Wedding Planning Update

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of WeddingWire. The opinions and text are all mine.

Photo by Maddie Tober Photography

Well, it's been a good 5 months since I first posted about my wedding planning progress! A LOT has happened since then... some of it was "spur of the moment decisions" that we originally didn't put too much thought into, like a hotel block for out-of-town guests or a wedding videographer.  

Deciding on a hotel block was a process, and I definitely used WeddingWire's forums to see how to go about it. It seems like so many people prefer staying somewhere they have points for, but in the end it seemed like a nice gesture for our guests! Finding an actual hotel was so easy thanks to WeddingWire's Hotel Blocks feature! The search engine made it super easy to find and compare available hotels in the area, narrowing it down to searches by number of rooms, hotel star ratings, pricing, and proximity to our venue. We made the decision within a couple of days!

I've also been utilizing WeddingWire's checklist to keep us on track:

It looks like I'm overdue on some suggested dates but ahead on others! I definitely use this as a guideline for the bigger things like booking a honeymoon (which we JUST did - a European cruise)!!

Since my last update, we've also booked a DJ, sent out Save the Dates, hired a wonderful officiant, and picked out bridesmaids dresses! I actually designed our Save the Dates as a postcard in Photoshop and had a local company print them:

Image is, again, by the wonderfully talented Maddie Tober

Everyone is telling me to enjoy the process, but I honestly don't like a single thing about it. It's easy because we know exactly what we like and don't like, but it definitely feels like we're just chugging through and checking things off a list. Thank you again to WeddingWire for keeping me sane! 

Nickie and Cheuck's Tea Ceremony

Last weekend, I had the honor of shooting Nickie and Cheuck's tea ceremony in Houston! You could tell everyone was so happy and full of love for the both of them. Tea ceremonies can be stressful, yet I saw nothing but smiles from everyone!

Some people have been asking me what a tea ceremony is, and I thought Nickie's original post on Facebook said it best:

“The tea ceremony pays homage to both of our families and cultures, and I was really excited/scared to see if I could wear the hat all day. The groom comes to the bride’s house to ask her family for her hand in marriage. The groom also brings several gifts in red trays and a whole pig. The couple light incense and pray to their ancestors, and pour tea for their elder relatives while the relatives share their advice for a happy marriage. After the formal tea ceremony is done, the gifts in the red trays will be split in half for both families and they will share the food and gifts as one new family. ”

Watters Visit With My Bridesmaids

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Watters. The opinions and text are all mine.

I'm so happy to announce that I'm collaborating with Watters for my wedding! On Monday, all 6 of my bridesmaids and I visited the Watters headquarters in Dallas for bridesmaids dress fittings! We were welcomed with champagne and cookies, but best of all... we got to meet the CEO herself, Vatana Watters, and the entire Watters design team! It was such an honor, and we were all so thrilled! I'm truly so grateful that Watters is sponsoring all of my girls' dresses because their selections are ALL so amazing! We got to pick from all 3 of their collections: Watters, Wtoo, and Willowby. Nothing but the best for MY girls ;) The experience of being there as everyone tried on selections was one of the best moments of the year! 

Sydney at Watters helped the girls try on dresses, recommending styles and colors to us the entire time. She was so patient with us, even though I think we asked the same questions multiple times! We couldn't have done it without her! I originally wanted all navy blue dresses for my bridesmaids, but I thought it would be fun to have different variations of blue. I also wanted my bridesmaids to be able to wear what they thought looked best on them, so I told every person to pick a dress that they liked.

What we all love about Watters is that the bridesmaids dresses don't look like bridesmaids dresses... they're all beautiful pieces that can stand on their own! I was fine if some girls ended up picking the same dresses, but I'm so happy that everyone ended up choosing a unique piece!

The beginning was a bit hectic because not every dress style came in the same kind of blue, and I wanted to be sure there were at least enough different blues to alternate colors. Sydney came up with a game plan to decide on the colors once everyone chose their dress style.

Genius!

After everything was picked out, the girls got their measurements taken, and we were all done! It was such a fun experience, and I'm so happy with what everyone chose! As you can see above, we went with half Navy Blue and half French Blue. Sydney was sweet enough to put together how it would look. Are you ready....

Top: Summer, Deni, 209 | Bottom: Aldridge, Fiona, Lottie

AHH! It was better than I could have imagined! I cannot wait until my girls get their dresses. They're going to look so beautiful standing beside me on my wedding day!