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Planning a wedding is never an easy task. Often times it can be the most stressful event you’ll ever plan in your life. While some brides choose a venue close to home, Joe and I selected a venue in our old home, which is across the country from where we currently live. We wanted to get married in our college town–where we met. As the planning has progressed, more and more issues have come up. Today I want to share some of the biggest challenges we’ve faced and how we are overcoming them.
Finding Vendors: Vendor selection is tricky, as most of us have never been involved in planning a wedding. I used The Knot and Yelp to find most of our vendors. We also got recommendations from our venue owner for the caterer. Our DJ was also a recommendation from our photographer. It can be fun to shop around for the perfect caterer or florist but unfortunately, we had to go with our gut. This also means you can’t stress too much over selecting vendors, which can be nice. I spent a lot of time searching through recommendations and reading reviews. If you know anyone in the area, ask them for recommendations. Also look for a bridal group online, I’m in two bridal groups on Facebook–they are great resources for wedding and vendor-related questions.
Wedding Gown Storage and Alterations: I went wedding dress shopping on two separate days. I went once with my maid of honor at an overpriced boutique in San Francisco [just for fun]. I also went with my mom in New York. We went to David’s Bridal, where I ultimately chose my dress. I had the dress shipped to my parents in California. They are storing it until the wedding. I am flying to California next month for another wedding and doing my fitting that same weekend. The week before the wedding I will go back and try on/pick up my dress. We will drive the dress down for the wedding. It is a bit crazy but I’m also happy not to have to store my dress in my tiny Manhattan apartment!
Bonding With Bridesmaids: This is a tricky one that I haven’t fully figured out. Obviously it would be much more fun to have regular dinners or at least be able to bring them wedding dress shopping. For me, this wasn’t an option. I’ve seen two members of my bridal party since asking them and I won’t see any others until my bachelorette party. Although this is a bummer, here is how I’ve kept up with them: texting, Skype, phone calls, and social media (mainly Instagram, Facebook & Snapchat). I have a private Bride Tribe Facebook group for my ladies. I also reserved our lodging starting two days before the wedding. Some ladies will arrive on Thursday so we’ll have Thursday night and Friday night to bond.
Wedding Vendor Experiences: One of the disappointing aspects of planning a wedding remotely is missing out on experiencing vendors and shopping around. As I mentioned earlier, we found most of our vendors online. The majority of our communication with them has been by e-mail or phone. Joe and I reserved a few days last summer to go visit and meet with several vendors. We did our menu tasting, venue site visit, engagement photos, and cake tasting. It was a jam packed three days but we made it work. We booked our DJ and florist recently so we haven’t even met them and won’t until the wedding. I recommend scheduling some time to visit your venue and meet with your vendors if possible, even if it requires a flight [as ours did].
Although wedding planning can be really stressful, it will ultimately lead to a beautiful and memorable day. Nothing is ever perfect but it will be amazing and wonderful.
Best of luck, brides-to-be!
