It's been over six months now since Todd and I have been engaged. So crazy to think how quickly the time has gone. Today I'm sharing my first of many Wedding Wednesday posts. I always find these posts fun to read, so I thought you all would enjoy reading about our wedding planning adventure. You can anticipate reading these about once a month or so. Today, we're going to jump in with so you're engaged, now what.
It seems like the current trend is to graduate college, begin adulting, and get engaged. Whether this is the track you're on personally or not, this is what my social media newsfeeds are telling me, and I think your feeds are probably reflecting something similar. We are definitely in the midst of wedding and engagement season, so it seems like every day somebody new is celebrating their engagement. While we are talking about fresh engagements, I wanted to give a shoutout to my college roommate and her man on their recent engagement. She's a major blog supporter- Hey Jocelyn!
Months One and Two
With getting engaged at a young(ish) age, it can be exciting but also a little overwhelming once you sit down and start the planning process. Because let's face it- most of our Pinterest dream boards don't just automatically convert into real life plans. I was definitely hit with this reality during month one of our engagement. When you first get engaged, take a couple of weeks to bask in the happiness. Everyone around you will be filled with joy, and it's important to cherish those moments with friends and family. I was lucky enough to be given a variety of wedding magazines with our congratulatory engagement gifts. If you didn't receive any magazines, then I highly recommend you take a trip to the story to purchase a few. The key is to preview them before purchasing to make sure you're getting something substantial not just a book of ads. Start your planning my creating a vision for your wedding- season, month, time of day, color schemes, venue type, etc. I used Pinterest and wedding magazines to help create our vision. Initially, we thought we wanted a fall wedding, but we ended up choosing a December wedding. It worked better with our schedules, budget, and venue we wanted to use.
Once you have a time frame picked out, then it's time to start picking out the venue. Before selecting venues, be sure to create a budget because it will help you determine what venues you can and cannot use. We looked online at a bunch of places before deciding where to actually look at. We visited a wide variety of places- formal ballrooms, all inclusive venues, DIY venues, barns, rustic chic venues, etc. It was helpful to visit all different types of places so that we could compare them all side by side. We chose to visit the venues as a couple rather than with our families because we wanted to preview without everyone else's opinions. Ironically enough, the venue we chose was actually the only one we brought family to just because of timing.
Wedding Venue Preview- One of the chandeliers at our venue.
Month Three
The next step for us was to choose a photographer. This was a no brainer for us. Todd did a ton of research prior to our engagement, so we decided immediately that we wanted to use the same photographers that captured our engagement. The sweet couple was so personable and did a fabulous job. The only choice we had to make was the length of time to hire them for. We ended up opting for the eight hour package. It would allow us to have pictures while getting ready, at the ceremony, during cocktail hour and dinner, and the start of dancing.
Months Four and Five
We chose a venue where we have to hire outside vendors to supply everything (food, beverages, desserts, dj, etc.). This option felt overwhelming at first, but after doing some research it has not been too much of a headache. The next item to check off the list was finding a catering company. Luckily, our venue provided us with a list of recommendations. We contacted a handful of companies and requested prices and menu options. Based on these two facets, we selected two companies to meet with in person. Essentially, we were looking for someone who could supply us with as much as possible- the more inclusive the better! After attending the tasting, we felt very confident in the company we are choosing for our big day.
Month Six
The month has been so busy with non wedding aspects of life (grad school, coaching, tennis, teaching, job promotions, and so much more). Needless to say we have made little progress in the wedding planning department. We are in the midst of selecting our DJ and ceremony musicians as well as figuring out how to propose to our bridal party.
In cased you missed it, here's our engagement story!
XOXO
