How cute is this card my sister made? The answer is a big fat Y-E-S! I’ve never been a matron of honor before and couldn’t be more excited that it’s for Chelsea. In addition to making a beautiful card that was filled with words too personal to share here, she gave me a delicate necklace that holds two little hearts (one for me, one for her). I’ve been wearing it every day since.
Wow time sure does fly. We are heading to the desert this weekend to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. It couldn’t have come at a better time as it’s been pretty hectic selling our place and trying to find a new one. Most of our weekends and evenings are spent consumed with house-related stuff. I’ve seen so many inspectors, plumbers, realtors and even a mold team wielding microscopes (thankfully we had none) that I am ready to just sit by the pool, look at the mountains and chill.
I usually like being in control and making the plans, but Tim handled everything (he even made a fancy itinerary for us), which I so appreciate. Feeling really grateful and excited for what’s to come.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Photo by Candice Benjamin
I am a big fan of the sweeping statement. I used to say, “I don’t ever want to get married” and “I will never carry a purse” (during a tomboy phase in my youth). And I certainly never thought I would change my name even if I did one day marry. I am a very independent woman and I made my entire career with this name. I’ve written hundreds, maybe even thousands of articles with my birth name and I’m the only one on earth who has it.
When Tim and I got engaged, he never expected me to change it and certainly never asked me to, but all of a sudden I felt like I wanted to. I wanted to be a united front and since my husband is an only child it seemed nice to become our own family, even if it’s just us two. I also liked the idea of more anonymity in the sense that there are many other people with my new name.
For the last six months I’ve been using my husband’s last name socially, on Facebook and Gmail, but I never legally changed it. It’s a huge change (maybe not for girls who marry at 22 and haven’t worked yet, but for this 35 year old it’s major) and I wanted to be 100 percent sure. It didn’t help that one of my closest friends remarked one day that she regretted changing her name. That kind of stuck with me.
But here we are. I am ready to become Mrs. Koch, legally, and will be using my former last name as my middle name. I used the awesome online service hitchswitch to help with the process. So I’m bidding farewell to my middle name Kerry (a nod to my mom’s Irish heritage) and hello to a different “K.”
Photo by Candice Benjamin
Even though we now have a proper wedding anniversary, it should be noted that five years ago today, Tim asked me to be his girlfriend. This was a big night, not only because he is the love of my life, but because I had often thought he was the one, but we were friends and had tried dating over the years. I knew in my heart that anyone I ended up with would have been a second choice. That thought always made me a bit sad. But. I got the guy and he’s made me happy every single day of the last five years. He is as good as they come.
I just finished the Steve Jobs biography and this note he wrote to his wife Laurene on their 20th anniversary (and while he was suffering from cancer) touched me so much.
We didn’t know much about each other twenty years ago. We were guided by our intuition; you swept me off my feet. It was snowing when we got married at the Ahwahnee. Years passed, kids came, good times, hard times, but never bad times. Our love and respect has endured and grown. We’ve been through so much together and here we are right back where we started 20 years ago — older, wiser — with wrinkles on our faces and hearts. We now know many of life’s joys, sufferings, secrets and wonders and we’re still here together. My feet have never returned to the ground.
Photo by Candice Benjamin
I came across the work of Ladyfingers Letterpress on Pinterest and was pretty blown away. Morgan Calderini and Arley-Rose Torsone (grads of RISD and Parsons, respectively) specialize in one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn and letterpress printed wedding invitations, baby announcements and other custom projects.
We recently attended an all-around amazing backyard wedding in Venice Beach and I loved how these little potted succulents were the guest favors. Not only do I think of Lindsey and Brett every time I see ours, but they really complimented the rustic-bohemian-creative vibe of the entire evening. These favors would work for any type of party or shower and you may personalize them with a small printed message using a toothpick and some cute string or twine.
Follow me on Instagram for more photos like these @agiftedsociety.
This weekend our friends Lindsey and Brett are getting married in their backyard in Venice (kinda tempted to ride our bikes since it’s close!) Theirs is the first wedding we are attending since our own and I have a feeling I’m going to be extra emotional since I can now truly relate to this incredible day. I used to have no desire to get married. I just didn’t get it and felt that it sometimes changed people for the worse. If you are happy as boyfriend and girlfriend why not just stay that way? I’m only four months in, but I am definitely a convert.
I feel like we are more of a team than ever. It’s also nice being able to enjoy things like health benefits for the first time (as a freelancer I’ve been paying for my own health care for 12+ years!) and I love hearing Tim say, “Let me check with my wife.” It’s so grown up and makes me realize that we are grown up. We’re still figuring some things out (I haven’t legally changed my name and we have our first joint checking account), but are having lots of fun.
Happy Wedding to Lindsey and Brett!
Photo by Candice Benjamin
On Tuesday I got a text from Candice saying we were featured on Style Me Pretty. This wedding blog has a cult following and sure enough, within a couple hours, I had heard from a long lost high school friend and some newly engaged friends of friends who excitedly stumbled on it.
Since I was a journalist for more than a decade, I got very used to being behind the scenes, and spent much of my day building other people up and helping their careers. So it’s a big switch up to be featured like this, but I think they did a beautiful job and I’m so happy to see our photography and video team and incredible vendors getting some glory since they are amazing.
I’m working on feeling more comfortable putting myself out there and not just staying in the background so I hope you enjoy!
How gorgeous are these blooms? Today my sister Chelsea completes her first year as a doctoral candidate at UC Santa Barbara. She has worked incredibly hard and dealt with some counseling cases that most of us could never handle. Congratulations my little seesta!
Photo of Chelsea from our wedding by Candice Benjamin
Here are some cute shots from Lucky Photo Booth at our wedding. This is the best photo booth there is and the image quality is unlike anything I’ve seen! Immediately after our wedding they delivered a disc of color and black and white photos and it was pretty entertaining seeing what our friends and family were up to in there.
