It has been a while since my last post but, fear not! I have returned! and I've returned with several large changes in my life. The biggest is that I'm married! I married my sweetheart, Ben on July 11th, and it was the most amazing day of my life! It is followed very closely to some sacred experiences I had on my mission, but I am still very much enjoying the, "honeymoon", and we are hoping for a smooth transition into what others know as the real world. BUT! my wedding is not the topic today. Today I want to address everyone that is taking on the task of running to the alter with their sweetheart. I have a few tips for those that are embarking on that journey. So, here are some pieces of advice! Take them or leave them, but remember it comes from a bride who has been through it, and recently at that!
Don't DIY...
Now, when I say that I fully realize we are living in a world where DIY is prevalent and where $25,000.00 weddings are not in the budget for everyone-- it certainly wasn't in mine. When Ben and I started planning out wedding we went into it, well, I! went into it with the idea that I was going to DIY everything and cut costs and I would have plenty of time and do it all myself and it would be beautiful! As I made my list of DIY projects and the wedding day crept closer I realized that I would a.) not have enough time, b.) was way too stressed out to continue, & c.) it just about broke even with the budget. Really think about what's important to you to do yourself and go from there. I highly recommend keeping the list SHORT.
Date your Fiance...
So you're engaged. Yay! Congratulations to you guys! As everyone and their mother has told you it is going to be stressful. I didn't really believe them. But it ended up being very difficult and stressful on our relationship as the planning processes commenced. Each of our parents, and plenty of our friends, all well meaning individuals, had advice and ideas and plans for the wedding and it made it confusing for us first-timers to hash out what we really wanted. It caused some friction between Ben and I, which we overcame because we are sitting here on our couch watching Jurassic Park at 11pm on a Saturday night. Keep dating your love. Go out! Have fun! Make sure you still make time to go out and eat together, pray together, dance in the rain, go shopping, run wedding errands together. Keep it light. Keep it fun. But keep together!
Choose Wisely...
Wedding party, help asked for, venue, and the long list of other opinions... choose wisely and choose together. You love your parents, and he/she loves his/hers. They are both going to have opinions that you mayor may not agree with. That's ok, too. Take them with a grain of salt, while also considering the fact that they have been through it before. But, at the end of the day, it's your wedding. It's your day, and ideally, you only do it once so make sure it is what you want. If you want hot pink zebra, but mom thinks it's tacky, go for it. Just remember you will be looking at there pictures for the rest of your life, so if you might regret those powder blue Cinderella sleeved bridesmaid dresses, maybe it's ok to rethink it.
Thank You Goes A LONG Way...
Ben and I were very blessed to have some amazing helpers for our big day. I was very grateful for everything that they did for us! Remember to give a shout out to all those that are there for you. Your bridal party will probably be the ones keeping you sane, your parents will do more behind the scenes than you know, thank your vendors, and all your guests. Order thank you cards because your guests will make the whole experience for you and on the big day you will be overwhelmed with gratitude for them.
Register, Register, Register!
Register for everything! It is like a giant Christmas list! Register! Even if people don't stick to it, most of the places you create a registry will give you a 20% of coupon or more once the date has passed to spend towards your remaining registry items. Then you can take the gift cards you got to your registry locations and save even more $$$dollars$$$.
Have Fun with It,..
There are going to be things that go wrong! Ben and I ran into an hour of traffic and I thought I was going to miss my own reception! Our ceremony was supposed to be in a room that was very sentimental to my parents and I but the couple that was having their ceremony before us ran over time, so we had to move it to another room, which was fine because ultimately Ben and I ended up married, but it was not without hiccups. I had dress malfunctions, I got blisters, there were a few hiccups in the flow of the reception, the ring ceremony wasn't set up the way we had practiced, but it didn't matter. Looking back there isn't anything Ben & I would have changed that we had control over. Forget about the small stuff and roll with it. It's not going to go perfectly smooth. Nobody is perfect and have some patience with the people around here. They are doing their best and so are you. Have fun! Dance and be silly!! Eat the cake!! SMASH THE CAKE!!!! Cry! It goes fast, so make the most of it.
Prioritize what's important to you and make sure the budget gets spent on those things first. My dress, the reception venue, and the photographer were important to me. Those were the things I was pickier about. Try to have some give on other details, especially if you're not the ones paying for everything.
Live it, enjoy it! Breathe and remember it's all going to work out!
Love!
Recently-Married!
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