Flash Back: DIY Wedding Planner

In preparation for my 500th post, I've decided to do a series of life in rewind. In my retroactive clean up of past posts, I realized that I left out quite a bit. I've got a few tutorials to post and a couple vacations, as well as some everyday goodness coming your way. But first, I thought I'd start with our DIY wedding. It was, after all, the ultimate project.

Our wedding was planned and executed on a tight budget, but I didn't want to sacrifice anything. I wanted a live band and dancing, yummy food, a beautiful cake, a dreamy dress, amazing photos and video (not in order of priority or importance). Also, please keep in mind that I had a few years on my own to gather all sorts of idea binders, vision boards (pre-pinterest thank you!), expectations. I've been to a lot of weddings in my life time (LDS and otherwise) and gotten A LOT of wedding announcements in the mail (all of which are tucked into plastic sleeves in 3-rings in a box somewhere in my mom's storage room). Top it off with being 2,098 miles away from the location where it would all go down in history. All of those factors led to the need for a lot of research and extreme organization. Spreadsheets. Diagrams. Sleepless nights and workless days (I rarely sacrifice sleep for anything).

Here's a glimpse into the madness.

I think the color palette was one of the first things we decided on. I was loving the gray and yellow weddings I'd been seeing, but I think it's more suited for a spring/summer/fall/basically anything other than a winter wedding. I added black. And then pretty much took out the gray. Yes, it was a challenge to keep it from not looking like a big bumble bee. 

layout option 1

layout option 2

option 3

See what I mean by obsessed? During the planning stage, I thought of every possible configuration for the tables and chairs. There is one more map with the floral arrangements planned out, but I can't seem to find it. This is how I eased the anxiety of being so far away and the stress of being engaged. Whoever said engagement is bliss was a liar.

Then came the detailed diagrams. This post could be titled "Confessions of a Control Freak." Ugh, it was so hard for me to delegate. I seriously would have done the flowers and the food myself if we had been local. I guess it was a blessing in disguise to have to plan from across the country. It forced me to find a caterer (more on that later) and florist and to let people help me.

In the end, I had so so so many helpers, family and dear friends, who gave me hours and hours of their time in preparation and set up. When I left the venue the morning of our wedding--so I could go get my hair/make up done, experience a total emotional melt down, have my make up done again, and rush up to the temple to be married--I left a few last minute instructions and these maps and diagrams in the hands of extremely capable people. I could not have pulled this off  without them.

Here's just one example. Folding paper flowers, snowflakes and stars with Dana and Anna who drove two hours each way to be with us for my bridal shower and to help out. Amazing. Hours and hours of paper folding and consulting. Angels.