I’m super pleased to report that we have our very first boy winner! No, I’m not giving a boy away, a boy WON the Minted giveaway!

But wait, check out the cuteness he left as his comment:

Would love to win these for my fiancee — she is trying to keep it simple with the invites, but an extra $100 would let her splurge on all the other rsvp cards and fancy, lacy stuff. (Not sure completely how it all works. It’s her domain.)

Adorbs. Nice job, Robert! I think you just earned about oh… say… $100 worth of brownie points (or $100 toward save the dates, invitations, or lacy stuff… your call)!

Congratulations Robert!! I’ll be reaching out shortly via email and will be sharing your email address with my contact over at Minted so they can provide you with a coupon code for $100 off as well as free shipping via FedEx Ground.

Thanks to everyone who entered… tons of you! I was amazed! Don’t worry, we’ll have more kick ass giveaways coming!

xo

Are you about to pee yourself? Because I was when I saw this email. For rizzle.  There’s something about Minted that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy; and like I want to buy every single paper good or card on their site… whether I need it or not.  It’s. THAT. Awesome.

Up for grabs (wait for it, wait for it)…

is $100 off wedding invitations OR save the dates! Omg omg omg, I know. Why are you still reading? Enter already! Well, actually, hold off. You’re still reading so you can figure out what you have to do to enter.  So read on, keep your pants on, then enter, k?

Adorable, right? The awesomest part about this giveaway is you can pick ANY invitation or save the date you want… le sigh. This almost makes me want to get married all over again (I said almost… luckily, I’m not that nuts).

How to Enter:

1. [Required] Leave a comment on this post, letting me know why you’d like to win this giveaway!
2. [Additional Entry] Leave a comment on Big Day Blog’s Facebook page (tagging @Minted), and let us know which invitation or save the date you’d pick and why. Make sure you leave a comment on this post to let me know.
3. [Additional Entry] Tweet the following (and make sure you leave a comment on this post to let me know) : I just entered to win $100 off save the dates or wedding invitations from @Minted and @BigDayfor10K! Enter here: http://bit.ly/yLNhy1

The giveaway will run until Monday, February 20 at 4pm EST. A winner will be drawn at random and announced on the blog/contacted via email.  The winner will be provided with a coupon code to use within a month of the end of the giveaway (read: YOU MUST USE YOUR CODE BY MARCH 20, 2012).  Shipping will be included, and products will ship via FedEx Ground.

And the winner is…

[drumroll por flavor]

ASHLEY!

Ashley, I’ve emailed you details on how to work with Lauren from WeddingGlow to pick out the centerpieces you want, all I ask in return is pictures from the wedding so I can feature them!

And Lauren, thank you so much for offering your gorgeous centerpieces for me to giveaway, I can’t wait to feature them again after Ashley’s wedding!
xo!

I figured it might be fun (and beneficial to other bloggers) to share with you guys some of my favorite wedding blogs, and some great posts I’ve enjoyed this week.

What are your favorites? Share them via commenting below!

xo

On Kiss My Tulle: Reader Question: The Ranty Bride Tackles In-Laws and Social Media 

On A Practical Wedding: Amtrak Honeymoon Giveaway!

On Snippet & Ink: Real Wedding, Tess & Peter

On Oh Lovely Day: Real Wedding, Alexandra & Michael: Rustic Barn Wedding

On Emmaline Bride: Guest Book Alternative and Ice Breaker for Guests

Lauren of WeddingGlow contacted me wanting to host a giveaway. I was ELATED. EEEE-LAY-TED.  For serious.  One gander at her Etsy Shop should make you feel the same way; especially if you’re a bride looking for the perfect rustic, charming centerpieces. Look no more, milady!

How adorable are these? They’re customizable — you could get your names, table numbers, just about anything on them!

Get to know WeddingGlow:

WeddingGlow centerpieces are beautiful handcrafted candelabras made by designer and crafter Lauren Mendoza in San Francisco. Just the right mix of modern and classic, they add an elegant enchanting glow to any indoor or outdoor reception. You can choose from a selection of engraving options in her Etsy shop, or order a custom engraving to match your wedding theme, or even have the bride and groom’s names on each one with a heart in the middle. Each candelabra features bright poplar wood contrasted with dark burned edges for a beautiful rustic elegance. They’re made to be durable and pack flat, so they can be enjoyed for years to come!

Up for grabs is a set of one dozen (yes, TWELVE of these) of these gorgeous candelabra centerpieces and shipping is included.  Okay, I’ll give you a second to breathe and believe me when I say Lauren volunteered 12 of these babies.

[inhale. exhale.]

Now you probably want me to shut up and tell you how to win, yes?

