Wedding Planning: Why Blog About It?

I've been a little embarrassed to tell people that I'm blogging about planning my wedding. I mean how cliché and cheesy is that? It seems all the rage nowadays to blog about anything and everything but wedding planning is quite a popular choice. Well I decided to say screw it and throw myself in there among the millions of wedding blogger wannabes. My reasons were this: I'm a writer and I love to write so why not? At the time I decided to embark on this little blogging journey I wasn't working in a writing-heavy atmosphere so I figured what better way to polish up my skills than to write often?

Number two, I was feeling pretty lonely in the wedding planning process. Almost all of my friends and family live in different states so I don't have anyone nearby to do all this wedding stuff with. Plus I also just didn't want to annoy people by constantly talking about the wedding (it's like word vomit I still have to stop myself sometimes) so the virtual world was the most appealing route. I can safely write about my frustrations about venues or excitement over accomplishing things on my to-do list without boring my friends and family to tears. (At least not in person haha)

Number three, I really wanted to have a written record to remember all this by. It's true what everyone said that our engagement would fly by and it has! We have less than three months till our wedding and sometimes I still feel like it all just started yesterday. Luckily, I just have to go back in my archives to remember what I was feeling or how planning was progressing.

And finally, when I started planning a wedding with a cultural emphasis I didn't find a lot of resources or advice from other blogs. Maybe my little blog can be helpful to some other brides out there, or at the very least give them some comfort in knowing they're not alone and have some laughs along the way :)


Image via Pieces of Me

The Endless To-Do List

My fiancé and I sat down to write a list of things we still need to get done for the wedding. Needless to say our "to-do" list quickly grew to over 50 things! As you can tell by the last item, we clearly have our priorities in order hehe ;) 

And yes, I keenly remember this post where I yelled to "burn that checklist' but not to worry, this did not come off any wedding website or magazine, this is our personal list of things we gotta get done. A few days later Patryk thought it would be funny to send this to me:

 According to the above list we are doing awesome. LoL.

The Wedding Planning Book to End All Wedding Planning Books

Early into the planning process I stumbled upon A Practical Wedding, a wedding blog that differed from any other. And I'm so glad I did. You will be too once you read it. It offered a refreshing, down-to-earth perspective on wedding planning and marriage in general. Not surprisingly, the blog evolved and its creator Meg Keene recently published a book, A Practical Wedding: Creative Solutions for Planning a Beautiful, Affordable, and Meaningful Celebration.

I wasn't planning on reading any wedding planning books nor am I planning on reading any more but thank goodness I read this one! You know the feeling when you're reading a book and you can't help but talk during the process? Well that's what reading this book was like for me. Kind of like this:

"Oh my god yes! I totally agree!"
"I thought I was the only one that thought that! It's so nice to hear I'm not crazy!"
"Seriously, who the hell cares about the effin' chairs?!"

Basically, Meg took a very unique approach when it came to writing a book about wedding planning: She was actually NORMAL about it. As in, she reminds us all that the whole point of planning a wedding is the getting married part, not the part about how great your reception is or what your centerpieces look like. So if you are a clueless yet sane bride wanting to plan a meaningful celebration, read this book ASAP. She gets down to the nitty gritty and helps you figure out where to start in an easy-to-understand step-by-step process.

Thanks to movies and media, the prelude to the wedding planning process — the proposal itself — has been exaggerated to such great lengths that it has made most of us forget the point of it all. Meg's insightful and empowering words shatter the typical stereotype.  I absolutely LOVED the quote from the book discussing this topic:

"It's exciting to decide to get married. And scary. But the moment of the proposal is just that: a moment. It moves you to the next step of the process; it's not the be-all, end-all. So maybe you have a fancy candlelight dinner followed by parachutists delivering you a pear-shaped, seven-carat diamond. Or maybe you decide to get married one Sunday morning over the newspaper and a cup of coffee. Either way is fine. The point is that you decided to spend your life with someone you love."

