We are now less than 6 months until our wedding so I thought it was time for a little wedding planning update. Here's where we're at with the various tasks:
Note: this is just a mood board. Nothing here is final! Saving those photos for the big day ;)
WHAT'S DONE?
Guest List: The very first thing we did while we celebrated being engaged was start to create a guest list. Honestly, in our minds, if you weren't top of mind, you probably shouldn't be invited! There were a few people that we thought of later on and we said 'oh, should so & so be invited?' Most likely, the answer was no. I'm glad we were on the same page when it came to making our guest list intimate & exclusive.
Date/Venue: The first thing Jody & I did after getting engaged (after making the guest list) was start looking at venues. I went to visit a bunch and narrowed it down. The second he visited our venue, he was sold. This location happened to be my favorite too, but I didn't tell him that because I wanted him to have his own opinion! We had planned for a fall wedding but this venue only had summer dates available, so we are getting married 1 year + 2 days from the date we got engaged. Looking back, I'm actually really excited we are getting married in the summer. I'm not much of a pumpkin person & we are very much a summer couple, after all, we did meet on the beach!
Photographer: The most important part of the wedding to me is the photos since those will last forever. I spent a lot of time researching photographers and am so excited with the company I found! We will hopefully be doing engagement photos with our photographer this spring so we can all see a sneak peek at her amazing work prior to the wedding day! Otherwise, you will just have to wait & see ;)
Florist: I have a vision for how I want the room on our wedding day to look & flowers play a big role in that. I met with our florist early on in the planning process and loved that we seemed to be on the same page. We need to meet one more time to discuss final details now that we have planned much more of the day.
Cake: I'm so excited about the unique idea we are using for our cake! As soon as I found this company, I stopped looking at all other bakeries. Our cake tasting was lots of fun! We went with my grandparents & tried 12 flavor combinations! It was so hard to narrow it down but Jody & I each picked our favorite flavor. I can't wait for dessert at the wedding. Yum!
Band: One of the parts of the wedding that my dad felt strongly about was the music. We loved the idea of having a band to play live music all night. I did a ton of research but the band we booked ended up being one of the first that we listened too. As soon as Jody heard them, he was sold & even as we listened to other bands, this one stuck out in our minds (funny how that happens sometimes!). We've gone to see them play live a few times over the last couple of months and they are amazing!
Save The Dates/Invites: Save the dates were actually pretty easy. I had a vision of what I wanted them to be and was able to design them to my liking online! Invites were a lot harder to find. What I thought was a relatively simple design has turned out to be pretty tricky to nail. I finally decided to meet with a few invitation designers in person. We actually have an appointment this weekend to check out some designs! Fingers crossed we love what they created for us!
Dress: Finding a dress for myself was actually one of the hardest parts of the entire process. It took 6 trips to stores to finally find a dress that I felt would fit with the rest of my vision. It wasn't a big 'aha' moment for me, it was more of a 'this works' feeling, which I know sounds lame, but its the truth - the dress works!
MOH Dresses: We aren't really having a bridal party per se, but my sister & FSIL will be involved in the wedding as maid of honor & best woman :). Finding their dresses ended up being easy! We actually ordered their dresses BEFORE we even ordered my dress!
Officiant: Jody's best friend is marrying us! We need to sit down soon and go through what we want the ceremony to entail but we are really excited to have this personalized detail in the ceremony.
Bridal Shower: My shower is coming up in the next month & I am super excited! I know when and where it is, but all of the other details are being handled without my input! I can't wait to see how it turns out & will be sure to share lots of photos! I check out our registries almost everyday to see the updates! Never thought I would be the person who would be excited about place settings, but here I am!
LEFT TO DO:
Headpiece/Veil/Shoes: My dress came in this weekend and now that I have it in my possession, it's time to order the accessories to go with it. I find it impossible to decide on these items without having my dress to try on. I placed a bunch of orders for shoes & jewelry & have to decide on a final hairpiece ASAP!
Hair/Make Up: I have a few options for hair & make up artists but need to get some trials done to nail down who I want to do make me look my best on the day of the wedding. I hope to look like myself but a little more glam for the day of ;)
Honeymoon: TBD. We haven't even really thought about a honeymoon, except that we want to take one! Any ideas?
Decor: I have some decor chosen & purchased, some that I rented (FYI, brides to be, renting decor is the best idea ever!) & some left to order or DIY. I'm taking on one project as a DIY & hoping it will be fun. We bought the materials and I think we might be a little over our heads, but I think it will be cool to look back & say 'we made this!'
Wedding Rings: We started looking at rings & of course, I like a bunch of them. We need to narrow down our choices & place the order!
UNDECIDED:
Photobooth: I have been weighing some different photo booth options (there are so many to choose from that go beyond standing in a booth nowadays!) However, still haven't decided if we are going to have one or not. Have you been to a wedding without a photo booth? Do you love or hate photo booths at weddings?
Videographer: Another thing that I go back and forth on is the video. I feel like I will watch it once & then never watch it again, but I also feel like it is a great keepsake. Video is expensive though! Leaning towards doing without this one.
I know I am probably missing a bunch of details, but I tried to focus on the big picture for this post. Let me know if you have any questions about planning & if you have any tips, leave them in the comments please & thank you :)
XO
Michelle Paige
