Rainy Thoughts: Getting Married

Hello everyone! It's been about 2 and a half months since I got married! Yes, time flies by and I have been insanely busy. But I really wanted to do a blog post on getting married and planning a wedding. I know I went on so many forums and blog posts about how they planned, what they did, what they wish they did and did not do, etc, etc. So here are my thoughts on getting married and the whole process and some advice for you!

Planning the Wedding

Planning your wedding is some stressful stuff! I actually didn't choose to have a wedding planner. I have experience in planning events, so thought it would be one of those things that I could cut back on. If you're planning your own wedding without a wedding planning/coordinator, I have some advice for you:

1. Plan Early. Repeat after me. PLAN EARLY! The last thing you want to do is planning everything last minute. That is just too stressful. Once you have your dates in mind, start planning. First, if you're getting married in a church, get that date done first. If you're not having a church wedding, then get that reception hall down. Those two things are the very first things that need to be booked. After that, you can start focusing on everything else, but plan early. 
2. Let your wedding party know as soon as you know the date. If you're inviting people to be part of your wedding, then you must somewhat like them...hopefully! But letting your wedding party know early is just courtesies so they can start saving up a fund and getting what they need little by little, getting their dresses tailored, etc. instead of all at once.
3. Have a signed contract with all your vendors. This is important. A signed contract helped you stay clear of messed up catering orders, mixed-up dates with the photographer, etc. And if someone happens to not show up and you already put a downpayment, you can get your money back. 
4. As stated in number one, do the big stuff first (church, venue, caterer) and then find the dress and then all the extras. 
5. PLAN EARLY! 

I was engaged for 2 years and 5 months and I think I started planning about 2 years into it. I somehow still found myself getting things late. That's just life.

Planning the Honeymoon

Planning the honeymoon was my favorite part. If you have read my blog post on my trip to Japan, check it out by clicking these highlighted words. I think I had more fun planning my honeymoon than planning my actual wedding. So when you go on your honeymoon, remember, it's just as much of your trip as it is your partner's. 

When I thought of my honeymoon, I always imagined going to France. But when I suggested it, my husband was fine with it, but he wasn't over the top and I wanted him to feel that way. It was going to be both of our first trip out of the country and I wanted us to both experience that fun and adventurous feeling. So the next place on my list was Japan and he was thrilled. 

So when you're planning your honeymoon, here's some advice:

1. Plan a trip you both want to go on. Compromise people. 
2. Try to plan your trip not right after your wedding. I especially advise this if you're going out of the country, even out of state! I know some people who wished they didn't plan their trip the morning after their wedding. I heard horror stories of people missing flights, having to dish out more money and just being mad the whole time. I didn't want to do that, so our wedding was on a Saturday and we went on our trip the following Friday. Gave us some extra time to work and use the weekend to our advantage. 
3. Remember to book everything in advance. Just like how you want to plan your wedding early, the same goes for your honeymoon. Plan early and get everything in advance. Flights do not become cheaper the longer you wait. I know. We tried. We failed. 

Finding the perfect dress

I knew what I wanted in a dress, but I didn't know how exactly my dress was going to look. I am one of the few who found her dress at the first place she looked. Granted, I did add some of my own special touches, but in the end, I loved my dress. I wanted to look like a bohemian princess and that is what I accomplished. And yes, it is true, you do get emotional when you find your dress. Especially when you had 12 bridesmaids as your audience. 

 I don't really have any advice for finding the perfect dress, just don't settle. You'll find it. But like I've been saying, find it EARLY. Chances are, you're going to need to tailor it and you're not the only dress in the dress shop.

The Day Before 

The day before the wedding is stressful. I don't know what else to say. 

It's going to feel stressful and you're going to feel overwhelmed. Just remember to take a deep breath, get what you need done, send out a text reminding everyone of rehearsals and everything should be fine. Take as long as you want during rehearsal, but not too long and all should go smooth.

The Day Of

It's going to be stressful. For the most part, I was stress-free, besides my contacts suddenly going missing, my hairstylist shoes going missing, a highway shut down on the way to the church, my photographer not showing up and my DJ not thinking logically, I was pretty stress-free.

For my Advice: Even though I had some hiccups, the day of my wedding was awesome. I learned that everyone has hiccups, and you just got to roll with the punches. It's not about the things that went wrong, it's about all the things that went right. I had a kick-ass cake, a beautiful ceremony with all my close friends and family, a gorgeous venue at Old San Francisco Steakhouse, good food, good drinks and a husband. I loved my wedding. 

Oh, and don't forget your marriage licence! That's kind of important.

And yes, you are going to feel emotional. You promise you aren't but then you're walking down the aisle and all of sudden all the feels come out and you don't know what just happened. But it's all right. You're that's how you're supposed to feel. Feel away. 

The Day After

It all felt like a dream. Like a stressful, fun-filled dream that you've been thinking about since the moment he put that ring on your finger, and in the morning, it's all done. 

Was it worth it? Yeah. 

Would I do it again? Honestly, I would just do it in Vegas. 

As the wedding day came close, I was pretty sure I was going to be sad that I wasn't planning my wedding anymore. It wouldn't come up in any more conversation and that would be that. I don't know why that made me sad, but it did. Then the day after came and I was so glad it was over. 

The Day After That

Okay, the day after that and after you come back from your honeymoon, you're probably going to need to do a few things, especially when you're the one changing your name.

Quick advice, but more like tips:

1. The first thing you have to do to change your name is to change your social security card. Without that, you can't get anything else done. Once your marriage licence comes in, take that and your old ssc to the ss office and they will order you a new ssc.
2. After your social security card with your new name comes in, you can go ahead and change everything else. I personally went to get my driver's licence done and then my bank, and then changed the name on my credit cards, made it Facebook official, etc. 
3. It's all free. At least in the state of Texas, mostly all of this is free. I did pay go just go ahead and renew my licence, but that was my choice. I don't have to go to the DMV for another few years hopefully.

Overall

Overall, I'm happy with my wedding and I hope you have fun planning yours. Remember to have fun.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and that I helped you somewhat in your own wedding planning. As always, if you'd like to be the first to know when my posts come out, follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!