How to Be an Expert In Everything

I'm reading through wedding magazines tonight (as an aside my heart skipped a beat when I saw a familiar swag bag on page 190 of Modern Bride this month -it was our swag bag from the Trendsetter award - valued at $856!!). The pressures couples face compared to our parents generation is amazing. Just a sampling of the subcategories with which you could easily buy a book, spend hours researching, and thousands of dollars to partake in:

Bodily issues:

• teeth whitening
• brow tinting or shaping
• hair... hair dos on the wedding, growing out your hair for the big day
• get contacts to avoid glasses on the big day (GUILTY of that one myself!)
• excersize to get tones. There are actual bridal-based workout programs to tone areas of your body like your arms, to show off in your bridal dress.
• nails, hands, feet
• makeup
• perfume style
• accessories

Floral - everything from type, scents, how you want them at the reception, at the ceremony, in your bouquet

Video and camera - wow, just an unreal number of choices, styles, packages to chose from

Bakery - the wedding cake, flavors, styles, frostings, colors

Paper - save the dates, stationary for thank yous, invitations - style, paper quality, font (you can now buy wedding font programs at the book store), programs, reception menu cards, table numbers, bridal shower invites

Favors - every type, size, style, cost, the sky is the limit in options

Music - style, type, length, dj or live, ceremony, meaning, type of instruments, when and where to play

Food - styles, flavors, how to serve, when to serve, what format (sit down /buffet)

Lighting is a new category and you can hire professionals


If you love event planning this is certaintly the be-all-end-all of events to plan in your life. But, if you are an average person, never in your entire life will you have such an event to plan logistically.... never will you have to come up with so many opinions and decisions around one day.

Then in EACH category with hundreds of decisions add in the opinions, impressions, attitudes, assumptions and emotions of EVERYONE IN YOUR LIFE.

I'm stressing myself out just thinking about it! I will share more about my own wedding as it relates to the above in a future blog.

We have a unique perspective here at The First Dance and I'm gathering my thoughts on how to incorporate articles, this blog, and a new blog that I'm moderating. I'll share the link within the week as it's a complete relaunch of a website.