Wedding Entrance – Photography: Michelle Gardella Photography , Sign by: Paulo Seixas
It has been such a long time since I’ve posted and I believe I have a good excuse. Having landed from our honeymoon about a week ago, we are fresh and glowing with love! For the past 11 months I’ve been working on creating my dream wedding and I have to say it actually came to fruition. From completely clearing out our family’s barn, to landscaping what had been the overgrown garden (which had it’s heyday in magazines in the 90s but parts were basically left untouched for the past 10 years) to building and recovering countless pieces of furniture; our wedding was really, truly, a labor of love. I can not thank my parents enough for all of the help and hard work they put into making it happen and I guess I can thank my husband for the bits he helped with but especially for putting up with me and my neuroses. I think in the end we all agree that the best gift he gave me was to leave the majority of his opinions out and let me run with my ideas. It’s great to know how much he values my taste and trusts me.
The Day After Shot: Ogling over my wedding ring!
Looking back, would we do it all over again? Yes of course. It was painful, and stressful but also so much fun. It was the first time that I was creating a huge event for me (and my husband) but I was the client and I really only had to please myself. I wanted to write about every little DIY project as I was going through the whole process, but my better judgement told me to keep it a surprise. So if you’re not a wedding person, but possibly a DIY and visual person, you can still keep reading for the next several posts as I gush about all the work we did for the past year, I’d also love to lend some tips and suggestions for anyone else that is planning to wed soon. I’m hoping to keep wedding related posts to just Wednesdays and if you’re looking for vendors in the Northeast, I have great list for you! Read on to see. . .
I want to break it all down into a little series of parts:
- Ideas and Planning – how to get started and what to focus on and what not focus on. This kind of thing is great for any big design project, from a special event to a room re-do. To get the message across to your audience, you must have a clear understanding of it is going to be from the beginning.
- The Fashion – After I confirmed my message and the story that I wanted to tell, it was time to put all of the wearable details together. For brides, the dress is so important and for it was no different. I miraculously pulled off a special surprise for my husbnad with this part too!
- The Decor – Maybe my favorite part or at least a close runner up. I love to plan out spaces and to guide people through them. For my wedding I especially wanted it to be an experience that held more permanence than a typical wedding. That meant bringing details like upholstered furniture and refurbishing spaces.
- The Timeline & Coordinating with Vendors – This part was my least favorite part in the whole experience. It’s really daunting to work with so many different people that you don’t know and must trust with your vision. But without all of these professionals, it would not happen. I hope to give a little advice to anyone who’s willing to listen about how to handle it.
- My Vendors – Each vendor we chose has a special story. I love that the majority of the companies were family owned business doing what they love.
- The Big Day – What else can I say, I’m dying to show you the final result!
- The Honeymoon – We went to Italy for our honeymoon and what a trip it was! I’d love to share some of this experience with my readers.
- Life After The Wedding – How is it really to change your name? Thank You cards, coming home the first time. And is married life any different?
Now that I’m back in the blogging saddle, I hope you enjoy and are looking forward to the attention being brought back to the blog. I’ve missed you! Oh, and of course I’m also back to working on the apartment. Already put a fresh coat of paint in the kitchen and set up our dry bar – thanks to our lovely wedding gifts.
Thanks for reading. My best, Lauren
Photography:
Tree Image – Michelle Gardella Photography
Ring Finger – Lauren Caron from 4thfloorwalkup on Instagram