One Year Anniversary

We were kids when we got together. Look at those baby fat faces (Alright, so maybe just mine.) It's crazy to think how long ago that was. 

13 years ago today was our first date, and along with that, today we celebrate our first year of marriage. We're very different people now then we were back then. But that's why I feel our relationship has survived, because it changed as we changed too. 

But it wasn't always easy. We broke up in college and we did things that hurt each other. They weren't intentional, but we did. It took my grandma's death to make me realize that in times of need, you find out who matters to you most. And for me that was Kyle. 

Many people say, "Oh high school sweethearts, how perfect!" But it wasn't perfect. It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of work we were both willing to put in. Not just looking at was wrong with the other, but looking at how we could better improve ourselves. 

Me - I needed to stop nagging Kyle for everything he wasn't, and start complimenting him for everything he was. I'm a pretty harsh person when it comes to standards - I set them really high, some may say unattainable. And I needed to stop holding Kyle to them, and start giving him the one thing every girlfriend and wife should give - support.

Not going to lie - After having an amazing wedding weekend, our first year of marriage started out rough. 

Straight off our plane from Bora Bora, I was in the Torrance ER for a blood clot in my leg. (Just wait until my post with the pictures. You'd mistake my leg for Mama June's.) Our first month of marriage was spent with Kyle giving me shots in my stomach twice a day, while dealing with major issues at his work as well. 

A house, a dog, and twelve months later, I can sit here and say that there has never been a year that I have relied on Kyle more. Those standards I set years ago? He's far exceeded them and he did so own his own. And more than anything, whether I've need it personally or professionally, this year he has undoubtedly always given me the one thing I've needed more than anything - support. 

This post is dedicated to him - my spontaneous dance partner. my fellow car singer. my favorite couch potato. my love. 

Here's to many more...

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Honeyfund Registry

When it comes to wedding registries, we all have the same vision of couples using a laser gun to zap items for their wishlist - pots, pans, vacuums, sheets. But in this day and age, more and more couples are living together before marriage. (Sorry Jesus, I know we're all living in sin, but if you had to pay rent in LA, I'm sure you'd do the same.)

So when it came to registering before my shower, I looked around my one bedroom apartment and realized, I really don't need anything, let alone have room for anything.

We decided that instead of asking for china (our Target plates have treated us just fine) we would register at Honeyfund.com, a honeymoon registry, and use all of the money we made toward an amazing trip to Bora Bora.

How Honeyfund works is you create a registry online, like the sample one below. Your guests can then buy you "gift certificates" toward airfare, massages, shark tours, etc. That money is then is directly sent to your PayPal account. 

Basically you are just receiving cash and can put it toward whatever you'd like on your Honeymoon. We paid for our Bora Bora trip up front, and then reimbursed ourselves with the monetary gifts we received through Honeyfund. 

Signing up for Honeyfund is free. The only fee is if your guests pay through credit card, which is around 1.8%, but there is no fee if they use cash or check. 

And thanks to our friends at Honeyfund, enter the promo code IGUESSIDO and receive $5 OFF an upgrade to Honeyfund Platinum.

I would highly suggest registering with Honeyfund. The Honeymoon is often overlooked amongst the other surmounting wedding costs. And thanks to our family and friends, we were able to completely pay off our unbelievable trip to Bora Bora, as well as have money to put towards our new house. Totally worth it!

Sample Registry:

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WeddingMix Giveaway

On Monday, while reading Ariane & Mike's real wedding story, you were told an I Guess I Do moment was the driving force behind starting their company. Following their amazing wedding and even better party, all the couple had to remember their night were some still photographs. 

They regretted not having a video made, but because of that - now you don't have to!  Ariane & Mike co-founded WeddingMix, It's a Personalized App + Every Moment from your Wedding story is in one spot. The best memories are then turned into an edited video.

Here's how it works:

When you buy a WeddingMix package, you get Flip cameras, which varies by package, and a WeddingMix mobile app, for iPhone or Androids, that you give to all of your guests. This app allows you to have access to every single picture and video that your guests take! And the number of guests that can take pictures is unlimited! How cool is that?

WeddingMix then takes all of the best footage and creates a custom edited video for you! Now you don't have to hunt through all of your Facebook & Instagram feeds to track down photos and footage. It's a perfect way to capture all the personal, fun, and behind the scene moments that are part of the wedding journey! They then make it easy to share with their new HD Online Gallery, where you can share up to 60 minutes of edited video, unlike Facebook or YouTube which can only share 10-15 minutes.

And thanks to our friends at WeddingMix, one lucky follower will win $300 towards the WeddingMix package of their choice! They are also giving everyone 5% OFF just for entering! 

ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN BELOW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You have until Friday, September 27th to enter. But technically everyone is a winner with WeddingMix since you all will be receiving 5% OFF just for entering! Here is a sample trailer of what your custom video could look like:

Best of Luck Un-Brides!

xoxo 

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Ariane & Mike : Michael Kareha Photography

Meet fellow Huffington Post blogger Ariane Fisher and her husband Mike.  After reading her Huffington Post article, I knew I had to feature her wedding on I Guess I Do. Her humor and tone achieved the relatable quality I love, and after reading this, I'm sure you'll agree.

What I love even more, is that an I Guess I Do moment caused this couple to start their own thriving business! After planning and experiencing such an amazing wedding, all they had to show for it were some still photos.

Ariane and Mike then co-founded StoryMix Media and their team developed WeddingMix which takes all of you and your friend's raw photos and videos and turns them into custom video memories you can share! Enjoy Ariane's story in her own words below. 