And that ladies and gentlemen is just a small piece of the wisdom you'll find in this book. Another favorite tidbit of mine featured in the book: the genius and oh-so-true tips from Kayce Hazelgrove of shinyprettybits.com and foodiewashere.com titled "The Six Stages of Wedding Planning." Kayce takes you through the various stages of emotional highs and lows of planning a wedding. 

My favorite was #4: OUTRAGE/DEPRESSION: "WHAT THE EFF" "EFF ME"

"This stage is marked by feelings of bitterness and frustration. You may feel as though you are failing in some way. This can cause you to swing between feeling angry over all the expectations being placed on you and despondent over your inability to live up. You may find yourself resenting others with friends and family who own a barn, can DJ, or have the enviable ability to craft masterpieces out of bits of random fabric and paper." 

Now I'm not sure if any of you guys planning a wedding out there have felt this way, but I certainly have and reading this book was a nice affirmation of 1) I'm not a crazy person and 2) knowing that it can be done in a sane and gasp! maybe even fun way. As Megan of notmartha.org puts it:

"It’s like having a very cool older sister who went through all this already to help guide you on what is and what isn’t important."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Buy this book and read it now. You'll be thankful you did.



P.S. Listen to Meg's interview discussing the book on NPR's Talk of the Nation here.

Bride Envy

The dress, the veil, the backdrop. Simply stunning. Then again, when you marry the son of a fashion icon (David Lauren, son of Ralph Lauren, married Lauren Bush), would you expect anything else?


Photo via The Bijou Bride from Vogue.com

A Pretend Pinterest Wedding

Haha love this!

Let's Talk Pinterest

A few months before I got engaged I discovered an amazing little website called Pinterest. I quickly became hooked. It's the digital equivalent to an enormous corkboard filled with all your favorite things you've found while searching the Web. And I cannot stress enough what a godsend it has been during the wedding planning process. I seriously wonder how brides did it before this website existed. Basically, the concept is you have "boards" that house all of the things that you've "pinned." On mine I have several categories, from home decor to food and of course a wedding pinboard! Instead of bookmarking all the wedding-related things you find on the internet, you "pin" them and house them all in one place. So if you want to share your wedding inspiration, ideas with family, friends or vendors simply send them a link to your board and voilà! If you're not a very organized person and have to keep a million tabs open while surfing the Web so you don't forget stuff (like me!) then I would highly suggest signing up before starting the wedding planning process. Each time you pin an image, it automatically saves the link where you found it, so it's easy to check back when you want to follow up on something. And if you're interested feel free to follow me on Pinterest. :) Happy Pinning!

P.S. Don't be surprised if you get hooked, this site is insanely addicting!

Are You Bored Yet?

OK, let's be honest here. When you have more than a year to plan a wedding, you have several months of wedding-related discussions. From colors to music to flowers, etc, etc. Which leads me to my point: are you bored yet? As fascinating as your wedding sounds to you in your head (or at least mine does to me ha!) it really isn't that interesting to other people. My rational mind knows this and I try to keep the wedding talk at bay. So listen up brides and grooms, that is why you have each other: to vent and talk and talk and talk some more about your wedding till ya turn blue. But for your friends' and families' sakes, try to change the topic from time to time! (I am actively trying this advice myself :)



Image via

Bridal Bootcamp

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to painstakingly plan the detailed operations of THE WEDDING. You must choose your allies wisely, comparing, contrasting and negotiating until you find the best match. You must research and plan and leave no stone unturned, no detail overlooked, to faithfully execute this sacred ritual. 
Finding a fellow bride brings a sense of camaraderie and unity that can only be achieved through the shared experience of planning THE WEDDING. 
We are in this together. 
Like soldiers returning from war, the brides that have made it through to the final stages lead the younger troops during their journey. They share stories, give tips, and leave no bride behind in the trenches.
Experienced bride, I salute you.
You understand for you have been there. You have navigated the perilous waters and dodged the bullets (most of them) and remain unscathed and steadfast in your mission. I admire you, experienced bride, and I wonder will I have the strength??