Back & Married

Hi all,

I know I haven’t written in a while, but as some of my readers may know – I was busy getting married, honeymooning, moving into a new place, and adjusting to everyday life 🙂

Well, now I am back & married. I’ll fill you in on what i’ve been busy doing for the past few months. I’ll start off with the actual wedding planning & vendor-hunting!

Gosh, it was a long process. I had about 2 years to plan the wedding, so it was nice to have a good amount of time to plan (but it was not so nice to have a long engagement!) I didn’t start planning right away, I mean come on, I had 2 years to plan. So, I figured I had the option to procrastinate for a good 6 months …or so. Meh, that didn’t really work. I’m a sucker for all things weddings so during my ‘procrastination stage’ I was reading MANY wedding blogs and taking part in wedding forums, and I would drool over crazy gorgeous wedding pictures I came across. I made several folders on  my computer, dedicated to different aspects of the reception. Once I had gotten more than enough inspiration from blogs/forums/designer websites, I decided it was finally time to start thinking about what me and the husband wanted our wedding day to look like.

It didn’t take us very long to develop a wedding style, but it did take us long to think about what exactly we wanted in terms of decor (favors, table numbers, centerpieces, colours, bride/groom seating area, cake table, receiving table, etc) Since women usually take more interest in wedding details, it is no surprise that I was very picky with decor. Let me tell you though, I love good ol’ Google, but when you’ve virtually attended hundreds of beautiful weddings thanks to G, it is super difficult to decide on just one bouquet, one colour combo, one wedding style, one dress, etc. If only money grew on trees and we could have 5 different receptions!!

The very first thing we did after we had decided on a certain style, was to come up with a budget for our wedding. It is most essential to have a budget or a worksheet – you will find yourself referring back and forth to this document to find whether or not certain favors, flowers, or vendors fit your budget.

Once we had decided on the wedding style and budget, we started venue hunting (see my post here) It took us 6 months to find the perfect venue. After that, we started decorator-hunting. I have to confess, I previously mentioned that I was very picky with decor in the planning process – well, that was an understatement. I spent endless hours researching decorators, designers, boutique rental places, and finalizing a design that represented me and the husband. I looked into several decorators and it was a challenge to find someone who understood our style. From the people I got quotes from and met, the only 2 people that understood our style and impressed us were Shannon from Isabelle Annalise and Sara from Sara Baig Designs. Their website does not do their work justice! We hired a seperate person for bouquet/boutinniere and centerpieces. It required a lot of careful coordination, but we did it 🙂

We booked our decorators and photographers at around the same time. We checked out many photographers but finally decided on 2 photographers, both from different companies. We picked Ovyian and Jay K – not only because we liked what we saw in their portfolio but also because they had recently started around that time, hence they were accomodating, understanding, and fit right into our budget. Both photographers didn’t know how to do photobooths, so we decided to hire yet another photographer/photobooth expert.  

Other vendors we hired were a caketress, videographer, DJ, caterer, transportation (check out A Rolls Choice Livery), and ofcourse, a hairstylist for me.

Wedding planning is stressful. It is a lot less stressful if you plan ahead of time and are organized about everything. You will change your mind about decor, food, favors, etc each time you see a stunning wedding. The key is to take inspiration, and not imitate someone else’s style. It’s your wedding day, and it should reflect you. The planning process is truly a learning experience – you may have some unexpected drama, and you may start to realize the important people in your life you can trust and rely on. Wedding planning should be a time for love, fun, and joy – don’t let it become a chore for a stressful task. You should try to enjoy every moment of planning with your husband-to-be, your supportive family, and helpful friends.

Tata for now,
Noor