hands down, one of the best parts of marriage is getting to witness new and different sides of my husband. I mean, I’ve heard the saying about how when you get married, you essentially commit your life to a total stranger (no matter how well you think you know the person) …but everyone always made that sound like a bad thing.

They totally forgot to mention that learning who your stranger-and-spouse is would also be so. Much. Fun. And not really scary at all (sorry, guys).

I mean, its definitely got its challenges – and I’m sure Shayne would say the same exact thing – because ultimately you’re learning how to communicate with and love…

What is Your Love Language?

Last week our newlywed blogger, Anne, wrote about the book “The 5 Love Languages.” I had totally forgotten about that book! I read it for a psychology class in college and couldn’t remember which love language I was. Being a sucker for a good assessment test, I went to the website and retook the quiz. Turns out, like Anne, I am a “quality time.” Basically this means that if a friend wants to show me they care we should go to lunch and hang out and chat.

What I love about Chapman’s philosophy is that it incorporates itself into all the relationships of our life: family, friends, future spouse, etc., because these fundamental things about us don’t change. While…

Newlywed Perspective: The Importance of a Love Letter

First things first: I love Pinterest. I can’t help it – it’s inevitable. I mean, where else can you find photos and links to all the coolest DIY crafts, best recipes (and enough variations on the chocolate chip cookie to keep me busy for years) not to mention one of the best tools to organize wedding inspiration (which, by the way, is all over there place over here at Delightfully Engaged!) that I’ve ever seen.

I don’t even care that I’m not planning a wedding. I’ll pin inspiration boards all day long…it’s kind of a happy thing in my world.

Anyway, the real point of this is that recently, on Pinterest, I came across a list of ten…

Destination Wedding Trivia: Caribbean Wedding Superstitions

Wedding superstitions have been around for centuries. From wearing a veil during the reign of the Roman Empire to ward off evil spirits to hiding a sugar cube in your wedding glove at Cuban weddings to sweeten the wedding night, there are hundreds of folklore fables to be found. Most of our own English-inspired or American-infused superstitions have brides and grooms avoiding ladders and black cats to this day.

However, for those couples who have decided to get married in the Caribbean, you may want to familiarize yourself with some of the kooky and charming aspects of their culture’s superstitions. A blend of European and African cultures, each island has their own ideas about how to avoid bad luck on your wedding…

Newlywed Perspective: Anne Becomes a Wedding Guest

It happens out of the blue. You come home from work, you pick up your mail and when you go to sort through it in the kitchen that evening, there they are: a stack of wedding invitations. Carefully addressed, carefully planned, carefully packaged and now sitting on your counter, clever and beautiful and oh-so inviting.

They’re calling your name with opportunities to celebrate with old friends and new friends and cousins and an acquaintance or two. And you want to go to all of them, but you don’t know if you can make it happen. Who knew that being a guest was so hard?

Last summer I was on the flip side of this particular coin. Shayne and I were planning…

Movie Night: Favorite Destination Wedding Movies!

While some favorite wedding movies of all time may include Father of the Bride or Sixteen Candles, these Hollywood love-story staples don’t have a lot of destination wedding inspiration. For the couple that is planning to tie the knot in an exotic location, you may want to take a break from the stress of planning and pop some popcorn for a movie night instead. For anyone not planning to get married in your parents’ backyard or in the church you grew up attending, here are some amazing wedding movies to inspire you to reach for the stars.

English Elegance: The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is a cult classic that has been enticing men and women for decades to…

Newlywed Perspective: Making a Home Feel Like Home

Making home feel like home can be a long, involved, process. It can take weeks, months (maybe longer – I haven’t gotten that far yet). The name came quickly for me: calling the place Shayne and I live “home” happened easily, a habit by the end of the first month. But making the inside of that place fit the name we were giving it has certainly taken considerably longer!

We’ve been collecting things slowly, accumulating a lamp here, a stack of teacups there, a bookshelf or two…an entertainment center.

And we’ve discovered along the way that one of the things we enjoy most about making home “home” is when we can fill it with things that we’ve built with our…

Date Night: Registry Fun!

Not to make any blatant stereotypes (but I guess I am going to anyway…), but guys don’t love the registry process as much as us gals. For us it marries our love of shopping with our love of planning, and we don’t even have to pay for it! We know that the men in our lives probably don’t care what type of pattern is on the flatware, but we want them to come along for the ride anyway. Here are a few ways to turn registering into a fun date night:

Take turns with the scanner.

Really, ladies, don’t hog it! Who wants to watch someone else get all of that beeping fun? Make a deal ahead of time that you get scanner power over…