On this Wedding Wednesday I wanted to share some wedding updates. Time is flying by, and I can't believe we are in the home stretch! This post is also a perfect excuse for me to list all the things we have done and what is left to do! I also wanted to share a few tips and insight after the whole process and share what I was decisive about and indecisive about (somethings I never expected!).
Starting back to the beginning, finding the church and venue were VERY easy for us. In fact, both were the first we visited right after we got engaged and we were sold on both. We knew we wanted to get married downtown Detroit and The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament was perfect and The Colony Club was exactly what I imagined for our big day.
Choosing our florist and DJ were also very easy because we used the same ones we did for my sister's wedding. All of these things were decided so long ago, I barely remember them.
The next thing I had to look for was my dress. This, I knew, was not going to be easy. The first day we went, I went with the thought that I was just going to look and not feel pressured to find the one. We scheduled 4 appointments for the day, and unexpectedly, I found my dress at our 3rd stop (Antonio's Bridal in Birmingham). They were able to customize it a little and change a few things to make it exactly the way I wanted, which was so helpful! Not wanting to second guess it, we cancelled our last appointment and celebrated. Knowing myself, I decided to keep no pictures of it and to just remember it based on how I felt when I first put it on. I knew if I kept looking at it I would second guess it, or worse, get sick of it before the big day. When it finally came in, I was SO nervous to go try it on. Luckily I loved it just as much as I remembered and now we just need to put the finishing touches on it to make it fit me perfectly. I would highly recommend not keeping pictures of your dress once you find it. I found it so nice to not have to obsess over it after we bought it and just remember how I felt in it!
Something that I was very indecisive about (which I did not expect) was finding my wedding shoes. I actually bought one pair and changed my mind and ended up returning them for another pair. I wanted to make sure I found a pair that was comfortable, while also being pretty and girly. The first pair I got, which were these Kate Spade heels, I loved right away. I loved the bow detail on the back and the fact that the heel was a very manageable height. I wasn't unsure about them at all when I purchased them. There was only one pair left in my size and I felt like it was a sign that I needed to get them! I kept thinking about them and I realized I probably would never wear them again after my wedding. They are satin and couldn't imagine another outfit I would want to wear them with. Still, I decided to keep them. After a few months, I found THE pair and I knew I had to return my Kate Spade sandals. These Christian Louboutin heels are just beautiful. The color is perfect and the D'orsay style is SO comfortable. I knew I would wear them all the time after the wedding, so I went for them. I already wore them once (to my shower) and I absolutely adore them. I'm so glad I changed my mind and I can't wait to wear them again!
More recently, I was shocked how difficult it was to pick out invitations. I planned on spending my spring break getting that checked off the list, and it was MUCH harder than I imagined. There are simply way too many choices. Once you flip through about 15 massive books of invitations, you pretty much are ready to do an E-vite. The first place we went kept telling us we could customize anything we wanted. After flipping through the books for over an hour, I suggested a few different things, all of which they said couldn't be done. I was so frustrated!
The next place we went to was much more accommodating and they were so understanding about how frustrating it can be to find the perfect invitation. We discussed what we were looking for and everything seemed perfect until...we got the estimate on how much it would cost. I somehow thought $7,000 on invitations was a little out of our budget (THIS IS JUST PAPER, RIGHT?!).
At this point I was ready to print my own invitations. We decided to go one more place, Write Impressions in Royal Oak, and luckily we found exactly what we were looking for at a more reasonable cost. They were so kind and patient as we picked out exactly what we wanted. We picked and chose different elements from different companies to make everything custom to what we wanted and they turned out even better than I could have imagined. They were also so helpful in finding a way to get gold foil for each piece at the best price they could. I would suggest starting to look at invitations very early. You never know how long it might take to pick out the perfect ones, and they can take a while to come in once you order them. We got our addresses together very early in our engagement which was very helpful when it came to sending out Save the Dates and Invites. Make sure you keep an updated list of people that move between sending out the Save the Dates and Invites! That was something we did and we were so surprised how many addresses changed.
The other thing about invitations that I was shocked about were the number of people that do not return their RSVP cards! I'm not talking about those late arrivals, I'm talking about people not sending them in at all! It wasn't ideal to have to contact so many people, but we made it work. Luckily, the seating chart was a breeze for us. I have to admit, I was getting nervous about it after so many people told us it was the worst part of the planning process, but we got it done no problem. Now all our spreadsheets and final counts are in and all we have left to do are our final meetings with our vendors (phew!).We picked out our wedding bands and we've got our honeymoon to Maui all booked. I think we are just about ready! Of course there are little things left to do, putting together welcome bags, ceremony programs, and putting the favors together, but for the most part we are all set. I really have enjoyed the whole planning process, but I am SO ready for August 6th to get here!
17 more days until the big day!
Thanks for reading!
