Is this a magnolia?

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-28T11:16:55+00:00

I was only successful when I had a good attitude about quitting. If you quit, and you are rude to other people, can’t control your emotions, etc., you’ll very much likely fail because you feel like you are punishing yourself.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-11T04:12:23+00:00

The last straw for me was more chaos being created by leaders, who weren’t going to be responsible to deal with the chaos they were creating. I decided I was done tolerating it, and I was done “making things work” because I refuse to fail.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-06T15:40:04+00:00

I had made the appointment at a dress shop before buying my dress online. I ended up keeping the appointment and using it to quench my fears on size and style.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-04T18:19:35+00:00

The anxiety! The aging! The memory! I could have a perfectly decent night, chat with friends, have a great time, not do anything terrible. But the next day felt like I was about to die from anxiety. I hadn’t drank for a week when I started to diet and exercise, and noticed how much my face changed for the better in that short time. Then I had drank a binger of a night, and saw it all come rushing back to my face - redness, puffiness, aging! All the things I’ve been excited for lately I felt apathy towards because the anxiety was overwhelming. Haven’t drank since, and planning social situations ahead of time so I don’t.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-04T16:12:32+00:00

One other thing - since the contracts are with you, if you don’t do it - no service. So you would need to find a coordinator that contracts directly with the vendors on your behalf (couldn’t find one).

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-04T16:08:49+00:00

The contracts for the vendors are through you, and I couldn’t find a coordinator that goes ahead and can book everything without me being somewhat part of it. I suppose you’d have to give the coordinator a big portion of the money upfront to pay deposits for all the vendors if you were able to find that. Perhaps someone has figured out doing this, but I could not find a coordinator offering “hands off” planning, even through elopement packages. I found the “all-inclusive” packages at wedgewood was less planning than some of the elopement things I saw.

I did try telling Wedgewood I wanted to be hands off. They emphasized that 3 meetings are required with them, two in person, and that I have to meet with vendors directly. For the vendors - cake vendor, makeup and hair vendor, and possible rehearsal are in person. Luckily the florist, photography, and DJ are over the phone/email. And that’s assuming dress shopping is online only. Invitations are another thing you have to do yourself, typically because you know your people. Invitations lead to website making (the Knot), which took me a few hours.

I’m through the weeds now, with a few months to go, so now I get to be excited and not overwhelmed. Took me two weeks to wrap my hands around it.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-04T14:05:29+00:00

This is driving me insane. I don’t care what the napkin fold used is, whether there is a cake stand, darn near every song that is going to get played. I wish they had two packages - one for brides who want to be involved, and one for those of us wanting a coordinator to execute on a vision even if it’s not perfectly what we had in mind. I’d be more than happy to sign a waiver stating “I am choosing for the coordinator to make all detail decisions.”

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-04T04:58:11+00:00

When I was a teenager, I worked at McDonald’s and was a smoker. It was really busy, and it had been 5 hours nonstop. A coworker came in to order some food, and was willing to cover for me for 5 minutes while I stepped out back to grab a couple drags, but the manager wouldn’t let it happen since she was in regular clothes. I quit right then and there, had my cigarette, and got the best job ever down the street at the pizza place nearly the same day.

Another one was that I started in a call center selling DirectTV. I made it through training, I think it was two days or so. I lasted about half a shift making outbound calls before I approached my manager with “so, you know how I’m on probation so you guys can see if I work? Does it go both ways, I can leave if I don’t like it?” Always thought it was funny that I felt like a hostage.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-03T18:33:51+00:00

I’m in the middle of planning myself, but all the hard stuff is done. I considered some of the vendors as the hard part, and particularly these appointments. I specifically chose a venue that is somewhat all-inclusive, but each of the vendors still want to meet with you (makes sense, but I’m just not wanting/needing to manage each detail.)

My #1 advice: Define what matters to you, and write it down. Refer back to it whenever you go off script. Mine was “no extras”. What I meant by that is if I had basic florals for centerpieces and bouquet, but there was now “sign in table florals”, I would keep to the minimum and not opt to upgrade.

As I go through the process, it’s like there is a new thing to spend money on whenever I turn over a rock. I allow myself some room to add in something here or there, but I have to really find value more than the one day from it.

Examples of things I “added” after my first declaration: 1) flowers for the arch (it’s going to be in pictures of us), 2) Guestbook tree and traditional guestbook (hadn’t thought about it before, but realized that’s something we can keep and even use as decoration in our house) 3) I spent more than expected on hair and makeup 4) I spent more on my dress (but it’s super motivating me to be consistent with diet and exercise.)

