Wedding Planning

Pinned from my wedding-loving Pinterest board.

Wedding planning is so much different than I expected.

In all honesty, after the shock and amazement of actually being engaged...I realized the shock and amazement of the fact we weren't just engaged but getting married. And getting married means having a wedding.

My only wedding, my one day, my one moment. Yes, it can be a tad bit stressful.

Every girl dreams of her perfect wedding. It's honestly odd to actually be planning mine. All those dreams, ideas, and conversations of "when I get married," are now reality. It's stressful, but together I'm making those dreams real and creating new ones. It's not just "one day" anymore. It's today.

The main thing from the start was I wanted my wedding to be 100% me and Will. I didn't want a stiff, people-pleasing wedding. I didn't want just another Church wedding/Church hall reception where people leave thinking to themselves "that was nice" but soon get it mixed up with the hundreds of others they'd been to in the same place. It's our one day, it's going to be our one memory to talk about and tell stories about for forever. So I want it to be us. I want people to remember our wedding, for it stand out, and for it to be overflowing with things we love and the people we live.

So further ado, we've created in our minds our perfect wedding and working out the details so it's not just in our minds.

Place//Ceremony
Since, we've both moved around so much it's hard to put our finger on place to call home. So it was hard to pick a place to wed. But as we sat in my families den disscussing our wedding day--Will threw out the idea of getting married on the beach. I pretty much died and I knew it was another clear sign God had given me the right man. If you know me at all, you know I adore the beach. So all that to say my dream is coming true. We're having an ocean-side wedding! The colors are teal, white, and coral. It's just playing out perfect because nothing is more us than a beach. Will and I fell in love during many summer nights on the beach with friends. It's a piece of our story.

Music
Other than the beach, the biggest part of my life has been music. All the music I want to be live and and completely acoustic. All I want to hear is real guitars as I walk down the aisle. So I got some of my favorite musical friends to play at my wedding. And my beautiful friend Sophie is going to sing. We've put together a playlist and I start crying every time I listen to it. Happiness is not the right word.  I feel forever. It's really happening. I'm really going to get married during these songs!

Worship
The core of our story is God and I want Him to be glorified above all on this day. I want to worship as a part of the ceremony. I want lots of prayer. Marriage is a reflection of God's love for His people, His bride, and I want ours to be the same. Worshiping has become a common thing in marriage nowadays, and I immediately wanted a song or two played for all to sing. I want to show people, it's not just all about us but all about God.

Reception
We're having a reception at a friends house who lives near the beach were getting married at. They have a fairly large house and yard, which is perfect. We're getting married right before dinner, so were having dinner at the reception then of course we'll have dancing. I want it to be a fun celebration!

Bridesmaids
I think this is a detail easily overlooked. I didn't just want a line of ten friends. I wanted the girls in my life that had impacted who I am and girls who will continue to be a part of my life. After much thinking I decided on my sister, Emily, for my maid of honor. On top of that, I'm having four bridesmaids: My sister Rachael, my sister-in-law, my best friend Sophie, and Will's sister. These girls mean the world to me and will continue to be in my life. I'm so thankful.

Dresses
The dress was something I was immediately excited about. My entire life I'd cut out pictures in magazine, drooled on Pinterest, and dreamed of what my gown would look like. In the end, I found a white sun dress-type wedding gown that me and my mother together worked on. The final product is finished and hanging in my Mom's closet. I love it so much.
Girls, when it comes time for your big day: don't feel like you have to find the perfect dress. I found one I sorta of liked and made it into what I've always had in my head. Making and sewing are wonderful resources.
The Bridesmaid dresses are a light coral and I freaking love them. My Mom also made them (she's the bomb).


That's all for now, but of course there is much more into planning a wedding. Right now, my floor is coated with pictures of flowers and picking out bouquets. Only last week, I spent nearly 8 hours addressing all the wedding invitations.

I'm taking it slow and I'm having fun. The last thing on earth I want is for this day to become stressful, and us to lose sight of what we're doing.

In all, becoming Will's wife is the happiest thing in my life. I can't wait for April! It's so close! And it's actually happening!