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Since getting engaged at the beginning of November wedding thoughts have consumed my mind, when I’m awake and even while sleeping. I’ve literally had nightmares about forgetting important stuff like hiring a photographer. I didn’t really expect my brain to be completely overrun with wedding things. To be honest, I never really thought much about a wedding before this.

I’ve definitely wanted to marry Jeff for a while. I specifically remember walking around Target with my mom about a month after starting to date Jeff and exclaiming “I’d marry him today if he asked!” I’ve thought a lot about what marriage means to me, and how important it is to me commit myself to him but I’ve never really thought about what our wedding would look like. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve definitely made comments in passing like “Oh my gosh, what if we got married here?!” But I guess I never pictured the actual wedding. Does that make sense? What I’m saying is that I’m not the type of person who has fantasized about their wedding since they were a kid, and I most certainly do not have a wedding pinterest board. I am not dazzled by the wedding industry. It feels very much like a huge money grab and there are so many other ways I’d rather spend my money.

All of that to say – Holy smokes, I am overwhelmed. Wedding planning is not fun.

Things we have figured out –

▴ The date! June 2018!!! It’s coming up SO fast. We orginally wanted to do it right after tax season (since Jeff works in the tax department) but there were a few hang ups so the date we chose is the soonest possible. There are less than 160 days! Really sweet side note here, essentially right after we got back in the car the evening Jeff proposed he was like “so I was thinking May sometime?” I was so emotional I couldn’t even talk about setting a date yet. I sobbed so hard every time he’d try to talk about a date.

▴ The ceremony site. Part of me just wants to keep this a secret until after the whole shebang and the other part of me wants to scream it from the top of mountains. I’ll give you some hints though – It’s not in Ohio. It’s somewhere we discovered on one of our road trips and fell madly in love with. Perhaps best of all, it’s free… because we’re planning on just showing up, exchanging vows, and leaving shortly after! It’s very much exactly what you’d expect from the two of us. Definitely not a traditional wedding in any sense!

Things that aren’t 100% in place yet but mostly figured out and only stressing me out a bit –

▴ Post ceremony food + party. After the very short ceremony we’ll be heading to one of our other favorite spots we discovered while roadtripping around the west! This is really special because it’s somewhere, just like the ceremony site, that I had mentioned to Jeff would be a really rad spot to have a wedding. Now we get to share this place with all our favorite people. Literally just thinking about everyone being there makes me tear up.

▴ The reception! Since we’re having a destination wedding we’ll also be throwing a reception back at home to celebrate with everyone who couldn’t make it out of state. My parents gratiously offered to convert their annual fourth of July party into our reception which is perfect because that’s already one of my favorite weekends of the year. Food, fun, fireworks, and hammocking! I am SUPER stoked. I would really like to decorate, and of course, pick up a cute casual but kinda fancy dress for that day but honestly planning for all of that is completely overshadowed by planning for the actual wedding.

▴ Honeymoon! We have nothing set in stone yet but we do have a general idea of where we’d like to go. We’re looking to do an all-inclusive trip somewhere tropical. We usually take super hectic trips, which I absolutely love, but I’m very much looking forward to taking a trip where we do nothing but eat, lounge, swim, and relax! If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them! Bonus points if there are animals!

Things that are still freaking me the heck out –

▴ The dress! I’m torn here… It is very important to me that I don’t waste a ton of money on a dress I will literally only be in for like half a day. It’s also important to me that I look amazing, duh. Right now I’m still thinking I want a long white dress preferably something with lots of volume in the skirt but I could change my mind completely. I’ve been spending lots of time browsing websites that have wedding sections but aren’t necessarily wedding sites, like Modcloth, ASOS, and Lulus. (If you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears!) I have wasted so much time scrolling through dresses! I’m so ready to just find ~the one~ and call it a day! I think my next step is to actually head to some bridal boutiques and at least try on some things to get a better sense of what I like the best on my body.

▴ Our photographer. This was like the first question all our family asked. Who is gonna shoot your wedding?! Jeff is a wedding photographer and I consider myself fairly knowledgeable so we have really high standards. Photos are a huge deal to us, perhaps one of the most important puzzle pieces to this whole thing. We found a couple people to reach out to but we have nothing set in stone yet. There’s so much back and forth, it’s driving me nuts. I’m ready to just sign a contract and pay a deposit.

▴ Hair and make up. This would be scary enough if I were looking for someone local but trying to find someone in another state makes it even worse since I can’t meet them and do a trial run before hand. Luckily I happened to discover WeddingWire! In general I had been avoiding wedding websites since we aren’t going to traditional route and I find that most sites are overwhelming but WeddingWire is really rad because you can search for whatever service you need by area. Clearly a function that is coming in very handy for someone trying to book things in a different state. They have lots of other great planning tools too but I can’t get over how convenient being able to browse vendors has been.

▴ Um… everything? I sat and stared at this list with just three items on it for a while and realized I was having a really hard time figuring out what was stressing me out because I can really only think of those few things. I’m not sure what else is stressing me out. Because of the route we’re going – just kinda showing up, saying I do, and then vacationing with everyone, we have SO much less to plan than other folks. Still, we’re both feeling overwhelmed by the idea of planning. I’m sure even after everything is ‘figured out’ I’ll still be nervous but whatever happens or doesn’t happen is cool because I’ll still be marrying Jeff and hanging out with all my favorite people.

Look at those colors! Gah!

We were both a little nervous about having a destination wedding because we didn’t want to put any one in an awkward position financially but our familes have been so supportive. I’m so excited to have all our closest friends and family members together at two of our favorite places in the world. I’m obviously super stoked about the wedding but also just about what an awesome vacation it will be for everyone. Not many people take family vacations as adults, and here we are doing it with both of our families.

I’ll be SO much happier as soon as we get a few more details ironed out but y’all I cannot wait to marry my best friend. We’re planning a really unique wedding, one that could not be more ~us~ and I am beyond excited!
xoxo

This post is sponsored by WeddingWire, an incredible online resource for couples planning their wedding. All opinions are my own, obviously. I mean who else would plan a wacky wedding like this one… Heh! Thanks for supporting the companies that help make The Dainty Squid possible. Also, if you are engaged, it should be noted that WeddingWire is giving away $10k to put your dream wedding. Share your #JustSaidYes engagement moment to enter. For more details, read here.