Fear and loathing and wedding planning: working through your shit during the engagement
The engagement period, the period between “Yes” and “I do,” is transitory — a life-changing transition. We spend a lot of time focusing on the actual day. It is, after all, supposed to be the “best day of your life.” There are magazines, websites, and blogs dedicated to this monumental moment, but few people talk about the importance of simply being engaged. Marrying another person is a big deal. A lot comes with that commitment.
Here are my lessons learned…
Planning tools 101: Your wedding guest list planner
In case you missed it, we recently launched a comprehensive and totally customizable document of wedding planning spreadsheets to get your wedding planning game on point. First we featured a big ol’ wedding timeline and now we’re rolling out the wedding guest list planner to keep track of all your guests, their RSVPs, contact info, food preferences, gift, blood type… everything you need to know.
Should I schedule my wedding for the same day as a family member’s wedding?
My fiancé and I have been together for over nine years. Each year we celebrate our anniversary on the day we made our relationship official, and on our 2016 anniversary — he proposed to me. After all the emotional dust settled from this, my first thought was: we’ll get married on our anniversary in 2017!
Then I remembered, my half-brother’s cousin already announced that they would do their wedding on that very date….
The surprising ways I’m using Instagram to plan a wedding
A lot has changed since I planned a wedding eight years ago. Mostly… Instagram’s existence. It’s my favorite social media platform, for keeping up with friends and sharing my own life. But it’s also been surprisingly helpful for wedding planning!
Have you checked out any wedding tags on Instagram? The #offbeatbride hashtag itself will send you down an endless rabbit hole of wedding inspiration. In a few seconds I went from scrolling, to clicking on a cool looking dress and discovering a new designer…
There’s a REALLY good place to find awesomely cheap wedding DIY supplies
Reader Gina recently clued us in to a great way to snag cheap wedding DIY supplies: your local restaurant and janitorial supply store! If you have one in your area (pro tip: Google “restaurant and janitorial supply store + your city”), you’ll find great deals on bulk DIY supplies like table coverings, candy buffet supplies, and serving tools.
Planning tools 101: wedding budget calculator
We launched a comprehensive and totally customizable document of wedding planning spreadsheets if you’re the type to get down with spreadsheets like I am. First we featured a big ol’ wedding timeline, then we featured the guest list planner, and now we’re showing you the wedding budget calculator for all your costs and figures and savings.