If you are a follower of us on Instagram you may have noticed that I recently became a bride myself. My boyfriend of 2.5 years proposed atop Sierra at Tahoe after a long exhausting day of snowboarding and a huge pulled pork sandwich and a Bud Light. Y'all, I can't even really fully describe how it felt. I was honestly shocked. My response when I figured out what he was doing??? "Riiiiiiight now!?!" I didn't even cry I was so shocked. There were 5 million thoughts going through my head. You know when you imagine and hope something is going to happen and then it finally does and you're just like THIS. IS. HAPPENING. RIIIIIIIIIIGHT. NOW. It was the best moment ever.

The answer? Yes, yes, yes, abso-freaking-lutely-yes. I think I've been waiting for this moment for at least a year. I fell in love with Alex unexpectedly. Our love story is the best thing to me and being with him is the easiest thing ever. It comes naturally and he is by far my favorite person to hang out with, no offense to all my friends out there, but he is just my favorite. So to say I was over-the-snowy-mountain-excited doesn't even begin to describe how I felt.

It's crazy because I have planned probably almost 100 weddings, but nothing fully prepares you for being the bride. No matter how much of a planner you are... there's just nothing like it. Or at least for me. Am I crazy? Does anybody else out there relate? It feels like I stepped into uncharted territory without a map but a million paths. After celebrating once we finally made it down the mountain and had called all the family and texted all the friends we headed to the hot tub, Mason Mules (my fiance's signature drink of choice) in hand and we talked wedding plans, the future, and all the things. Afterwards we headed to All-you-can-eat Sushi where we ate way too much sushi including free mochi balls that they gave us for finding out we were newly engaged and left with bellyaches that made it almost impossible to sleep...

I have found that there are several symptoms of Bridedom that for me hit almost immediately after the ring was securely on my left ring finger. If you are or were a bride, I want to know... is it just me or did you experience these same symptoms!?

1. An obsession with figuring out the big details - the date, the location, the venue... For me this also was probably a little bit intensified since we are almost fully booked for 2018 and I knew that I wanted to get married this year and not wait until 2019, which meant snagging a date as quick as possible so to not book anything on it. And with that since I knew we wanted Savannah I couldn't stop brainstorming where... especially since we've done so many weddings at so many venues and I wanted to make sure it was still special.

2. An obsession with Instagram, Pinterest, Green Wedding Shoes and all my other favorite wedding blogs. The night we got engaged I was wide awake with a super stuffed-sushi belly from 130am-430am pinning, browsing, looking at all things weddings. I already am an obsessed persons with weddings (obviously, or I wouldn't love Ivory & Beau and what I do) but this just amplified it times x103498023958495.

3. An obsession with giveaways. Oh my goodness, y'all. The thought of winning something free for our wedding?! Coolest thing ever. Like the giveaway I just posted about on Instagram. Fingers crossed, hands in prayer pose that I win some prettier than pretty ribbon.

4. Not so much an obsession... but more just a change... I have started using my credit card for everyday things such as groceries, gas, food rather than my debit card so I can rack up points for our honeymoon. Our dream location? Bali & Thailand. Elephants, beaches, Thai food, cheap drinks, yes, yes, yes, yes. And no I'm not going ham on the credit card, just mean using it for those normal things and then paying off right away in hopes that I can at least get some of our airfare covered.

5. Again, not an obsession but more a desire to get back on my fitness and health. If you read a few blogs back you may have read about how I used to have an unhealthy obsession with losing weight, and no this is not the same. Rather I want to just get back into a healthy routine of being active, eating right, and whitening my pearly whites regularly so they're camera ready. After a 4-day vacation of gorging on seriously delicious food and way too many calories, I find myself feeling sluggish, tired and run-down. I am ready to get back into those healthy habits of workouts in the morning to amp up my day, long walks or short runs with T. Rex and home-cooked meals (like this Northern Africa Spicy Soup I made last night that was literally the best soup I've ever had). And this time, not for an obsession with the number on the scale but rather a desire to feel good on the inside and be filled with energy... because let's be real, this year is going to be nuts and I'm going to need all the energy I can get!!

I want to hear what changed for you after becoming a bride?! Were you instantly obsessed with pinning all the things? Planning all the things? Reading all the wedding magazines? What was it like after getting that gorgeous gem or diamond on your ring finger?!

Symptoms of Bridedom

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