After the magical saying yes moments, you and your fiancé are about to embark on one of the sweetest seasons – full of preparation, anticipation, and a celebration you’ve been dreaming about. As you sit down, pen and designated wedding planning notebook in hand, you pull out a couple of magazines and pop open Pinterest – you start to explore the world of wedding planning. After a couple hours, you start to feel lost, overwhelmed by all the advice, confused as to where to even start, unsure about how to create the wedding you’ve been dreaming of for your budget, and mostly how you can ensure your engagement is joyfully stress free. I’ve had quite a few couples expressing this type of uncertainty – which ultimately turns into feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and sadly the joy slowly slips away from a process that can be so life giving.

For this reason, I’ve created a fun series for 2018 with a goal of walking through the wedding planning process with you each month (although this month you will get not one but two installments!). The heart behind this series resides in helping you to feel empowered with reliable and actionable wedding planning advice that allows you to feel confident as you walk through all aspects of the wedding planning process. So to kick start this series, we are focusing on you as a couple and your unique love story! You may be a little surprised at the advice I am about to share but I am a big believer in designing wedding celebrations that tell a story. Read on Friends…

You’re about to embark on a truly beautiful adventure – you’re engaged to the love of your life, and cannot wait to dive into making your dream celebration a reality. Maybe you’ve been dreaming about this day for years or you just started thinking about what you envision your wedding celebration to be – regardless before you start selecting your vendors, picking your colors and theme, talking about budget, drafting your website – I am going to recommend you take a step back and breath. There is an important step to take, a special place to source your inspiration before becoming overwhelmed with #allthingswedding. So grab your coffee, tea, or beverage of choice and grab your pen – I promise this step will be worth it!

Your unique love story holds a wealth of inspiration – it holds the key to who you are as individuals, as a couple, the families from which you came, and the family you are about to become. Sourcing the elements that will make your wedding day truly yours from your story will ensure your wedding day reflects you. The following prompts serve as the foundation I like to build with my clients – I encourage them to write as much as possible for each question. Today I am sharing with you a snippet of the first part of an exercise I use to start my design process with my clients. I encourage you to walk through these prompts as you begin your own engagement season…

All About You | Exploring elements that are unique to you as individuals, as a couple, and from your family as the jumping point for designing your wedding

• Reflect on the things you love to do as individuals (your interests, hobbies, etc) & then add the things you love to do together | do you love to spend time outdoors hiking, running, camping? have you filled your passport to the brim and love to explore those hidden gems that make a place unique? do you love attending country concerts on warm summer nights or are you forever SEC football fans? These are fun details that can really provide your guests with a glimpse of who you are and all the fun they are in store for!

 

• Write down the story of how you and your fiance met | did you go on a special date? did you attend high school together and then reunite years later? were you die hard football fans who met while cheering on your college team? did you happen to meet through mutual friends on a blind date? are you high school sweethearts who met in homeroom? Your “how you met” story is the foundation of your relationship with details that can be subtly woven into your wedding celebration design!

 

• Relive your engagement story | taking time to write out your engagement story (from both perspectives) provides a wealth of possibility from a design perspective – highlighting the day that starting this new chapter as the first stepping stone towards becoming a new family.

 

• How would you describe your style | jot down where you love to shop, your favorite home decor stores, and where you source your inspiration – all of these can really help to hone in specific style features that you are most drawn to

 

• Finally, take some time to chat through all the traditions (wedding & family) you’d like to include | these elements are also important discussion points as they will influence many points of the planning process. These include things that wearing your mothers veil, parent dances, first looks – among others.

I plan to share throughout the year how I’ve used real couple responses to the questions above to work with couples on pulling design inspiration – with the goal always being  to help them craft a effortlessly beautiful wedding celebration that tells their unique love story. So stay tuned to see how this process unfolds from responses, to moodboard inspiration, to sourcing ideas, and finally ending in execution.

Your engagement is a sweet season – its a chapter that creates a beautiful transition between miss and mrs. It’s a season full of preparation – for your wedding celebration but more importantly for the marriage that lies ahead. It is also a season that has a finite beginning and end. For this very reason I encourage my couples to find ways to enjoy every moment, to walk through the process strategically, and to take time to enjoy each other and the process. My hope is that this series will give you a small glimpse into the heart within the wedding planning experience I encourage my couples to embrace and will inspire you to keep joy at the center of your wedding planning. So heres to crafting an engagement season that is as joyful as your wedding celebration!

xo

All images | Caroline Logan Photography | Photography & Workshop

Vendor Team

@hingework | Venue
@wildflowersbydesign | Florals
@unfadingbeautybykristen |HMU
@treasured.events |Furniture
@lovelybride | Bridal Gown
@theblacktux | Men’s Suiting
@papertreestudio | Stationary Suite
@bowandarrowcalligraphy | Calligraphy
@tonoandco | Linens
@creative.candles | Candles
@magnoliapostage | Stamps