After finding out you are engaged, most people respond first by congratulating you, followed by a hug or high five or shoulder pat. That kind of thing. Then immediately after the warm wishes they say, "So, have you set a date yet?"
Holy cow, we actually have to PLAN A WEDDING NOW!
The moment that really set in, I think I panicked a little. I am over the moon excited to marry Trey. But it's hard not to feel just a teeny tiny bit anxious, when I think of all the planning that needs to happen—not to mention all the decisions that have to be made. It's exciting and sort of terrifying all at once.(Some paint my sister bought me. A few of our wedding colors. I love metallics!)
1. Set our date and booked the venues.
My first priority was to book the date. I felt like I could really start planning and making decisions once my date was confirmed. Our ceremony will be at a family owned spot, so the date for that was pretty wide open. But we wanted to have the reception closer to downtown (easy taxi access), so we checked out a number of reception venues in Springfield. Some didn't call us back. Some didn't have dates that worked for us. And one, that was absolutely beautiful, had too many restrictions that just couldn't work with our priorities. We had been hoping for an August wedding. But our favorite venue ended up only having one opening left, in early June. We took it! This cut my wedding preparation period down by almost two months, but it also means that I get to marry my best friend two months earlier than expected. So, net-net, I'm good with that.(These are actually the second save the dates we made. Our first idea didn't end up panning out, but I LOVE how our second ones turned out. They feel very us.)
2. Confirm wedding party and guest list.
Next I wanted to invite some of my closest friends and family to be a part of our wedding day. Trey and I talked over how many people we wanted to include in the wedding party. We found we had an odd number (he has one more groomsmen than I have bridesmaids). Is this a problem? Will it seem odd or unbalanced? Should I freak out yet? For us, we wanted everyone who was important to us to be in our wedding party. And if our numbers didn't match up, well, whatever. Then I put together small gift bags with chocolate bars and nail polishes in our wedding colors to give to each of the ladies I was inviting. That was a really fun moment.
Next we started the process of putting together our guest list. We knew how many guests our reception venue could accommodate, so with that in mind we added up all the friends and family that we wanted to invite and obligate to buy us a gift (just kidding!!!). We tracked down addresses, and my future mother-in-law helped me address all our save the dates (in addition to creating a very organized excel spread sheet of all the guests that will be very helpful when it comes time to mail off invites and thank you cards). The internet said we should mail off our save the dates at least six months in advance. We mailed ours off with a little less than five months to go, and the world didn't end. Thank goodness.(Currently working on our gift registry. I've found a few tools online that help me keep it organized for guests.)
3. Registering for gifts, insure my ring and take engagement pictures.
I've had a couple of goals for this week. First was to start the process of registering for gifts. Between the two of us Trey and I really have a lot of stuff. We already have two of many things, so registering has been a little tricky. I am making it a priority to make sure we are registered for items that are spread across many different price points, keeping all our guests in mind. And I want to make sure we are only registering for things that we really want or need. It's harder than I thought! Thank goodness for my shopping savy sister (and maid of honor). 🙂
Last week I went into my insurance office to get my engagement ring insured. (Emma, did you just mention insurance because I think I just fell asleep.) I decided to add it on with my home insurance, so the process was as simple as bringing in my appraisal papers and saying, "Sign me up." Done and done.
This week we also found time to take engagement pictures. We were lucky enough be able to book Sarah of Arrow and Apple to be our wedding photographer. Yay! Love me some Sarah. She and her husband Josh are in town this week, so we fit in a few engagement photo sessions. I'm stoked to share some of those with you soon.We are slowly checking things off and I'm getting more and more excited, as we are only around 100 days away from getting married! Next up I'm excited to share about catering plans, finding the balance between DIY and not trying to do everything, choosing bridesmaid dresses, planning my look for the big day, etc. Thanks for letting me share! xo. Emma
This is so exciting and I`m happy for you!
Also want to read more about your wedding planning!
xoxo
where is your iphone case from!?
