This year I will be attending 9 weddings. Yep, 9 weddings. And I have a strong feeling there will be a number 10 too...but we will wait and see what happens there. That's a lot! So, to say that weddings, presents, dresses, shoes, invites, replies, gifts etc. are on my mind would really only make sense. However, in the technology society I find a lot of things such as wedding invites, responses and even shopping has become significantly easier and faster to do. Here are some ways technology has been intertwined with weddings. 

1- Planning with the Cloud. 
This only makes sense. That way you are always sharing your information and can constantly be up-to-date with plans/changes and have access to them wherever you are.

2- Getting Crafty.
With Pinterest, Etsy and so many more different options you can now research, plan and buy most items for your wedding online and get TONS of crafty ideas for decorating, pictures etc. 

3- Invite Online.
Most people you are going to invite to your wedding are more then likely connected to you on at least one social media network. So why not save some trees and do the invitations and replies right online? (I will say that every invite for the weddings I am attending I have gotten in paper, but 8 of the 9 requested that I email them back with my response. And most bridal shower and bachelorette party invites have been done online as well as the response. So people definitely are leaning towards the convenience and speed of technology for their invites/replies in some way).

4- View from Afar.
What can you do for those people who are just too far or unable to make it to your special day? A lot of people have a videographer at their wedding anyways, so why not take that extra step and live stream it so that everyone you know and love can be a part of your day.

5- Listen to the Music.
With both Google and Spotify you can research and set up a playlist for your dance and not even have to pay for the music if you don't want to. It's cheap and convenient, all you have to do is hit "play" when your ready.

6- The Gift of Getting (and Giving).
It can be a pain for the couple to have to take all their gifts home with them. So why not just send the gift right to their house that way you don't have to worry about it? (I did this for at least one wedding so far this year and it was super convenient for both me and the bride).

7- Pictures from Everywhere.
Now you can not only have your photographer at your wedding, you can have 20 or more. Set up a hashtag on Pinterest, Intagram or Twitter, have your family and friends upload their pictures there, and you will have lots of images of your night from a variety of perspectives.

All these amazing, and yet relatively simple, technological advances make planning and attending a wedding so much easier! Definitely will be taking tips for that special day when I get married! And it makes going to 9 weddings in a year a lot more fun and laidback so that both me as a guest, a Maid of Honour and those brides out there, can just enjoy the day :)

As of lately I have really been struggling with some of the benefits and drawbacks to working from home. Primarily, I enjoy the freedom of working at home. I can come and go as I want and make my own hours. Now, I am a driven and fairly focused person so this works for me. I don't often procrastinate. Being a self-motivator it works well for me to create my own hours and schedule. But one thing I have struggled with the most lately is how lonely it can be. I wake up, get ready for the day, and can often go for days on end without any meaningful work conversation with anyone. And being a people person that makes me quite lonely and I fear could begin to affect my work and creativity. And that's why last week I wrote about joining the Chamber of Commerce. I have eagerly been looking for ways to get myself out, talk to other motivators and creators in the community, and expand my business name all at the same time. Today, I am glad to say I have joined the local Chamber of Commerce. I am pretty excited about the opportunities this will bring and am eagerly anticipating where this takes me and my business.

But to go back to the focus of this blog post, I wanted to go over some points I discovered when reflecting on the pro's and con's to working from home, and potential ways to get over some of the "roadblocks" working from home can present. 

And here is a list I found (from forbes.com). 
Pros: 
1- Flexibility: you can be anywhere and everywhere! And with the Internet this is becoming easier and more convenient for us everyday.
2- The option of a flexible "roaming retail" option. This allows you to give people a face at Trade Shows, etc. when they crave it without having to worry about someone "taking care of shop" back home.
3- You'll save money. You don't have to commute to work every day (which is also a great time saver!) and you don't have to pay rent for both a place to live and work.

Cons: 
1- You'll miss out on foot traffic. You aren't going to get that person who just pops in because they saw you while walking down the street. 
2- You're more anonymous. This could create concerns of accessibility, trust and safety from clients.
3- It's harder to seperate your private life from business life. *and this is the biggest one for me* 
"This is largely about making your work space more professional for your clients (or at least professional-looking), but it could also boost your productivity. It can also be a personal issue, as most people view the separation of work and play as a good thing. A physical seperation from your work can provide a mental or emotional separation. When spending long stretches at home without business trips, it's our first inclination to spend every waking hour working. It can be hard to take a break and impose structured hours on ourselves, but sometimes the only way to relieve stress is to get out of the apartment." 

Ultimately, there are pro's and con's to working from home and it's something that I don't think people can fully comprehend until they have tried it. As with everything that's new, it takes some getting used to. But you just take the good with the bad and embrace most of the freedom it can provide :)