Since I was very young (and by young I mean up until pretty much last month) I have dreamed of planning my wedding. I love planning things! In fact, I always joked that if I wasn't doing ministry I would want to be a wedding planner instead! I don't mean to brag, but I am an excellent planner. Now one may think that would make me a type A personality, but those who know me know that I am so far from type A. So what makes me an excellent planner? Basically, if I have a specific task where there is a beginning and an end, I can prioritize really well and check things off my list. I am such a good planner that a few years ago I was hired by our Diocese to plan a whole youth conference. So of course wedding planning would be a breeze, right?
Wrong! I never factored into the wedding planning fantasy that I would be trying to plan a wedding from 6 hours away. This poses a huge challenge. It would make things a bit easier if Jim lived in the area where we are getting married but he lives 6 hours away too. Thankfully, I am blessed that Jim's family has been very helpful. His sister just got married last year so she has been able to offer some invaluable advice and resources. We are grateful to be able to get married close to his family, and close enough so my family can come but it would have been a lot easier if immigration allowed us to get married in Canada. But, I digress.
Anyway, because of these challenges, Jim and I have found ourselves planning a visit to Illinois to see his family and squeeze in as many vendor appointments as possible. In mid-October we are going and so far we have squeezed in 3 venue appointments, 1 photographer consultation and 1 videographer consultation. I have spent countless hours already on theknot.com to research vendors and look at reviews of them all. Then we tried to narrow it down based on our needs and budget to come up with a few winners. This will definitely be a challenge over the next year for sure. I have done as much as I can here in Canada (looking at dresses, etc.) and I have given Jim some 'honey do' lists so I have no doubt we will do it.
Another thing I never thought of in my fantasy of wedding planning was how so many things need to come together. First, you have to pick wedding colours. Then you have to try to find the perfect bridesmaid dresses in those wedding colours and make it so the bridesmaids don't hate you totally for making them wear that dress. Then you have to coordinate your dress, shoes, accessories etc. Not to mention finding someone to do your hair, makeup etc. on your day. This doesn't even begin to factor in photographers, florists, dj's, invitations etc. It all seemed so much more fun in the fantasy in my head!
As one who just recently planned a wedding, let your bridesmaids pick the dress. That way they can blame you for nothing! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, let me know if you need anything. I found this program to be very helpful to help me organize things http://www.elmsoftware.com/ido/