In addition to sharing my love for design and various everyday things, I’ve always wanted to use this blog to share information. Or as I like to think of it, things I once Googled that I didn’t find an answer for.
And during our wedding planning process a couple years ago, there were a lot of things that I didn’t find an answer for online. And there were a LOT of things we learned along the way. So, I wanted to do a wedding blog post series to share some of the things we learned and hopefully help you out with your wedding planning process.
So, to kick off the series (that I’ve been thinking about for over two years now), I want to go over our wedding story just so you know how our process went, why I want to share what we learned, and where I’m coming from when I share information about weddings.
Our Wedding Story
My husband and I got engaged in 2020, so our wedding planning process spanned the entirety of the pandemic. This created a lot of challenges and opportunities, and essentially led to us planning two weddings (the first was cancelled), eloping at the last minute, and finally having our wedding (at a completely different venue) more than a year after we initially planned.
This involved tons of venue tours, lots of vendor back and forth, a lawsuit, talks of not even having a wedding, and even some wedding-style photoshoots for photography workshops. Needless to say, it was an adventure. And it definitely gave us some interesting insight into wedding planning and the whole wedding process. So, here’s our wedding story!
Wedding #1
Like I said above, we got engaged right before the pandemic. We booked a 2021 wedding thinking things would be better by then, but unfortunately, they were not. Two months before the wedding date, things were actually getting worse pandemic-wise, so that wedding ended up being cancelled due to the local mandates at the time.
This wedding was supposed to be at a hotel, so it was almost all-inclusive. The hotel was going to provide the space (obviously), the catering, the bar and drinks, cake and desserts, tables and chairs, linens, flatware, plates, the audio/visual equipment, and more. So, this was a bigger price tag, but almost everything we needed was wrapped into that price.
Unfortunately, these plans didn’t work out. And even more unfortunately, communication with the venue kind of disappeared. We spoke to them two months before our wedding and didn’t hear from them again until a month after our scheduled date. So, like a lot of other pandemic-cancelled weddings, lawyers had to get involved, which of course meant added cost, and it took a while to get things ironed out.
Elopement
During the fallout from Wedding #1, my husband and I decided to elope at the last minute. It was just the two of us and our photographer (who was also our officiant). We eloped in SoCal, I ordered a dress from Lulu’s and my husband wore a suit he already had. I made my own bouquet with flowers from Trader Joe’s. It was simple, it was easy, and it’s a moment we look back on very fondly. (I’m also going to do an elopement blog series, but I need to slow my roll, and at least get this wedding one done first :))
Wedding & Elopement Styled Photoshoots
After our elopement, we were still dealing with the Wedding #1 stuff, so we weren’t doing any wedding planning whatsoever. Things were very up in the air. And we were just kind of relaxing and enjoying post-elopement life.
But, after our engagement photos, we had some photographers reach out about styled wedding shoots so we did those for fun for a little while. (You can see some of them here: one, two, three)
Normal life stuff and these photoshoots filled our time as we wrapped things up with Wedding #1, and after 7 or 8 months (and a couple discussions about whether we even wanted a wedding anymore), we finally started looking at venues again.
Wedding #2
When we started touring venues, we were kind of getting into a rut of “let’s just find something and get it over with”. Luckily, we found a venue that we really liked and it actually made us kind of excited about wedding planning again. They had one date left for the year, which was four months away, and we just decided to go for it!
So we planned our second wedding in about four months. One thing I didn’t mention was that although Wedding #1’s venue didn’t work out, we had some amazing vendors we were still contracted with (our planner, photographer, and DJ) who were flexible and let us reschedule our date.
This gave us a head start in our planning process. The new venue was a BYO venue, where the only thing provided was the venue space and some portable bathrooms, and we had to provide everything else. So we had quite a few vendors to find in a short amount of time, but we were able to pull everything together just in time, and even though it was a bit stressful, it was SO MUCH FUN!
Overall
So, essentially, we planned two weddings and had an elopement. The weddings were at two very different venues, with very different requirements, and planning spanned a little over two years. We toured and looked at a LOT of venues and vendors, and learned way more than we ever imagined about planning a wedding.
And I say all this just to share where I’m coming from as I kick of the wedding blog post series. And just to let you know that whatever your wedding planning experience is, your big day will come together and will be magical and amazing. Like with many other things in life, just try to trust the process. Lean on your partner, ask for help if you need it, Google things if you’re unsure, try to not overspend, stick to your budget as much as possible, and just try to follow your intuition.
Weddings have become quite the spectacle, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But remember that it’s a day to celebrate the love you and your partner share, and that’s all that matters. So, I wish you the best in your wedding planning process, your big day will be amazing, and I’ve got more wedding posts on the way, so stay tuned!