Melinda's Wedding Planning Update!

Weddings for me are fun to plan!  I love looking at wedding blogs, rummaging through magazines, and stalking vendors online.  However, they aren't without stress.  Right after Mr. 3 proposed, I remember feeling "whelmed" with the idea of planning, budgeting, and creating an event with less than 12 months to go (Mr. 3 wants to get married next week, but I told him I preferred September 2012...we compromised on June 2012).  I tend to be great at making lots of small decisions, settling on colors, and focusing on all the little details...but big decisions involving lots of money scare me a little.  I knew that coming up with a date, a church, and a venue would really alleviate a lot of this worry (what's the point of figuring out your escort cards and pew bows if you don't have a church or venue to put them in?).  I had decided to have the wedding in Mr. 3's hometown so that the older members of his family would be able to attend, so I definitely needed to find a church nearby.  We immediately went to take a tour of the church that Mr. 3 was baptized and confirmed in.  After viewing the church, I knew that I would not need to look anywhere else.  This church is the complete package visually - exposed church organ, stained glass, beautiful pews, stone floors, wooden arched ceilings, and, most importantly, not one square inch of icky red carpet to contend with in my photographs.  From a practical standpoint, there is a nice sized parking lot and it's located in a quiet neighborhood.  From a religious standpoint, I couldn't quite get a feel for it based off of our 30 minute visit, but I feel good about it knowing that Mr. 3 grew up in the church.  Selecting a church was probably the most important part of planning a wedding for me.  Mr. 3 and I are super excited about seeing all of our friends and family and celebrating with them following the ceremony.  However, the ceremony is more important than anything else we plan, so I was glad to get this part figured out early on.

We are still working on the reception venue.  I have a place picked out, but we are ironing out the details of the contract.  From there, we will finalize our guest list and start meeting with vendors.  We've also started our registries (my registry review will be coming up soon!), but after my Priscilla of Boston meltdown last weekend, I'm going to hold off on dress shopping for another month or two.  After consulting my Martha Stewart wedding planner, I discovered that I haven't checked off too many things on my 6 months or more list, but I must remind my overachieving, type A personality self that I've been engaged less than a month and not even Martha would expect more.  I've also got great ideas for save the dates, flowers, favors, and tablecloths; and whenever I need a break from my wedding plans, I start working on Briana's!  I'll keep you posted on the good, the bad, the ugly, and the DIY projects as I go, but for now feel free to send me your favorite tips on remaining stress free during your wedding planning...trust me, I'm going to need them!