HAPPY WEDDING WEDNESDAY!

Here we are,  having been engaged for officially 4 months now and we’re really just now starting to get the ball rolling with the wedding planning process! Now don’t get me wrong, I’m honestly having the most fun planning and pinning and planning again, but I’m realizing that with how much fun it is to plan and how exciting everything is, it is just as equally stressful and quite honestly, overwhelming. Having said that, I am a pretty optimistic person, so OF COURSE all the pros outweigh the cons and stress by like A MILLION (this shiny gem on my left hand and what it stands for, has already made all my dreams come true.)

Basically, where I’m going with this is I hope you don’t take my little vent as a post as complaining because I am well aware that everything I am doing to create this day in our lives is completely voluntary.  Read below for all the good ( & bad) things I’ve learned about myself during the process of planning our wedding (so far).

I’m actually a bit more low maintenance than most of my family & friends would think. Seriously, my mom literally thought she was going to have to spend like $100K on this thing.  I’m pretty sure she expected me to have some glamorous, diamond filled wedding with crystals hanging from the ceiling. Now I will admit, having a simple little tiara might complement my dress nicely 😉 but I could not want anything further from the likes of a “Royal Wedding.” I picture our wedding being a cozy, fun time where everyone invited feels included and is able to relax and have a good time. I cringe at the word “rustic” but really, that’s basically the style I’m looking for, very laid back.

I absolutely DO NOT want your “cookie cutter” wedding. Now I know for some people, that’s what they’ve pictured for themselves and there’s nothing wrong with that. What I hope to do with our wedding is create an evening where everyone leaves feeling love and feeling happiness, I want people to leave the night thinking they’ll never go to another wedding like ours. A big part of that for me is picking the right location, what I mean by “cookie cutter” is, we aren’t going to be getting married in a hotel ballroom or a country club. I want something unique and different.

I could honestly care less how many people we have. Now this may come as a shock to a lot of people who know Joey and I. We honestly know soooo many people that we both are in actual contact with day-to-day. We could easily have a 300 person wedding, BUT quite honestly, neither of us want that and there are some people on our “big” guest list that might actually be surprised if they aren’t invited. What is really controlling our guestlist is this; venue and catering prices for a wedding are INSANE and as much as I know my dad would (maybe not so gladly) fit the bill, I cannot in any way justify spending thousands of dollars on one night of our lives. Because of this, we are keeping our guestlist much smaller than most people would think.  To me, exclusivity is key. 

I have very a very specific feel and look I want for my wedding dress which I’m aware is making me pretty high maintenance for every bridal boutique employee who works with me. I’m honestly not trying to be a bitch or rude; but after my first *not so great* attempt at wedding dress shopping, I just decided that if I hated the way it looked on the hanger, it wasn’t going to change that much on my body. So I’ve been very straight forward and have denied A LOT of dresses that stores have pulled for me. I feel bad but at the same time, I know what I want so why waste time?

Speaking of dresses….. I am planning on having 2…Now I’m sure you’re either rolling your eyes and/or laughing. But yes, I have decided that I want to have a second dress. Now before you completely call me crazy, let me explain why. I do want my first dress, which I’m calling the “ceremony” dress to be my dream of a wedding dress. I want to wear this dress for the ceremony and reception and of course be what I’m photographed the most in. Now a big must have for our venue is that it is mostly outdoors and my dream dress is a sleeved dress BUT with the venue we are strongly considering booking, the “party” portion of the evening will take place indoors. For this part, I do want to change into a sleeker, sleeveless dress that is easier to move in. I also know that in spending $$$$$ on my dream dress, I will be the most stressed out person EVER worrying about dancing and drinking in the most expensive piece of clothing I will ever own. Therefore, I know that I will be able to enjoy the evening much, much more if I’m able to change into a second (much cheaper) dress.

I’m probably not as good at DIY as I think I am. Only time will tell but I am quickly learning the intricacies and difficulty of doing a lot of wedding decor yourself . Which is why I’m planning on starting WAYYYY in advance. And I’m going  to be reaal honest with myself when it comes to what I think I can realistically do myself with said project still looking like it was professionally done. 

I’m sure this list will only continue to grow as we get further and further along in the process. Now let me know, have I completely lost my mind?!? My biggest goal is to NOT BECOME A BRIDEZILLA throughout all this madness, I just hope I haven’t already failed!

xoxo,

Amanda