Oh, wedding planning! Planning by myself on a VERY tight budget certainly made for some fun ups and downs during the process. There were times when I wasn't sure what on EARTH was happening with some of the mix-ups that occurred!! The theme of Two's became readily apparent quite early on. If you're in the midst of chaos while planning, fret not!! Read on for some of the BIG challenges that we faced while pulling our wedding together.
Two:
Dates. We originally booked October 20 with my church, only to receive a call one week later (after I had rush ordered my dress to meet this date without my Mom able to come see me try said dress on, etc.etc.etc.) saying that the location was actually booked that day for a youth event (which was later cancelled...!!). I have nerve issues from an injury, so being cold is a huge concern for my health, which is why we wanted to have a date solidly in the warmer TN fall weather (this year it was almost 70 on 10/20!!). My dream venue, Camp Marymount wasn't available until December 1, which is why we had initially gone with the October 20 at my church option, but when we had to revert to Plan A after all (confused yet?), it worked out wonderfully.
We got married at Camp Marymount, the place where my heart had first heard the call to be married in this specific location while on retreat several years ago (and the only place I could ever really envision myself getting married). After all of our worrying about the temperature, our December 1 wedding day was a beautiful, sunny 65F (18C for you Canadians!! IN DECEMBER!!!). Amazing.
Dresses. As I'm 5'1", I needed to order a petite size dress, which was expected to take 12 weeks (with our original Oct 20 date, July 4 was pushing it, so I picked my dress just one week after we were engaged!). Happily, it arrived EARLY! With a stain along the side... again, this worked in our favour as my aggressive weight loss goal had already been met (with 3 months to go!) so I was able to reorder my petite dress in a smaller size again!
{Side note: pre-wedding weight loss is NOT for everyone. I knew I had to meet certain measurements for the dress,which was incredibly stressful, and definitely required a strict eating plan and exercise regimen. Also, I wanted to lose weight not only for the wedding, but for my health, and the wedding was a great motivating factor as it had an obvious deadline, not one I could just keep pushing out as I had done in the past. Every bride wants to look and feel their best on their wedding day, so adding in an achievable exercise plan is a great way to reduce some of the wedding stress that builds up! But seriously, don't take on more than you need to!}
The re-ordered dress arrived within weeks of our wedding and final alterations were finished 10 days before the wedding. Again, stressful but I ended up with a dress that had minor alterations, rather than needing another whole size taken in. Sigh.
Rings: My rings were custom made by an awesome jeweler I found on Etsy. The rings arrived in Louisville the day before my birthday, and Jermaine spent the next 24 hours with the post office trying to locate the package. Literally...it was like our tracking number had disappeared! Jermaine spent hours at the post office and was told the driver of the truck that it might be on wasn't able to reached by phone, so he finally returned home (and this was on my birthday, while I was in Nashville on my day off, cancelling apartment showings and food tastings and vendor meetings we had set up since he wasn't there...). He happened to hear a delivery truck go past his house, but the mailman didn't come up to the door. Jermaine ran outside, only to find a 'missed delivery' notice in his mailbox at the end of his driveway (even though the front door to the house was open and his car was in the driveway). He jumped into his car and raced after the mailman, waving the delivery notice out the window (yes, seriously). The mailman finally stopped, went to the back of the truck (while on his phone and refusing to talk to Jermaine), FOUND THE PACKAGE, handed it to Jermaine and turned to walk away. Jermaine tried to sign for the INSURED USPS PACKAGE and was waved off, all while the mailman was on his phone. Just handed him the package with our rings, no ID, no signature, nothing. Oh, were we mad that it was just handed over!! And then after all of that, mistakenly, my custom order had been into the system in the wrong gold colour.
Literally, the only time it has ever happened with our incredible jeweler (she's amazing, seriously!!). In our fortunate turn of things, I was able to reorder with a smaller size after trying the rings on in person, which was certainly in our favour. Oh - and Jermaine received a 'delivery confirmation' from USPS that night, including his forged signature in place of delivery!! Can we say stressful??! Man, I can feel my heart racing just writing this all out!
Oh, and not to be left out, Jermaine also had two rings! He found his dark grey tungsten ring the day we ended up getting engaged (before he'd decided that day was THE DAY!!), and bought it several weeks later. Once he got home, he realized that they had given him the floor model which was all scraped and scratched and dirty. Luckily, it was a quick fix and we were able to swap his ring out for a new shiny one easily!
Caterers - One piece of advice (and it's a big one) - make sure you go with PROS who are able to work with you on your budget/any other restrictions you have upfront!! We tried going with people we know well, and it was a disaster and easily one of the most stressful parts of planning for me. Thankfully, I met the awesome staff at
Kitchen by House Blend at a bridal show just a few weeks before our wedding. While the sample menus they had on hand were above our price point, they said that they would work with any budget. With only 2 1/2 weeks to go, I made the decision to move ahead with a new caterer and had a signed contract for the exact menu we were trying to serve within 24 hours! The food was seriously incredible, and the staff were so helpful and lovely to work with. Our guests couldn't believe what the price point was on their awesome food! Another instance of 2nd is best ;)
Shoes. I fell in love with these gold herringbone TOMS long before we were engaged, but was firmly against buying anything for the wedding before it was for real. They had gone on and off the site several times, and happened to be back on a few weeks before we ended up getting engaged, during the 'it'll happen really soon' phase of 2012. I had a friend put the order in for me, but they ended up being out of my size! Once our actual engagement happened, they were long gone, and I picked a pair of neutral ones and decided I'd have to be ok with those, while really disappointed that I'd missed the ones I'd dreamed of. Low and behold, less than a month before our wedding, the dream shoes were back in stock! I immediately ordered a pair and was ecstatic! Until the post office lost my package...two weeks until our wedding. I luckily was able to reorder another pair, rushed the shipping and they arrived just days before 12/1/12 (AND then the missing package was found...thanks USPS! Can you tell that they were not my favourites during this process?!)Thankfully, I walked down the aisle in my dream shoes, and I LOVE wearing them now!
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Headpieces. I searched for a headpiece for MONTHS and months and couldn't find what I was looking for, especially not in my price range. I ended up buying several and taking back the ones I wasn't sure about, but my favourite was one I found on sale at
Anthropologie. I was certain I'd wear this one on our big day. I did my hair trial with my beloved headband and just 30 minutes in, my ears were ready to bleed and blister from the headband! Luckily I had an extra lace headpiece (that I had ordered as a sash), which ended up working out wonderfully (and I wear regularly now!).
Thankfully, the day of our wedding was absolutely incredible (with only a few very minor mishaps that aren't even worth mentioning). Lots of planning. Lots of stress. Lots of two's. But in the end, it was Jermaine & I, united under God to start ONE life together. Whew!! If you're in the midst of planning shenanigans, remember to breathe & focus on what is truly important - as long as you are married to your love at the end of the day, your wedding day will be a success!!
xoxo
mrs dobbins
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