...

You know how most little girls dream of their wedding day? That wasn't me. I was more the backyard pot luck dinner kind of gal. But my fiance had big plans in mind when he popped the question. His plan: have an upscale, hard-rocking party that no one would ever forget.

To finance our party (wedding), we put the majority of the budget into our two priorities: booze and band. The rest would have to be DIY, which was fine by me. I like a challenge. I let him do most of the planning, and I set about my DIY tasks.

These included... are you ready for it...?

• save the dates
• invitations
• favors
• centerpieces
• bouquets
• veil
• purse
• cake
• and dress. yes. my wedding dress.

Oh. Did I mention that I didn't know how to sew? So I learned. I had big budget wedding dress dreams and a $500 wedding dress budget. So, I went home to New York and visited the wholesale fabric district. I bought $1000 worth of fabric for $500 and was all set.

I spent the majority of our 7 month engagement learning how to sew with the help of a friend who was a seamstress. No worries, she forced me to do everything but the alterations mostly on my own.

The cake was definitely the one thing I wouldn't do over again though. I had been a cake decorator and had always planned on making my cake. I didn't plan on severe carpal tunnel the week of the wedding. I couldn't hold a pencil, let alone a decorating bag.

So, I did what any self-respecting bride would do... I got one of my best friends a bit drunk and convinced her to do it! There may or may not have been jello shots while decorating the cake. And parts of it may have been missing in the middle, but it looked pretty good in the end. 

The day of the wedding was quite the orchestration. I had to arrange for all our DIY decorations to be set up, the cake to be transported and assembled, get ready, get photos, oh, and get married! Something had to fall off the table.

Ok, so the dress was a bit of a wrinkled mess because I forgot to steam it. But worse than that, was the news an hour before the reception that one of my bridesmaids (an amateur calligrapher) had not created the table cards. At all.

"Here" she said, handing me the blank stack of cards. "Sorry". Turns out my hubs had forgotten to give her the list and she "forgot she had promised to do it". Oops.

That meant no time to get photos in our historic venue because we were stuck at the bar scribbling out table cards. Cue angry bride. 

So, yet again, I did what any sane person would do... shots. Lots of 'em. I figured I could ruin my own party by being angry or I could have an awesome time. The decision was helped along by copious amounts of Uncle Jack (Daniels), but I had a blast. Seriously.

Our favorite bar band played alternative music from 6pm til 1am. The top shelf bar stayed open the whole time. We convinced the band leader to tell the guests that he didn't know how to play "The Chicken Dance", "YMCA" or any songs we didn't like.

The best part is that years later, we still have friends coming up to us and saying that our's was the best party, not just wedding, they've ever attended.

My lessons learned from the experience:

1) Hire a wedding planner or day-of-coordinator

2) And more important to me, get a wedding video. We spent months choreographing our first dance with nothing to show for it but pretty pictures later on. I seriously regret that. It's the main reason we started our company.

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Kelly Faetanini

Carrying on with the New York theme this week, this designer not only shares the same love I have for the city, but also for the same hometown. Kelly Faetanini also hails from Sandusky, Ohio and has quickly been climbing the ranks in the bridal fashion industry.

From small town girl to big time dress designer, she's trained under the best, and has now emerged with her own line of beautiful wedding dresses. Kelly gives us an exclusive look at her latest collection and let's us in on her own I Guess I Do wedding moments! Enjoy - I hope you enjoy this designer profile as much as I did! 

To see more of Kelly's designs visit www.kellyfaetanini.com and be sure to show her some love Facebook!

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New York Fashion Week

Hello Un-Brides! Coming to you today from New York Fashion Week. We are taping Fashion Police from Lincoln Center this week!

It's been my first real trip to New York as a big kid. The weather and food have been amazing and the runway shows have been fantastic. Above are my favorite fellow producers and I at the Monique Lhuillier show. Melon was a big color at this show as well as embellished and midriff dresses. 

I'm interested to see if any these trends will carry over to her bridal collection in October. I will be back in NYC then to cover Bridal Fashion Week for Le Salon as their Fashion Expert, so stay tuned!

Speaking of New York, get ready for Thursday and my interview with Ohio native and now New York Bridal dress designer Kelly Faetanini. You'll get a sneak peek of her spring collection and an exclusive look at her own wedding photos as well!

And don't forget to tune in this Friday at 9pm for our Fashion Police: September Issue Special. Have a good week everybody!

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Rehearsal Dinner Dresses

When it comes to the big day, not only do you have to worry about your wedding dress, but you have to think about all the other occasions leading up to it! While I may not have been traditional in many aspects of my wedding, I still think it's nice to have some form of white in your rehearsal dinner dress. 

Below is the Alice + Olivia dress I wore at my rehearsal dinner as well as some other fun and unique possibilities for yours!

1. Peggy Hartanto  2. BCBG  3. Shona Joy  4. Pencey Standard

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Labor Day

Blurred Lines - no I'm not talking about that Robin Thicke song I thought I would never get sick of, well until that jerk Miley came along. I'm talking about the blurred line between family and friends.

I spent my Labor Day in Florida with Super Jak, Princess Lilly, and two of my best friends from college. While life may be crazy for all of us, we make sure to have a girls weekend every year.

So make time for your friends no matter how far apart they may be, especially the good ones. Because the good ones are hard to come by. And as time goes on, you begin to look at them not only as friends, but as family.

Hope your weekend has left you feeling rested and rejuvenated!

xoxo

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