My Pandora Bracelet

One of the gifts I got from the wedding was a Pandora Bracelet and I love it! If you have never tried the Pandora jewelry line you are really missing out! Not only can you create your prefect necklace or bracelet, but after you are done you can mix and match different beads and charms to make each creation a new work of art.

Pandora jewelry is top quality jewelry and the chains and beads come in a variety of choices. For the chains you can choose 14k gold, sterling silver, oxidized silver or your choice of colored leather. For beads and charms the options include 14k gold, sterling silver, 14k gold and sterling silver, clips, murano glass charms and spacers.

All beads and charms are made with great detail and each one you choose has a different meaning. My Pandora bracelet is sterling silver with my new married initials as the main beads in the center. With all the options Pandora has to offer I can add beads to my bracelet or I can take away any that I want to remove and use on a different bracelet.

If you have never experienced Pandora bracelets make sure you add some to your wedding registry. They also make a great gift for bridesmaids and the mother of the bride.

Going Through the Gifts

After your wedding and Honeymoon are over you come home to a house full of wedding gifts. Where do you even start? Well my husband and I wanted to make sure we were able to go through all of our gifts along with writing down every present we got and who it was from.

We decided to do it a few days after we got back from our Honeymoon. He opened all the gifts while I made sure to record everything. Now this can take a few hours of time so make sure you are not rushed and that you are organized when opening gifts.

This process can be overwhelming if not handled correctly. Once you have finished opening the presents and have properly recorded everything it is time to start the next task - Thank You cards. As long as you have followed my directions the Thank You cards should be a breeze. They are time consuming but they are really important to let your guests know how great it was to see them and thank them properly for your wedding gifts.

PS - Don’t forget about all the vendors that made your day as special as it could have been - without all of their hard work your day would have never been the same!

After the Wedding

Well I bet all of you brides are wondering what your life will be consumed with after the wedding. I know how it feels to dedicate a year and a half to planning and then suddenly the wedding is done and over with. I got married August 1st 2009 and it is really nice to be married and such a relief to be done with all the planning. It does feel weird to not have wedding planning to do.

Life after the wedding is pretty cool. Once you have found “the one” and it is official that the two of you have decided to spend your lives together you enter a whole new stage of life.

I am not talking about babies yet - but that will play a part in the future if that is what you both agree upon. I am talking about just getting used to the fact that you are now married and phrases like “my husband” are now a big part of your vocabulary. I still feel weird saying “husband” but I am sure it will get more comfortable over time.  Instead of being known as the fiancé,  I am now officially the wife and we both have rings on our fingers to show for it!

Life is going to through you curve balls (being a new married couple) so be prepared to handle them the best way possible. Don’t expect life to change just because your last name did. Always look to the future and remember not to take each other for granted.

Good luck newly married couples! I will continue to write about married life now that I am no longer a bride-to-be, but now a bride I will also continue to share stories and offer advice to brides as my journey continues!

The Amazing Honeymoon

My husband and I had the most amazing honeymoon! We chose to go to Maui for 10 days and I couldn’t be more thrilled about our decision. First of all, no matter what time of the year it is - you are guaranteed to have good weather. Also, the environment is low key and the beach is literally steps away (we stayed at a condo in Kihei) if you stay at the right place!

Everyday was a new adventure for us. Since we didn’t pack much luggage, my husband and I did a lot of local shopping on our first day there. Where we live there is not much selection when it comes to summer clothes. So we both needed new swimsuits, tanks tops and just cooler clothing to survive the Hawaii heat. After an afternoon of shopping it was time to hit the beach. It was pretty windy the first day we were there, but we discovered a beach that was protected from the wind and stayed there the rest of the day. On Thursday we rented a cabana in Kaanapali. Cabanas are great because they protect you from the sun and heat. On Friday we spent the day relaxing and then that evening we went to a Matt Costa concert at the Hard Rock cafe in Lahaina. The concert was great and since we were newlyweds we ended up winning concert tickets to Ziggy Marley for that Sunday. Saturday we spent the day snorkeling at Makena beach, also known as turtle beach. At turtle beach we saw at least 10 turtles - it was pretty cool! On Sunday we went to Ziggy Marley concert - which was an all day event. Monday morning was one of my favorite days in Maui. I learned how to surf for the first time. Surfing by far is one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. I never knew I would not only be able to get up on a surfboard, but also stay up on a surfboard! On Tuesday I was so sore that I had to take the day off from surfing, but I was able to take pictures of my husband surfing. For our last full day in Maui we decided to go to Lahaina for the day. We did a little more shopping and then we had happy hour at Moose McGillycuddy’s.  After that we spent the evening shopping and then we went to a nice dinner.

I did not want to leave my Maui honeymoon! In fact when it was time to leave I had to convince myself that our honeymoon was over and reality was waiting for us back in the states. If you are undecided about where to spend your honeymoon – Maui gets my vote!!!!