Wedding Update: 1 YEAR Until the BIG DAY!
/Today is November 7th, 2019 which means there are 365* days until our wedding day!
That’s, right, we are getting married in ONE YEAR on November 7th, 2020.
*Actually 366 days instead of 365 because not only is 2020 a new decade, it’s also Leap Year!
If you were to ask me how the wedding planning is going, here’s what I’d tell ya!
WEEKLY WEDDING MEETINGS
Justin and I meet every week to plan our wedding. This was actually Justin’s idea and wanna know something? I absolutely love it.
When we first got back from Florida (where he proposed to me), my mind was racing with thoughts and ideas. I was spending every waking moment researching venues, thinking about the what if’s, wondering what he thought. I wanted his input. After all, when you’re getting married, it’s not only all about you. It’s about the BOTH of you.
But Justin did not want to spend every waking moment talking wedding. And at first, I didn’t understand why not. But me, now I totally get it. It’s a lot! So instead of talking wedding 24/7, we do two things at each wedding meeting:
Cover a Topic!
Topics so far:
General Location (IN or OH) and Time of Year (2019 or 2020)
Our Top 5’s
The Bridal Party
Wedding Venues
Wedding Dates
Guest List and Food + Drink
Answer Each Other’s Questions!
If we think of questions during the week, we’ll save them for the meeting! I’ll jot mine down in the Notes section on my phone or the Excel spreadsheet I’ve started with all things wedding related.
These meeting are great because not only are we super productive for a solid hour or two, but we also bond with one another even more as we plan this special day together.
EACH OTHER’S TOP 5
I can’t take credit for this idea — I got it from my BFF Alex! She told me she did this exercise with her now husband at the beginning of their wedding planning and it helped tremendously.
And that’s this — Each person gets a sheet of paper to write down their Top 5 things for the wedding. It’s important you do NOT do this together, but rather separately so you each have a voice. Once you’ve both written down your 5 things, share your answers with each other!
The purpose of this is for later down the road when you’re making all the decisions, you’ll know what your top priorities are to decide what things really matter!
Here’s what we came up with:
Justin’s Top 5:
1. SWAG
2. Pals
3. Drinks
4. Good Food
5. No Driving
Ashley’s Top 5:
1. Photographer
2. Videographer
3. Grandparents are there
4. Do NOT go into debt
5. Involve RICE somehow!
PICKING THE VENUE + DATE
What comes first, the venue or your date?
If you have a date in mind, just know your venues may be limited. In my opinion, your venue kinda picks your date! Depending how far out you are, you may have plenty of dates to choose from, or you have just a few left on their calendar.
For us, the venue came first! We knew we wanted to do Fall 2020, but decided once we found “THE” venue, we’d look at the dates! And that’s exactly what we did.
THE VENUE
So how did we land upon The Benison? Great question!
1st — I actually heard about it from my sister and brother the Monday after Justin and I had returned from our engagement weekend in Florida. I was back home to Hamilton to pick up our puppy Manny (he stayed at Justin’s grandparents). While I was in town, my mom offered to have a family dinner at my Grandpa’s house. I said, “Count me in!” Not only would it be good family time, I could also catch up with them and the exciting news in-person!
At dinner that night, Erin and Alex were asking me if I had any venues in mind. I told them we honestly hadn’t thought about it. We decided not to worry about the planning until we got home from Florida! (Guess what, Ashley? You’re home now! Haha) My siblings told me about a couple new event venues in Hamilton. One of those being The Benison — an old bank building that my brother Alex actually worked at!
2nd — Y’all. I did so much research. I mean, I was up late every single night for at least two weeks researching venues and thinking “what if this” or “what if that”. Part of my issue (which wasn’t really an issue) but I had no sense where Justin wanted the wedding (IN or OH). I was really all over the place until we finally sat down and talked it through at our first wedding meeting.
3rd — During all that research, I stumbled upon a Bridal Expo at The Benison! It was two weeks away on a Sunday afternoon — I text my Mom and asked if she would go with me! Two weeks later, her and I drove up to the beautiful building downtown and got a tour of the space. (You could tell I was more so there to check out the venue than I was to attend the bridal show — Hahah). My mom really liked the space, and so did I! I brought the folder of materials + a ton of photos / videos back home so Justin could review it, too.
4th — Once we decided Ohio was the location, I got more serious about venues + scheduling site visits. Justin and I would he back home (in Hamilton) the 3rd weekend in October (for a wedding actually), and I thought, that would be the perfect time to do a couple venue walkthroughs! On October 19th, that’s just what we did.
