Oooof, it's been way too long! I honestly can't remember the last wedding that I went to. Not because I was drunk, and not because it was forgettable... I just think I've hit that age where I see more birth announcements than "save the dates".
Where's the fun in this?! I love children... hell I've got a 2 year old and another on the way... I love being a father. That said, we don't throw huge parties with all of our friends when we get a birth announcement.
It's not about me/us anymore... it's all about them... I get it... HOWEVER - I'm allowed to pout and say that I'd love a night where I'm drinking all of your free alcohol, eating your free food, and silently judging your centerpieces...
Invite me to your wedding!!!
Hmm... well... maybe I can divorce my wife, and then propose to her again... do it all over again. I'm sure she'd be into that.
I wonder what I would do differently this go around...
Monday, April 17, 2017
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Destination Wedding Magazine & Looking Forward!
I can't believe I haven't told you that I now have been contributing to Destination Wedding Magazine! My column in the bi-monthly magazine is called "Grooms Room".
My first article (which appeared in the the Jan/Feb issue) is chock full of perks on planning a destination wedding. I can't believe that a magazine actually encourages me to give tips like:
My first article (which appeared in the the Jan/Feb issue) is chock full of perks on planning a destination wedding. I can't believe that a magazine actually encourages me to give tips like:
"Do you feel bad telling your guests you don’t want a choir of babies screaming over your vows? Let your destination wedding break the news for you. As badly as you don’t want kids at your wedding, there’s a stronger desire within your guests to not trek to distant locations with their offspring."
Before you get angry with me, it's all in jest. I love kids. Everyone loves babies and children. I just didn't really want them at my wedding. And the fact that there was so much travel involved getting to our wedding location was a wonderful deterrent for keeping the toddlers away!
But, there are also some really great tips and thoughts in the article as well. Ideas I'm betting you overlooked. Forget everything you think you know about destination weddings! In the article I tell you why you really really really want to have one!
Anyway - I'm very excited about the opportunity that I've been given to continue to talk weddings with anyone that will read my thoughts. I never expected this blog/persona to live on for much longer than I posted my wedding pictures and video, but I'm extremely excited that it has.
Nearly 2.5 months into this new year, I've already been invited to 6 weddings. So perhaps I'll continue to be inspired by weddings and will get a new round of material to reference in my articles. I love that Temple of Groom exists in 2013!
Also, be on the lookout for my upcoming articles in Destination Wedding Magazine. In the next issue the article I wrote is stuffed to the gills with great ideas where to cut costs in your destination wedding. And I just finished writing a great article on how to make your "beer & wine only" bar fun for your guests who were expecting hard alcohol! You guys really should check these articles out - if for no other reason than I want to be invited back to keep writing for you!
Monday, July 2, 2012
How late is too late?
So I have to kind of tread lightly on this post...I don't want to divulge too much information...but I must say, I'm too curious for input not to post and get a little feedback from you all.
My question: How late is TOO late to complain to one of your wedding vendors?
I've told you about many great wedding vendors that I've had. But I've kept my frustrations with one of them quiet. That's kind of a "Sixth Sense" twist you didn't see coming, huh?! Thought my wedding was flawless, huh?! Well it was pretty fucking incredible, but looking back I have a complaint with something and it's kind of a biggie.
My intent of this blog isn't to point fingers or out someone for a job I wasn't crazy about, but rather to find out if I should say something to the vendor. Ultimately I suppose there's no true benefit of confrontation- it can't change anything about our wedding day or deliver a better product to us. However, I've had this lingering thought for a while that I should say something. Maybe there IS something that can be done for us... I don't know.
I guess this is about as vague as a blog post can get. I don't want to publicly flame someone or a company... but at the end of the day, I wasn't happy with a product that he/she/they/it delivered. My wedding was nearly two years ago, but should I say something? Is it too late to complain? Should I just let it go? What would you do?
PS. For those that are going to try to guess the vendor, I will give you one giant hint: It is NOT CallawayGable. I look back on my pictures daily and think about how great they are. Hell, I look at pictures that they post of OTHER people's weddings and think about how great they are. So if you are guessing in that direction, STOP IT!
My question: How late is TOO late to complain to one of your wedding vendors?
I've told you about many great wedding vendors that I've had. But I've kept my frustrations with one of them quiet. That's kind of a "Sixth Sense" twist you didn't see coming, huh?! Thought my wedding was flawless, huh?! Well it was pretty fucking incredible, but looking back I have a complaint with something and it's kind of a biggie.
My intent of this blog isn't to point fingers or out someone for a job I wasn't crazy about, but rather to find out if I should say something to the vendor. Ultimately I suppose there's no true benefit of confrontation- it can't change anything about our wedding day or deliver a better product to us. However, I've had this lingering thought for a while that I should say something. Maybe there IS something that can be done for us... I don't know.
