I am so happy to say that after having some struggles with planning our upcoming wedding, I finally feel like we are at a good place and am feeling much more calm about the whole process. Surprisingly, we had no issues with dealing with the “big” things – booking our photographer, planning our honeymoon, picking out my dress, and deciding on the venue. It has been the little things that have caused me way more anxiety. I let myself get in my head and build things up to be way more important than they actually are, and I am so happy that I’ve finally started to let that all go and enjoy the process.
My mom has been an absolute saint throughout my whole life, but especially since Chris and I got engaged. She knows how much events and big groups of people stress me out, so she really took charge of planning our wedding. Although in my ideal world I think we would have gotten married in a winery with like, 10 people there, I know that our wedding is going to be a gorgeous day that we love and remember forever. And my mom deserves a huge thank you for making that happen for us.
With our wedding coming up so fast in 40 (!!) days, we are getting to the point where it’s only the little details and confirmations that need to be handled moving forward. I’m probably way behind where I am “supposed” to be, but I actually feel like I’m pretty on top of things. Here’s the main things we (my mom, Chris, and I) are focused on in the next upcoming weeks:
Deciding on the exact music we want played during our ceremony, at the cocktail hour, during the reception, and the “special” songs, too. Chris and I have a huge love for music and actually started “talking” over Spotify, so we are working on a bunch of unique playlists to personalize our day a little bit more than just using what people are used to hearing at weddings. And truth be told, we despise that kind of music. So why would be choose to play it at our wedding?
Finalizing all the ceremony and reception small details and decorations, including our escort board, the favors for our guests, the ceremony programs, and our guest book. This is my mom’s space, so she will be handling most of it with a little input from me. Again, thank goodness for her.
Confirming and paying for all of our vendors.
Deciding on the menu for our rehearsal dinner and any other little details we want to incorporate that night. For those of you that are married, did you do anything at your rehearsal dinner to make it special?
Have a final meeting with our officiant, photographer, videographer, DJ, florist, and wedding planner at the venue to talk through all the details and logistics of the actual day.
Seating chart. I am anticipating this to be much more of a process than it seems like it will be.
Make a list, go shopping, and pack for our honeymoon!
There are obviously a bunch of other things to be done, but those are my main focal points right now. I have found that through breaking tasks down by month, I have been actually able to get a grasp on what needs to be done, who needs to do it, and when. You guys should see the spreadsheet I created for this wedding – it is a little insane. But truly, I would be so overwhelmed that I would be doing nothing if I didn’t have it. It’s so necessary for me.
And with all that has been done so far and all that is to still be done, I am just trying my hardest to focus on the reason for all of it – marrying Chris. I am so grateful for him and his level head when I am being an absolute nut. He really tries to help with the planning process, although there’s just not too much he can do. Why do all vendors want to communicate solely with the bride? I get that this is some girls’ dreams, but I vote that grooms are given a little more responsibility 😉 Anyway, Chris has been great. I am so lucky to have him. He is calm, I am crazy. And I’m somewhat surprised he is still excited to marry me after the nervous wreck I have been lately. I am lucky.
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And no joke, as I am writing this post I am listening to the LadyGang most current podcast, and their guest is Jamie Lee, who wrote a book called Weddiculous. It is an “unfiltered guide to being a bride” and is described as: “Weddiculous will help remind you what’s really important about your wedding day: it’s just the first day in a long and happy marriage.” It’s crazy how little things like that pop up when you need them the most. I just wish I would have had that book from the start. Now let’s find out if Chris actually reads this blog and wants to order it for me from Amazon…. 😉
So for those of you that are married, I would love to hear any advice you have for the month or so before your wedding. I feel like there are a bunch of things I am forgetting about, so any insight would be great!
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