To all the creative brides-to-be who aspire to have an unforgettable wedding, I understand! I planned my own wedding. It’s the reason why I began planning, my wedding was the best day ever and I wanted to help other people have the BEST DAY EVER too! However, in those twelve long months I spent countless hours researching Pinterest and always thinking about all the decisions needed to be made. So I learned from my experience and believe every couple should love every aspect of their wedding day including the planning process. My desire is to ensure every event I am a part of is a dream come true for my clients.
Luke and I met in an intimate Bible college called the School of Ministry here in Farmington, NY. I quickly fell in love with both the area and him. Luke and I share the joy of serving others, music, photography, and adventure. We knew once we both graduated from the two-year program that we wanted to be married.
The day after he graduated, we hiked up to a spot overlooking the Erie Canal where we had one of our first dates, he proposed, and of course I said yes. I quickly began my journey discovering all that it took to plan a wedding and how much I enjoyed it!
After a very long year of trying to complete homework assignments, balance spending time with loved ones, and plan an eclectic wedding with dozens of DIY projects, the day had finally come!
Our desire was to have a unique wedding experience and have elements that were sentimental to us. We accomplished that in several different ways like creating paper hymnal flowers for each person in our bridal party to represent how we all enjoyed worshiping the Lord together.
After looking through countless venues in the area, many were great, but weren’t quite right for our vision, fit our needs, or within our budget; we finally found our barn venue. From this experience we’ve put together a system for our couples to make choosing a venue out of all the different styles and options in the area an easy process. The Wingate Barn was the perfect setting for our timeless and rustic wedding. They provided us with the whole weekend, so that we didn’t have to rush setting up everything the day of. Our day had finally come, and it was so beautiful. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to start our marriage, surrounded by all who cared for us the most. During our ceremony, we had a tree sapling to symbolize our family trees growing and becoming one. We then had our families bring soil and water to show their nurturing support for us throughout the years and our future growth.
At our reception, there was always something fun going on around the entire room. No two centerpieces were the same, so each guest felt that their experience was special. We also had lots of activities to keep our guests occupied while we took photos with our families and bridal party, which included a photo booth and candy bar that everyone enjoyed. My mother came up with the idea to put together a scavenger hunt around the barn that involved “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”. The “something old” was a tribute to my great grandmother who could not make to trip to celebrate my wedding in person. We were able to display her beautiful wedding gown on a dress form instead of repurposing it.
Instead of having a typical guestbook that would most likely have been packed away and forgotten, we decided to have our guests highlight a verse in a Bible and write a note of encouragement for our marriage for us to glean from those who celebrated with us for years to come.
Luke and I wanted to bless our friends and family with a great experience as a thank you for their love and support for us and our marriage. We’ve been told even years later that it was the best wedding they had ever been to! It was a priority of ours that everyone felt included on our special day.
Dancing with my husband for the first time was a sweet and quiet moment. It gave us the chance for reality to set in that we were actually married! After two years of faithfully waiting and planning for this moment, we were finally here. The father-daughter dance left no dry eye. We then encouraged all of our married couples to join us on the dance floor, and then slowly eliminating those who had been married for the shortest amount of time up to the couple with the most years together. We congratulated the winners, Luke’s grandparents, Oliver & Norma for 65 years!
For an outdoor wedding in the first week in May in Upstate New York, we were blessed with perfect weather! While everyone enjoyed themselves with yard games, mingling, and dancing, Luke and I got a chance to sneak away with our great photographer Tyler for sunset photos. With everything said and done, we had the perfect ending to the best day ever as we danced the night away.
Each of these small details took a lot of consideration to make them the special moments that made up our perfect wedding day. I am so proud of the work I put into planning my own wedding. However, looking back and knowing what I know now, I wish I had accepted more professional help.
As I said, I understand where you’re at and how stressful or overwhelming planning your own wedding can be. I was that bride that was always on Pinterest trying to think through my ideas. My bridesmaids and I handcrafted the hymnal paper flowers for months, and I looked at every angle to have everything we desired in a modest budget. Even in the bridal suite, I sat on the ground in my wedding dress, hot gluing just a few more things before walking down the aisle. It took the whole wedding party plus some family members the whole day before the wedding to set up the reception.
I know it may sound ridiculous and obsessive, but all I wanted was to ensure that everything we had planned was exactly how I had envisioned it. If I had trusted my vision to a planner, I wouldn’t have had to compromise on having either my time or the details of our special day. I would have been able to spend more of my time enjoying my friends and family from out of town who came to celebrate with us, instead of stressing and working right up until the last minute. I’m here to encourage you, you don’t have to make the same mistakes I made by trying to do everything yourself. There is wonderful community of passionate vendors who would love to be part of making your wedding day so special and having a planner to put together the perfect dream team can make a huge difference in your wedding experience.
I would LOVE to be your planner, click here to schedule a FREE consultation to learn how we can give you the wedding of your dreams.
Please enjoy some of my favorite moments from our wedding day provided by Beanart Photography.
I’ve learned a tremendous amount that from each of my planning experiences, especially from my own. I’d like to encourage you that the season of engagement is a short one in comparison to the rest your married life. You should be free to use this time to enjoy your loved ones, reflect on the person you have grown to be, and a chance to relax before your real adventure begins.
Fill out our contact form in order to receive your free consultation with me, and we’ll discuss how to make your journey to your biggest adventure perfect!
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