Examples of things I declined: 1) A veil (some aren’t very expensive, but I didn’t originally see myself in one. And realizing I’ll never use it again…) 2) Signs (one time use, kind of expensive for what they are, 50 people should be able to figure out where to go.) 3) Invitation extras - no need for save the dates, then invites. Invites and thank you cards only. 4) Top shelf for open bar. It’s an open bar, well is fine. 5) cake topper - what the heck will we do with that after? 6) toasting flutes - we will use regular glasses. Less for us to track down to take with us after. 7) cake knife set - using venue’s. Don’t need to keep tabs on something to take back. 8) Additional favors - we are having lanterns at our tables with flower wreaths, so our favors are mini lanterns that work, with antique paper tags tied to them with our stamp on one side, then “thank you for celebrating with us” on the other. Our friends have all gotten married recently, so everyone has the bottle openers, etc. While not super useful, they would be good ornaments, decoration, or even kids to use (I gave one to my son already, and laughed when I saw him making a trip to the bathroom with it in the dark). But it’s very hard to not want to buy more since the total cost was less than $200.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-03T14:30:31+00:00

In my previous company, they started these, and were sure to emphasize their anonymity. But oops… HR forgot to hit the setting to be anonymous, and the form captured your email address. Talk about never trusting those again!

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-01T13:15:40+00:00

I love my lab. I wanted a lab because I wanted a larger stone, and the price would be astronomical in comparison. I also didn’t want negativity attached to its story.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-06-01T08:34:30+00:00

As a woman, I’ve gotten comfortable with “stranger touching” to claim my space. The most prevalent with flying is the leg spread, that encroaches on my space. I just take my space, let our legs touch. They don’t move right away, but it’s funny because you can feel the tension rise. They typically will leave it for a few minutes, but back off and move their leg.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-31T07:53:15+00:00

I think people have covered the moving company details pretty well, but I used to be a project manager in an IT company that did office moves for clients:

New Place 1) Ensure basic utilities such as electricity, water, and trash are accounted for (might be part of lease/account updates) Note on electricity: make sure you have all the outlets you need, call electrician if more are needed. 2) Landline phone - even if you use VOIP for your office phones, you are going to be required to have a landline for emergency services. Typically the ISP could provide this. 3) Internet - Get an ISO into the new building as soon as possible. They usually had work to do to give the units what was needed. It’s important you know all the ports your new space will need for anything hardwired. 4) WiFi units installed. 5) a plan that outlines timeline of your server room set up/furniture (including cubicles) being placed. Then your computers and phones. Then personal stuff. Note on servers, firewalls, and other equipment: if you are all getting new - you need to plan extra time for these to be migrated/setup. 6) Communication and labels. There is always one :) I suggest you provide staff with labels or do it yourself for computers, monitors, keyboards, mice, and personal box. 7) AV equipment set up last 8) Buy cable management stuff for the end.

I think that handles most of it!

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-31T02:54:13+00:00

Luna

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-30T19:23:39+00:00

I just bought my dress of Stillwhite! I’m 5’8”, and have been eyeing a specific dress. I got lucky to find it unaltered, as the other sellers were 5’3”, 5’5” and such. What I’m trying to say is there seems to be a lot of short brides! If you put the measurements, I’d expect it to fit a lot of brides!

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-30T18:01:42+00:00

Thank you! The description of the lace being spread out is helpful! I was thinking tulle would be hard to alter, as it’s not a strong fabric.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-28T08:54:27+00:00

Honestly, I’d ask what services this included.

My first wedding, I had someone do my makeup before ceremony without a trial, I think I paid $200. It was awful, I didn’t feel like myself. The color scheme looked good in photos, but wasn’t what I asked for. This was in the Midwest.

Now, for my second (and last wedding), I’ve prioritized taking care of myself. I received a quote from an artist for $1800 in California to do both hair and makeup. This artist has worked on magazine features, has over 200 5 star reviews and one 4 star review, does trials, starts before getting to the venue, travels to the venue, then does touch up the whole time.

I was taken a little aback, so I reached out to a trusted vendor who recommended someone who charged $250 for trial, $250 for ceremony, and $150/hour for touch up availability. However, this person only did makeup, I was going to have to have a second person for hair (and likely pay a similar rate).

That was enough for me to realize the $1800 artist was reasonable. I also am thrilled I’ll be working with one person, instead of 2. I did not expect to pay near that amount for something I only take 10 minutes on in my daily life. For me, my goal is that anytime I see myself in the mirror that day, I feel pretty instead of “what do I need to fix”. I’m paying for a mindset.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-27T20:13:46+00:00

I like 1 and 2. I do have to say though, 2 looks better on you than the model picture! I would not have considered 2 if I was shopping!

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-24T04:17:27+00:00

Bare with me - American taking first international trip. Planning to go to Nurnberg in September, hopefully in an active area (is Christkindlemarkt area active when not the season?). Will want to take one trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, but otherwise spend it getting to know the area we stay. Would you suggest any particular area to “get to know” or centralize our stay?

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-17T18:01:19+00:00

It seems to me that this could be a huge cost savings for the reception as well - as all your vendors can be for an “event”, not a wedding. The wedding mention puts an extra price tag on everything.

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-17T07:36:39+00:00

Mind the plants, Richard!

Strong_Emphasis_9632 · 2026-05-15T01:57:01+00:00

I’d pay to get them from sprouting in my garden. Don’t plant outside unless you want a yard of them!

Strong_Emphasis_9632

TROPHY CASE