May we be blessed with an enjoyable engagement season. May the wedding planning process go smoothly and easily. May we plan a wedding that represents us. May we love on our family and friends and those you have placed in our lives. May we be at peace with each decision that is made. May we remember what it is important during this time in our lives.
Wedding colors. Decor pieces. Gifts. Flowers. Paper products. All those smaller details are important in wedding planning because they add to the story of that day. That is where I have focused my time lately. My mind has been brainstorming ideas on the “look” and “feel” we are envisioning for our wedding and making that vision come to life.
Here is what has taken place since I last wrote about our wedding here!
Save the Dates + Why I Have Enjoyed Browsing Minted for Hours
Since the last wedding post in November, one of the biggest items we have completed was mailing our Save the Dates. I had no idea I would be so intrigued by picking designs for the paper aspects of our wedding. That is where Minted has come in handy.
I purchased from Minted in the past and loved the products that I received. When I began looking at anything wedding related for invitations that is where my search began. I love how the site offers a variety of design ascetics for wedding products. You can spend hours admiring the beautiful designs – Trust me, I have. Regardless of the look you are picturing, they offer a variety of selections to meet your needs.
Here is how our decision process has worked with invitations: (1) We brainstorm what we are looking for when it comes to paper products/invitations. I usually ask Charles if their is anything particular he would love to include (or not include). After I get an idea of what we need, I search styles. (2) I pick a top few – maybe five or six options. I send those to Charles to see if he has any preferences. (3) From there we narrow it down to a top two or three and order samples. Once the samples arrive, we pick a winner from the group. Seeing an invitation in print versus online usually provides clarity into the style and look we are hoping to achieve and makes the decision a little easier. (4) After that, we order and wait for our designs to arrive.
The idea behind the Save the Dates was to make the date a priority in the design. We both seemed to pick designs that were simple/less busy, which played a factor in our choice as well. Lastly, since navy was the only color chosen at the time, we decided to incorporate that into the design as well. From there, we ordered.
Once our order arrived, we spent a few minutes stuffing and stamping the envelopes. By the weekend we slipped those little guys into the mail, and they were off to be delivered to family and friends.
Slipping those into the mail… It made the wedding seem just a little bit closer!
Budgeting + How I Utilized Sales Over the Holidays
Here is a little confession… I love budgeting. Tracking expenses. Planning for funds in the future. That is when the “finance nerd” in me comes out. And planning for a wedding has definitely brought that out.
In early November I made a list of everything I thought we might need to purchase before June regarding smaller items for the wedding (e.g. decor ideas, jewelry, thank you gifts, etc.). I then priced out how much these items would regularly cost so I had an idea of how much it would take to purchase these items.
When Black Friday and Cyber Monday rolled around in addition to shopping for Christmas gifts, I searched for items that were on my wedding list as well. If I could snag a wedding item at a discount, I could use those funds in the future and less we would spend closer to the wedding. Overall, I snagged deals on jewelry, gifts for our wedding party, and items needed to get ready that morning.
The day after Christmas was another good shopping day for wedding pieces as well. We woke up early that morning and decided to run by Target before the crowds came. It was there that I saw a few lanterns that I thought we would incorporate as decor pieces. I decided to wait on those because I couldn’t find enough of the same style, but we decided to check a few more stores while we were out. The stores led to some successful purchases. We found candler holders, wooden boxes, and frames that we quickly picked up for easy decor pieces.
Along with snagging a few items during Christmas sales, we received some really sweet Christmas presents this year, such as embroidered pieces that I know we can easily incorporate for that day.
The Recap.
Accomplished Tasks:
– Determine a Color Palette. Done. Cream/Ivory/White + Taupe + Navy.
– Select Bridesmaid Dresses + Flower Girl Dresses. Done + some dresses ordered.
– Rehearsal Dinner Brainstorm/Ideas. Done. There is story behind this that I think I will save for a later blog post…
– Find a Florist. Started. I have emailed possible florist for quotes and began narrowing down flower choices. I am picturing greenery and eucalyptus with a hint of white and light pink flowers (maybe). I want a romantic feel to the flowers. No final decisions yet.
– Create the Wedding Registry. We have signed up at two websites, but nothing after that.
Up Next:
– Wedding Cake Brainstorm/Ideas.
– Decor Brainstorm/Ideas.
XOXO – Ashley “AKA The Future Mrs. Hooker”
P.S. If you are new to following our wedding story, you can check out this post here, here, and here for information! Thank you for joining in and following along – I’m so glad you are here! Next month I will be sharing more about our photography engagement session and how I prepped for day – Stay tuned!
[…] If you would love to read more of our wedding story, you can check out the post here, here, here, and here for more information! I love that you are following along with your story, […]