Some advice from a 2008 Bride

I seriously CANNOT believe how fast this year flew. Last New Years Eve my now husband and I kissed at midnight and he whispered, 'This is OUR year.' Our wedding came and went, and now as 2008 comes to an end I want to give some advice and wishes to the brides of 2009 for your amazing wedding day.

1. DO NOTTTT sweat the small things about your wedding. You will hear this a million times but its true. I was so beyond worried about this and that,that sometimes you just have to stop and say I am getting MARRIED to an amazing man and who cares about the ribbons and placecards and bows. Special touches are nice but MOST people coming to your wedding will NOT even notice.

2. DONT be WORRIED or ANXIOUS. I had several panic attacks and was anxiety struck for most of my engagement, and even threw up at my rehearsal dinner b/c i was so NERVOUS. It took away a little from the experience. If it gets bad, get medication, a massage or just breathe and step away from wedding planning for a little bit. TRUST ME.

3. You CANT change the weather. I was so lucky to have a beautiful sunny day in July that wasn't scorching hot. But yet again I was worried about this for months. My father said ' YOU CANNOT WORRY ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE OUT OF YOUR CONTROL' I think this applies to many things!

4. YOU WILL SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE and YOU WILL BE CALM the day of. It just happens!

Lastly I want to leave you with some words written by one of my fellow 2008 brides that I bookmarked because they were so inspirational to me. Antntilde wrote:
From the moment you wake up on your wedding day you have a CHOICE as to what kind of bride you will be. You can be the bride that cried when her flowers were late, the bride that screamed at her mother, the bride who hyperventilated into a paper bag *OR* you can be the bride that everyone remembers as smiling, happy and calm.
Enjoy yourself, look at your husband a million times and squeeze his hand. Smile. Dance with just him no matter who tries to pull you away. Get down on the floor and dance with the babies. Do a shot with your girls. Sit with the older people in your family and make sure they know you are happy they came.
In the end all you have is memories so make sure they are beautiful ones. No one will remember if your flowers were wrong BUT they will remember if you freaked out about it.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you 2009 girls all the BEST. GOOD LUCK, LOTS OF LOVE, and I cant wait to see all your PICTURES!!!

2009 is your YEAR!!

Love always, Helene