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.

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!

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!

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!!!!

We were on a cruise ship on vacation with all of my family. Everyone was just finishing up dinner when my then boyfriend said he had a special toast for my family. He had ordered Champagne for everyone and I could not figure out what he was up to. He stood up to propose a toast to my family, thanking them for inviting him on the cruise. He then said he had another special toast for me and had me stand next to him. At that moment I knew something special was going to happen, but I had no idea he was going to propose! He got down on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his pocket. At that moment I knew we would be together forever!

My ring is amazing! Tacori engagement rings are designed to be the perfect fit for any bride and are inspired with the customer in mind. JR Dunn is a major supplier of Tacori rings and a great place to shop for the perfect ring for your special day.

I started the morning off with a bridesmaid breakfast. I had six bridesmaids, my mom and my future mother in law. The breakfast was a great way to start the day and I was able to go over an itinerary with everyone so that they knew how the day was going to flow.

After the breakfast it was shower time and then off to hair and makeup. I scheduled my makeup appointment for 11am and that worked out perfectly. Kim King was right on time and ready to go as soon as she arrived. I loved the way my makeup turned out that day! She did it a little more dramatic then the first trial run – just enough to make my eyes really stand out. I felt like a princess and I loved how beautiful I felt and looked! It took about an hour to do my makeup and by noon I was ready to get my hair done.

I had a family friend in charge of my hair and she was scheduled to meet me between 12:30pm and 1pm. I planned it this way so that I had a little time in between my makeup appointment. I started to panic at 1:30pm when I had not heard from her. She arrived at 1:45pm and needless to say I was pretty stressed out. The good news is that my hair turned out perfect and I was really happy with it (I think the 3 glasses of champagne helped)

My hair was finished at about 2:45pm and pictures started at 3pm so after my hair was done it was time to see my future husband for the first time! I will never forget the moment I came up behind him and tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around and gave me the biggest smile I have ever seen. He looked so good in his all white tux and it matched my dress perfectly! I felt like we were in a dream as we floated around in our formal attire.

The first round of pictures was just the two of us hanging out, dancing, laughing and just having a good time. After a few casual shots it was time to take the golf cart out. Our Oregon wedding photographer wanted to make sure we got a lot of different backgrounds and a golf course is a great place for that.

The first stop we made in the golf cart was by an old fence in a grass field. We did a few different poses and then went on our way to the next location. The next stop was a beautiful look out point that was located at the top of the venue.  We got some amazing shots at that location and then after the look out point is was time to head back to meet everyone for group photos.

Group photos were by far the most stressful. Anytime you have to get a bunch of people together for photos it is going to be hard. After we got about half the shots we wanted done it was almost time for the ceremony to start.

My step mom took my hand and led me back to my dressing room to prepare for the big moment. After freshing up a little it was time for me to head down and meet my dad to walk down the isle. This is another moment I will never forget.

When I approached my dad I looked at him and he was so loving and supportive all I could do was think how thankful I was to have him here for this special moment! As we walked down the isle together he said “this is it kido” I still remember the excitement that was in my stomach and we shared this time together.

As we walked towards the isle my mom met us at the stairs. It was really neat to have both parents walk me down the isle. Once I got to the alter the first thing I did was grab my fiancés hands and squeeze them tight. It was show time! All the planning had come down to this very special moment in time.

All I remember is smiling the whole time and being so excited to get married to the love of my life. As the ceremony started my fiancé and I just looked into each other’s eyes as we started this new chapter together.

As I listened to the words of our officiate I could not help but think of all the exciting things to come in the future. Our ceremony lasted about a half hour and was just the right amount of time. After the ceremony it was on to more pictures of just the two of us. As we got more pictures taken our guests headed up to the reception area for an hour of a hosted bar.

For our second set of photo’s I had my veil on and it was time to go to the golf course and the grass. Our first stop was to take pictures of me walking in the sand with my shoes in hand. I am excited to see how these photos turn out. After a few shots in the sand it was time to move on to the grass. We got some really cool shots in the grass and then it was time to join are party back at the reception.

When we got to the reception it was time for our Hollywood grand entrance. We wanted to do something really creative and fun for our grand entrance and this just fit the bill. We had a red carpet and old school Hollywood music playing in the background as our DJ announced all of our bridal party first and then of course the stars of the show the bride and groom.

After our grand entrance it was time for the bride and groom’s first dance. My fiance and I chose “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias. As we danced to our first song our dj had arranged for black ice to brought in so it appeared we were dancing on clouds! It was unbelievable! Along with the special effects of dancing on clouds we also had special messages for each other through out the song.

After our first dance it was time for the salads to be served. As the salads were being served we had a few surprises for our guests. We first played our engagement video so that everyone could see how this all started. After showing our engagement video we showed a video clip of our actual wedding day that happened hours before that day. The clip was called a same day wedding edit. Our videographers did it for us as a special treat.

Let me tell you our same day edit video blew me away! The video started at the beginning of the day when I was first getting my hair and makeup done. From there it showed clips of my fiancé getting ready and then it showed footage of our travels that day and of course clips from the ceremony.

After the same day edit was shown my fiancé and I had another treat for our guests. My fiancé and I did a special performance for everyone – it was a song and dance that we had been working on for the month leading up to the wedding.

