Married. Check.

Warning: when you plan your own wedding you will have time for nothing else.

I stopped blogging to focus on my new job which needed a lot of attention and to work out the final details of the wedding. And I'm happy to say that it was a great success. It far exceeded my expectations and was filled with the sweetest, happiest memories you could ever hope for. I learned a lot about the realistic and unrealistic and accomplished my goal of my dream celebration within my limited budget.

I dodged a lot of high prices. Example: the florists estimates for my bouquets and boutonniere's only started at $900. We did them for $200. And they were peonies.

We had some last minute stress factors. Like heavy rain all week, swarms off bugs on the property (so we arranged for a pest control visit), and some centerpiece miscommunication but it all came together.

Some advice that will make life easier for you on the day of your wedding. Hire a wedding planner or ask a close friend to act as the planner for the day of your wedding. A dear friend of mine did that for me and she was incredible. She came in 2 days before the wedding, stayed with me, made sure I was on schedule, that I ate, handed out the final payments, made sure I always had a glass of champagne and took care of all the vendors when they had questions. And they will have questions. I introduced her to them all and she had a list of people who could help. For example, if there were any necessary last minute purchases, she knew to go to my Aunt Sandy. They kept everything running smoothly and helped me relax.

It was amazing. And I can't thank me amazingly talented family and friends for everything they did to help make it happen.

Like my cousin who made an awesome cake! And our friend who Djed and my grandmother and sister for making bouquets and my friends for putting centerpieces together. The list goes on and on.

If you have any questions of are looking for some ideas for particular projects then please let me know. I'd love to continue to share more about what I learned. And I wish I could help couples plan their weddings full time because I love it so much. It was very satisfying to see all the hard work and planning come together but at the end of the day the best part was being married and then celebrating with my nearest and dearest.

And with this post, I retire. I was thinking of continuing and I'm still exploring the possiblity of doing some more work with wedding planning but for now I feel very content to just.... be married.

So Romantic...

Photo by J. Cogliandro Photography via Style Me Pretty

Budget Reception

When I first started planning, I was shocked at the cost of catering! If a full dinner is going to be impossible for you then consider hosting a swanky cocktail party instead or a decadent dessert reception or a wine tasting. All would make a lovely wedding celebration. I just saw this Ice cream parlor reception on 100 Layer Cake and thought it would be another great budget-friendly option.

Just make sure to have champagne and I'd hunt for ice cream from a local creamery.

Pretty paper lanterns

These paper lanterns are just lovely. Wouldn't they be great dangling over the dance floor? They're pretty pricey but you don't need many, in fact 6-12 would be sufficient. You can purchase here.

An story of love

This segment from Radiolab had me on the edge of my seat.

Wedding veil

Here's a simple veil for sale. I love this classic chapel length style.

Doesn't it look romantic? You can purchase here.

Shabby Chic Reception Seating

 Photo by Synecdoche Photography via Style Me Pretty

I think this is a lovely shabby chic way to share the reception seating. It makes me wish that I had a wall like this at my upcoming reception.

Something Blue

Image via Once Wed

If my budget was much bigger then this would be my something blue. Instead I'm going for this...

Photo via Meg Baisden Photography

These "I Do" stickers are a nice little surprise. You can buy them here or here.

Just for fun

The Anatomy of a cupcake via Black Eiffel.

Signs and Sayings

Put these around your reception for fun and to offer your guests some direction. They're only $12 a piece including printing here.

Here's an easy Do it yourself option. Just print the letters (or purchase them) and string them up with crepe paper twisted in between.

Map it

I adore these little custom made maps. The designers will create a map from your ceremony to reception, noting landmarks of your choosing along the way. For only $60 they'll design and send you the file then you can print it yourself or you could pay additional to have them print for you. They're a great piece for your invitation but I was thinking that it would be just as cute (and less expensive) to print them yourself on high quality but not top quality paper (because let's face it, people will throw them away) and put them in welcome bags or have them handed to your out of town guests at the hotel. 

More paper goods

Found another stationary shop with great style at 100 Layer Cake. Check out more at Cheer Up Cherup.

Assigned seats

photographs by Meg Smith

I'm in the process of deciding on seating arrangements and display. I thought this was a cute idea via Snippet and Ink to assign folks to a table which was labeled by grade. "Please take a pencil and find your class". It's particularly cute for this couple who met in 4th grade. If any of you met in school then you should consider this!

Lavender and Blush

This lovely inspiration board is from the staff at The Bride's Guide. 

Variety cakes

Classic wedding cakes are lovely. My cousin made a wedding cake recently that featured different types of cake at each layer. Besides being delicious it was nice to have variety. You could even skip the tiered cake to keep things simple. Perhaps an orange chocolate chunk cake...

and a classic coconut

and chocolate cherry

and a lemon cream cheese?

If I wasn't wearing white then I'd wear one of these...

Via Kenzie Kate

Fruit and sweets

Via Ruffled

Just because. 

An elegant time saver

This is a perfect way to get your return address on those piles of wedding invitations. It's an quick alternative to writing you address out on each invitation and it's far less expensive than hiring a calligrapher. You can buy it here for $55.

This photo...

Photo via Ruffled

makes me hope for cloudy skies on my big day. Isn't this beautiful?

If only I had enough of these...

Via

Vintage tableware adds some charm to dinnertime.

Lockets are so romantic

I love lockets. These little lovelies are a perfect modern version of a classic. Reference via Martha Stewart and you can purchase here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Photos via Once Wed...again :)

Pretty print

Photo by Simply Hue via Project Wedding

Valentine's day is just around the corner!

Photo via Once Wed

Do you celebrate Valentine's day? How?

Oh, February.

Both photos via Martha Stewart Weddings

I love this pretty combination of pale blue and white. Perfect for a February wedding.