Wedding Blues. It’s a thing. We spent over a year planning our wedding and once the day came, that was it, it was over. Although, check out my post here on how we have been re-living our special day over and over again.
Eventually the e-mails came to an end, there were no more weekend meetings, and no more decisions to over think. I never thought I’d miss the planning, honestly, but I’d do it all again for sure. As stressful as it was (and boy, let me tell you about the stress), it was a really fun process for Shaun and I and we loved planning our special day together.
As for planning itself, I found it quite interesting interacting with vendors. It was kind of crazy how people were willing to do anything to keep the bride happy. Vendors were willing to do anything and everything that I asked for within their capacity and I appreciated that – made things easy in some ways. What I found shocking was that people were so thrown off why Shaun was on e-mails and at meetings with me (as opposed to my mom and I). Like, what?
What About the Groom
I know weddings are very female driven but when did it become not about the groom at all? It was weird to experience this. Shaun and I do a lot together. And when I say a lot I mean practically everything. So when it came time to plan our wedding it wasn’t even a question if he would be involved in anything. It almost seemed weird to us that if I planned it on my own? Also, Shaun knew better than that – I would have ran with every single thought I had, lol!
Some people were thrown off that Shaun was the main contact for some tasks and that it wasn’t me they were directly communicating with. One vendor even asked why they were actually speaking to Shaun and not me? I could not, in a million years, even begin to think about planning our wedding on my own. There’s just too many things to do, honestly. And when the going got tough for me in some moments (mostly during the month before) Shaun completely took over without skipping a beat. I stopped responding to e-mails and stopped taking calls. It became too much and he knew everything he needed in order to help keep the planning moving ahead. In those moments, I couldn’t be more appreciative of the man he is.
We Did It All Together
We split a lot of our tasks between the two of us. He took on some and I took on others. This meant sometimes he would go about drop or pick things up or I would. When it came time for e-mails with vendors, we always cc’d each other so that the other was always in the loop and knew what was going on. Doing this helped us in a way that we didn’t have to repeat ourselves to each other after having possibly lengthy conversations.
But now that I just made wedding planning seem terrifying, time to move on to the good stuff. The stuff that reminds you why you’re doing this and to have fun with it all.
Today marks us being married for 6 months so I thought I’d share my top 5 favourite things I loved from planning our wedding!
1. Picking Out Rings
This was my favourite thing, by far. I’ve worn a ring on my ring finger for about 9 years. Shaun gave me a promise ring a year after we started dating so I was used to wearing one on that finger. But Shaun. Oh em gee, the thought of Shaun wearing a ring. I freaking loved it. I loved watching him try on different bands and seeing how much he was enjoying the process. It was so heart-warming for me to see this man finally wearing a ring that officially made him “off the market”. After we got married, the feeling of seeing him wear his ring everyday and seeing how much he loved wearing it was something I didn’t expect to love so The feeling of seeing him with his ring on hasn’t worn off yet, 6 months in.
2. Creating Our Wedding Invitations
Ask anyone. I. Love. Snail. Mail. I wanted a wedding suite that would be timeless. Something that resembled Shaun and I and something classic. Now, this process was probably one of the top 3 stressful things we did by far, but the gain was incredibly worth it. I cannot even begin to tell you just how much research I did for our invitations. Because snail mail is something I personally love so much, this process meant a lot to me. I wanted to take my time doing the invitations and I poured so much energy into them. We decided on a letterpress suite with grey coloured font. We added a blue ribbon with a gold wax seal to tie it all together. I couldn’t have dreamed of better invitations for us and I truly love how perfect they came out.
3. My Bridal Shower
Planning for this beast was no joke. My mom hosted my shower and man did the woman deliver. It was incredibly perfect. I had my girls get together a random Saturday before the event to help us get everything ready. It was chaotic and it was amazing. But the day itself was so heart-warming. To see all of the women in my life come together in one room to celebrate Shaun and I – I was almost in tears. My heart was so full from that day and it really was something special. Although Shaun and I already lived together prior to us getting married, some would argue that a bridal shower isn’t necessary. But the love I felt in that room that day. It could have moved mountains.
4. Updating Our Families
Shaun and I loved this part of planning. We absolutely loved updating our families on the progress. It got the families excited about the day and just helped keep everyone in the loop with where we were at with things. We literally told them about every little update. Whether it was something big like booking a vendor or something small like bringing them samples of our favours, we loved it. They probably thought we were annoying near the end of it lol, but we couldn’t help it. We were excited and wanted to share that feeling with the ones we love most.
5. Choosing Vendors
The majority of our vendors were booked before hitting the “one year” mark of our special day. We got a lot done at the beginning and it was super helpful down the line. We researched what we needed to and gave deposits when it felt right. One vendor that I was over the moon excited for was our photographer. Just like our invitations, photography was at the top of my priority list. Pictures are something I truly love and I can’t begin to tell you the research I did to find the perfect fit for us. I didn’t know when I would find the right one and if I had already found it from what I already saw. But when you know, you know.
Booking our vendors and seeing everything we’ve ever talked about come to life was surreal. It’s was amazing seeing the work people do and we got to meet some pretty special people throughout our journey. Flowers were also fairly high on my list. If there is anything I love in this world, it’s flowers. Finding the right vendor was important and we were delighted when we found ours. Indra from Plush Flowers is such a kind and genuine soul that we knew the moment we met her that we could put our trust and vision into her hands. And she did not disappoint!
My Advice to You
If I could give advice to anyone planning their wedding right now, it would be to do you. There are many opinions that come with planning a wedding. Some wanted, some not so much. But be true to what you and your partner want and go with it. Have fun with it. And when it gets stressful remind yourself that the day is about marrying your best friend. Nothing or no one else matters. Get a glass of wine each and laugh about the stress. It’s good for the soul.
