Bride-to-be Blogger Kristy: The One-Month Countdown to the Wedding Is On!
Kristy and Eric celebrating one month to go before the Big Day!
This past week, we celebrated our one-month-until-the-Big-Day mark, which we decided at the last minute to enjoy with dinner and drinks.
In the beginning of this whole thing, I used to wait with excitement for the “milestone” emails to appear in my inbox from theknot.com, providing me with accomplishments for the next phase in planning. I would happily log in and check the boxes off after completing a task. Then, I started to realize that a couple tasks would linger from month to month, mostly things like “reevaluate your budget” (ugh, I dreaded this one); “figure out what traditions you wanted to include in your ceremony and reception” (how much can you really vary a Christian ceremony?); and “figure out your day-of schedule” (ew, this one really made me sick to my stomach).
But with one month to go, it’s crunch time—something I have always been good at; working under pressure. After five years of architecture school, with late nights, crazy deadlines, and the need to work, work, work, I’ve realized I can pull off things under pressure—but there have been a few things essential to planning that I’ve been terrible at.
And so, after a year and four months of wedding planning, I’ll share with you my weakness, how I overcame them, and a few words of advice:
Enjoy the ride. Seriously, enjoy planning your wedding. It’s a beautiful day, and if you don’t enjoy figuring it all out, find someone who does and let them run with it. Have fun with it, laugh, and don’t sweat the small things.
Learn to negotiate. I’m down right bad at this—even if it’s out of my budget or unrealistic, I’m easily convinced. That’s why I enlisted some support: my mom is amazing at negotiating and so is my bridesmaid, Jess. They have connections, and a stern fist, and they like to use it. I’m jealous!
Enlist some help. Your friends and family want to help you, so let them and appreciate it! I’m a perfectionist, so many times, it was difficult to accept assistance. The things I really cared about I did myself, but with everything, else I graciously accepted help. Just remember to thank everyone who helps you either with kind words, a note, food, or wine.
Consider logistics of the day while planning and budgeting. What is your general time frame for the day? Will people notice an additional expense here or there? What do you want the focus to be—the many details, or a few main things? Hopefully, if you figure this out in advance you’ll be more likely to stick to it.
Do things together. It’s good practice for marriage, apparently. Plus, it’s easier making decisions together, cake tasting together, laughing together, and celebrating together.
So with one month to go, we revisited Mercato, a favorite BYOB spot from our dating days. We talked about our excitement to finally be married, our memories of dating and wedding planning, and our future ahead. This was a well-deserved break before our frantic stretch before the wedding. And I look forward to more of these days after our wedding.
What advice helped you during your wedding planning? What was the best part about wedding planning?
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