In current news: Vendor searching was almost the death of this Michigan bride...

I have some FANTASTIC news. I am done searching for vendors!
Venue – Check! Includes food so DOUBLE check! Plus, they work with fabric/chair people so all I had to do was tell them want I wanted…. TRIPLE check!
Officiant – Check!
Dress place – Check!
Photography – Check!
Bakery – Tasty check!
Flowers – Check! AND, under budget. Double point bonus for me.
DJ – Check!
Hair/makeup – Check!

Before I found all my vendors I felt like this:

My favorite adopted neice, Lucy, and I with not so happy faces...

Now I feel like this:

Pure joy!!! Lisa and Matt, your baby is fabulous.

I am congratulating myself with a glass of red wine as we speak.

However, getting to this day was not an easy one…

The other week I almost decided to forget about having a “super awesome” wedding and just send out some invitations and call it a day. It seems so much simpler to say “I do” and then eat some cake that you got at the grocery store that morning. Who really needs fancy flowers or the best DJ in town? In the end, you’re married no matter what.

Why was I feeling like this? Well, I found it very frustrating to try and find all the vendors for the right price. I love DIY projects, but I definately found that vendor searching made me anxious and/or frustrated. I absolutely hate trying to figure out whether I think someone is worth the price that they are charging. I hate bartering. (I hate to stereotype, but Wes should never let me go buy a car by myself, haha.) I hate trying to determine if someone is trustworthy. And, when you think you might have found some wonderful people to work with… BAM…you get the news that they are already booked for your wedding day. I can live with not having the best DJ in town, but it feels terrible to start the search all over and go through the process of accessing the quality of someone else. Note to all June brides: it is not too early to look for vendors! EVER! Tell your fiance I said so. On top of it all, it feels so rude to say, "You're great, but we decided to go with someone else".

Then, I realized why I love planning the wedding (i.e. customized with tons of details and hands-on projects). I realized that, while I may be the only person who truly cares about having handmade invitations, I get to share the time making things like that with my family and friends. Living in NJ, I don't get to see all of you that often. For instance, finding bridesmaids dresses gave me the perfect excuse to pester my friends and go to Michigan to hang out with them. I get to call my maid of honor anytime I want because she agreed to be my maid of honor. My mom, Wes’s mom and I all spent a wonderful week together bonding over wine and wedding inspiration photos. Wes realized that when I ask him to do a wedding project with me, what it really means is that we are going to spend some extra time with each other doing something other than watching TV. I love spending that time with people and I love that I can type up all my thoughts and share them with whoever does care about my experience making 200 fabric flowers that day. And, all the effort I spent on finding great vendors is leading up to one terrific party. We will get to share at least 6 priceless, PRICELESS, hours with family and friends from all over the country. So, the personalized super awesome wedding is back on!

Thank you to everyone for being a part of this experience and a part in our lives (mushy, I know, but weddings are supposed to about mushy love stuff, right?).