Six Month Countdown

This coming Friday, "Black Friday" as it's known in the retail world, is the six month mark until my wedding. I can't wait to be married to my future husband. He is absolutely amazing and we both feel that we are totally meant for each other. Enough about that, though, on to the wedding plans!

According to WeddingCram.com's wedding planning timeline, we're pretty much where we should be with the wedding planning. Here's a re-cap...

1. Choose a wedding date. We chose May 26, 2011 because it is the day we fell in love. It was really the first thing we agreed on and it happened like 5 minutes after he asked me to marry him. We were engaged on Valentine's day 2010, so instead of try and plan a wedding in three months, we opted for a long engagement. Plus the long engagement gave our family enough time to plan to travel.

2. Start a wedding file. I can't stress enough how much this helps. I went to Staples and bought a simple accordion file where I've stashed all the brochures and contracts for our wedding. I also stocked it with plenty of pens and a notebook for last minute notes. Another cool thing I did was start a file on my computer with all the websites and photos that I love and can draw inspiration from during the planning process. Below is an inspiration board of our wedding attire, compiled from photos I found online of the ideas and actual things we are wearing.

3. Discuss & choose the style and formality of your wedding. We knew we wouldn't be spending a ton of money on our wedding, so that made this decision simple. We were definitely going to have a casual, fun wedding on the beach in Florida. It was also going to be small and just close friends and family.

4. Decide on a wedding budget. This may be the hardest thing for some brides, especially if you have to/are going to ask someone else for money to pay for the wedding. A friend of mine is recently engaged and she is dreading asking her parents for help paying for the wedding. We are splitting the cost pretty evenly between us, my parents and his dad (and my grandma keeps paying for things here and there, too!) Most important, STICK TO YOUR BUDGET! It will make life easier after the wedding!

5. Hire a wedding consultant if you plan to. With such a small wedding and a small budget, we decided we didn't need one. Some brides hire a "DOC" or Day of Ceremony wedding consultant to keep the day of their actual wedding running smoothly and to help set everything up. I say that's what my mom, grandma and future mother-in-law are for!

6. Select a ceremony location. We're getting married on the beach at sunset in Florida. It's going to be picturesque and beautiful, assuming the weather cooperates!

7. Select a reception site. We went to a few places in search of a reception site and ended up at the local homeowner's association clubhouse. It was within our budget, allowed alcohol and a band, had a dance floor, tables, a prep kitchen and dedicated bathrooms and parking. It was also within walking distance of where we are staying and allowed us to decorate the day before.

8. Start shopping for a wedding gown. This is where I was definitely prepared...I was engaged previously but called off the wedding and ended the relationship (best decision ever, since I met my soul-mate as a result!). The only thing I had from that wedding was the dress and since you can't return wedding dresses and I needed to stick to our budget (and I never wore it), I had my wedding dress! Good thing I love it, huh? It's an A-line tea length white strapless organza dress with some ribbon detail. Very simple and casual and it will be prefect for a beach wedding. I'm having the back altered to a corset back with the ribbons in my wedding colors of pink and orange. It should add a dramatic and unique touch to a simple dress and will add color without just adding a colored sash.

9. Select your bridal party. Since we are having such a small wedding, we decided not to have bridesmaids and groomsmen. Typical etiquette is one bridesmaid/groomsmen for every 35 guests.

10. Select your vendors: Caterer, Cake Baker/Pasty Chef, Photographer, Officiant, Band, etc. Everything kind of fell in place for us. We are getting the reception catered by my future-husband's favorite restaurant with burritos, tacos, chimichangas, nachos and more. It fits in the budget and the whole casual vibe. I'm decorating my cake and just purchasing the baked cake from Whole Foods. I'm learning how to make sugar-paste flowers for the top. His grooms cake is going to be a two tiered rice krispy treat cake covered in chocolate ganache (it's gluten-free, so he can eat it!). Our photographer is the absolutely amazing Shaun Menary, who happens to be our good friend and the drummer for Sleeperstar, the awesome band who will be playing our reception. All the guys in the band are good friends of ours and have been there since the beginning of our relationship. We are going to have one rocking party and I simply cannot wait!

11. Start compiling names & addresses for the guest list. We are inviting around 40 people (and I still need to send out the save-the-dates!) and are expecting around 30 to come since it is sort of a destination wedding.

12. Sign up for a gift registry. This was sooo much fun! We made the mistake of registering too soon, though, so I had to go back through and delete items that were out of stock or discontinued.

13. Shop for your wedding stationery. I designed our wedding invitations on photoshop and are having them printed professionally. I'm also designing our thank you notes and all the cards for the reception (table numbers, escort cards, signs, etc.) The photo to the left is the front of our invitations and it sets the tone for the whole wedding.

That's it! The next timeline milestone comes at four months, which is good, since it's the holiday season and we are pretty busy. I can't wait until the wedding day!!