To Enter:

1. You must leave a comment on this post telling Lauren and myself why you’d like to win these.
2. Like WeddingGlow and Big Day for $10K on Facebook, and leave a comment on both walls letting us know you’ve entered our giveaway!
3. Follow WeddingGlow and Big Day for $10K on Twitter, and tweet this:  I just entered to win 12 custom candelabra centerpieces from @Wedding_Glow and @BigDayfor10K, enter here: http://bit.ly/yC4Khq
4. BONUS: Favorite WeddingGlow on Etsy! Then leave a comment here letting us know you’ve done so, please include your Etsy user name!

The winner will be drawn at random and announced at 12 noon EST on Friday, February 10.  Lauren of WeddingGlow will get in touch with the winner to arrange customization and shipping (provided by the vendor).

I wanted to put together a little download/print thinger for you guys.  I still haven’t changed my name on everything…

It’s such a pain and I always forget about something.

So, I crowdsourced a few reminders, do you have any to add?

• Driver’s License and everything DMV
• Bank Accounts
• Credit Cards
• Utilities
• Insurance
• Doctor’s Offices
• Memberships
• Email
• Alumni Registries
• Social Profiles

Download/print it here (there’s more detail on the checklist, check it out!).

I don’t know if everyone experiences this, but I figured I’d share in case I’m not alone.

The wedding’s over. Honeymoon has come and gone (dammit). Reality picked right back up where we left it… we came home from the Dominican to a house that looked like a wedding had gobbled it up and spit it back out… twice.

We opened presents, started (and are still working on) thank you notes, cleaned up messes, went back to work (it hit me like a ton of bricks after almost two weeks off), and got back into a routine.

After a couple weeks, this indescribable feeling crept up on me.  As indescribable as it may be, I’m going to try to describe it.

It felt kinda empty.  Not negative empty, but more of a “holy shit that really happened?!” empty.  Like a void in time, not space (sorry for getting all weird on you, here… I realize how little sense this makes).  I started to feel like I didn’t do anything for the wedding, like it didn’t feel like a real wedding, like it was rushed and thrown together (which, if you’ve been reading this blog since May 2010, you know it wasn’t).

There are two main reasons I think I started to feel this way:

1. I wanted everything outside, and, well, the reception had to be crammed into a teensy building because of rain.  I wasn’t heartbroken then, but I really do wish I had pictures that looked back on an outdoor reception; pictures that look like what I thought they’d look like (this goes back to setting realistic expectations and having a Plan B… and C… and D). I think that by not having a concrete rain plan, I set myself up to feel this way.
2. I didn’t do much of the setup that day.  Since we moved it inside, my amazing mother spearheaded Operation: Rodriguez Wedding Setup and Take Down. I thought I’d have more of a hand in it.  If I had, I think I would have been way more stressed out (Mom, I owe you big time); but again, I expected to get my hands dirty and I didn’t to the extent I had planned.

That being said, there were some details that just weren’t the way I wanted (or expected) them to be, not all of my chairs matched (long story short, the venue had nice wooden chairs, but rental company couldn’t match them so it was an ugly mix), I wanted more candles on the tables, It was hot as HELL, and it flew by (I know everyone who’s married says this, but I swear to you: it’s 100% absolutely positively true).

Now for the turn-around.  This feeling is like that feeling you have when you get dressed in the morning in an outfit you think is going to be really cute then you feel “meh.”  But, you wear that outfit anyway, and everyone at work tells you you look great.  The disparity is in your head.  You may feel ”meh” but you actually look great!

EVERYONE we’ve heard from has told us that they had the time of their lives at our wedding.  Everyone has said that it wasn’t too hot, that they didn’t notice the chairs, that it didn’t look like we intended to have an outdoor wedding and pulled it inside at the last minute (thank goodness), and that everything was awesome; from the food to the DJ to our dresses/tuxes, to our informal cake, to the dessert table, kegs, the ceremony… the whole nine.

People loved it.

I blame wedding blogs and magazines.  The reality, budget brides, is that we spend our time looking at these blogs that show us beautifully staged weddings, great details, etc.

But you know what? When you have a $10K budget, you can’t hire a team of lackeys to set everything up, stage it for the photographer just right.  You can’t pay for your venue for 48 hours to have almost unlimited time to set up.  You don’t have the money to rent chairs for the ceremony AND the reception (if you’re like us, with 200 guests).

At the end of the day, I think my wedding was a success.  But since I filled my head with images of perfection I found on Pinterest and wedding blogs, I walked away (weeks later, not instantly) feeling a little unfulfilled.  Not emotionally, but weddingally (yes, I made that word up… keep reading).  Could this be a form of postpartum depression?  Am I really feeling this way!?

What do you to do combat this wacky, weird, indescribable feeling? Keep on keepin’ on and remind yourself when you get lost in mason jars and glitter that it’s not about the wedding, it’s about the marriage.