Category: wedding series

Lifestyle, wedding series

Why Spending Money on Travel is Worth it: Honeymoon in Maui

mindbeautysimplicity

It sounds a bit dramatic when I say our honeymoon in Maui changed my life. But I’m a Leo, & we are rather dramatic individuals, so I stand by this statement. Anytime I feel like I’m in a rut or need to make a change, I always know some form of traveling will be that cure. This past year has been one of the most trying years with the loss of my dad in the fall & planning a wedding in the middle of said grief & healing. But now that phase of my life is over [ the wedding planning part] , I’m looking ahead to a summer of continued healing & focusing on what I want my life to be moving forward. I strongly believe in the idea of immersing yourself into experiences to grow as individuals. When we simply remain in our bubble, thats when ignorance develops & the perception of believing our lives are only tied to what’s right outside our front door. We are so much more than that & a 10 day trip on island time showed me the type of person I want to strive to be which is more adventurous, tied to nature & one who continues to focus on the more simple aspects of life like experiences.

Focus on What Truly Matters

I’ve been following the minimalism lifestyle for around 5 years now. It’s been a slow journey & in no way am I a perfect minimalist [ i don’t think there ever is]. But I definitely strive to focus on the bigger pictures & refrain from putting my attention on frivolous material things. It’s not to say I don’t spend hours putting together outfits for my travels, but I also let go of the notion in thinking I constantly need new or better items to have a good time. I’ve learned through packing light, you can actually enjoy more of your surroundings & prioritize the connections & memories you make. While on our honeymoon, we did a lot of adventurous activities that lead to ruined clothing, muddy shoes & losing my $5 pair of sunglasses on the beach. I don’t focus on that because through those instances, we drove ATV’s up a mountain, we went 10,000 feet past the clouds on top of a mountain & star gazed. We snorkeled with motorized scooters. My husband jumped off rocks into the ocean, while I casually soaked under a few waterfalls. We hiked for miles, trudging through mud, rock & bamboo forests. We saw an array of sea life including two sea turtles while snorkeling. We also ate tons of different foods & visited local gems. It was truly an experience & memory I will hold onto forever.

Capture Those Moments & Stay Present

We took countless photos & videos during our travels, but we made sure to make the conscious effort to go off the grind for these 10 days. Not answering calls or texts [ unless they were true emergencies ] & staying off social media. It was truly refreshing. And I want to make the habit of doing this during our mundane days. Leaving your life a mystery is actually a powerful thing.

Reminiscing the Memories

I’m not the hugest fan of gifts or souvenirs. If I do bring something home from a trip, it usually holds some form of purpose or I know I will have it for a long time. One of the fun things we did was collect stickers during our trip. We plan to display said stickers as a collage & hang it up on the wall of our home. I love displaying photos or DIY projects like these because it showcases what we love to do as a couple – travel. I did find a few other souvenirs along the way including a Maui hook t-shirt [ I’m a sucker for a new graphic tee] & a sun hat [ which I plan to wear all summer long ].

I feel like this post is a little all over the place, but the bottom line is traveling to Maui reminded me of my love for travel. And I want to continue to make the effort to travel more often [ locally or across the world ]. There are so many times where a holiday comes up & we choose to do the same boring routine when we could be experiencing someplace new. For instance, I would love to visit Chicago during St. Patricks Day. Or going to Disney World or NYC around Christmas time. My side of the family is choosing to gift experiences over wrapped gifts under the tree this year. I think the pandemic taught us to enjoy the simple moments in life but it also ignited the urge to see more than what’s out your front door.

Where would you love to travel to next?

-B

wedding series

How To Remain Intentional As A Bride

mindbeautysimplicity

I’m so excited to be finally sharing the first installment to the wedding series on Mind Beauty Simplicity. It took some time to determine how I wanted to execute the information & stay on brand without giving too much detail about my own big day. Yes – I am a 2022 bride getting married in May in a pandemic era. So, I definitely have a lot to talk about. I wanted to start this series by providing an intentional living guide to all brides ( & grooms) who are in the middle of wedding planning. The entire process can feel stressful at times and we must center ourself & remind ourselves what truly matters and that’s marrying the love of your life.

Know Your Why

What’s the reason for this important day? Most would probably say, marrying the love of your life. It seems pretty self explanatory doesn’t it? The reason I bring up the reminder of knowing your why is because the main purpose can become easily lost through the stress, obligations & little details of the event. Yes – the day is about celebrating two families coming together, but remind yourself it’s a marriage and not a party. The most important aspect is you as a couple & announcing your forever love.

The Day is About You As A Couple

You will receive comments & opinions from all parties throughout this process. You need to remind yourself who’s day it truly is & stick to your guns. What you enjoy & want may not be what your MIL would like or anyone else for that matter. That’s why weddings are so unique. It should represent you as a couple & what would make you all happy. Never feel like you have to do something just because it’s tradition or a family member says you should. Most traditions are pretty archaic anyway.

Be As Traditional or Non Traditional As You Want

I want to make an entire separate blog post talking about the traditions we are ditching & how we are making the big day our own. It’s important to remember you don’t have to do any traditions you don’t want to do. Even though it may feel like there are certain rules to adhere by, weddings can be as unique as you’d like them to be. And when you remove some concepts out of the mix, you’ll find the day to feel so much less stressful.

Keep A List Of Must Haves

Between you & your partner – & each family [ because sometimes we still have to compromise with parents too ], keep a list of things each person must have for the big day. For instance, your fiance may insist on having certain friends or family in the wedding party. Or they may really want to splurge on the photographer / videographer. Discuss these wants early on & know you may need to compromise a bit too.

Compromising Is Key

One of the biggest things I’ve learned through wedding planning is there will be a lot of compromising. Believe it or not, I have always been someone who leaned towards getting eloped or having a very intimate sized wedding. But my fiance has always wanted a bigger wedding & he believes his family would disown him if we didn’t. Ha! So, we compromised & am having our wedding at my family estate with over one hundred of our friends & family. There are so many other ways you may have to compromise as well like your guest list, what flavor cake you both want, what music you want played, the menu or the dress code. The list goes on & on.

Learn To Say No

Although there is a lot of compromise, there is also plenty of times to simply say no with no extra explanation either. For instance, I do not want a bridal shower. I will give my readers an explanation but it truly isn’t needed. Planning a wedding in grief & losing my dad is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Literally, my dad passed away in September & through my shock, started planning this wedding. The least amount of events I have to sit through the better. As excited as I am for this next chapter, it has also been heart renching at times. We had an engagement party last summer & we are doing a no boxed gifts policy so it just seemed like a waste of time & energy. I’ll keep you posted on how that really goes though – ie the compromising point above.

Have Fun

At the end of the day, a person’s wedding day is a very very special milestone. And as much as people say how stressful wedding planning is, it’s only a small period of time in your life. Create a mindset as a couple to find ways to enjoy this process leading up to your wedding day. Prioritize date nights & spending quality time to enrich your relationship. Because at the end of the day, although the celebration is fun, the marriage & relationship you are building together means so much more.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to my wedding series. I hope to post quite a few blog posts pertaining to this phase of my life even after our big day in May. Let me know topics you’d like me to cover like my wedding dress shopping experience story, our bachelor / bachelorette weekend & planning a wedding through grief & a pandemic to name a few suggestions.

– B