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Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed, Something True 2016

Favorite Tips of the Year

Hello friends! It's been quite some time since I've done an installment for the Something Borrowed series. I've really had a blast sharing some of the tips from our brides and grooms. I feel like it's opened my eyes a little more to seeing how other people handle wedding planning. When I first created this series last year, I didn't plan on it being this incredibly insightful for myself. We all have encounter different problems and have different understandings, which helps makes our experiences unique, and my goal for those blogs is to share the tips that others have picked up through the planning process. However, with everything, it wasn't long until I realized that I was learning a lot too. It's pretty awesome to be able to apply the lessons that others have learned to your own life. The tips that our previous couples have shared can still have an impact on more than just a wedding day. Shawn and I have been married for two years, and there really isn't anything about the day I could think to change. So I wouldn't expect the words my couples share to be resonating with me, but they absolutely do. Whether it's in the reflection of how I look at our wedding, or how I go about life in general. Our couples have really made a difference to our life and hopefully to a lot of others. Something Borrowed, Something You One of my favorite excerpts from a Something Borrowed...

The Key to Wedding Planning Perfection

Something Borrowed, Something True

Since I'm waist deep in my watching of the Olympics, I'm seeing the word "perfection" everywhere. It's an interesting idea that shows up a lot in sports, and also in wedding planning. There is an insurmountable amount of pressure on today's brides and grooms to have that perfect day. Your decor needs to be new and fresh, and you need to be over-accommodating for your guests. It can be incredibly difficult to balance. However, the greatest shift I've seen in our couples is that the perfect day to them means doing what makes them happy. Following happiness makes the planning process run so smoothly. At a certain point in our wedding planning, Shawn and I had to put aside what our guests would like and do what was best for ourselves. Naturally, we were still concerned with throwing a great party. But when we thought about what we enjoyed, the pressure from "perfect" vanished. We created our own idea of what was best for our day, and it made a huge difference. Seeing couples come to the same conclusion as us is fantastic. There is always the fear that, because of sites like Pinterest, the need to chase a flawless wedding is stronger than ever. Reading the positive advice fills me with so much joy. The key to wedding planning perfection is to throw out the idea of perfect. Focus on the fact that your happiness going into marriage will take you much further.   Marielle...

Making Tough Calls When it Comes to Guests

Something Borrowed, Something True

Guests liven up a wedding like no other. From emotions during the ceremony to wobble skills during the reception, guests add an extra layer of fun to any day. However, before the wedding, it can be a little daunting coordinating for all the attendees. There's addresses to gather, families to figure out, and seating charts to map to maximize everyone's enjoyment. I know from my own experiences that it can be exhausting, but the thing that worked for Shawn and me when taking them all on: set a cap on guests and hold strong to that number. For our wedding, Shawn and I decided that we would do a couple of things in order to keep our list manageable. Our first decision was to not invite children except for the two in the bridal party (my niece and nephew). The second thing we decided early on was to keep our family invites to parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and first cousins. Shawn has a huge family, and while we didn't want to exclude anyone, we had to think of costs and what wedding size we could manage. The last thing we did was to put the number of seats that were being held in their honor on our guests RSVP cards. We kept this to just two seats for each of our guests, and they were super respectful of our request. I've heard horror stories of people crossing out these numbers and writing in their own, but luckily, our...

Not Letting the Details Consume You

Something Borrowed, Something True

When you think of a wedding planning check list, what are some of the first things on your list? On my list there are: floral inspiration, venues, hair and make-up wizardry, dress designs, a whole ton of other things that - when put together - create a magical day for two very special people. When Shawn and I were organizing our day, every time I felt like all the important things were covered, someone would mention lighting, or our vows, or the guestbook and I immediately would realize that I had no idea. It wasn't until I started looking at resources like WeddingWire and utilizing Google Sheets for our guest list that details started fitting into place, and the nightmares of having a wedding missing something important went from once a week to once a month :P. I know Shawn and I weren't the only ones that have dealt with a check list that is more list than checked, but in the thick of it can be hard to stay positive and not feel overwhelmed. Seeing the way that some of our couples dealt with the anxiety of their details really showed me that there are some great ways to conquer the bridal fears. From Pinterest to dealing with late RSVPs, these couples kept themselves in fantastic order and can truly help others throughout the entire process.   Jen & Brock  "Definitely follow the local wedding blogs for inspiration, especially early on. We discovered...

