Words of Wisdom
We were together nearly 8 years before we got engaged. Most of the reason for that was because I didn't have the energy (or bank account) to plan a wedding. Seriously, it's a lot of work. While I enjoyed the wedding planning process, I don't want to do it again. Ever. It monopolizes your brain & after 10 1/2 months (a relatively short engagement) I'm ready to think about other things.
During this process (I'm writing this 38 days before my wedding, mind you), I have learned many things. One thing being that I am even more anal than I thought. This caused difficulty. Here's some tidbits that I'd like to pass on:
1. Bridesmaids & groomsmen are overrated, in my opinion. I love my friends. However, I think I would have loved them even more as guests than as our wedding party. BMs & GM caused more stress to me than they were help. I worried about their financial situations and putting them out when/if I needed help. This is not their fault, it is just my inability to ask for help and my worrisome nature. Given that, I would have eliminated some stress had we kept our wedding party to just maid of honor & best man.
2. I am generally a firm believer of "you get what you pay for". This is not always the case in wedding planning. For example, I love, love, love my cake lady. She is very affordable and works from her home but her cake is delicious and her personality is unbeatable. Being that we paid for the majority of this wedding ourselves, we had to be very mindful of every penny we spent. You can still have a beautiful wedding on a budget.
3. The Knot, to me, was invaluable, and a necessary evil. The information, suggestions and support supplied were amazing. I wouldn't have found our wonderful photographer without TK & most of my inspiration came from other brides. On the other hand, TK makes you want things. Lots & lots of things that are usually unnecessary. Don't go overboard, it's very easy to do. Curse me for showing Robert those pretty candy buffet pictures. Now I'm scouring the town & internet for the best candy prices per pound.
AFTER THE WEDDING
Our wedding was ah-mazing. Seriously, it was so beautiful & 100% worth the work. Seeing everything and everyone come together was incredible. We've been asked several times already to get married again so we can do it all over. As I was told, the day flies by. To slightly alter one of my favorite Ferris Bueller quotes, "Your wedding moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." So, enjoy being a fiance, enjoy registering, registry stalking & your shower, enjoy DIY projects, the countdown, mailbox stalking, the rehearsal, the preparations before the ceremony & the reception because it goes reaaaal quick.
During this process (I'm writing this 38 days before my wedding, mind you), I have learned many things. One thing being that I am even more anal than I thought. This caused difficulty. Here's some tidbits that I'd like to pass on:
1. Bridesmaids & groomsmen are overrated, in my opinion. I love my friends. However, I think I would have loved them even more as guests than as our wedding party. BMs & GM caused more stress to me than they were help. I worried about their financial situations and putting them out when/if I needed help. This is not their fault, it is just my inability to ask for help and my worrisome nature. Given that, I would have eliminated some stress had we kept our wedding party to just maid of honor & best man.
2. I am generally a firm believer of "you get what you pay for". This is not always the case in wedding planning. For example, I love, love, love my cake lady. She is very affordable and works from her home but her cake is delicious and her personality is unbeatable. Being that we paid for the majority of this wedding ourselves, we had to be very mindful of every penny we spent. You can still have a beautiful wedding on a budget.
3. The Knot, to me, was invaluable, and a necessary evil. The information, suggestions and support supplied were amazing. I wouldn't have found our wonderful photographer without TK & most of my inspiration came from other brides. On the other hand, TK makes you want things. Lots & lots of things that are usually unnecessary. Don't go overboard, it's very easy to do. Curse me for showing Robert those pretty candy buffet pictures. Now I'm scouring the town & internet for the best candy prices per pound.
AFTER THE WEDDING
Our wedding was ah-mazing. Seriously, it was so beautiful & 100% worth the work. Seeing everything and everyone come together was incredible. We've been asked several times already to get married again so we can do it all over. As I was told, the day flies by. To slightly alter one of my favorite Ferris Bueller quotes, "Your wedding moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." So, enjoy being a fiance, enjoy registering, registry stalking & your shower, enjoy DIY projects, the countdown, mailbox stalking, the rehearsal, the preparations before the ceremony & the reception because it goes reaaaal quick.
