Blog Archives

June Wedding Blitz: Lilian Darcy and the Instant Wedding

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Kelly McClymer — No Comments ↓

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Please welcome Lilian Darcy to the blog today. Lilian has a very interesting wedding story to share with us. I know I think an Australian wedding sounds much more romantic than one in New York! Which would you prefer?

My Instant Wedding

It happened this way:

We met in New York City on May 23 1988, and were engaged within ten weeks. Problem was, I lived in Australia, was only in New York for a few months, and had to fly home the following week, in early August.

We agreed he would come for a visit to Australia in November, and that I’d then wind up my life and come to join him in New York as soon as I could. We planned a wedding for the following April.

Well, the nearly three-month separation was pretty hard, but we dealt with it through letters and phone calls. No email or skyping back then! A few days before he was due to fly across the Pacific, and when I’d begun the process of applying for something called the “Fiancee Visa” so that I could return to the US on a one-way airline ticket, he happened to be talking to an immigration lawyer, who told him, “Don’t touch the Fiancee Visa!… Read the rest

Tagged with: all dressed up, brides, fiancee visa, lilian darcy, news, wedding, wedding planning
Posted in June Wedding Blitz

June Wedding Blitz: Jillian Dodd on Planning A Wedding with a Wedding Board

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Kelly McClymer — No Comments ↓

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Please welcome author Jillian Dodd to the blog today. Jillian planned out her character’s wedding on a wedding board. Sounds like a perfect application for Pinterest these days, doesn’t it? Since I’m someone who isn’t all that visual, I can see how useful this would be, whether planning a wedding, or planning a book. Not to mention fun!

Using Pinterest to Plan a Wedding … or a Book

In my new book, That Wedding, I had a blast planning out an entire wedding for the characters in my series. Because the book was about their engagement and wedding and she would be planning the wedding throughout the book, I had to actually plan out every detail. From the perfect dress to their wedding gifts to each other, all the little details are sprinkled throughout the story of their life.

In the first book of the series, That Boy, you follow the characters growth from age 10 until age 22. Knowing my readers would be invested in having the perfect wedding for these two, I immersed myself in online wedding sites, bridal magazines, and wedding shows. I had a lot of basic details picked out then went to a sorority sister/wedding planner friend of mine and said I need help.… Read the rest

Tagged with: inspirations, jillian dodd, pinterest, purple Nikes, that wedding, wedding board, wedding planning, weddings
Posted in June Wedding Blitz

Turtle Mom Wedding Whinesday: Upcoming Pinterest Intersection

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Kelly McClymer — No Comments ↓

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So, a quick note today that Daughter and I have decided to put some of her Pinterest choices up for a (non-binding) vote in the near future. If you want to join in the fun, you may want to add my wedding board on Pinterest.

Daughter made me change my picture (I had one of me touching a Vandegraft generator with static-y hair…she said it made me look crazy). I defaulted to the hat picture. I need a good picture of myself, but I take truly awful pictures. Eyes closed, red patches, upside-down smile. Blah. Anyone who has tips on how to learn not to become Frankenstein in front of the camera — please share!

I just may take some (natural, not professional) pictures of myself in various attempts to look approachable, human, and non-crazy and put them up to a vote on Pinterest. Hmmm. I wish I’d thought of that yesterday. Will definitely do for next week. I need help!

Right now, I’ve copied over some of Daughter’s choices that reflect her wedding colors of yellow and gray (not up for a vote, she’s really happy with them). I am responsible for getting suits and ties for DH and sons, though.… Read the rest

Tagged with: brides, once upon a wedding, pinterest, wedding, wedding planning
Posted in About a Wedding, Confessions of a Turtle Mom, Turtle Mom Wednesday Whinesday

Turtle Mom Wedding Whinesday: Wedding Planning in the Digital Age

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Kelly McClymer — No Comments ↓

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ANNOUNCEMENT: For any Kindle owners who don’t want to miss a second of the Turtle Mom Wedding saga (which began last year with Confessions of a Turtle Mom), you now have the option to subscribe to the About a Wedding blog on Amazon. Unfortunately, you cannot subscribe to blogs with the Kindle app yet, so you non-Kindle folks can Follow the blog, or the RSS feed, or sign up for the monthly newsletter for a reminder.

