Flowers, Chalkboard Signs, and Glitter

“How’s wedding planning going?”

Let me just start by saying that this question is probably the third most frequently asked question of brides. It sits under “When’s the wedding?” and “How long have you been engaged?” Unfortunately, even though it’s a pretty simple question (no rocket science involved here), it probably gets the worst, and most dishonest, answers.

My choice of response to this question is usually “It’s coming along.” But in reality, and in my head, I’m really thinking “It was going well, until your question sparked the wedding planning area of my brain. Now I’m remembering that I’m three weeks late booking the caterer, I haven’t chosen between pink peonies or roses or both, and I most definitely haven’t decided whether we want vanilla or chocolate cake.”

Don’t get me started on the many details you never think about when it comes to a wedding. Do you want twinkle lights behind the head table? Do you want real flowers or fake flowers? What about the colour of the tablecloths? How about the seating plan?

These questions almost make me want to throw my Ultimate Wedding Planner & Organizer Binder in the air (except that I don’t because my Aunt bought it for me and it’s actually pretty helpful). But I’ve been thinking about this whole planning process and the more I plan, the more I understand the true meaning of elegance.

Are we going to have a huge bedazzled monogram of our initials? No, probably not. Are we going to have a cake so big that it could probably feed the entire town that we’re having our wedding in? No, probably not. Are we going to have chalkboard signs everywhere that let our guests know where to go? No… Well, actually yes, we’ll probably have some of those.

My point is that a wedding doesn’t have to be a huge, red carpet, glitter everywhere event. It just has to represent who you and your new husband are, what you’re about, and who you’re serving (I’ll give you a hint: you’re serving your spouse and God). A simple wedding doesn’t tell people that you couldn’t be bothered to get fancy monograms or expensive aisle runners. The important thing is that your wedding matches your interests.

DIY: Tried, Tested, and True

For those of us who are on Pinterest, we know there are about a million and one different DIY projects out there. And honestly, I’m a little weary to try some of those projects. I mean, you can turn pretty much anything old into something new and useful. There are also so many hair tutorials that promise it will only take 5 minutes to create the look you want, but you spend 5 minutes just reading the instructions! By the time you’re done with your hair, if the instructions were easier said than done, all you want to do is throw your hair up in a messy bun and lounge around the house all day.

But there is hope for those of us who really want to get those pretty braids or cute bow hairstyles to work for us. The point of this section of my blog (DIY) is to present all of the DIY projects, hair tutorials, and make up tutorials that actually worked for me. I can’t promise that if they worked for me that they will work for you too (at least not all of the time), but it’s worth a try.