Tag Archives: wedding

Is He Plus-One Worthy?

Posted in Dating, Love by

 When you hit a certain age it seems like all of the sudden EVERYONE starts getting engaged or married. If you’re single, that means navigating the ever-awkward situation of finding a suitable plus-one.

Luke and I had only been causally dating for three months before I was the maid-of-honor in my sister’s wedding. I remember fretting to friends and family about whether or not I should invite him to be my date.

Would he think I was jumping the gun by inviting him to such a special family event or would he be hurt if I decided to go alone? It didn’t help that just a few weeks before his cousin got married and he DIDN’T invite me.

I eventually decided to invite him for one reason- I thought I’d have more fun with him around. It ended up being a perfect choice because he was the ideal date: he got along with everyone, didn’t need to be babysat and was attentive to me.

Here’s a picture of us right after I gave my MOH speech.

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I was really nervous, but Luke was so sweet and kept rubbing my shoulders reassuring me that I’d do great. I wasn’t really surprised that he was a good date- he’d treated me so well from the beginning. 

Despite this WONDERFUL plus-one experience I had with Luke, I’ve also been in one that was not so pleasant. Previous to meeting Luke, I had dating a guy for 4-5 months when I got up the nerve to ask him to be my date to a benefit gala I helped plan.

He made up some excuse about already having plans to go see a “cover band” with his buddies the same night. Then when the night rolled around he ended up not even going to see the band because he “fell asleep.” LAME!

After realizing that A) he’d rather go see a cover band than spend the night with me and then B) it was all a big excuse in the first place, I was pretty  humiliated. Let’s just say the relationship ended soon thereafter.

So how do you know if the guy in your life is plus-one worthy? I’ve created a short checklist…

The plus-one worthy guy will:

– Call when he says he will and keeps plans

– Show an interest in things you’re involved in

– Make plans with you for events in the future (more than a week out)

– Put forth effort to get to know your friends and people important to you

The un-worthy guy will:

– Keep you feeling insecure by not calling when he says he will, not keeping plans and not living up to your expectations

– Only take you out during the week or won’t commit to anything on a weekend night until he knows there’s nothing better going on

– not seem interested in talking about your hobbies or interests if they don’t directly relate to him

– get two thumbs down from your pals because he doesn’t put forth any effort with them

So ladies, when your next wedding, holiday party or special event comes up, take a good look at the man in your life and evaluate his plus-one potential.

Leave some comments and let me know how YOU can tell if you’ve got a good plus-one.

Guest Post: MOMZILLA

Posted in Liz's Life by

I love my mom — but I’m a bit scared of my MOMZILLA.

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Before I get into all the details, I should probably preface this by disclosing my guest blogger status — I would hate to tarnish Liz’s mom’s good name. You can call me Guth, since that is what most of my colleagues like to shout-out when barking orders in my direction — just kidding, friends!

All right, back to the good stuff. I am newly engaged (three weeks tomorrow) and thrilled say I get to marry my LOVE. Although we had talked about spending our lives together almost every day for the past year, my fiancé managed to totally surprise me with his proposal. You can read all about it on our Knot Web page. It was quite the perfect night…but it also was the night I witnessed the birth of something unlike anything I had ever seen — the MOMZILLA.

Yes, we’ve all heard about the BRIDEZILLA, but MOMZILLAS are a rare breed. According to the Urban Dictionary, they are “highly controlling of the many elements to a wedding. Everything must be perfect for her child’s day.” I know her intensions are pure and true, but man, she jumped on the crazy train way earlier in this process than I would have expected!

You see, my fiancé had invited our families to celebrate with us the night of our surprise engagement and my mom arrived with a binder for my future mother-in-law, one for me and talked of the one she had rolling at home — the night of the engagement! The very next day, I came to learn she had already been through the third draft of her guest list…third. Now, I understand that I am the oldest daughter and I am all for being organized and prepared…but third?

Immediately following the engagement, I was inundated with at least ten phone calls a day. “We must lock-in a venue…I’ve already talked with Father Jerry…how many people do you think his family will want to invite…you guys are going to need to work on cutting down that list, ASAP!”

Luckily, we were able to come to a quick decision on the date and venue, but I am a bit frightened of what is in store for me over the next year. I post this entry in hopes that readers out there will have tips on how to tame this rare creature we call the MOMZILLA and how to tactfully deal with issues without causing WWIII. This bride-to-be needs some advice from the experts…or a tranquilizer gun.

Guest Post: Time for a Hot Honeymoon

Posted in Wedding Planning by

Hi everyone! Just like some of Liz’s other guest bloggers, I’m in the middle of wedding planning and have gotten to one of the best parts – picking our honeymoon location! (And with Liz on a fabulous trip of her own right now, I’m sure it’s got everyone thinking about their next getaway)

I’ve been staring at pictures of sunny, white beaches for weeks and will be more than happy to get out of the gloomy Midwest winter come March.

We decided that we wanted a “lay-on-the-beach” honeymoon, which may have to do with the fact that we got engaged in Miami and had the best time laying low and eating nonstop. We ultimately would’ve loved to do Hawaii, but with budget and time constraints, we started looking into some other options –

Negril, Jamaica
Jamaica

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
beach

Riviera Maya, Mexico

This hotel is our top runner right now...

This hotel is our top runner right now...

We’ve ultimately landed on Riviera Maya since we can get a direct flight from Chicago, saving us travel time, which means more time for lounging on the beach :)

Of course, there are so many places we want to see, but luckily we’ll have the rest of our lives to plan even more trips! If you’re not sure where to begin, I’d recommend checking out this handy chart from a great blog –
http://www.lifelovebeauty.com/life/travel/545-honeymoon-destinations-by-month-where-and-when-to-travel.html
– it breaks out top destinations by month so you can narrow down the best time to travel to each location. Sadly, the weather in Greece wasn’t ideal for our honeymoon timing, but hopefully that will be an anniversary trip in the near future.

Enjoy!

I’m on the Hunt! (for floral bridesmaid dresses)

Posted in Wedding Planning by

We’re still dealing with our wedding hotel problem over here. I got a message via Twitter from @MarriottIntl saying they read my blog post and were going to see what they could do. Well, that ended up being a whole lot of nothing.

I just got an email from John, the guy behind their twitter handle, who told me basically the same thing everyone else at Marriott did- thanks for playing, but you lose! He had no solution. So much for the power of Twitter assisting in customer service!

I am soooo sick of thinking and worrying about this, so I’m putting it out of my head. Moving on!

Last night I spent some time looking online for some inspiration for my bridesmaid dresses. My colors are yellow and green and I’m interested in something different from what you’d typically see at a wedding. In fact, I’m really digging the idea of a floral print to capture the essence of spring. Or some type of floral appliqué to jazz up a solid colored dress.

Unfortunately it seems the bridal industry hasn’t quite caught up to the fashion I’m looking for as much of what I’m finding are solid colored, plain dresses that scream BRIDESMAID! And honestly, who looks good in tea-length?? (apologies to any brides who chose that length!)

It looks like I may be going with a dress that is not necessarily meant for bridesmaids. I’m sure my gals will like this idea since then they actually might be able to fulfill the commonly used phrase “you can wear it again!” The only problem is, no one is carrying spring colors right now so there aren’t many options.

 In my short time looking, these were some dresses that I liked.  They themselves won’t work because of color, price or availability, but I’m using them as inspiration to find the right dresses.  

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Yoana Baraschi silk blow-up dress
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BCBG yellow floral floor length dress
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Unknown designer
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Jcrew bridesmaid dress

Have you guys seen any adorable bridesmaid dresses out there? If so, leave me a link. Thanks!