#3 The Plan

Since I am roughly four months away from "The Day," you can pretty much guess most of the planning is underway. As of now, we have the following:

- a ceremony venue (a Catholic Church)
- a reception venue (an art gallery)
- a caterer
- an officiant (see ceremony venue)
- a DJ (almost)
- a photographer
- an idea for the invitations (um...what do I mean by idea?? I'll explain later:)
- save the dates
- music selections
- the dress
- decorating ideas
- (most of) our wedding entourage (I promise, I'm not being facetious, that's just what we call it)
- the guest list
- a budget

Let me just put it out there: This is not going to be one of those DIY weddings. And, if you promise not to laugh (which you would if you knew me), I'll let you know that I originally had grand plans for a DIY wedding. From invitations to centerpieces to sewing dresses (when I don't even know how to sew---but, that's besides the point!). What was that saying, "The best laid plans...yada...yada...yada..." Yeah, so much for the DIY wedding. As things progressed, I realized that DIY'ing this wedding was not in the cards (for the most parts). I don't want to make excuses because, as many of you know, there have been many brides (and grooms) before us who have DIY'ed weddings both large and small. Big budget or no budget. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I'm not the craftiest beaver out there, but I used to love to craft (in grade school------what? That totally counts!) While I love to learn new things and am not afraid to get dirty, I came to the conclusion that...a wedding was not the time to do it. *Insert huge sigh* So, after tons of research and vendor searching, I've decided to do what I can, pay for what I can't, let go of what I can't do nor pay for, and (hope to) have the wisdom to know the difference.

To all you crafty brides and grooms, bless you for all the things you are able to accomplish. To those on the other side, bless you for providing work for those you are entrusting with your wedding. Whichever side you are on, at the end of the day, we all have the same goal (I think): To have a really awesome day surrounded by our loved ones!

So, I will not be providing you with much DIY tutorials, but I can share with you my trials and tribulations of finding the most suitable vendors and learning when to let go and/or sacrifice. First, let me share with you how our plan came to be.

I started perusing the internet some moons ago without a clear vision. You know, just wanted to get some ideas and inspirations. Okay, scratch that. There were certain elements that I, I mean we, wanted. We wanted the wedding to be in the city. We've both spent a majority of our lives in Chicago, and what better way to say goodbye than to have our wedding in our beloved city before the big move out west? J wanted a Catholic ceremony (I'll explain more about this choice in a later post). I did not want a ballroom or banquet hall (for the record, I've been to many amazing weddings in both places). Our venue had to accomodate our guest list (which we were thinking to be roughly around two hundred people). Aside from having a wonderful ceremony, we really wanted to find a place that we could really show our guests an amazing time.

With these thoughts in mind, I ferociously started to google anything wedding. Which has led me on an incredibly wild journey into wedding la la land (who knew you could have such adventures at the touch of your fingertips and without EVER leaving your home??). I came across awesome websites such as Weddingbee, Style Me Pretty, Once Wed, Rock and Roll Bride, etc., etc., etc. At first, it was a bit of an information overload, but I kept coming back to certain styles and ideas; which really helped me to piece together the ever-popular "inspiration board" (or two or ten) to show J my findings and help him get a sense of what our day would look like. I guess you could say it was sort of like a puzzle. What helped to tie everything in was the big B word: BUDGET. Yes, you've heard of it; and whether it's tall, grande, venti or somewhere in between, a budget is what we (inevitably) succumb to when making choices.

Soon enough, the ideas and budget became more concrete and allowed us to select the locations and vendors that seemed appropriate for what we had in mind and on our (my) inspiration boards. It all seems pretty easy, doesn't it? Yeah, right. All of these plans deserve their own posts. So, you'll see how everything eventually came (or is coming) together.

How about you? What was navigating the wedding jungle world like for you? Care to share any tips or tricks on executing your plans and ideas?