I guess this is about as vague as a blog post can get. I don't want to publicly flame someone or a company... but at the end of the day, I wasn't happy with a product that he/she/they/it delivered. My wedding was nearly two years ago, but should I say something? Is it too late to complain? Should I just let it go? What would you do?
PS. For those that are going to try to guess the vendor, I will give you one giant hint: It is NOT CallawayGable. I look back on my pictures daily and think about how great they are. Hell, I look at pictures that they post of OTHER people's weddings and think about how great they are. So if you are guessing in that direction, STOP IT!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Would you hire a straight male wedding planner?
Hypothetically... would you ever hire a straight male wedding planner? How about a husband and wife planning team? I'm truly not asking because I want to be a wedding planner... I'm honestly just curious if straight men are truly putting their thumbprint on the wedding industry.
You can't deny that over the last few years we've seen a surge in the amount of male wedding bloggers and men interested in weddings in general. Whether it's because the economy has forced couples to work together, or because men are finally waking up and realizing that they're throwing the best party of their lives, my gender has been way more involved. Some of the most wedding savvy people I know right now are men.
NOW, the question arises... do women really trust us enough to let us help plan professionally? Women, do you trust straight men enough to accept us into a profession that is dominated by women or gay men? Would you hire us? Do you think we are able to help plan a wedding that both Bride & Groom would be proud to call their own? In the days where you turn on the television and hear all about "man caves" and "man-b-ques" et al, do you trust that we could give you something that isn't a "man wedding"?
Let me know what you think! Would you hire a straight male wedding planner? If not, why? How much do you really trust us? What could we do to prove that we're ready? Do you think there would be any benefits of hiring a man? Are you a straight man that is a wedding planner? Is it hard to get work?
Sound off!!!!
You can't deny that over the last few years we've seen a surge in the amount of male wedding bloggers and men interested in weddings in general. Whether it's because the economy has forced couples to work together, or because men are finally waking up and realizing that they're throwing the best party of their lives, my gender has been way more involved. Some of the most wedding savvy people I know right now are men.
NOW, the question arises... do women really trust us enough to let us help plan professionally? Women, do you trust straight men enough to accept us into a profession that is dominated by women or gay men? Would you hire us? Do you think we are able to help plan a wedding that both Bride & Groom would be proud to call their own? In the days where you turn on the television and hear all about "man caves" and "man-b-ques" et al, do you trust that we could give you something that isn't a "man wedding"?
Rebecca will be the first one to tell you that I did a lot of our wedding planning. Not one guest, vendor, or internet troll commented that our wedding was masculine in the slightest bit. Everyone had a blast and thought it was a beautiful and entertaining wedding. I think having both my sense of style mixed with Rebecca's is what made the wedding pop.
Ultimately I guess the job of the wedding planner is to facilitate the vision of the Bride and Groom. I absolutely think it's possible for us to do this! Please don't confuse this post as me saying women aren't doing a wonderful job in this industry. You've conquered it and are running it soundly. I'm just curious, as men get more and more involved each year, do you trust us enough to put your wedding in our hands.
Let me know what you think! Would you hire a straight male wedding planner? If not, why? How much do you really trust us? What could we do to prove that we're ready? Do you think there would be any benefits of hiring a man? Are you a straight man that is a wedding planner? Is it hard to get work?
Sound off!!!!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
A Temple of Groom v2.0 Intro
It seriously blows my mind that I'm approaching my two year wedding anniversary. How did this happen?
At this time two years ago we were receiving RSVPs to our wedding. Two years later I managed to put all my lost wedding weight back on, but I also managed to stay married! You take the good, you take the bad, it's the facts of life... the facts of life. You might roll your eyes thinking staying married for 2 whole years isn't such a big deal, but this day in age when some marriages only last 72 days (oh god, a Kardashian reference?! I'm rusty at blogging, okay?!) two years is as much to celebrate as 40 years.
I've come to the conclusion that the wedding is tough, but marriage is pretty tough too. I don't want that to come off as sounding like I haven't enjoyed being married. That's not true. Being married to Rebecca has been amazing. She is still my best friend and the love of my life. That being said, this shit is hard, people.
Even though the wedding seems like an impossible task you've taken on, looking back... it's kind of easy. If I could go back in time to talk to "Temple of Groom - in his prime" self, there's a lot we could talk about. After I give him some advice like "plastics" (see: The Graduate) and he rolls his eyes, I would give him real advice that only becomes clear years after the wedding.
Relax. This is all going to get done. You know you're going to get it all done. You don't need a future version of yourself coming back in time to tell you that you're going to get it done to know that it ALWAYS seems to figure itself out. I've never been to a wedding where the Bride and Groom walk down the aisle saying "Sorry everyone! We didn't have time to get our seating assignments done!". Everything will get done...
...and worst case scenario, if it doesn't get done, it's not the end of the world. The week before the wedding I'm sure there was a laundry list of last minute things Rebecca and I had to get done. I'm pretty sure some of them probably DIDN'T get done. But it didn't derail the wedding. AND the day after the wedding, anything you didn't have time to squeeze in, seems completely meaningless. The important things ALWAYS get done. The officiant, the marriage license, getting married. Ah! Okay... I didn't get a backdrop for my homemade wedding photo booth. Big deal, right?