Though I should have thought through that more…I had a feeling Justin might kill me because there were 3 spaces to check out throughout the day, on top of going to a wedding that night. I thought by the end of it, he may be sick of wedding planning. Haha.
But oh gosh, that wasn’t the “mistake” I made. The “uh oh” was when Justin found out I made 3 site visits on college football Saturday. Hahah — I thought I was toast. Luckily, the timing worked out! We were able to get lunch after the first visit, squeeze in first half of the Gators game right before our 2nd visit, and leave and finish watching the game before the 3rd wedding visit.
VENUE WALKTHROUGHS:
1. Lodge at Veteran’s Park
2. Houston Woods Conference Center
3. The Benison
5th — You know that saying, when you know, you know?
After seeing all three venues in person, we just knew The Benison was the one! One thing Justin really wanted was to make sure of was that I (or really anyone) would not have to worry about much of anything the day of the wedding. And The Benison would ultimately take care of everything for us! They had the help that the lodge didn’t provide, and organization that seemed a little lacking at Houston Woods. I especially love the venue because: (#1) it’s super unique, (#2) it’s right in the heart of downtown Hamilton, (#3) there’s ALL KINDS OF NATURAL LIGHT, (#4) there’s a bridal suite and a man’s cave, (#5) like I said…when you know, you know!
THE DATE
When we knew the venue, we asked Yvonne for the dates it was available Fall 2020. Then, we went through each date. We wanted Fall for a couple reasons (one I just love this season, but two so we would have enough time to save up).
The other thing that happens during Fall = Football. So after navigating the open availability with that, birthdays, already planned weddings….there were only a couple Saturday’s left. Mainly early August or November. We went with November and picked the first weekend so it wouldn’t interfere much with the holidays!
And while I’d love to have the wedding earlier cause I’m that ready to be married to my man, this will give us enough time to save completely. Cause that’s another thing….we are NOT going into debt for this wedding. Every last penny will be CASH FLOWED!
November 7th, 2020 is the day!!!
ASKING MY BRIDESMAIDS + MOH
Y’all! I had so much fun coming up with packages for the Bridesmaids and I’ve been dying to share them with you.
Since I’m the Queen of sending snail mail, I knew I wanted to ask my bridesmaids by mailing them a package. A few Pinterest scrolls and suddenly I had a vision! I would send them a BALLOON and a safety pin! And a note that instructed them to POP the balloon. Once they popped it, a note would be inside asking them “the” question.
Now when I get an idea in my head, I run with it!
I stopped at the Dollar Tree the next day to get:
6 Boxes
3 Bags of Decorative Shred
A Pack of Balloons
Safety Pins
6 Frames
8 mini cube containers
When I got home, I started making my boxes! I love a good craft and this was right up my alley. I found a really neat washed paper that my Grandma actually gave me from their old business, Pen and Ink. I used that to write the notes to each Bridesmaid + my Maid of Honor. The notes read:
I also put rice in the little containers, cause I feel the need to involve rice in everything since that will be my new last name ;) Lol — inside those containers of rice was a note that said, “Get ready to throw the rice…” and then on the back had one of our hashtags (#JAndAWeddingDay) and the date + city!
I shipped the packages out on a Tuesday and by Thursday (the night of our wedding meeting that week), my Bridesmaids started getting their packages! I got YES’s from all of them! It was so fun getting their texts / phone calls / FaceTimes / photos!
The next day, my sister sent me this ADORABLE video of her saying YES to being my MAID OF HONOR
<3 <3 <3
I’m so lucky so have such amazing women standing up by my side!
Side Note: I asked Justin if he wanted me to ask his peeps ;) Hahah he’s just going to text them!
OTHER RANDOM THINGS WE’VE DONE SO FAR:
I asked my pastors if they would officiate our wedding!
We started a guest list because the venue needed to know an estimate # of people. We aren’t having a super HUGE wedding. Justin’s goal was 50-80 people, but after I added my peeps, it looks like it will be closer to 100.
Put a budget together. It’s very rough and needs a bit of cleaning up. More to come soon, there.
Got a little bit of photography information!
Inquired about a wedding cake (and other sweets) from one of my old softball friends growing up, Jesi! She made the cake for Justin’s dad’s wedding and it was tasty. Plus, we love Jesi and how sweet she is <3
Updated our Wedding White Board!
IN or OH? (INDIANA)
2019 or 2020? (NOVEMBER 7th, 2020)
Plus our Top 5 so it’s still fresh in our minds!
NEXT UP:
Firm up the budget!
Decide on wedding colors!
Schedule our food tasting!
….and whatever else I discover is important (right now) that I haven’t realized yet! LOL
