I’ve been engaged for 4 weeks. That seems like such a long/short time span all at once! So much has happened in such a short amount of time.

Right after Daniel & I got engaged, some life stuffs happened. Not just your every day grind kind of stuffs, more like put on the breaks and check your life kind of stuffs! It really made Daniel & I stop and think. We had to re-assess our priorities for the wedding.

When we started researching dates for the wedding, we thought fall would be too chaotic with it being my peak wedding season, I had my heart getting married outside so winter was out, so spring seemed like the only viable option! Thats when life smacked us in the face. Most experts on big life stuffs tell you not to make a big decision when these things happen. You’re emotionally compromised and therefor you may be leaping into a decision that could be unhealthy. So when Daniel & I stopped to think about our priorities I wanted to make sure any decision we made was not because we were emotional. After a lot of talk and prayer, we decided that our current situation would be greatly improved if we were to get married sooner.

A chaotic wedding season & an outdoor ceremony were the only things in our way. Even though I thought it was crazy, we decided to look at fall dates. We knew our wedding photographer was free the last weekend in October, Daniel & I were both free, and to our happy surprise so was our dream venue! Daniel & I took this as a sign and we continued to let this ball roll down the mountain. We contacted our family & friends, all seemed to be willing to travel to our “destination” wedding venue. Viola! Our wedding date was and IS set for October 30th, 2015! 66 days away! AHHHHH! Someone do a mental check because I can’t believe I’m getting married during wedding season. I’m seriously crazy!

Once we decided that the date was official it was OFF TO THE RACES! Two and a half months is not much time to throw together your dream wedding day! It really makes you take stock as to what is important to YOU for your wedding day. There is little time to go back and forth over decisions, you just have to make them. Daniel & I have had many conversations to decide our priorities and this is what we came up with:

#1 – The Guests – We wanted to give our guests and “pampered” experience. Due to our budget and some other factors, we’ve had to keep our wedding very small. It has been hard to disappoint some of our friends & extended family, but I pray that they understand why we can’t have a big inclusive wedding. With any luck we’ll be able to have a cook out celebration this spring!

#2 – The Venue – Having worked in the wedding industry for almost a decade now, I don’t want to have to do a lot of work for my wedding. No DIY, thank you very much! Daniel & I decided we wanted a venue that was “all inclusive,” meaning that we could do everything in one place; ceremony, reception, food, ect… I also had my heart set on the mountains after Daniel & I went on a date there Memorial Day. We found a great little spot in Blowing Rock, The Inn at Crestwood, which is perfect since we spent part of our date there and were talking about going back some day soon.

#3 – The Photography – This is probably a no brainer if you’re reading my blog, you know good photography is important to me! What you may not know is that Daniel had a big part to play in whom we chose. I had these grand plans of asking some pretty big names in the industry to do our wedding. However, Daniel didn’t think they would “fit the vibe” of our day. The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. We needed someone who excelled at intimate weddings. Happily my friend Megan of Morning Wild Photography, who is an exceptional photographer & is quickly becoming a big name herself, is THE perfect fit for what we’re doing & it’s even more exciting that I can honestly call her friend!

Once we sorted our priorities, we knew that was where the majority of our money was going to go. The other details are quickly coming together & I’m still in utter shock and awe by the number of people in the wedding industry who have been willing to help put this day together. I am seriously humbled and my heart is overflowing with thanks to so many of my friends! You’re all wonderful and I adore you! I am so honored to be party of a community like this.

We’ve gotten a ton of work done in these past 4 weeks and there is still a lot more to do. I plan on blogging more about our wedding planning, apartment hunting, and life melding in the next few weeks. Please forgive me though if my blogs don’t come as consistently as they have in the past. Juggling everything is a challenge and I want to ensure my clients are taken care of first before my blog and other such things. I will try my best, wedding brain and all, to keep you all updated!

XOXOXO,
Mabyn