Remember the Big Picture

Something Borrowed, Something True

Weddings are almost always viewed as the beginning of a beautiful life with your partner. It's exciting and special, and most of the time our imaginations build a spectacular day full of sparkle. But our imagination rarely takes into account the stress leading up to the day or the cost of that dream wedding. Both stress and money together can lead to a lot of heartbreak throughout the planning process if you aren't well equipped. Tonight's blog is about strategies to remaining sane when you are in the thick of planning. A few of our brides touched on this topic, and I found it fascinating how each couple dealt with things differently. From organizing finances to just remaining calm, the advice in this installment is very unique to the couple that wrote it. I must say, though, one of the common factors across the board is that at the end of the day you are marrying your perfect person. Even if the cake gets dented, or there is an accident which backs up traffic and delays your wedding, you still get to say "I do" and start your new beginning.   April & Corey "Really consider your dream wedding plans. It's so easy to feel pressured to find things that fit your theme, but really think about it because halfway through the planning process that probably won't matter to you anymore. Really all that matters is marrying the person you love."  ...

Allowing Outside Opinions In

Something Borrowed, Something True

Last time in my bride-to-bride advice series, I shared some of the thoughts that my couples had about timing and how important it is. For this installment, it's all about those outside sources and what they may have to say about your wedding. I know it's a little bit of a touchy subject, because with wedding planning everyone has their own ideas and a lot of the time there is unsolicited advice offered that isn't always productive. Also, through the wedding process, you may find that some people aren't exactly in your corner on some decisions as you would expect them to be. Wedding planning is definitely a trying time in friendships and family relationships. But a bright spot is how it brings you and your significant other as a couple much closer together, and makes you really start to see the family that you are building. Shawn and I went through a very difficult situation in our own planning regarding a family member, and the situation was completely heartbreaking and really altered relationships. We faced backlash from my family over a difficult decision we had to make, but it was necessary. The thing that mattered was that we learned that we always have each other. Through thick and thin we can look at one another and know that we are a unit, and when either of us need even just a simple hug: it's there. The most important takeaway from this installment in the series is that you...

Timing is Everything

Something Borrowed, Something True

For the first of many installments in the bride-to-bride wedding advice series, I'm going to the most obvious of planning tips: time management. From the questionnaires I send out, timing is the most referenced topic. The thing that surprised me the most in the responses, though, is that timing means different things to a lot of people. It isn't always about giving yourself more months to plan (certainly that comes up) but there are so many other factors to keep in mind during the process. I loved reading all of the responses and I found that getting this type of insight from real couples -- no matter how big or small the advice -- was wonderful. Before I share what these fantastic couples have said, I first want to share from my own personal vault of advice. For Shawn and me, we planned a Friday wedding due to our dream venue being completely booked up two years in advance. The idea of the wedding being on a Friday stressed me out so much. I wanted to be able to have all of our family and friends there and I was afraid that no one would be able to get off of work. I even had an awful nightmare where I showed up to the venue and no one was there, and even Shawn couldn't get off work for his own wedding in this terrible dream world. Pathetic, but such a deep and real fear I had. My...

Something Borrowed, Something True

A New Wedding Advice Series

As part of the process for getting to know our couples, I give all of our brides and grooms a questionnaire to fill out at their leisure in the weeks leading up to their big day. It has all of those technical questions about addresses and times, but the questions get a little deeper and more personal, too. One of my favorite things to read from the questionnaire are the tips that my couples give others who are in the beginning stages of wedding planning. Some of the tips are incredibly practical, like "make a budget and take one thing at a time." But some of the couples took the question to heart and provided a very thought provoking response, which made me start thinking about creating a series where I can share some of this amazing advice. My plan for this series is to focus on all of the great suggestions that my brides offer to help other real brides. Shawn and I have worked with all of these couples, and their heart really shows through in their words. My goal is to give you, my readers, some very useful information if you are -- or someone you know is -- in the thrilling journey of wedding planning! I'm so excited about kicking off this new series on my blog. I hope that it is informative and inspires people to evaluate their own planning process to maximize the awesomeness of their day. I plan on releasing the...