Wedding Planning Update!
Hi hello it's July 27th and this means we have roughly six weeks until our wedding day. (44 days to be exact!) WHAT! I have wall calendars all over the place at home and at work, so even though I'm very aware of how quickly time has been passing, I still can't believe it. I realized today that by this time, two months from now, the wedding will all be over and Adam and I will be on a plane, returning home from our honeymoon. Whoa... That's nutso crazy.I know the wedding and honeymoon will be over in the blink of an eye, so I thought I'd check in here and update the old blog to document this time in our lives and discuss the wedding planning adventure thus far.
The number one question people have asked us since we started planning back in September is, "Has it been hard planning an out of state wedding?" and our answer is usually, "Yes, but also no, not really."I have a feeling I might change my mind about this in a few weeks when we're getting closer to the date and the little stuff needs more attention, but the big reason I say no most of the time is because I think distancing myself from it has been good for my mental health and also for my wallet.For example, I was shopping the other day, just casually browsing Marshall's to kill some time before an appointment, and there were a lot of things I thought might be cute for the wedding. Little wood signs, picture frames, candles, things like that, but I didn't end up buying anything because if I did, I'd have to ship it all to Wisconsin... That, or carry everything in our luggage when we fly out there for the wedding. The thought of doing either of those things immediately turned me off. I look at this as a win, because I didn't end up spending any money! And honestly, we didn't really need any of that stuff. I think if we were getting married here, I'd be buying everything, left and right. We do have a decorations budget (thanks to Adam, we have a budget for everything and it's all broken down on a spreadsheet - highly recommended!) and whenever we find something we really like online, I just have it shipped directly to my parents' house in Wisconsin. They have a nice little collection of things piling up in their basement (thanks, mom & dad!). Buying only the decorations we REALLY want online has helped save money since we aren't purchasing a lot of small items here and there that aren't necessary (and that I'm sure would add up over time!).
The smartest thing we did last year shortly after getting engaged was quickly find and secure the vendors we wanted for the wedding. The venue was first, then the caterer, then the photographers, DJ, florist, bakery, photo booth, and last but not least, the day-of coordinator. I think we waited a bit too long to hire a coordinator, but we got pretty lucky and found someone great! One of the benefits of having a Sunday wedding, I suppose. Signing contracts with all of them before even sending out save-the-dates felt good. We were ahead of the game and it all came together really well with no issues.Wedding dress shopping was a bit of a struggle for me. I went to five shops total, a month or so apart, but four of my six bridesmaids were able to join me, so that was nice at least! It was really fun having them there for support, especially since they live all over the place; two of them flew in from California and Colorado just to join me! I'm so lucky to have such great friends. Thankfully, I found the perfect dress and I'm so in love with it! It's currently at an alterations shop here in Seattle, so I'll go in for my 2nd fitting on August 7th. Can't wait!Other than that, we've just been planning for the ceremony and reception. A good friend of ours is officiating, so he came over last night and we discussed the ceremony timeline and we're all feeling better about that part of it now. I think our ceremony will be fun, short, not TOO serious, but with plenty of traditional touches (just no religious speak since neither of us are religious). Our ceremony will be outdoors, so I'm hoping the weather will cooperate! If it does rain, the venue has a back-up plan indoors which is nice. Let's just hope we don't have to use it!I'm really looking forward to the reception. It'll be the biggest party we've ever thrown, and everyone we love will be there! We have people flying in from all over the country, and even some family members from Australia are joining us! It'll be such an awesome group of people and I hope everyone has a good time.If there's one thing I'm not looking forward to, it's packing everything we need for the wedding AND our honeymoon before we fly to Wisconsin in September. We'll be gone practically the entire month, so that's a lot to take in and plan for. I'm already paranoid I'm going to forget something! Deep breathing... I just have to keep in mind that it's happy planning! I should be excited to pack swim suits and sandals and dresses for the honeymoon! Yay! I just still can't seem to relax about it because I'm worried I will forget to pack something really important... like my wedding dress.
