As excited as I am to marry my best friend, planning that day is really, like REALLY, hard. I can see why so many of my married girlfriends say they wish they had hired a planner but I’m not throwing in the towel. Yet.
I’ve actually managed to get some big things done! Here’s what happened in July.
The Dress
I’m still shook this is happening. My good friend Adrienne Houghton of The Fashion Group International of North Florida connected me with Erin Healy of Erin Healy Designs….. and Erin is making my dress. ERIN, THE WOMAN WHO MAKES ONE-OF-A-KIND DRESSES IS MAKING MY WEDDING DRESS.
It’s gonna be untraditional like the rest of our wedding. That’s it. That’s all anyone gets to know.
Some Actual Wedding Design Inspo
My brain can’t look at a Pinterest mood board and make a whole wedding theme out of it. I wish I were that creative but that’s life, sis.
Our venue, Brick and Beam, threw a big grand opening party and it was the perfect opportunity to get 360 degrees of décor and even basic setup inspiration.
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Why Doesn’t Anyone Warn You About the Guest List?
Andrew and I agreed on 100 guests. That’s it. Hard line. Then we finally counted all my family in Colombia (my mom is one of six children) and had to start playing the politics of which friends might not get invited. That was too hard so we settled on 115 people.
Figuring out the plus ones was a whole other thing. Obviously, married couples get dibs, then longtime significant others are second tier. And apparently wedding etiquette says everyone in the wedding party gets one??? Ugh. At least Andrew and I agreed we won’t have a seating arrangement. I’m not about to go cross-eyed figuring that out.
No one warned me how hard it is putting together the guest list so here I am warning you.
My DJ Could School Your DJ
Facts are facts. There is not a single soul in Jacksonville who could DJ our wedding like NickFresh. He brings unmatched zest (yes, betch, ZEST) to everything he does. If you’ve ever seen him high kick at Shim Sham or Dos Gatos then you KNOW.
Nick really knows how to read and change the energy of a room, he’s a self-learned PHD Soul Train historian and his brain is a musical encyclopedia. Don’t believe me? Ask Questlove.
Event photos by Toni Smailagic of Cre8Jax
I love a good checklist since it makes me feel like I'm actually doing something. We out here celebrating how much (or little, whatevs) I got done this month.
By @CatalinaOnAir