“For so long, my entire life, I thought you had to put on a dress and have a Cinderella moment. . . . If only I had gone into the searching with the opposite in mind, that my wedding dress love story would be as simple as a Tuesday afternoon. Kind of like my love story.”

Today contributor Brittany Chaffee is writing about the unexpected emotions that arose during the process of wedding dress shopping, and the lessons she learned along the way.

“. . . the moments that feel most like a break aren’t actually the things that put my life on pause, that allow me to step out of my responsibilities and then back into them. Instead, they’re the things that shore up my heart and hearth, things already woven into the fabric of my life, but given the time and gratitude they’re due.”

Today contributor Julie Zhou is writing about a break that didn’t end up looking like she thought it would, and why that was perfectly okay.

For those of us who are grieving a loss right now, this time of year can feel as heavy as ever. Today we’re sharing this post contributor Julie Rybarczyk wrote in 2017, on the topic of grief during the holidays. If you’re experiencing your first (or second, or tenth) holiday season without someone close to you, we hope Julie’s words resonate.

Ah, the holidays. The time of year for parties and festivities and eggnog galore is quickly approaching. It’s the best time of the year; it’s the hardest time of the year; it’s an okay time of the year. Today we’re resharing an article penned last December by W&D’s Editorial Director, Jackie Saffert, on the many emotions and pressures this festive season tends to stir up, and how we can seek out the things that bring us joy in this next month and a half.

With everything we’ve got on our plates, it can be easy to push time to recharge to the very bottom of our respective to-do lists. We totally get it. Yet allowing a little time to refresh our energy stores is one of the best things we can do for ourselves. As we venture into the start of another new (and inevitably busy) week, we’re sharing this post contributor Megan McCarty penned in 2017, as a reminder that taking time for ourselves is not selfish, but wholly necessary.