For one of my friends’ weddings, they had one extra groomsman, so the best man stayed out with the groom at the altar instead of walking down the aisle — it worked out well (and provided some extra moral support! :] )
Still so excited!! I’m always available to be that extra bridesmaid if ya need 😉
Indian Wedding Planner – Wedding Planner in India Can Only Understand What Exactly It Needs to Host a Successful royal wedding.Indian Wedding Organizer Makes Your Special Day an Unforgettable Movement With Great Culture and Tradition.
http://www.weddingplannerofindia.com/
I think, it is really difficult to get a balance between DIY and finding someone to help.
DIY is interesting but it takes time. Getting someone to help will probably cost you money.
At the end of the day the balance is actually between time and money…..
So excited for you! I am getting married in October and I just recently knocked out a bunch of stuff, our florist, our caterer and alcohol provider and all our save the date stuff we are making by hand. It is nice getting a lot of stuff out of the way and is also stressful sometimes. I hope your planning goes smoothly! 🙂
-Sarah
http://sarahvonspook.blogspot.com/
I’m so excited for you!!!
Congratulations and loving hearing about the wedding planning! Can’t wait to see what it all looks like. Loving the metallics (I’m in the process of writing a post about metallic weddings!) I don’t think it matters at all if you have an odd number of bridesmaids to groomsmen, what matters is that you have the people you care about there with you! My husband had 6 groomsmen and I had 4 bridesmaids and I don’t think it looked odd at all – you can take a look and see what you think http://amysbuttonbox.wordpress.com/about/our-wedding/ . As for the DIY I loved doing the DIY bits for my wedding and I think I found just the right balance, ultimately you have to do as much or as little as is right for you – but I think with all the crafty people in your life I’m sure you can delegate a few tasks! Good luck with the rest of the planning! xx
I just got married last June and I have to say I wouldn’t do anything differently. We added a lot of special touches that made the day very personal to us and I made a lot of things for the day myself. Enjoy the process – it’s so much fun and you’ll miss the planning when it’s over.
So excited! It seems to me like you have so much done already! Keep at it!
Oh how fun!!! Enjoy this time, you deserve it 🙂 Besides the birth of my baby girl- our wedding day was SUPER! You seem like a laid back person and that is such an excellent quality to have as a bride 😉 I promise you, nothing, and I mean NOTHING else matters on that day besides the love of your husband and your friends and family. I was married one week after a horrific tornado 2 years ago in May (in a town not far from you 🙂 and absolutely everything had to be changed last minute- this did not matter though because we were overjoyed to have each other and the ones closest to us – though many friends had lost every possession. It was perfect. We had each other. Napkins and registries and decorations are icing on the cake 😉 but in the end- none of that matters. So have fun with it, dont stress and remember everyone is there for you! Best wishes you both!
I’m a new reader and I just loved this post. Was really fun to read. Congratulations!
I so look forward to reading more about this wedding, AAAAHHH! It’s going to be so beautiful, i just know it! Thank you for sharing.
Congratulations!You sound like you have got things way under control! Best thing to always keep in mind is that you are starting a new life with your husband! Focusing on that will keep the planning less stressful!
My fiancee and I are in the process of planning a wedding and we are almost in line with your timeline perfectly! Glad to know I’m not the only one getting things checked off the list. Sometimes it feels quite daunting a task… but being surrounded by incredibly creative and loving people has made the process so much more fun. Congrats!!!
Lovely! good luck…
Valentina
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/
I hope all goes well! Thank you for sharing!
http://erstwhilefelicity.blogspot.co.uk/
My husband had one more groomsmen than I did bridesmaid.
I had the guys wait at the altar/chuppah for us. Then after the ceremony I had two of my girls double up on the last groomsmen. It worked out fine and didn’t look weird. It will be the least of your worries the day of your wedding and it won’t make a dent in your wedding pictures. and who cares its your day!! 🙂
Two things.
One. That Martha Stewart Copper Penny metallic glaze was a star in my wedding. It went inside of glass vases for some centerpieces, onto certain spots of the buffet that I refinished for our altar, all over my hands and face in the pre-wedding crafting…love it. x10.
Two. Having an extra groomsmen is perfect! That way Trey’s best man can walk out with him in the beginning and give him little pep talks or fist bumps or whatever it is they do up there, and then every girl still gets a fella for walking. Win.