THE WEDDING PLANNER'SWedding Blog
It started as a cathartic way to vent, until she mentioned it to her editors. Now Honolulu Advertiser relationships writer Tanya Bricking is going public with an online diary chronicling the weeks leading up to her trip down the aisle in November.
Bricking is marrying a military pilot who has deployment orders for Afghanistan, so she's going through a whirlwind planning session as she rushes toward a wedding date. Look for updated Web log postings on Tuesdays and Fridays. New entries will go on the top of the page in reverse chronological order. Send your stories, tips and encouragement to islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com. We'll post responses online.
Friday, November 21, 2003
For a groom, there's more
Who says it's all about the bride? In the last segment of the wedding planner, the groom gets the last word. [more]
At last
I'm thinking of Etta James' song about love coming at last. And I'm also thinking, "At last! The last blog!" The countdown is over. My love has come along, and we're taking off to get married. [more]
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Goodbye to the single life
It was fun while it lasted, but I'm ready to move on to something better. [more]
Friday, November 14, 2003
It's your wedding, so serve something special at the bar
The wedding-planning guides say you can save money at your reception by serving a signature drink at the bar along with beer, wine and soda. I'm not sure it would cost us less than serving other drinks, but we like the idea of doing something different. [more]
Groom blogs
Who says this is all about the bride? On the Net, the guys are having their say. [more]
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Idle thoughts
My mind is crammed with war-zone worries, to-do lists and songs stuck on replay. [more]
Friday, November 7, 2003
Lei stands also versed in weddings
Need some flowers? A limo? A dressmaker to design your wedding gown? Pomaikai Chun probably knows somebody who can help. [more]
Don't worry, be happy
Will my fiance be among the soldiers being deployed to Iraq for a year? I'll just have to wait and see. [more]
Tuesday, Tuesday 4, 2003
Girl talk: Of pouf and panties
A seamstress doesn't lie. She can recommend undergarments that will raise your self-esteem — and cinch your waist. [more]
Friday, October 31, 2003
Patience, love make lasting nectar for life together
After 48 years together, Ward Stewart still gets poetic about the love of his life. [more]
The marrying kind
Why do men marry some women and not others? [more]
Tuesday, October 27, 2003
Surprise! Military wives throw a shower
My fiancé told me we were invited to his buddy's house to play cards. The secret operation? My initiation into the circle of spouses. [nt>more]
Friday, October 24, 2003
The ins and outs of bridal registries
Before we did the traditional department-store wedding registry, my groom and I checked out Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse to see if we could register at his favorite store. [more]
Ode to Joy
The crisis is over. Let the celebration begin. [more]
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
On a shot and a prayer
Between drinks from kind bartenders and prayers from nuns, we're bound to be blessed somehow. [more]
Friday, October 17, 2003
Keeping cool when best-laid plans backfire
I know I shouldn't sweat the small stuff. Maybe no one will notice if we don't have any food, drinks, chairs or a tent. Why didn't we elope? [more]
'Are you getting cold feet?'
We've already gone to bed angry. But wedding snags have taught me and my guy this: We're ready to put our energy into the marriage instead of all the stuff on the surface. [more]
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
As rich as it gets
Vera Wang gown? La-di-da. Let's just say I'm going for shabby chic. [more]
Friday, October 10, 2003
Overheard in the marriage license office
Bureaucracy has a soft spot in Room 101 at the state Department of Health, an essential stop for altar-bound couples on O'ahu: the marriage license office. [more]
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
A bone to pick
The single hardest adjustment to moving in with my fiancé has four legs and a tail. She looks sweet enough, a light brown-sugary Weimaraner named Shanna. But she acts like a jealous girlfriend. [more]
Friday, October 3, 2003
Here dot.coms the bride
Susan Bolin and Corey Wright tied the knot in July at the Four Seasons Hualalai Resort on the Big Island. Today, the bride is still weaning herself from the wedding-planning circuit. It's not so much that she can't detach from the dream. She just doesn't want her research to go to waste. [more]
The other religious ceremony: Football
My wedding is on the same day as the University of Hawai'i-Alabama game. Will guests be listening to "I do" or whispering "how'd they do?" [more]
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
In need of professional help
When my fiance looks at me as if I'm in need of professional help, he's not thinking of the wedding-planning variety. [more]
Friday, September 26, 2003
Putting your wedding on the fast track
Those wedding checklists that say what you're supposed to do in the year before your wedding read like a Martha Stewart Living calendar. [more]
They're playing our song
For my side of the family, this will be one of the few family wedding receptions without "The Chicken Dance," "We Are Family," "The Electric Slide" and "Rocky Top" in the music lineup. Once they get over the shock of no "Macarena," I'm fairly certain the scrutiny over our music selection will pass. [more]
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Of wine and no more whining
Friends raise their glasses, taste some wine, and help the bride enjoy the moment. [more]
Friday, September 19, 2003
Set your priorities and save some money
"I think you might need a generator," the catering manager said as we surveyed my wedding site. If we were in a cartoon, there would have been a bubble above my head filled with dollar signs. [more]
Confessions of a bridezilla
The worst part about being a bride-to-be is that it makes you so self-absorbed. I used to be able to carry on normal conversations. Now I attempt to have ones that don't include the words "wedding," "my fiance" or anything in the "bridal" family. [more]
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Dreams you don't want to come true
Lately, weirdly, my dreams have reminded me of a childhood day of shame. I'm just waiting to close my eyes and dream I'm walking down the aisle naked because I forgot to get dressed, or something equally humiliating. Even awake, I have irrational wedding worries. [more]
Friday, September 12, 2003
Bride-to-be gets plenty of warning
It's amazing the warnings you get when you are about to be married. A person with colder feet might be frozen by now. I don't even know how to respond to most of it. I just let it sink in. [more]
Friday, September 12, 2003
Swimming in the details
You could lose your mind over the small stuff. And that's without even thinking about what might go wrong. This column has prompted brides to tell me their horror stories. [more]
Tuesday, September 9, 2003
It's all in a name
It's a predictable bride-to-be dilemma: what do you call yourself once you get hitched? I always thought I'd keep my name and be my own person. Then I decided it would be complicated if we had kids and I had one last name and my husband had a different one and our kids didn't have mine. [more]
Friday, September 5, 2003
Implementing fantasy nuptials not for all brides
I'm not so sure I came programmed with a wedding-planning gene. It's been more like a newfound obsession brought on because my military man has deployment orders for Afghanistan. That means we have a little more than two months to work out the details. If only I'd been planning since I was 11. [more]
