Pocket Folders

For everyone who is attending the wedding, you should be receiving a "pocket folder" in the mail this week with all the pertinent information for the wedding weekend!

Our stationer, who is absolutely amazing (future blog to come!), showed them to us about a month ago when we were brainstorming ideas to get information to our guests and we had to have them. We hope you like them as much as we do. :-)

Please fill out the postcard included and put it back in the mail ASAP so we can coordinate the Saturday activities and the shuttle to the wedding/ceremony.

Included in the folder is a weekend itinerary, the Saturday activity descriptions, a contact list, a map, and the postcard. The "dress" for each event is included as well to help with packing.

8 weeks!

R + S

Bridal Shower

The idea for my upcoming bridal shower came from a 1955 Good Housekeeping Article I found on-line called "The Good Wives Guide". As I was reading it, an array of emotions came over me. Humor, disgust, anger, understanding, and pity. Mostly though I couldn't believe that in 50 years we had come from that to... well, this. I knew we had to do it.

Here is the advice given to women in the article on How to be a Good Wife:

1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on the time of his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

3. Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

4. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

5. Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc. and then run a dust cloth over the tables.

6. Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest, and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

7. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer of vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

8. Be happy to see him

9. Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

10. Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first- remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

11. Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

12. Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order, and tranquility where your husband can renew his body and spirit.

13. Don’t greet him with complaints or problems.

14. Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as a minor compared to what he may have gone through all day.

15. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

16. Arrange his pillow and offer to take his shoes off. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

17. Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgments or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

18. A good wife always knows her place.

Pretty crazy, right? It's hard to imagine reading this article and taking it seriously, let alone using it as a manual on how to behave. 

For those of you who got a bridal shower invitation and weren't quite sure what to make of it, know that it is all in good fun. An afternoon of looking back on what being a good wife used to mean (and what bridal showers used to be like!) and what it means today.  

As for the gifts, a few people have asked me what it all means. The idea is that everyone was given a different "time" of day or night on their invitation (mostly to try and prevent similar/duplicate gifts, and for fun) to match a gift to. The catch is, given the theme of the shower, that it is supposed to be a gift for a "lady." So take the modern version of whatever you would have gotten and try to imagine it 50 years ago, or perhaps today, if you lived in Manhattan and summer-ed in the Hamptons... :-)

Can't wait to see you all there! I know my mom and Jesseca are planning some hilarious games and preparing some delicious 1950's cuisine. 

S