September 29, 2020

7 Tips for Planning Your Dream Wedding! What I learned while planning our rustic and romantic day

It’s our anniversary! Today marks two years of pure wedded bliss with my husband John. Haaahaaa…just kidding, marriage isn’t always pure bliss but man, with a little work, it’s sure been rewarding. We planned our wedding in a (short) 10 months and there were a lot of ups and downs! I say that 10 months is a short amount of time, because in the wedding industry 10 months may as well be two weeks. Somewhere between choosing our menu and shade of tablecloths, I realized how much work and how many decisions went into planning one of these shenanigans. It’s a TON! Of course, hindsight is 20/20, so looking back on the whole experience there are so many things I would do the same and many I would tweak to make things a little easier (ahem…cheaper).

But first, a little love story! John and I met in high school and we were high school sweethearts for three years before life took us different directions. 10 years later we were reunited by a couple of sneaky friends and the rest is history! Well, kind of. It took John six years to propose, but he was worth the wait!

I like to think I’m a pretty organized, detail-oriented person, and planning events is in my wheelhouse…a wedding, however, was something I was NOT ready for. Maybe it’s my desire to be in the mix of everything or the perfectionist side of me that wants to see all of the options and know every single detail before making a decision, but planning this thing in 10 months was crazy. Now I hear all of you super chill babes who don’t care in the slightest and truly just want to say your vows with your best friend and spend forever happily ever after…I hear you and admire you and if that’s you, I have one tip that I hope you seriously consider…ELOPE…right now (because if we’re really being honest, if I did do this all over again, I would be right there with you). For the rest of you, here are some tips that will hopefully save you a lot of time, energy, and money!

Give yourself time (if possible). Like a year, at minimum. The challenging part of not having much time is that wedding vendors are booked out a year in advance, sometimes even longer. So if you have your heart set on someone (photographer, florist, videographer) reach out to them BEFORE setting your date to get their availability.
Be flexible on your date. I know! You want May 19th because it’s the best weather, your grandma’s anniversary, your dog’s birthday, and the day you met your fiance. Trust me, I get it and will hope and pray your venue is available that date, but maybe just think of other options now, so you won’t be too disappointed if it doesn’t work out. OR schedule it for May 19th, the following year, and get to have your cake and eat it too, with all of the vendors on your wish list!
Budget…nope not a fun word, but oh so important. Talk to your parents ahead of time (if they are paying for it) and have an honest conversation about what they want to contribute. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but better to have the conversation now than in 5 months once the contracts are set. If you and your partner are paying for it, it’s still important to talk about what’s important to each of you and how much you’re willing to spend to have it. It will save a fight down the road! When it comes to the amount you think you are going to spend on each vendor…get ready…are you ready?? Triple it. Nope, not exaggerating. Triple it in your budget. That will give you a much better idea of what you are going to spend when you add it all up. Then make cuts where you need to. It’s super important here to remember the reason you are getting married in the first place. It also helps to think about your future children’s college tuition!
Use all of the resources! Wedding Wire / The Knot / The Wedding Standard are all great wedding planning sites that offer reviews by real couples for each vendor. I used them all for different reasons. Your local city may have their own, so use the Goog and see what you can find. I cannot stress how crucial those reviews are. Do your research so you don’t have to worry about anything later. You don’t want to be crossing your fingers that your caterer will show up on your big day…yikes. Another great option is using social media hashtags for inspiration. There are so many amazing wedding websites that post the most gorgeous inspiration photos on social media. Here are some to check out, even if it’s just for fun! Green Wedding Shoes, Junebug Weddings, California Wedding Day, and Ruffled Blog. There are so many more, just play with hashtags and you will be overloaded with florals and tulle. Disclaimer: don’t let it get you down! Keep in mind most of these photos are wedding shoots set up to promote different vendors or from weddings with an unlimited budget. This is NOT reality. Just take inspiration from them and find a way to make it work for you!
Hire a wedding planner. One hundred percent, hands down, hire one! Even if it’s just a ‘day of’ planner, hire a professional angel who can take that binder from you the week before, make all of the necessary calls and run that magical show. You don’t want to be a stressed mess the morning of your wedding, fielding calls when the venue you are scheduled to be married at in a few hours digs up their driveway…just trust me on that one. We hired someone in between a full planner/designer and a day of planner. She was with me the whole way and was always there to give me recommendations. She also helped me with the design process. But I booked all of my vendors and went to my own appointments. Then a week before she took control and followed up with everyone to confirm times and locations. She was a rockstar the day of our wedding making sure everyone stayed on schedule and that the design was just perfect (even with pneumonia!). Her team also set up and took down (mostly) everything! Get yourself a wedding planner!
This brings me to a tip to use for all of your vendors. Once you read the reviews, delve into their website, and find someone you think you love, schedule a meeting with them. Even if it’s just a Zoom meeting, you need to make sure it’s a good fit…for both of you! You’re going to be working with this person a lot and spending a good deal of money, so just make sure it’s right. Don’t feel any pressure, just have a conversation. Those wedding websites mentioned above can give you some good initial questions to ask each vendor. Also, don’t be offended if they don’t take you on as a client. You want them to be as excited about your ideas as you are or it’s never going to work.
And finally, hire a videographer! Yes, it’s going to be an extra expense, but budget for it. Cut in a couple of other places, you will not regret it, I promise! This is still my favorite investment we made. We loved working with ours so much we invited him to come ziplining with us the day before and he put some of that footage in our video! It was fun and I will cherish that video for eva and eva! I’m for sure biased but our videographer was THE BEST there is, so you should steal him before he’s booked. Check out his website below in my vendor links and grab some tissues because his videos will get ya. If you hire him, tell him John and Stephanie sent you!

There is so much more I could say, but in order for this to not be the longest blog in the world, I will cut it short. I am an open book though, so if you have questions or need advice about ANYTHING (seriously anything), shoot me an email or a comment. I’ve linked all of my vendors below if you’re interested. Most will travel! I’ve also shared a gallery of some of my favorite photos from our day. Don’t mind me while I reminisce with my Kleenex! One last tip …if all of this is overwhelming, grab your boo, a photographer, and maybe even a couple best friends and elope! It’s all about what it means to you and your partner. This should be the happiest day of your life, so make it that!