The thing I've come to realize the most is that before the wedding it's ALL you're focused on. The months leading up to the wedding, life might exist outside of planning and blogging and reading wedding blogs and frantically trying to lose weight, but you don't truly notice it. There's no time for job stress, or real life situation stress. You nail the big project at work and don't even notice it because "WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE GOING TO FIND AFFORDABLE STRING LIGHTS TO HANG OVER THE DANCE FLOOR?!?!?!?!?!". In that regard, wedding planning is kind of an incredible thing. I wish I had another wedding to plan!
Now, years later, when life gets you down, you don't have anything as big as a wedding to distract you. So you have to face it. And it's tough. There's no giant distraction to unload your stress onto. Perhaps those blowout fights about what type of stamps should go on our invitations were a good thing. Perhaps it was a great way to release tension. Now without a giant project on my plate like a wedding, I realize that planning a wedding is tough, but staying married is probably equally as tough. Stress filters into your marriage in new ways that it didn't before.
So that's how I'm going to introduce the next incarnation of my blog. I'll, of course, talk a lot about weddings (can you believe I still have wedding related questions on my mind??) but I think I want to start talking about marriage too. Someday the blog will hopefully morph into "Temple of Womb" where another huge project (pregnancy) will distract us from life, but for now, I'll continue posting my wedding questions, and start filtering in my marriage questions.
So much has happened in the last two years. Good, and bad. I think it's going to be really good to get back behind the blogging wheel...
At this time two years ago we were receiving RSVPs to our wedding. Two years later I managed to put all my lost wedding weight back on, but I also managed to stay married! You take the good, you take the bad, it's the facts of life... the facts of life. You might roll your eyes thinking staying married for 2 whole years isn't such a big deal, but this day in age when some marriages only last 72 days (oh god, a Kardashian reference?! I'm rusty at blogging, okay?!) two years is as much to celebrate as 40 years.
I've come to the conclusion that the wedding is tough, but marriage is pretty tough too. I don't want that to come off as sounding like I haven't enjoyed being married. That's not true. Being married to Rebecca has been amazing. She is still my best friend and the love of my life. That being said, this shit is hard, people.
Even though the wedding seems like an impossible task you've taken on, looking back... it's kind of easy. If I could go back in time to talk to "Temple of Groom - in his prime" self, there's a lot we could talk about. After I give him some advice like "plastics" (see: The Graduate) and he rolls his eyes, I would give him real advice that only becomes clear years after the wedding.
Relax. This is all going to get done. You know you're going to get it all done. You don't need a future version of yourself coming back in time to tell you that you're going to get it done to know that it ALWAYS seems to figure itself out. I've never been to a wedding where the Bride and Groom walk down the aisle saying "Sorry everyone! We didn't have time to get our seating assignments done!". Everything will get done...
...and worst case scenario, if it doesn't get done, it's not the end of the world. The week before the wedding I'm sure there was a laundry list of last minute things Rebecca and I had to get done. I'm pretty sure some of them probably DIDN'T get done. But it didn't derail the wedding. AND the day after the wedding, anything you didn't have time to squeeze in, seems completely meaningless. The important things ALWAYS get done. The officiant, the marriage license, getting married. Ah! Okay... I didn't get a backdrop for my homemade wedding photo booth. Big deal, right?
The thing I've come to realize the most is that before the wedding it's ALL you're focused on. The months leading up to the wedding, life might exist outside of planning and blogging and reading wedding blogs and frantically trying to lose weight, but you don't truly notice it. There's no time for job stress, or real life situation stress. You nail the big project at work and don't even notice it because "WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE GOING TO FIND AFFORDABLE STRING LIGHTS TO HANG OVER THE DANCE FLOOR?!?!?!?!?!". In that regard, wedding planning is kind of an incredible thing. I wish I had another wedding to plan!
Now, years later, when life gets you down, you don't have anything as big as a wedding to distract you. So you have to face it. And it's tough. There's no giant distraction to unload your stress onto. Perhaps those blowout fights about what type of stamps should go on our invitations were a good thing. Perhaps it was a great way to release tension. Now without a giant project on my plate like a wedding, I realize that planning a wedding is tough, but staying married is probably equally as tough. Stress filters into your marriage in new ways that it didn't before.
So that's how I'm going to introduce the next incarnation of my blog. I'll, of course, talk a lot about weddings (can you believe I still have wedding related questions on my mind??) but I think I want to start talking about marriage too. Someday the blog will hopefully morph into "Temple of Womb" where another huge project (pregnancy) will distract us from life, but for now, I'll continue posting my wedding questions, and start filtering in my marriage questions.
So much has happened in the last two years. Good, and bad. I think it's going to be really good to get back behind the blogging wheel...
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