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1.17.2012

Wedding Planning.

For those of you who told me wedding planning would be fun. You lied! And well, that's just rude...

Wedding. Planning. Is. Stressful.

Steven and I hoped to get married this summer, but then schedules conflicted, venues filled up too quickly, people complained, and feelings got hurt, yadda yadda yadda...

Long story short, we are SO NOT getting married this summer. Honestly, I would have loved a small backyard wedding with burlap and blues, some mason jars and simple wildflowers, finger foods and just my most intimate family and friends. But it's ok...it's really not okay.

So, Steven and I started over and have come up with 2 non-official plans.

1) Getting married on Crystal Mountain
This would be awesome for many reasons. First off, the venue offers a lot of convenient features that would definitely benefit the out of town guests; shuttle to and from the airport, various lodging options, horseback riding, and multiple restaurants and retail shops within walking distance. Basically, they could use our wedding as a rustic weekend getaway excuse and never have to leave the Mountain! :)

Second, the scenery is breathtaking! Whether your from Seattle or have never been to the northwest, the view of Mt. Rainier (which would be our background at the ceremony) would make this a worthwhile trip.

Third, I could get some super cute save the dates like this one from Etsy.
2) Getting married on St. John, Virgin Islands. 
Seriously, I kid you not. This would be SWEET! Steven is really into the idea of a destination wedding and surprisingly, this would be the cheaper option for us. The location speaks for itself. It is absolutely stunning! And luckily, I found an amazing wedding coordinator who has impeccable reviews and has been extremely helpful and responsive thus far. I know a destination wedding usually hits the guests wallets pretty hard, and would mean that a lot of people we really want to attend just simply won't be able to, so for now, we're going to continue to research and see if this is even feasible. 

Oh yeah, and I could get these cute save the dates from Etsy.

The down side to the Crystal Mountain venue is that we'd have to wait until next July (as in 2013!!!) to get married! That's a long way away...and well, I am just really ready to marry my man!

The destination wedding would be this November...but very pricey for our guest.

Good grief! What to do, what to do...

9 comments:

Amira said...

I don't think you could go wrong with either (that mountain top Save-the-date is ADORABLE). My husband and I went to the Virgin Islands last October for our 1 year anniversary and fell in love with it. We're going back this October. I can't recommend it enough. You had mentioned that you would have been fine with an intimate backyard wedding (only closest family and friends) which is probably all that would be able to fly out to the Virgin Islands...sooooo, you could always have a reception/party for everyone else when you got back!

Unknown said...

Just remember this is your wedding. I had to put my foot down early with certain people and I am glad I did. You have to set ground rules or things can get way out of line really fast.
I wanted a very small wedding as well and I had put my foot down on the guest list etc... Its hard, but in the end everyone had a great time, and even said it was the best wedding they have ever attended.
You want to enjoy the moment not get stressed over it.
Everything is going to work out great.
Meghan http://inthekitchenandonthecouch.blogspot.com/

Liz Brown said...

My initial reaction was for the mountaintop ... till I saw how long you'd have to wait. Meh. :( Maybe theres another mountaintop somewhere ... ??

But of course, theres nothing wrong with a beach either. You would really be able to tell who loved you, by who made it :)

Rachel said...

Oh my god, wedding planning was SO stressful for me. I am definitely not one of those people who wanted to become a wedding planner after my wedding.

I love the mountain idea. Sounds like a fun getaway that I would probably not otherwise take. And it sounds like a great way to turn your wedding into a great weekend with everyone you love.

Good luck! You really can't go wrong with either option!

Elle said...

Yeah....about that wedding planning...Let's just say marriage is so much better :)
I loved all the projects and creative stuff of wedding planning--but the pleasing everyone, Ugh. I'd like to forget about that.
I also wanted a small, sweet wedding with amazing details custom made for all my dearest friends and family. I ended up with 500 people at my wedding. Ha! It was still great--but not my dream wedding and I regret that a bit. Do exactly what YOU want to do (and I recommend not waiting too long...it can be soo hard to wait!)

kim @ a positive peace said...

my vote is for the destination wedding! it might be expensive for guests to get there but i think (and i might be wrong on this!) proper wedding etiquette is that if they fly somewhere for your wedding they dont have to get you a gift, and for a lot of people it might be a great opportunity to take a vacay!

good luck! (nothing seems more stressful to me than wedding planning!)

Melissa G said...

Aw, wedding planning is REALLY stressful! Just try to remember that when the day comes and you're starring down to your man, all that stress will be long forgotten.

A few things I learned from our wedding:

-The details go farther than you think, so make sure to pay lots of attention to the little things
-Spend the extra money on EVERYTHING that will make YOU feel beautiful that day. Especially the dress! You'll be thinking about that day forever and you want to remember yourself as the most beautiful you ever looked!
-If you want to put in the extra time, lots f things can be made yourself. Especially things you find on etsy. I used etsy as an inspiration and had so many amazing little details at our wedding, and since I made them myself, It looked exactly the way I wanted.

Good luck to you! And try to enjoy through all the stress. When it's over you'll miss it!

BTW: The mountain destination looks AMAZING.

Kasey Lynne said...

I'm right there with you girl!! We got engaged on 12/21 and it's been SO hard finding places that have available dates in the summer. BUT, because my fiance is a rowing coach and they have competitions and practices year round, we can only get married in June-August or November.

So I feel ya on the wedding planning stress. BUT, I've been told by MANY people that the venue is the most stressful part. Once that's picked, everything else just falls into place.

We'll get there!

kennady said...

The wedding planning is stressful one but there are some of the ways are available to overcome the stress. My close friend is planning her wedding. For overcoming the stress, she using the wedding app for assistant. Plan your wedding carefully. Best Of Luck!