"No Wedding Wednesdays"

When a woman becomes engaged she sort of unintentionally enters into a new network of past brides or soon to be brides that offer advice from one of two perspectives - a "This isn't my first rodeo" type of perspective (typically the bride that did everything to a T, and perfectly, and wants to tell you all about it) or a "What was I thinking" type of perspective (may have had some wedding day bloopers and willing to tell you about it). Either way you have to prepare yourself when entering this new club and take everything in stride. I've come to find out that the wedding planning process has begun to make me an even more decisive person and has really allowed my Type A personality time to shine. You learn to make decisions based on what works for you and your fiancé and not sweat the small stuff (as much as possible). To me when it comes to wedding planning any advice is good advice, whether you choose to use it or not. So for all those Type A brides-to-be, here is link to an online TLC article I recently found that may help out!

5 Wedding Planning Tips for the Type A Bride

For those that prefer cliff notes...

5. Pick Your Organizational Pleasure - stick to one form of organization (computer, phone, old-fashioned paper)

4. Manage Expectations - tell people what you need from them, but stay within reason!
3. Full Disclosure - know what you want and communicate this to vendors (begin "pinning" now)
2. Embrace Your Nature - it's ok to be nerdy and organized in a bordering on OCD type of way!
1. Don't Overdo It - don't sweat the small stuff

To add to TLC's final and most important tip of not overdoing it, I wanted to share a story about the best piece of advice I have received! A while back on a plane ride to San Antonio I happen to sit next to one of my sorority sisters and colleagues which began with the typical catch up session. Of course it wasn't but a few minutes into the conversation that wedding talk came into play. Since she recently got married in San Antonio  she had great recommendations for florists, makeup places, caterers, etc. I was taking mental notes just as fast as I could when she said it...the best bit of advice that completely trumped anything I had mentally cataloged for later use. She said the best thing you can do for yourself throughout the planning process is to pick one day a week where you do absolutely...NOTHING! That's right, no wedding talk, thoughts or decisions for one whole day to avoid going off the bridal deep end. Although I haven't quite been the best follower of this advice, I feel like being less than 7 months out calls for a strict adherence to this rule! Hence the creation and implementation of "No Wedding Wednesdays" from here on out.

Let's see how this goes...

Whirlwind of a Wedding Planning Weekend!

It's been a while since the last post, but we have been busy wedding planning as of late! This past weekend was probably the most reassuring weekend in that we were super productive and the best part was that my mom and I didn't have to plan a thing (thanks to our amazing wedding coordinator and cousin, Mercedes)!! So ever since then it feels like it's been smooth sailing and I could not be more grateful. On the agenda was bakers, linens, DJ's, invitations and florists. We had a busy Friday, Saturday and Sunday and with me just finishing up facilitating a conference and Kyle finishing his dreaded law school finals we were in for quite a weekend.

We first began with a cake tasting (what else would you guess for 9am!) in which we fell in LOVE with the baker, her sweet treats and the precious store. 

We blended in with the decor!

It's hard to see them, but she had the most stunning cupcakes on display!

Breakfast of champions

I wanted to take home the chairs and the wall color!!

When we had tried pretty much every combination the owner even made two cupcakes from scratch to take home with a different filling based on what we indicated we liked. I was more than impressed and may have found our baker with this one, absolutely the moistest cake we've tasted!

We then moved onto linens, which I'm not going to lie. did not seem that appealing at first. Once we arrived however I think we all realized how much fun dressing up a table could be. (Ok maybe not Kyle and dad, they plopped down on the lounging furniture for a majority of the appointment!)

Playing dress up with a table proved to be pretty entertaining and it wasn't before long until we decided on a new color scheme...

Watermelon anyone?

Ok anyone who knows me well enough is probably laughing by now and everyone else is just confused. We definitely will NOT be incorporating the watermelon theme, but it was fun to joke about!

Following our linen adventure, we headed to our first florist appointment which I was beyond excited about! Let me just say the possibilities are endless when it comes to flowers (and so is that price quote, whewwww!). The men that own the company were so fantastic and made us feel right at home. We discussed the look of our centerpieces, bridal and bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, mother corsages and more. I think my favorite part was Kyle's confused/astonished expression as we chatted about ranunculus, asiatic lilys, ladies mantel and more, which to him sounded like (floral) foreign language.

Mercedes was our photographer extraordinaire for the day :)

As you well know by now our families like to eat, so we headed to a great new find in The Quarry, Urban Taco. Despite the menu being a little intimidating, the cuisine definitely delivered. If you're looking for a modern spin on a mexican taqueria, this is the place to go! Again, don't mind my foodie rave, we simply like to mix it up when we eat.

After lunch on to our first DJ appointment we went. Let me just say even I was overwhelmed on this one. I had NO idea how complicated something as simple as music could be. But it did get me pumped for those old classics everyone looks forward to hearing at the reception (you know that means some Journey!).

Before we knew it an hour had passed and it was on to another cake tasting..yum!!

Delicious!

Yes, everyone got two plates of cake!

Once we were stuffed to the brim we headed to our last appointment of the day, another florist. As you can imagine we were all ready to put our feet up and relax after 6 back to back meetings, such a productive day though!

Saturday was not as hectic, including two invitation appointments, another DJ appointment and last but not least, picking up my dress!

I thought my sorority Recruitment binder was big!!!

Helping pick out stationary..

With a hidden agenda...oh Kyle!

So cute

Once all our appointments were done, my mom and I headed to the bridal shop to pick up my dress and some accessories! The same woman that picked out my dress the first time just happened to be there and it was so fun playing dress up again!

Ahhh..it's all so real now!

Once the dress was placed delicately in the closet, I told me mom, "Ok if there is a fire, remember dress first then the dog!" Ha! But in all seriousness, I was so glad to finally have the dress in my grasp and cannot wait to put it on again.

So what could top a day like that? More registering of course! After a little rest at home and re-energizing, Kyle and I headed to Target like two kids in a candy store.

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!

Starbucks, scanner and checklist in tow!

This is why I'm marrying him :) (One of the many reasons)

Ok ok, I gave in on a few things. 

All in all it was another fun weekend in San Antonio full of wedding planning, celebrating mother's day and plenty of memories!

Cakes, Weddings & More Cakes!

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I have still been trying to recover from the March (Wedding) Madness! All you really missed was more cake tasting and a little bridal inspiration from the now Mr. & Mrs. Malone that got married in San Antonio the end of March. First things first though, cake tasting!

Ready for some cake!

My dad was able to come along for this round of tastings, which I think he definitely enjoyed!

Such a cute couple :)

Kyle had his eye on some "less realistic" groom's cakes!

Let's just say after our multiple rounds of cake tastings in March we are resting our sweet tooth for a while before venturing back out! That weekend we were also able to reconnect with a lot of close friends at a good friend's wedding. A wonderful way to end another fun weekend with family and friends!