I got married before the digital age hit. We did the old-fashioned thing — paper invitations, phone calls (on phones with rotary dials!), going to individual stores to register for gifts.

Daughter has a wedding website (complete with section for RSVP and gift registry). Guests can get updates online (in theory, I’m not sure she’s been keeping it up as she is very busy in her work and wedding planning, not to mention with her new puppy).

Since I’m involved in the whole Daughter-getting-married thing, I’ve become aware of this digital twist to the planning. My blog is one angle — 30 years ago, I don’t know how I’d have flogged books to fund the wedding without using up a lot of gas and paying long distance charges as I wore out the dialer on the rotary phone.… Read the rest

Tagged with: bride, digital wedding planning, mashable, turtle mom, wedding, wedding iPhone apps, wedding planning
Posted in About a Wedding, Confessions of a Turtle Mom, Turtle Mom Wednesday Whinesday

Turtle Mom Wedding Whinesday: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Kelly McClymer — 4 Comments ↓

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The really horrible thing about weddings is that they involve a lot of decisions: cake, dress, venue, food, guest lists, photographers. Any wrong decision can spell problems (at least, to those, like me, who used to overdose on the daily judge shows). A photographer who overexposes film. A DJ who gets drunk and hits on the guests. A mother-of-the-bride who loudly expresses her doubts during the ceremony (true story!). The number of decisions involved exponentially increases the potential for something to go wrong. Apparently, it does not help the bride for her Turtle Mom to point out that when things go wrong, they make good stories for the holiday dinners to come.

So Daughter was stressing over making these decisions (complete with interesting nightmares that the cake went MIA for the reception).… Read the rest

Tagged with: avoiding wedding disasters, decision making, wedding, wedding planning
Posted in About a Wedding, Turtle Mom Wednesday Whinesday

Turtle Mom Wedding Whinesday: How Many Cards Tuck Into a Wedding Invitation?

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Kelly McClymer — 2 Comments ↓

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Whine Subject of the Week: Invitations

Who decided that a wedding invitation needed as many pieces as a do-it-yourself bookshelf? The invitation, a reception card, an RSVP card, a directions card, some filmy bits of paper that serve no purpose (but make good kindling for a wood stove).

Daughter sent Save the Date cards and is now panicked because she is hearing from almost everyone that they’re excited to attend. Don’t get me wrong, she wants to see all these people. She just worries I’m not going to be able to afford to feed them all. She’s used to my “write a lot – make a little” lifestyle. I tell her the Once Upon a Wedding series is selling well, that I’ve put The Fairy Tale Bride on 99 cents sale on every venue I could think of until after the wedding, but she worries.… Read the rest

Tagged with: formal invitations, reception cards, rsvp cards, wedding, wedding invitations, wedding planning
Posted in About a Wedding, Turtle Mom Wednesday Whinesday

Turtle Mom Wedding Whinesday: Reality Sets In

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Kelly McClymer — No Comments ↓

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2012 is here. I was happily thinking I had 8 months to get ready, but Accountant Sister pointed out my time math is lacking and I only have (had!) 7. I keep having a recurring dream that I get the date wrong and show up too late to see my daughter get married. I’m pretty sure that won’t happen (just like I never actually forgot to attend a college class I signed up for, despite the many dreams that I had). But what if it does?

Can you tell I’m panicking? I just realized I have a lot of work to do to get ready, and not a lot of time to do it. Some things are set. But many things still need to be figured out, arranged, and then carried out.… Read the rest

Tagged with: about a wedding, bride, mother of the bride, the fairy tale bride, turtle mom, wedding, wedding planning
Posted in About a Wedding, Confessions of a Turtle Mom