The performance went ok except for the fact that I messed up my part pretty badly! Oh well it was all in fun and I don’t think the audience noticed too much. It was now time for dinner to be served. We had three options for dinner steak, chicken or vegetarian. I have never seen so many clean plates in my life – so my guess is everyone enjoyed the food!

Once dinner was over it was time for cake cutting, the guarder toss and the bouquet toss. All these events were a lot of fun and all of our guests looked like they were having a great time.

It was now time for the father/daughter dance and mother/son. Again we had a special surprise for these dances as we had pictures of our parents and us over the years growing up. The slide show was a hit and so were our special messages we plugged into the songs that were playing.

It was now dancing time and let me tell you we danced! I have never seen so many people get down on a dance floor. Our DJ had most of the crowd dancing through out the night. When it was time for our last dance my fiance and I did not want the night to end.

As a special ending everyone circled us on the dance floor and held candles while we danced our last dance!

Well it is official I am a married women! I cannot believe that my big day has already happened! Let me tell you it was a roller coaster ride! Of course the night before the wedding I was running around making sure that all the details were in place. When I was done with all the running around it was time to go to bed. I had both of my sisters stay the night with me and I sent my fiancé away to stay at a friend’s house. I only slept for about four hours… probably had to do with all the excitement that was going on. I always have this problem especially when I am really excited about something - which my wedding day defiantly counts!

I want everyone to know that my wedding day was by far the best day of my life! The day does go by way to fast and I wish I could replay it over and over again! My advice to any future brides out there would be to take the time to enjoy as much as you can. Remember to relax the day of your wedding and enjoy every second. No matter what you do on your wedding day it is going to go by like a blink of an eye! My day was so special because of all the love and support I had from family and friends. Remember to enjoy every aspect of your special day.

Stay tuned for all the details of the big day that will be in my next post

Well I have to say that the 3 days leading up to the wedding were by far the craziest days of my life. On the Wednesday before the wedding all of my family got into town. My mother had a small wedding ceremony that night at her house - she got married the same week as we did which I thought was pretty cool. Since it was her second marriage she did not want to have a big wedding. Wednesday started the festivities that led up to the big day.

On Thursday was my now husbands bachelor party. Now I did not by any means agree that he should have the bachelor party so close to the wedding but because of the way it worked out with his friends coming into town that was what worked best for everyone. I went out with my two sisters that night so that I was distracted from thinking about the party.

Unfortunately this tactic only worked for about half the night. Needless to say the bachelor party got a little out of hand and it ended earlier then expected because of some major drama. I wont go into all of that because it will just stress future brides out I will say the whole party was supposed to stay the night in a suite downtown but because of their rowdiness this did not end up being the case.

Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We did our rehearsal at 3:00pm and everything went pretty smooth. After the rehearsal it was time to eat. We had our dinner at a local bar and grill and ended up renting out the entire upstairs for our event. Everything went really well at the rehearsal and tomorrow was the big day!

After our manicures and pedicures are done I am off to get my airbrush tan and then to lunch with my sisters. Thursday night we are having a birthday dinner for my younger sister and also for myself (yes my birthday was last Friday if you can believe that as well.

Friday is the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We had to start the rehearsal at 3:00pm because that was the only time we could reserve the space. We are having the dinner at a little bar and grill - which is only 5 minutes away from the rehearsal site.

Then Saturday is the big day! It is amazing how fast time fly’s! I cannot wait for the special day – it will be a day I will never forget!

My bachelorette party was so much fun! We ended up having a pretty good turn out - 12 people for happy hour and 14 people for dinner. We started the night at The Nines they have a roof top bar called Departure and we went for happy hour from 4-6pm on our private couch.

After we enjoyed happy hour we went to the room to open some presents and all get better acquainted. After opening up a variety of fun gifts - that would take me through the night- we headed to Henry’s Tavern for dinner.

The food was awesome and everyone had a great dinner. After dinner we lost some people that had to take off for various reasons. As we were walking out of Henry’s we met a table of guys that were more then happy to buy us a few round of shots for the special occasion!

The reaming “party girls” - props to Trish, Kim, Misty, Nicole, Laura and Alison - all headed to a martini bar in the Pearl called Vault. This is where I had to start knocking out all of my challenges as the bachelorette. My sister gave me a challenge book that had 10 things I had to accomplish by the end of the night.

The list is below: (Read at your own risk)

1. Kiss a bald guy on the forehead

2. Have 3 guys write down there “size” if you know what I mean

3. Find a divorced guy and ask him 3 tips on - what not to do!

4. Find a condom and blow it up

5. Stand up on a chair in a crowded bar and scream - this is your last night being single - because you are getting married.

6. Make out with a beer bottle and pretend it is something - that it is not…

7. Go to the men’s bathroom for 2 minutes…

8. Identify the hottest man in the room (by way of all girls in party) and seduce him until he buys you a drink.

9. Find a guy with white socks and give him a kiss.

10. With the help of your ladies make a list of bad habits - your fiancé needs to avoid.
Needless to say I did accomplish them all! After we had a few drinks at the Vault – we all jumped in a stretch Hummer and headed to our final destination Candy.  Candy is a dance club that was pretty hopping that night.

All of the ladies arrived back to the hotel room by 3am – It was one crazy night…The rest of the details are top secret!