Welcome back to the blog and welcome to the second post in my wedding planning series! In my last post, we talked about how to get started, choosing a venue, and setting a budget. Now that you likely have your date secured, you will naturally want to start looking for vendors!
Choosing Your Vendors
If you choose to create a wedding website on a platform like the Knot, they will suggest local vendors that you can research. Your venue may also supply a list of recommended vendors that they have worked with in the past. This is the avenue that we chose, supplemented with recommendations from friends and family members who knew of vendors used at other weddings.
Even though we were born and raised at the Jersey Shore, we knew that this is often viewed as a “destination” wedding location. With that in mind, we tried to be very intentional about the vendors that we selected in terms of how much we were willing to spend on each and which ones would make the most impact on our day. I am firm believer that simpler is better and we decided to only book a photographer, a DJ, and a florist as our venue took care of decor, catering, and our cake. We discussed the possibility of adding a videographer, but at the end of the day, we decided that we would likely look at pictures more often than we would watch a video. I know that this is not the case for every couple, but it is what worked best for us and for our budget! As I said before, if you take some time to figure out what you both want and/or which aspects of the day you are willing to save vs. splurge on, it makes the process of making decisions so much easier!
I let my fiancé (now husband) take the lead on finding our DJ, and we ended up booking with Kevin from SCE Event Group. We could not have had a better experience! Kevin was incredibly professional and was very helpful throughout the planning process. He carefully listened to all of our ideas and as he got to know us, he was able to curate a playlist of songs and mixes that truly represented us which was great! It also worked out that he shot a bunch of video content for us throughout the night, so it kind of made up for the fact that we didn’t book a videographer.
The only thing I could say that I was a bit “picky” with throughout the planning process was the photography! Being on social media and having a blog has definitely influenced the style and aesthetic of photos that I like. I love the soft, bright, and light look and was determined to find a photographer with this timeless style that fit our budget! I did lots of Instagram research, sent a bunch of emails, and ultimately found Catarina Olivia Photography. When I say we hit the jackpot with Catarina, I am not exaggerating!! She truly was the perfect photographer to capture our day. She was so kind and sweet, made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera, and had our sneak peeks back in less than 24 hours! She was also very flexible with our scheduling needs. With my husband being in the military and living six hours from home, we had trouble finding time to schedule the engagement photos that were included in our selected package. Catarina was completely understanding and was able to squeeze us in the week of the wedding haha!
For our florals, I knew that I wanted to keep things simple. Shortly after we got engaged, I came across this photo (left) on Pinterest and I was immediately sold! This bouquet had all of my favorite flowers and colors. This photo would actually be what I centered my entire color scheme around! I visited a few local florists, and decided on Petal Street in Point Pleasant. They could not have been sweeter and gave me the best deal for what we needed. They truly made my vision come to life and everyone’s bouquets and boutonnieres looked great!
Finding Your Dress
Once we had our venue and vendors booked, it was time to start dress shopping! For me, this was around the end of October 2023 for my August 2024 wedding. My dress arrived in April and I had three fittings for simple alterations. There is no hard and fast rule on the timing for this, but sooner rather than later may be best, especially if you have a very detailed dress!
I was never the girl who had a dream dress or a vivid image in my mind of what I wanted my wedding dress to look like. I did know, however, that I didn’t love ballgowns and that I would be most comfortable in a dress that was not strapless. In a way, knowing what I didn’t like was very helpful!
I scheduled my first appointment at Abigail Bride in Asbury Park. I had an amazing experience here and would definitely recommend it to any local brides! I was not familiar with any of the designers, but I told them that I had seen a few pictures of dresses with square necklines and bows in the back that I liked, but other than that, I was pretty open minded. After walking around the store with my mom, my sister (who was also my Maid of Honor), and my grandmother, we had a selection of 10 dresses. Little did I know, my dress was one of these ten! I think going in with an open mind and no expectations of finding “the one” truly helped to make this experience enjoyable! My dress did end up having a twisted square neckline with a piece of fabric that tied into a bow at the back. It was strapless initially, but I was able to add straps to it which I loved. I tried it on with a pearl veil and we all agreed that it was my dress!
If you are like me and didn’t really know where to begin when it comes to dress shopping, here are a few of my recommendations to help make the process a little less overwhelming:
- Go in with an open mind and try your best to limit expectations
- I know it is not common to walk into the store on day one and find your dress. I definitely was not expecting to! However, having this mindset was ultimately for the best. It took away the pressure of “needing” to find my dress that particular day and allowed me to try on a bunch of different styles. Even if you don’t think you will like it, try it on anyway! It may look better on than it does on the hanger.
- Keep your group small
- No pressure, but this is arguably the most important dress you will ever wear! Having other people’s opinions is very helpful given that this is such a special occasion, but I suggest keeping your group as small as possible. I would have loved to have included more people on our shopping trip, but I chose to bring three people who know me best, who I could trust would be honest with me, and who would help me narrow down my choices to find the dress that was best suited for me and my style. This is not to say that these three family members are the only people who fit this criteria. As fun as it would have been to bring more people along, it ended up being a special moment just for the four of us that we will never forget!
- Make sure you are comfortable!
- At the end of the day, you are the one wearing this dress – it is important to ensure that you can comfortably walk, move, and dance in it! It is also worth noting the material of the dress – this really matters! I tried on a few that were absolutely gorgeous, but the material was too heavy, especially for a summer wedding. Details such as these definitely played a role in my ability to narrow down the 10 dresses I tried on to a top 3.
- You should feel like yourself but also like a bride!
- I knew that I would likely end up choosing something on the simpler side, but there were definitely a few dresses I tried on that made me feel like I was going to the prom and not my wedding, haha! It sounds like a no brainer, but you should be able to envision yourself walking down the aisle in this dress! When you find your dress, you will know. It’s hard to explain, but you will get a different feeling when you find the one.
Thank you so much for reading! In my next post, we’ll cover ordering and sending save the dates, and building your wedding registry!
