This week was Thanksgiving week, and Clay and I decided that spending time with family was more important than wedding planning… So, this week’s actual tasks are a bit lighter. It’s a bit more “research” heavy. Just remember: you can always be pinning ideas and gathering info to help set yourself up for easier future decision-making. So keep looking through those bridal mags and scanning through Pinterest for inspiration!
how to plan a wedding in 6 months flat: week 5
- place bridesmaids dress order: make sure your bridesmaids call in to order their dresses asap so they don’t have to pay a rush delivery fee! help them help themselves :)
- keep tabs: literally, keep tabs… on an Excel sheet. what additional staff do you need to feed? when are final deposits going to be due? (Clay and I have a shared Excel file in Dropbox with about 12 tabs on it ranging from everything from our guest list to cost lists to “to do” lists.) staying organized from the beginning will help you in the long run!
- start to coordinate vendor needs with your rental company: what setup does your DJ/band need? your caterer? bar service? what requirements does your venue have? (will you have a champagne toast? a coffee bar? a kitchen set up? will you need extra lights? speakers? power source?)
- begin to get quotes on:
- cakes/desserts (do you want a traditional wedding cake? a dessert bar? a candy bar? a combination of all three? something entirely different?)
- shuttle services (do you have out of town guests you need to transport? do you want a getaway car?)
- bar service (can you bring in your own alcohol? must you use certain vendors? our location has two options for bar service – one is full service and provides all your beverage needs, the other allows you to provide your own alcohol)
- continue to register: we didn’t visit any actual stores this week. Black Friday? no, thank you! but we did work our registry through Amazon online. sittin’ cozy on the couch? that’s my kind of shopping. (we did, however, buy a bed. we figured it was unlikely someone would buy us a bed and mattress, and we wanted to make sure we have something to sleep on when we come home from our honeymoon!)
- photographer stuff:
- Pin and gather ideas and looks you’d like to get for your engagement photo shoot and wedding day
- schedule engagement photo shoot: we did this a bit out of traditional order as I had surgery on my mouth mere days after getting engaged. I probably would have booked an engagement shoot immediately and used one of those photos for our save the dates. but thankfully we had some friends who took some beautiful photos when Clay proposed, so we were able to use those!)
- schedule engagement video shoot: completely optional. I don’t think many people do this, but we are! I mean… I’m an actress after all. I love telling stories, and what better story for me to share than ours? :)
That’s all for this week! Keep plugging away. Remember to continue planning your marriage while planning your wedding. And remember to have fun… Clay made a comment the other day when I asked him what else we needed to discuss regarding the wedding. He said, “You’ve done such an amazing job getting ahead of where we need to be. I want you to feel the freedom to rest. And also to enjoy this time… This is the only time we will ever be engaged over Christmas.” That man, I tell ya… So wise.
Yes, feel the freedom to rest and relax! (This is something I need to be reminded of and encouraged to do!) Make it a priority to spend time with your fiancé and not talk about the wedding. Oh, and if you have nephews, ask them to be your ring bearers. I can wait to see mine walk down that aisle. Sweet angels.
