Alright yall, according to my countdown tracker, we officially have 152 days until our wedding! I thought I’d take a minute and share what I’ve learned from wedding planning thus far, seeing as how I am blundering through this process as best as I can. First of all, let me just say, do not, under any circumstances (if you can manage) plan a wedding while you’re in school. Its just a horrible idea and makes things a lot more stressful. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve legitimately had to choose between getting some wedding stuff done or studying for an exam or writing a paper. The school stuff has been winning in that battle because its obviously the closest fire that needs to be put out, but now, here we are, wedding day fast approaching, and I still have so much to do! Because of this, I have yet to consider wedding planning as being “fun” like all other brides seem to think it is, but I’m hoping that this summer after graduation, that will all change. I’m probably a bit behind on the trajectory that I should be on, but I’m having faith it will all come together…I’ve been using this helpful guide that gives you a timeline on when you should be booking all your vendors to stay on track. All that being said, let’s get into the lessons I’ve learned from wedding planning…

1. Wedding Planning is a lesson in compromise. As I’m sure it can be for any couple, Nate and I have different ideas about what we want our wedding to be. I want a fancy fete, and he would rather have something chill and laid back. We are two different people in that regard, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t find some common ground and bring together elements of both of our visions. Wedding planning is a great lesson in learning to compromise, because it is something you will have to do the rest of your lives!

2. You might not have a crying moment in a wedding dress. Wedding dress shopping was actually really fun for me because I love trying on a bunch of gorgeous gowns, but at the same time, it is a lot of pressure because I feel like my friends and family look at me and are expecting the most amazing dress ever. I shopped high and low and every bridal boutique in Los Angeles, and never had a moment when I put on THE dress and cried. In fact, I gave up on that altogether and am having my dress made custom for me, so maybe when that dress is all done and I try it on for the first time I’ll have my moment, but we shall see. The point is, you may not have that Say Yes to the Dress blubbering bride moment, so don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t happen and go with the dress that you don’t want to take off.

3. Everything is expensive and budgets suck. I honestly feel like I’ve just been in perpetual sticker shock while I’ve been in this wedding planning process. Weddings are so. freaking. expensive! It kills me a little inside to think about the amount of money a wedding costs when it is really only one day of your life…I mean, eloping sounds better and better every day. Honestly, if we can manage to stay within our budget, it will be a miracle. The important thing to remember is to stay as close to your budget as possible and don’t go in debt for your wedding! Its just like living within your means…you don’t buy a Birkin bag if you aren’t already ballin’, and the same goes for your wedding…do the best you can with the budget you’ve got.

Get the Mrs. Box here!

4. Decide what is important to you and what isn’t, and budget accordingly. While we are on the topic of budgets, I thought I’d share this other budget related wedding planning lesson I’ve leanred along the way. It is important from the start to decide with your future husband/wife what is important to you and what is not. For example, it is really important to me to have amazing wedding photos and to have a killer dress (DUH). As for my fiance, he wants great food and an open bar. With those things in mind, we found vendors who we believed to be excellent and were maybe a little bit more expensive than the typical cost. This way, we know that we can put less emphasis budget wise on the other things in our wedding that we know are not as important to us. Here is a great article from Weddingwire that really helps break down how to allocate your budget!

5. Pinterest is your new best friend. Ok, let’s be real: I’ve had a wedding pinterest board for the last 5 years and I’m not even ashamed to say it. I’ve been dying over wedding inspiration for years, but now that I’m actually planning my wedding, pinterst helps me to refine exactly what I want and how I want things to look. In addition, I can’t tell you how many wedding vendors have asked for my wedding Pinterest board in order to get a feel for what I like. Pinterest also allows me to share ideas and inspiration with my bridesmaids and my groom to better help them help you. Because, ya know, you need help every once in a while!

6. Ask for help often! That last point leads me to this one…ask for help! I’m honestly the worst at this. I remember even back when I used to wait tables at the Cheesecake Factory and I’d be slammed as hell, in the weeds, just generally going up in flames, and I would never ask for help even though my coworkers were able and willing to bail me out. Part of it is when I am that overwhelmed, I just don’t know how to compartmentalize things enough to even know what to ask people to do, and part of it is this stubborn attitude that I can do it all. Well, when it comes to wedding planning and getting quadruple sat, you really can’t do it all, you need help! Delegate to your fiance, your bridal party, your family…they will probably be happy to help, you just need to ask. You’ll find your stress levels will significantly decrease when you take some of the load off of your shoulders.

7. Don’t forget to enjoy being a fiance….it doesn’t last forever! This one is one that I’ve not been doing well but definitely want to try to acknowledge for the remainder of our engagement. Really soak up beign engaged and enjoy the moment! You have the rest of your life to be married, so take a breath and take some time to enjoy with your future spouse in the midst of the crazy that is wedding planning.

I hope you all enjoyed this post and you learned some helpful lessons. Special thanks to Weddingwire for sponsoring this post!

Let’s Get Social! >> Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

bridal blogger bride to be engaged life how to plan a wedding plan a wedding wedding wedding inspiration wedding planning wedding planning is fun wedding post weddingwire