wedded bliss

I love being married. After more than seven months of wedded bliss, Husband and I are still having so much fun setting up our home, laughing at inside jokes, sharing secrets and forming our own special traditions.

But lately I've been having some longing for the wedding planning days of yore. Don't get me wrong, wedding planning is hard work, and I have no intention of planning an entire wedding ever again until my unborn children get married (with the exception of helping lovely friends with their nuptials, of course!). I read several blogs written by engaged girls though, and I feel a bit jealous when they post about picking gowns and deciding menus, choosing flowers and writing vows.

Don't get me wrong — our big day was exactly how I pictured it would be — we were blissfully happy, surrounded by family and friends, the weather was amazing, and pretty much everything went off without a hitch. 

The thing is, when you're planning, you have to choose your favourites — flowers, dresses, food, cakes, the list goes on — but there are always other cute options that you hear about after the fact that make you think, "If I could do it again, I'd have that too." So, since I've been-there-done-that, the least I can do is share some of these things with you.

iDIY is a blog I discovered after I was married. It is a wealth of information for DIYers like me, trying to come up with the most original, and budget friendly, wedding ideas. Like these super cute bridal party emergency kits:

And these simple, yet elegant, paper carnations: 

Another blog I love, A Cup of Jo (Joanna's also the gal behind the Smitten blog on Glamour.com). She's headed down the aisle soon and she's constantly posting the prettiest wedding ideas, like serving pies instead of cake — oh wait, we did that!

And then there are always more dresses. I got my gown at David's Bridal, and they had soo many dresses to choose from. Mine was an a-line, halter with pearl and crystal details and rouching at the bum, and I loved it. 

So that brings me to a question for all of you already-wives out there — what did you do with your dress? 

Mine is still in our spare bedroom closet, taking up a lot of storage space. It hasn't been cleaned yet either (I know, tsk, tsk!). Did you keep your dress? Do you plan to hand it down to future generations? Or maybe you sold it or altered it to make something new?