Wedding Planning: Where to start

Wedding planning is a daunting task for most. I have heard so many women say how stressful the wedding planning process was for them. I took their warnings with a grain of salt at the time, as I had no idea when my now fiance would propose. I am now engaged, having the time of my life planning our wedding and stress FREE!!! Before I get to how to diminish your stress and where to start planning let me tell you about the proposal. Who doesn’t love a good love story.

The Proposal Story:

My fiance proposed this past July. The proposal was one of grandeur and great meaning to me. 2016 and the first half of 2017 were years of INSANE travel for me with work; 5 days a week, at least 3 time zones and I don’t even want to know how many planes. While I was out and about my fiance took the time to work with an amazing Jeweler, The Diamond Reserve, and design my ring. One of the proponents of this process was him calling my Mom and asking for her approval. This meant the world to her and me. My Mom approved and said Mike, my father, who is now an angel in heaven, approved as well. Jake proceeded to have the ring shipped to my parents house and have my Mom haul it up to the lake house while we were there this past summer.

The lake house is one of those places I always hoped Jake would propose as it was one of my Dad’s happy places. We arrived at the lake house this past July after a plane ride and a long car ride, but we made it. My Mom, Jake and I proceeded to work on stuff all day. Jake was quiet but that’s nothing new. My Mom and I talk quite a bit and it’s hard for him to get a word in edgewise. A torrential storm came through early evening, pouring so hard, but the sound and the image of the rain drops on the lake were so calming. The rain broke and we decided to have a campfire; as how can you not have a campfire while at the lake. I made my Mom and I some moscow mules, mmm, and Jake grabbed a beer and we sat around the fire chatting, listening to the loons and all the sounds which you don’t get to hear in the city.

If you know me even the slightest bit, you know I love photos. I asked my Mom if she would take a picture of Jake and I on the dock as I wanted many options of pictures to post on social media. We took our picture and came back by the fire. Jake and I looked at the picture and both decided it wasn’t the most appealing of us. I had a double chin going on and our eyes were half closed; wowza. We decided we were going to have Mom take another. I start walking out on the pier (me first and Jake behind) chatting Jakes head off saying, “see you like the millon photos I make you take.” While I was chatting Jakes head off he had the ring back behind his back showing my Mom he was going to propose. She was overjoyed, but thinking oh my gosh I have to get good pictures. Oh Mom; how I love you. I get to the end of the pier and turn around and Jake is down on one knee. My first thought and if I am recollecting right as I was in shock, I said, “what are you doing?” Jake proceeded to ask me to marry him. Me in tears, said yes to my best friend and life companion these past 5 ½ years. This moment and memory is one I will never forget. 

My Mom got the most amazing photos of us the whole time; the whole proposal, from down on the knee to me jumping up on Jake, is all captured. The cherries on top to this whole story is the ray of sunshine “Dad” shining down on us after the storm and my Mom sharing with us that my father proposed to her at the lake.

With our little cell reception post proposal we proceeded to share the good news with all loved ones. The first question that comes out of loved ones after the congratulations and oh my beautiful ring is, “When is the wedding?” We just got engaged, and I was completely surprised, so us having an idea of when the wedding was going to be wasn’t known. We proceeded to enjoy a relaxing week at the lake. The planning would start once I was back home.

Planning

I am so blessed to have the most amazing friends and sister ever. My sister got me a Erin Condren wedding planner for our/my engagement gift. This planner is the most amazing thing EVER! Now you might be thinking why have a paper planner when there are so many apps and online tools to help you plan a wedding? There is something about being able to write your thoughts down, keep track of date and have a wedding bible when going to meet with vendors that give me a sense of accomplishment/ease.

The Erin Condren wedding planner has helped me keep so organized not only with the wedding but all the appointments you have to go to and social events that get put on our calendar.

Some of the sections in the planner include (not limited to):

• Top 10 Wedding Tips
• Monthly outline of items to accomplish
• Budget Checklist
• Ideas for seasonal flowers and how much cake and booze you actually need
• Vendor contact list
• Seating arrangements

All of the tools in the planner have been extremely helpful, but I wanted a bit more. I took to doing my own research online and Pintrest (where else) on wedding planning checklists, what has to get done when, and proceeded to add additional items to my checklist.

I also took the liberty to use the back blank pages to tab for notes when we meet with vendors and to start jotting down my ideas.

My wedding planner is now full of tabs, post it notes and lists. The fabulous thing is it’s all in one place. When meeting with the dessert vendor they asked what our catering menu looked like to help plan flavors; instead of saying I don’t’ have it, it was right there with me in the planner.

Another very cool component to the planner is every month there is a goal section built into the calendar. I have filled these sections with every months goals. What vendors I have to find, little things I am looking for (those little wedding items never end) and much more.

All of the above is to say that prepping yourself and making yourself well organized is no little feat, but one that will help eliminate some of that stress. As far as my observations have taken me, organization directly can correlate to your stress level. The more organized you are the less stress you will have. I am not saying you will be stress free, but the organization will help.

“It’s so better to be on top of things and know what needs to get done than miss something and be rushing.”

I HIGHLY recommend the Erin Condren wedding planner. They are customizable down to the cover, what’s written on it as well as how long your engagement will be (do you need 1 or 2 years in the planner).

“Enjoy the wedding planning process. It’s a once in a lifetime activity.”

Cheers! XOXO- Happy Wedding Planning