Changing your name

I think the majority of my friends who have gotten married have kept their last names or combined it with their husband's name.  A few who changed them wished they hadn't. (I do live in CA so maybe things are more liberal out here.)  I'm going to keep my last name, since it preserves some of my ethnicity and a host of other reasons like I have a company in my name, I'm an illustrator...  It's interesting for those who have a different ethnicity as their spouse.  I have a friend who had an ethnic first and last name, so changing her last name to her spouse's was no big deal, whereas my Asian doctor friend who didn't want to surprise her patients, kept her last name.  I have friends who picked a totally new last name too!  I love the various options.

The Guest List

I think sometimes it's easier to get married when you're younger because you just know fewer people... and so your guest list is sort of cut out for you.  When you reach your thirties, you have to really cull the list and it's hard!  What about so-and-so that invited you years ago, but you've lost touch with.  Just how many of your parents' friends are allowed?  What about your boss?  Anyway, we made up a rule sheet that helped us a bit, but it was difficult.  We're also thinking about having a secondary list, but that is a whole other issue!

Auspicious Dates

I'm an American Born Chinese and I don't really believe in superstitious things.  In the Chinese culture, sometimes people go by the lunar calendar and believe that certain days are good and bad for certain events.  Well, we had some dates in mind for the wedding and I thought I'd run them by my parents- little did I know that the date we had in mind was a really inauspicious day.  Too bad there was no clause in the calendar that picking an auspicious day would mean no rain!

Wedding on the mind

I've been much more aware of "wedding potentials," things that I could use or inspire me for the wedding.  i.e. I notice a certain ambiance at a restaurant and I take note that maybe we'd want that kind of uplighting for our reception.  As Eli and I were having brunch at Stacks recently, the way they placed the whipped cream and the strawberries... well, it really did resemble below!