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...

I think I'm still in shock from Sam and John's beautiful wedding at Shoemaker Homestead. I just cannot get over how the weather forecast predicted 100% chance of thunderstorm for the time the ceremony was to start. I know the Weather Channel can very often be wrong, but the color of the sky in the morning was matching what a storm would look like, so I was a bit worried. However, when Shawn and I arrived and walked in to greet Sam, she was so positive and happy. The weather seriously couldn't put a damper on the fact that she was marrying her best friend. Not only was she positive, but Sam also was prepared. She read up on advice that I shared about having a rain plan and bought some super cute umbrellas from Ikea. I'm convinced that when you think happy thoughts (and spend a bunch of money on rain gear) the weather will completely change it's mind and be gorgeous. That's exactly what happened for Sam and John and I couldn't have been more ecstatic that they didn't need to change any aspect of their wedding plan. Not only was the weather on point, but the emotions within this day were on a whole different level. No one could keep a dry eye throughout the day. Tears were shed while Sam was getting ready, since her dress was the same dress that her mother wore almost 30 years ago. And there was no shortage of feelings from...

On Sunday, Shawn and I traveled to the Shoemaker Homestead in Taneytown, Maryland for Samantha and John's wonderfully rustic engagement session! It was quite possibly the hottest day of the summer thus far, but that didn't stop these love birds from wrapping each other in sweet hugs. I was able to get glimpse of what their wedding day will be like since Shoemaker Homestead is where these two will be exchanging vows and dancing into the night. It is a breathtakingly gorgeous location and Laura, the owner, is as sweet as can be. I cannot imagine a more perfect place for Samantha and John to be married! Samantha and John both attended York College in Pennsylvania where they actually were neighbors for a bit. However, it wasn't until they ran into each other in Baltimore that they started talking and eventually dating. Being so close to one another, but never even realizing it until your paths cross in some fateful way, is really an amazing thing. I adore when love stories begin before either person even realizes it!   ...