It Takes a Village

There was a message board I frequented during wedding called Indiebride. One of the threads on this message board is filled mostly with "wedding recaps," in which recently-married brides post pictures and gush about how awesome their wedding was. I love this thread.

Recently, there was a woman who titled her post, "It takes a village...to have a wedding." She was talking about how she and her husband asked their friends and family to pitch in with talents to help pull off the wedding in lieu of gifts. It was such a nice idea, and I've been meditating on this recently.

Our wedding was not quite as "takes a village" as this other brides, but I did have a lot of help, and it really means a lot to me. But even beyond this, I have been thinking lately about wedding gifts. I know this sounds materialistic, and it is, and they are, but I've also been having a really lovely time over the past month thinking of the people who gave us our gifts as we've been using them. When I used my new cutting boards, I think of Mandy and Kathryn. When I sleep between our new sheets, I think of Frank and Aunt Mary. When I use my Kitchenaid mixer, I think of my aunts and uncles on Mom's side. And when I drink out of our new glasses, I think of Abby. When I used our new serving platter for our Superbowl party the other day, I thought of Brenda. Etc, etc.

I'm so grateful to have the amazing groups of friends and family that I do, and I'm reminded of them and their generosity and well-wishes every day. It's so nice!