It’s that time again! Sarah is back again for another round of #WeddingWednesday! She has a ton of great tips to help your wedding planning run smoother and save you from finding out shocking facts on your own later!

What They Don’t Tell You About This Whole “Engaged and Planning a Wedding” Thing

As you have seen, the best Maid of Honor badge goes to Tori for throwing the sweetest shower last weekend! I really did feel like I was in a fairytale. Everything was laid out perfectly, and Tori went to great lengths to include my favorite things, and leave out my least favorite things (ahem, party games make me STRESSED). I have had some serious party withdrawal, wishing I could be sipping on cute, girly beverages, playing croquette with my favorite people. I mean, I could go on and on about how thrilled I was with how the day turned out. Maybe another post.

Today, I want to give you a clear view of what getting engaged and planning a wedding is actually like. Really, everything comes down to your expectations. Don’t. Set. Them. Period. Your expectations will not be near the reality, whether that be good or bad. Some things will happily surprise you, and others will make you want to crawl up and cry for a little while. The first month of being engaged was HARD. Granted, I was still in college and it’s not every day that your average 22 year old gets engaged. People didn’t really know how to react. Luckily, no one ever told us we were making a mistake! However, there were tough moments. Thus, my list of things people don’t tell you about getting engaged and planning a wedding:

1. There will be people who don’t agree completely with your decisions. In regards to getting engaged, we had a few people in our crowd who didn’t really understand why we wanted to rush things or throw our GLORY YEARS out the window. To me? Getting engaged was a huge, huge, deal. I was the girl who dated a lot of guys in high school, so for me to stumble into my “forever” on my first day of college was CRAZY. Not to mention, I have never been more sure of anything. And that? That’s what I held on to when the goin’ got tough. I knew everyone was on our side, but that didn’t mean they all had to agree with what we were doing. And that was okay. Though at the time, it crushed me. Like Ms Britney Spears says, I’m stronger than yesterdayyyyyy.
2. It amazed me how many people wanted to genuinely help in any way they could. You will be surprised at the talents your friends & family have! The balance is trying to figure out how to accommodate. It may be great that your step-uncle wants to cook your rehearsal dinner meal, but you may have thought Chipotle was also a good idea. That’s such a random example, but you get what I mean. My sweet neighbor wants to help me with our centerpieces & flowers. I accept! If you find it hard to let go & let others help you, fear not. I’m Miss I N D E P E N D E N T, but I will not miss an opportunity to bond with my people and get things done in the process.
3. No, it’s actually that expensive. Even if you are planning a cute backyard wedding, you will run into a cost that makes your eyes wide and your heart sink a little. Splurge on what matters, and save on what doesn’t. Do you want the absolute best tasting cake in the history of wedding cakes? Then spend your money on that and be okay with the price value. Remember to think of it from the vendor’s side of things. You may think $1800 is expensive for a photographer (it’s really not), but you have to think of the amount of time they will spend setting up, tearing down, and sifting through thousands of photos and then editing them in a timely fashion. Know what matters to you, and don’t get antsy when the sticker shock hits.
4. Speaking of vendors, let me tell you now – you will have some buyer’s remorse over one of your vendors at some point. Take your time in choosing your vendors. Did you hear me? Take. Your. Time. If there is one thing I would tell myself several months ago, it would be that I didn’t need to grab all my vendors at once without having all of the information. If you don’t know what style photography you like, do your research! Don’t know which kind of food is your favorite? Find what you want on your big day. Do all of the backhand research before going to your potential vendors. Compare them and choose wisely. It is far better to hold off on choosing a vendor than cancelling halfway through your engagement because you found a better fit.
5. Finally, you may find yourself crying at odd times during your engagement for no good reason. Or for many good reasons. Either way, let the emotions happen! In my opinion, I would rather be all cried out by the time I am walking down that aisle so that all I have to offer is a big, fat SMILE. I hope that’s what happens, because I have cried a fair amount. Most of the time I am crying because I feel overwhelmed, but when I get to the root of my problem, it has NOTHING to do with the wedding! In a way, planning a wedding is therapeutic…just tell yourself that.

Ah man, I am no expert at this. Take your time, soak it in, and have fun in the midst of the chaos. There are better things to worry about than the order of the songs played at your reception. Speaking of which, I have to go get my song requests in for my DJ! See you next time.