Advice midstream...

Well, 4 months to go! Here's my personal, complimentary commercial free advice for wedding planning based on what I've learned so far. ENJOY!

1) Wear your wedding goggles
So, you’re engaged? Put on your wedding googles! Brainstorm as you walk around, shop, eat, play. I am not talking about being obsessively crazy, I mean, look for inspiration everywhere! Really like that drink at the local bar? Recreate it for your signature cocktail! Cute song on the radio? Write down the lyrics and google it when you get home to add to your cocktail hour playlist. Love that window display? Photograph it and use it for décor inspiration. The possibilities are endless.

2) Start a collection

This is a fun way to channel your wedding planning energy without overbuying too early in the game (i.e. before you know your venue/guestcount etc..) Pick some aspect of your wedding that you can “collect” for – I am collecting blue and green vases and bottles – what about collecting vintage postcards, or pink baskets, or cool vintage frames? It makes every shopping trip seem like a treasure hunt :)

3) Order matters!

It DOES matter if you finalize your catering order before you have your final guest count! You can’t print your programs until you decide on the order of your ceremony! Some things simply have to be done before others! I am personally not much of a plan maker, so if you’re not prone to writing long range plans, just write a list of all the things that need to be done, and go through it thinking of what task has to be done BEFORE each task. Then order everything up and you have your game plan!

4) Make appointments, even if you aren’t prepared

Need to meet with your venue but you haven’t even thought about décor? Your officiant wants to talk about the ceremony but you still haven’t printed the list of possible texts he gave you three months ago. SO WHAT! Just make the appointment anyways, you’ll find that the time pressure will force you to take care of those items, even if it’s the day before (or even the morning of!) the meeting. And going into those meetings less than perfectly prepared isn’t always a bad thing – it leaves you much more open minded!

5) Finalize it, and let it go

Some aspects of your wedding could be discussed forever. The menu could always be tweaked, the invitations could use this and that, the DJ list needs a few more songs, you could keep looking for bands… but SOMETIMES you have to just say enough is enough. Decide, be happy with your decision, and move on! No regrets.

6) Make it you!

Don’t be afraid to show your personalities! After all, this is about YOU! That means, do your first dance to Hakuna Matata, toss a bouquet of dandelions, serve fancy hamburgers at your reception, have a Wall-E and Eva cake topper. Your Aunt Sally may find it weird, but she certainly won’t forget it! And more often than not, people are charmed by originality. Even if they think “I wouldn’t do this at my wedding”, they are still enjoying it at yours!

7) Google docs is a lifesaver

Google docs has been our lifesaver – we have our budget, our guest list, our song list, our vows… you name it… all saved as joint documents there. That means that we can both edit them whenever or access them from any computer. LIFESAVER.

8) Keep your parents busy

Your parents most likely want to be involved in planning your wedding – but if you’re like me, you don’t need their advice on every detail. So? Give them something to plan! The rehearsal dinner, the monogrammed golfballs, the wedding dress trip, the favors – you name it, just pick something that you can let go and let them plan on their own! they’ll love it and so will you.

9) Blog about it!

Blogging about your wedding is not only a good way to get family and friends (or even strangers) excited about your wedding, it’s a great way to document your planning process for memory’s sake! My grandmother kept a detailed diary of every detail of my mom’s wedding planning – and I have the same type of record thanks to this blog! Afterwards, use a service like blurb to print your memories in paper form!

10) Mantra: No matter what happens, you’ll handle it!

Repeat after me: no matter what happens, you’ll handle it! That means, even if your Uncle gets drunk and loud, or you mess up your vows, or your flowers wilt, or something is forgotten – you will handle it, because you are going to let nothing, NOTHING ruin your day! It’s that simple. SMILE and HAVE FUN!