Speaking of that, I had my first wedding nightmare last night, so that was fun. It was the day-of, and I hadn't written my vows yet... Nobody was helping me and I was panicking and crying. Also, for some reason, ADAM was doing my hair for the wedding, so I had to run in front of all of our guests in my wedding dress while they were all seated waiting for the ceremony to begin so that I could find Adam and have him style my hair. I kept telling everyone as I was running by to not look at me! I wasn't ready yet. It was so, so bizarre. I told my boss about it this morning and he thinks it means that even in the craziest, most stressful times, Adam is always the person I know I can count on. Awww... I think he's right. :) xo
The number one question people have asked us since we started planning back in September is, "Has it been hard planning an out of state wedding?" and our answer is usually, "Yes, but also no, not really."I have a feeling I might change my mind about this in a few weeks when we're getting closer to the date and the little stuff needs more attention, but the big reason I say no most of the time is because I think distancing myself from it has been good for my mental health and also for my wallet.For example, I was shopping the other day, just casually browsing Marshall's to kill some time before an appointment, and there were a lot of things I thought might be cute for the wedding. Little wood signs, picture frames, candles, things like that, but I didn't end up buying anything because if I did, I'd have to ship it all to Wisconsin... That, or carry everything in our luggage when we fly out there for the wedding. The thought of doing either of those things immediately turned me off. I look at this as a win, because I didn't end up spending any money! And honestly, we didn't really need any of that stuff. I think if we were getting married here, I'd be buying everything, left and right. We do have a decorations budget (thanks to Adam, we have a budget for everything and it's all broken down on a spreadsheet - highly recommended!) and whenever we find something we really like online, I just have it shipped directly to my parents' house in Wisconsin. They have a nice little collection of things piling up in their basement (thanks, mom & dad!). Buying only the decorations we REALLY want online has helped save money since we aren't purchasing a lot of small items here and there that aren't necessary (and that I'm sure would add up over time!).The smartest thing we did last year shortly after getting engaged was quickly find and secure the vendors we wanted for the wedding. The venue was first, then the caterer, then the photographers, DJ, florist, bakery, photo booth, and last but not least, the day-of coordinator. I think we waited a bit too long to hire a coordinator, but we got pretty lucky and found someone great! One of the benefits of having a Sunday wedding, I suppose. Signing contracts with all of them before even sending out save-the-dates felt good. We were ahead of the game and it all came together really well with no issues.Wedding dress shopping was a bit of a struggle for me. I went to five shops total, a month or so apart, but four of my six bridesmaids were able to join me, so that was nice at least! It was really fun having them there for support, especially since they live all over the place; two of them flew in from California and Colorado just to join me! I'm so lucky to have such great friends. Thankfully, I found the perfect dress and I'm so in love with it! It's currently at an alterations shop here in Seattle, so I'll go in for my 2nd fitting on August 7th. Can't wait!Other than that, we've just been planning for the ceremony and reception. A good friend of ours is officiating, so he came over last night and we discussed the ceremony timeline and we're all feeling better about that part of it now. I think our ceremony will be fun, short, not TOO serious, but with plenty of traditional touches (just no religious speak since neither of us are religious). Our ceremony will be outdoors, so I'm hoping the weather will cooperate! If it does rain, the venue has a back-up plan indoors which is nice. Let's just hope we don't have to use it!I'm really looking forward to the reception. It'll be the biggest party we've ever thrown, and everyone we love will be there! We have people flying in from all over the country, and even some family members from Australia are joining us! It'll be such an awesome group of people and I hope everyone has a good time.If there's one thing I'm not looking forward to, it's packing everything we need for the wedding AND our honeymoon before we fly to Wisconsin in September. We'll be gone practically the entire month, so that's a lot to take in and plan for. I'm already paranoid I'm going to forget something! Deep breathing... I just have to keep in mind that it's happy planning! I should be excited to pack swim suits and sandals and dresses for the honeymoon! Yay! I just still can't seem to relax about it because I'm worried I will forget to pack something really important... like my wedding dress.Speaking of that, I had my first wedding nightmare last night, so that was fun. It was the day-of, and I hadn't written my vows yet... Nobody was helping me and I was panicking and crying. Also, for some reason, ADAM was doing my hair for the wedding, so I had to run in front of all of our guests in my wedding dress while they were all seated waiting for the ceremony to begin so that I could find Adam and have him style my hair. I kept telling everyone as I was running by to not look at me! I wasn't ready yet. It was so, so bizarre. I told my boss about it this morning and he thinks it means that even in the craziest, most stressful times, Adam is always the person I know I can count on. Awww... I think he's right. :) xo