8 Things No One Tells You About Being Engaged

As many of you know, Sean and I got married almost 3 months (!) ago. Now that I've had some distance from the whole "being engaged" thing, I wanted to write a little ditty for those of you who are engaged or expect to be sometime soon. Now, let me warn you. This is some real life wisdom I'm about to impart. No sugar-coating here. So...you know. You've been informed.
Without further adieu, here are 8 things no one tells you about being engaged!

1. You will immediately be asked when your wedding day is.
Seriously...like, as soon as you mention your engagement. It doesn't matter if you've been engaged for thirty seconds, you will be asked. And have an answer prepared or else expect some awkward stuttering on your part and then watch their interest fade away as you try and remember the question.

2. Everyone is suddenly an expert on weddings. 
You'll hear stories and advice (both solicited and not) from friends, family, coworkers, cashiers, people in the street, your mailman, pretty much anyone who has been married or knows someone who got married will tell you all about what "you should do". (As in, -GASP- "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD DO?!!)

3. Your fiance might not care, and that's okay. 
I really thought Sean would be one of those guys who would want to plan the whole thing with me, but he just was not interested. He knew and trusted that I would make everything look beautiful and so he stood behind me with support and encouragement, while I hot-glued our way to a great wedding. This doesn't mean he didn't care about the wedding or engagement. He's just not a crafty guy.
(Example: I asked him once, why don't you give me any ideas or anything? What if I wanted our entire wedding to be hot pink and zebra print??" And he said, "But I know that you wouldn't and I trust you to make it represent us in the best way.") Everyone has their talents and I'd rather Sean be honest than not.

4. You'll want to say, "fuck it." So many times.
By the end of, and most likely throughout, your engagement you will want to throw all your wedding stuff into a fire and dance around it with joy as you wait for them to call your name at the courthouse.

5. That being said, you will also reject the idea of hiring a wedding planner and then regret it later.
If you're inviting over 75 people, hire a wedding planner. It will be the very best decision you make because the stress, and it will come if it hasn't already, will not be worth it. The wedding planner is to the wedding what the epidural is to the labor. Or so I would imagine.

6. Your in-laws will reveal their true colors.
Whether those colors are pretty or ugly, you will know by the end of it.

7. Feelings will be hurt.
You will be told who to invite and more awkwardly, you will have people ask you why they weren't invited. There is no way around it: If you want to have a great, stress-free wedding, invite who you want and forget the rest. Don't let anyone bully you into inviting certain people. It's your day and one you will remember for the rest of your life. You don't want to look back and remember being surrounded by people that you didn't care much for or even know. Feelings will be hurt either way.

8. You will be told that your engagement, "goes by so fast" and it's true.
Although there will be many days when it feels like its taking forever, by the time the wedding begins, it has already ended and you're back at home looking around your same-old apartment and feeling withdrawals from realizing that its all over. So be happy, excited, and I encourage you to plan, plan, plan! This (is supposed to anyway) only happens once in a lifetime!

And when you feel like it's too much or you're ready to rip your hair out, just look over at that beautiful almost-spouse of yours and really force yourself to remember they are all worth it.

Our Wedding Part Three: The Photos and Attire

Hi, everyone! This last post about our wedding is focused on our photos and what I wore! I hope you like them and if you're interested, check out the places I got my clothes and accessories! Enjoy!

(My husband is so attractive, not gonna lie.)
Okay, so I made Sean's boutonniere out of my leftover bouquet pieces and twine. It was super easy and as long as you have a flower and maybe some accent pieces (like the leaf I put in the back) and some twine or other material and a hot glue gun, you'll be golden. Just be creative!

My dress came from an Etsy store called L'Amei. She's from Canada and she handmakes all of her dresses. My was absolutely perfect and I received so many compliments from people.
Check her store out here for similar vintage/unique wedding dresses!

My necklace and pin were given to me by my grandmother. They came from my great-great-grandmother's jewelry box and I got to hand pick them.

