Diary of a Bride-to-Be No. 2

Diary of a Bride-to-Be No. 2 – When in the course of wedding preparation, it is essential for the bride to stay sane. As a soon-to-be bride, I am realizing how challenging this actually is. A month away from my wedding, I still keep having dreams about falling on my face down the aisle and flashing everyone my ‘something blue’ thong (a gift from my bridal shower), I still can’t choose between Vanilla Passion or Strawberry Forever wedding cake frosting, and I still, still want to kill my caterer (“Oh, gelato? I thought you said jello…I guess we could freeze it if you want…”). And I haven’t even started thinking about the bridesmaid gifts.

Anyways, the point is, what I’ve realized from the nightmares of my own wedding preparation is that there are a few sanity-saving items you can get to help ease the wedding planning process. One, of course, is a few good bridesmaids and a stellar maid-of-honor. With a team of experts — hopefully a few who’ve done the wedding thing themselves — it is much, much easier to plan a dream wedding.

For example, my bridesmaid Alyssa gave me a wedding memento left over from her nuptials to her husband John. Known as a bride bag, this priceless item is a like a baby blanket for brides. You hold it beside you throughout the whole wedding process, using it to store cut-out wedding dress pictures, important phone numbers, directions… any little wedding detail document can be stored handily in the bride bag, and like a good companion, its always by your side, giving you comfort in a crowd and keeping you always prepared. Alyssa’s is a versatile black and white, so it goes with everything. Bridesmaids really are the best, aren’t they?

My sister Sophie tipped me off to another great idea, aptly called the Easy Wedding Planner, Keeper and Organizer. Sounds powerful, and it is. Like an elegant trapper keeper, the wedding planner houses all your receipts, appointments, love notes and more in its sturdy pockets. It even has places for photos For memorable wedding moments. Best of all are the plastic tabs for quick reference. This handy go-to guide has been one of the best for my wedding planning organization.

All these tools will be futile however, without the one essential wedding planning tool, designed for W-Day itself: the Wedding Survival Kit. This amazing briefcase is hardcore, no doubt about that, but on a day as big as this one, there’s no such thing as overkill. From drinking straws (to keep lipstick perfect), to antacids, to adhesives, to extra earring backs, this kit has got it all! With the Wedding Survival Kit by my side, I know there’s no way my walk down the aisle will include my ‘something blue’ nightmare. In fact, with all my wedding preparation tools, I expect nothing less than a dream wedding.