Wedding Planning & Realizations.

So I pretty much wasted no time to start planning the wedding. The day after it happened I started making lists. And lots of them. Lists of colors I want to use, favorite reception venues, ceremony sites, rehearsal dinner sites, types of flowers to consider along with florists in town., I found bridesmaid dresses, thought about what the boys should wear, photographers and most importantly where in Saint Louis could I find my dream dress that I had picked out before Tim even popped the question. I know the big day is still 16 months away, but places here in Saint Louis book so quickly that I don’t want to wait. A couple places I’ve inquired about already have our backup dates booked.

Fast forward three weeks since Tim asked and even though I’ve made progress in the planning, it hardly feels like a dent. All of these items could have their own post, but I’ll shorten it up a bit. Pictures come later 🙂
• I pretty much have booked the photographer—I just need to send them a deposit check this week to hold our date and that can be crossed off the list. I’ll post more information [like pretty pictures] about them after they receive the check, that way I know for sure we’ll get them.
• I’ve contacted at least a half dozen venues to get menus and price lists, and have scheduled an appointment with two of the places. Though, I’m not done looking.
• My friend Chelsea [Hi Chels!] went and checked out bridesmaid dresses this past weekend and have it narrowed down to two styles, though leaning more towards my original choice. I’m flying home next month to have my sister [and maybe other girls] try on the two dresses to see which one she likes best before I make a final decision.
• Tim and I have decided on what kind of attire the boys could wear—hint: no black, it’s too formal.
• Got the registry started.
• Contact musicians about the ceremony
• Put together our wedding website 🙂 I think it’s super cute. It’s not complete since we don’t have the ceremony or reception site picked out yet, but other parts of it have been filled out. Feel free to sign the guest book too.

Calling up florists and bakeries is next on my list of things to do.

But….there’s always a but with these things. The realization of how much a wedding cost hit quick, and hard. Tim and I are paying for this ourselves. The way I view it is “if you want it, work for it” and that’s what we’re doing. We don’t want a large, fancy wedding, but a nice enough one that not only we will enjoy but our guests as well. If our backyard didn’t become a pond every time it rained, I would really consider a backyard reception. We have the space for it and it wouldn’t cost much at all. We can thank the Midwest’s crazy weather for no backyard reception. Oh, and the fact we have 4 other neighbors that have backyards touching ours with just a chain link fence. Not the most ideal scenery. We’re going to keep the reception size on the smaller size…125ish plus the wedding party. We will have a cocktail celebration in Nebraska a couple weeks later for my friends and family that won’t be able to make the 6-8 hour trek down to the city.

It’s going to be a lot of work, but I already have friends and future family members passing along lots of advice. Bring it on wedding planning!

—m.