My flowers were fake and I am glad because it allowed me to choose the colors and flowers I wanted despite whether or not they were in season. I bought mine from Hobby Lobby and used burlap and lace ribbon to tie them together.

Lastly, my shoes were from Modcloth and you can find them here.
They were really comfy and I honestly had no problems at all with them. They come with two different kinds of laces so you can choose and they can easily be worn with other outfits later on.

Our Wedding Part One: Decorations and Food

Hi! As you have maybe guessed, I haven't written in a while because I've been so busy with the wedding. There were many times when I thought to write something after my last post on marriage but I didn't because I hadn't time or I couldn't think of anything. So here I am!
I wanted to share our wedding with everyone! I couldn't tell you much past what happened and how I felt because we are in a very transitional time right now. I do plan to write a little more in the future about how it feels to be married now but at the moment, I couldn't really tell you! Everything is so new and I'd like to take some time to gain perspective before I express thoughts.

Anywho, the wedding was really perfect. I mean, I don't think we could have asked for anything better. Sean and I spent the days leading up the wedding with our own families. We said goodbye on Thursday morning and although we texted and talked on the phone a couple times, we never saw each other again until I was walking down the aisle!
The wedding was very DIY. The theme was rustic/fall/vintage and pretty much everything was either handmade or borrowed. My grandma made all the food herself and everyone in my family took turns to put things together. My brother, sister, and I put up all the decorations, the lights, tables and chairs, centerpieces, everything. I was so happy to do it because it made it feel extra special and it was fun to see the space change as the weekend progressed.

Anyway, see for yourself! Here some photos of our big day!

The wedding took place at my grandparents' home on Truman Lake. They have a big yard on the side of the house that we took advantage of. The house sits on a hill that overlooks the lake in the back. It's very pretty and was a great view to have through the trees.

Everyone sat at tables instead of rows of chairs, which I am really happy we decided to do as it worked out perfectly. We created an aisle with vine branches my grandpa found and pumpkins.

A lot of the altar decorations were borrowed, although my grandpas made the altar itself out of trees from the forest behind the house. The lace drapes actually were curtains that my mom found on sale at Target, which ended up being much cheaper than buying fabric from JoAnns. It turns out that they were much easier to put as well since they were already sewn and ready to go.

Here are the centerpieces. Looking at them now, I think we could have done something else but I really don't think it matters. The tables looked great and most of the night was spent in the dark so would've been silly to make them more elaborate anyway.
My grandpa cut the wood slabs to make centerpieces and coasters for the table. We even bought a wood-burner and carved our initials and the date into some of them!

I made our guest book myself. I wanted something that could double as a photo album and a guest book so I had our engagement photos printed and put them in for people to look at and sign around.

My grandma made all of this food by herself. We had pork stew as our main dish and because Sean is a vegetarian, she made him Black Bean and Squash Stew. Needless to say, that stew went real quick. I was happy that Sean was able to get at least one bowl since it went so fast!

Our friend's plate. He was very excited about the caramel apple bar, as you can see.

(!!!) If you're in need of a large amount of mason jar glasses for your wedding, definitely check here. It was about $65 for 75 glasses and they worked perfectly. What we did so people didn't lose their glass is we just took pieces of kraft paper and tied them with twine to the glass. We left out a marker for people to write their names and voila!

Lastly, I was so happy with how the lights turned out. The atmosphere they created, along with candles and the music, just made the night feel like a dream. There were so many moments throughout the night that I just found myself so happy with where I was and what I was seeing and hearing and who I was with and talking to.

The night was so beautiful and I am so grateful for everyone who helped make it possible. I remember thinking in the days and moments leading up to the wedding, "I can't imagine how this is going to turn out to be the best day of my life." I stressed about it and hoped it would be everything I envisioned and hoped. But it turned out to be that and so much more. The entire experience was beautiful, fun, relaxing, and all-around wonderful. I can honestly say it was the best day of my life.

I have a lot of pictures so I wanted to break these wedding posts up into parts.
Check back tomorrow for more!