Yesterday marked a year since Kendall proposed. Things are really falling into place for our April 7th wedding, but we’ve definitely learned a lot in our year of planning. With my (second) shower/ bachelorette party coming up this weekend, I wanted to take the time to reflect on what planning a wedding has been like. This is a long one so I hope you can stay with me.
- Checklists, such as the one on The Knot, are a great way to get started, but real life doesn’t work in such a linear fashion. To quote another bride friend: “checklists are great if you can take off a year and just stick to them.” It actually got to the point where my coordinator at the Mayflower Hotel told me to stop trying to follow it after I sent a frantic email to my DJ and venue telling them, “the Knot checklist wanted me to ask ABC and I’m not sure what that means.” I knew what I needed to accomplish- the big things are pretty much taken care of. The little things get done when they get done and at this point even if they don’t we’re pretty much good to go… which brings me to my next point.
- The more I planned, the more I let go. To be honest, most of what I’d dreamed of is not how my wedding is turning out, but that’s ok! It’s evolved into something better than I could have imagined! I used to really want to get married at the National Cathedral and have the reception at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Both spaces were entirely too cavernous, and we couldn’t be happier with our choice to get married at Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Georgetown, with a reception at the Mayflower. Some other examples- I used to want an all-daffodil bouquet, but they’re apparently fickle flowers that are also sticky. The music I envisioned for my ceremony- not going to happen because it needs to be traditional church music. Not complaining at. all. but this is something the newly engaged should be prepared for while planning a wedding.
- I didn’t know how difficult it would be to schedule meetings with the church but I just have to keep in perspective that my wedding is a huge day for me, but St. John’s has so many other responsibilities in the community besides marrying off two crazy kids. (They actually host a rotating homeless shelter in Georgetown which I think is amazing!) We LOVE Gini, our officiant, and look forward to our pre-marriage meetings with her. Our relationship always feels renewed afterwards. The stress of trying to plan will be totally worth it.
- Kendall actually has a lot of opinions. This is AMAZING but in my little planning brain, I didn’t think about what my groom would want, so it’s a good thing he tells me. The funny thing is that he agrees with my mom on everything, which is super convenient. I happen to love naked cakes and I originally wanted a naked funfetti cake with fresh berries. Kendall and Mathy wanted hazelnut and think naked cake is ugly. We’re getting two smaller cakes rather than one huge one and neither is naked. I had always envisioned my groom and his men dressed a certain way, but Kendo has a great style and did something different. It’s his day too, and he’s had to reign me in from doing too much.
- It’s so important to have someone in your corner. Luckily, I have my mama bear to come to the rescue. Anyone who knows my mom know’s shes not like a regular mom, she’s a cool mom, and since she’s retired she has taken on this wedding as a part-time job. She spent one morning a couple weeks ago calling vendors when I had a really stressful day at work. She’s opened about 30 billion candle holders to make sure they’re all perfect for our centerpieces. When I was told by my bridal salon that my dress wasn’t a priority, she called them and suddenly it was. (Ha!) She’s been in constant contact with my MOH for my shower, and had gone with me/ will go with me to all my fittings to make sure my dress is exactly my vision. She’s as detail oriented as I am, so every little thing will be justso.
- I’m just going to start this paragraph with people will be weird. The first weirdness was someone I haven’t seen since I was four asking me for an invitation. I honestly didn’t even know what to do so I (you guessed it) called my mom. We crafted a response and I never heard from this person again. No loss I suppose, since… I haven’t seen them since I was four. Kendall had someone he used to party with text him not once, but twice, asking to be a groomsman. Apparently, he’d done this to one of Kendall’s groomsmen for his wedding too. This one didn’t happen to me, but one of my friends had an aunt ask her to use the photographer for family pictures after the ceremony. I’m pretty sure she called her mom too. Don’t let people bully you into situations on your big day.
- Recently, people have started most conversations with me with, “you must be so stressed!” Actually, I’m not. It comes in little waves. I was stressed about finding a hair dresser, I was stressed about hiring the limo, I was stressed momentarily about the invite list to our rehearsal dinner. But those things are all taken care of and I’m sure I’ll get through whatever else. And like I said, even those things that might go wrong, so much will go right I’ll probably be the only one who notices. I know I’ll be a hot damn ass wreck the week of the wedding, so hopefully I can just remember to breathe and enjoy it.
I honestly could go on and on- I’m still really thinking about writing a wedding book. I have a title and everything. It’s be funny and might get me in trouble. We’ll see. 😉 Right now I just want to enjoy my last couple months of crazy before finally getting to become Mrs. Caroline Suzanne Downing Price.
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