Guest Blogger :: Shannon

My maid of honor felt ill-equipped when fulfilling her MOH duties. Yes, let’s be real, they are duties, fun or not. As the bridal shower & bachelorette party dates approached, my MOH admitted, "I’ve never been an MOH before; I don’t know where to start." The first thing I thought was "Hello! Ask around, brainstorm with other bridesmaids…something!"

Was I really a bridezilla?? YES!

Two months after the wedding, I finally asked her, "How could I have helped you feel more prepared as my MOH?" It took seconds for us to come up with something so simple…I thought back to a book given to me for wedding planning that was left untouched. After all, I had a wedding planner, so who needed it, right? 

A bridesmaid or MOH survival guide would have been the perfect compliment to an already creative friend; providing organization, timelines, and the support she may have needed to make a special time perfect.

My now veteran MOH and I looked up some potential front-runners. The Quintessential Wedding Maid of Honor or The Everything Bridesmaid Book.

Check these and more on www.amazon.com for as little as $9.95 to support your MOH in supporting YOU!

Guest Blogger, Shannon Williams, and her wife are sharing with us their journey of planning their same-sex wedding and what it's like to be married. Read more about them here.

Guest Blogger :: Shannon

My wife and I agree that our wedding day was magical, yet somewhat blurry with friends and family to entertain, tear-jerking toasts, dancing, garters to toss, cake to cut, memories to capture...and did I mention CAKE? Our cupcakes were RIDICULOUS!! I’m talking Food Network, the best thing I ever ate ridiculous!

If it weren’t for our wedding photographers, who eloquently and artistically captured our magical memories,the décor, the food, the ambiance, and the laughter...all these little things, our day would have been a mere figment of our imaginations. But what teases us the most about that day are visions of cupcakes dancing towards our mouths…the anticipation of sweet, velvety, perfectly moistened pink champagne cake touching our lips before taking that first bite.

Which for me includes a hint of buttercream frosting followed by a sin-saturated, fluffy burst of creamy goodness – white chocolate mousse. And that was just the beginning!

PJ South, owner (and now part of our FABuList) of La Dolce Pesca in Scottsdale, AZ, also expressed pure decadence in the form of coffee-infused chocolate cake with a rich caramel mouse filling. Who knew cupcakes would be the topic of conservation amongst family & friends almost two months after our fairytale wedding?

Just the two of us, sampling two of these luscious cupcakes, is one of many new Cárdenas Family Traditions.

Recapturing our special day was important as we are both passionate about family and tradition. Thus, the creation of "two cupcake 20th," that will forever remind us of that heavenly cake…I mean day…or I mean cake, or perhaps both? On the 20^th of each month we will celebrate with the ultimate anniversary treat...a cupcake tasting.

Guest Blogger, Shannon Williams, and her wife are sharing with us their journey of planning their same-sex wedding and what it's like to be married. Read more about them here.

Guest Blogger :: Shannon Williams

After reading Maiden Names and Married Names, a post from Drew (a fellow Mrster.com blogger), I wanted to explore the process of changing my last name to Cárdenas. My fiancée, Erika, asked me to marry her, and I am honored to take her last name. I am confident that when we have children our family will feel a natural connection to each other, establish more recognition in this world that we are a traditional family, and are not choosing an “alternative life style” if we share a family name. I searched the county, state, and numerous “how to” sites and then came across this article, Gay Couple: Judge Barred Name Change . In it, a lesbian couple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania submit a petition to change the last name of their 5-year-old son to that of his mother's partner of three years. 

Picture Courtesy of My Fox Philly

Permission denied! Words from the “honorable” judge: “It wasn’t in the boy’s best interest.” And, “name changes should be granted based on good sense, common decency and fairness." 

Submitting my petition requires a response to “I request that the current name of Shannon Elizabeth Williams be changed to Shannon Elizabeth Cárdenas for the following reasons,” followed by three blank lines that beckon my justification. I wonder if the Arizona judge will feel my request depicts common sense, decency and fairness. It appears the legal system may feel conflicted in receiving genuine, truthful responses, but here is mine:

Because I deserve to have the last name of my wife who loves me, adores me, will respect me always, and wants to live the rest of this wonderfully chaotic life…with me.

The mother's partner in the above article sadly alleged, "If she (her partner) would have walked in there and not mentioned me at all, the name change probably would have been granted." 

Perhaps the AZ judge that reviews my petition will say "PERMISSION GRANTED." Or perhaps I too will be faced with the alternate, and have to make something up.

Guest Blogger, Shannon Williams and her fiancée are sharing with us their journey of planning their same-sex wedding. Read more about them here.

Tags :: Modern Wedding Traditions, Personal Perspective, Name Changes, Real Stories, Political Perspective, Media.