Wedding Planning Update- Just 1 More Month!!

You guys... YOU GUYS!! There is exactly 1 month until the wedding day!!! Holy cow, where did the time go?! I swear it feels like just yesterday that we picked out our venue and really started planning. At the same time, it feels like a freakin eternity that I've been planning this wedding!! 

If I could describe the last month in one word, I'd probably pick hard. Or emotional. Or "the worst". Yep, with the pressure of the wedding day fast approaching and the flurry of RSVP's coming in (or not coming at all...) I'd say this month was one of the hardest so far. Let's see what happened, shall we?

Hair and makeup trial/trip

I did my hair and makeup trial! Since my wedding venue is about 3 hours from my house, I decided to do a weekend trip over there with my gals so they could give me advice and also see the venue. We traveled to Honesdale, PA (about 30 mins from our venue) and stayed at a cute little hotel. We had some laughs and dinner/drinks, then went for my hair and makeup trial the next day. I originally wanted a natural look, but I realized that translated to slathering me in makeup and trying to make me look like myself again. It resulted in me looking like a fake version of myself! So I decided to go a little more glam and I liked that look much better. I can't wait for John to see me on the day of :) 

John suit- picked up

John's suit got picked up and all his alterations are done. We also picked out his shoes and belt, tie, etc. All he needs is probably a shirt, because the one we bought a few months back is a little loose on him. I'm so excited to see him all dressed up on the big day. 

First dress fitting- done

I had my first dress fitting last month, and my amazing seamstress is stitching away to make my dress look dreamy on me. I'll be heading over next week for my second fitting! I'm so excited to see the dress when it actually fits on me. I'm kinda nervous, because what if it doesn't look as good as it did with the clips?! Wedding dress shopping is so stressful. Guys are lucky they only need a suit! 

Custom made veil- ordered!

I wanted my veil to have a little something extra, so I decided to make my own. However, that was going to take time I don't have so my lovely seamstress/designer is going to make one for me! I'm so excited to see how it turns out. It's got a little something special, and I'm so excited to wear it. 

Crafts Day- Done!

I gathered up my friends and family for a crafts day this past weekend. I had so many things on the to-do list and so little time. It was great to have an assembly line of people ready to help. I don't think I can emphasize enough how amazing and relaxing it was to have everyone there helping me. I finally felt like I could breathe for a minute! I highly recommend having people over to help. I have some tips here. 

Wedding Ceremony- Planned

Can you believe that we didn't have our ceremony planned, like at all?! We are having a friend do the ceremony and we finally sat down this past weekend to get the details laid out. She's going to draft something up for us within a few weeks and then we'll do a trial run! 

RSVP's- Returned

This month we sent out our wedding invitations and got back our RSVPs. Since our wedding is somewhat of a destination wedding, we had sent them earlier to make sure people were able to reserve their rooms, which were blocked off until 6 weeks before the wedding. Getting back RSVP's was one of the worst parts about planning so far. First off, I recommend adding an option for online RSVPs. It's not only cheaper (a special bonus) but it's easier. We sent out so many cards that weren't returned and got texts back instead. Postage wasted! 

Then, the actual responses. I already knew that people (mostly on my side) were a bit unhappy with the distance of our venue. The truth is that it's a little far (about 2 hours away for most people) but there were family members on John's side where they would have to travel about 2 hours just to get to our house, or other areas that were close to my family. Stuffy reception halls, the same ones everyone else had their weddings and parties over the years, was not where we wanted to have our wedding. It resulted in John getting about 6 no RSVPs and me getting a whopping 30+. This included friends and close family members. And I'd be lying if I said that each one didn't feel like a small stab in the gut. 

Seating Chart- Done

While the RSVP's made me want to crawl in a hole and cry, the seating chart kinda put things back into perspective for me. John and I used this method to do our seating chart, and it was actually extremely helpful. We picked different colors for each of us, for friends and for family, 4 colors in total. I realized that although John had nearly all his family coming, I still had a lot of friends (that I consider family) and some of my parents' close friends that I have known for YEARS coming. Seeing all my pink and purple seating tags made me see the people coming, instead of only focusing on those who can't. I'm still trying to get over the rejected feelings I have for those not coming, but I at least feel better for now. 

Emotions- All of 'Em.

Ugh, this month was a rollercoaster of emotions. I don't ever want to do that again haha. I had the highest of highs (OMG our wedding is only x days away!) and the lowest of the lows (Why doesn't anyone love me? Why did we bother to throw a wedding if no one would come?) I felt pretty shitty for a large portion of this month, as I anxiously waited for RSVP cards from guests who had only complained about distance, or otherwise made my wedding seem like an inconvenience to them. For a little while I thought I'd only have my closest friends and my parents there for me. I feel like I sound like a whining baby but seriously, you don't realize how upsetting it is until you see all those "no" boxes checked off. 

My Wedding Hashtag Got Stolen.

I almost forgot... someone took my wedding hashtag! I first searched the hashtag when I picked my venue and literally no one had ever used it. I tagged a pic of my venue with it. Within a year, 2 people had used it and one more is using it after my wedding! This was another irrational freak out I had (Bridezilla coming out) but I decided to just ignore it. In the end, I know I used it first, plus I own the URL. As a friend said... "hashtags are a trend. URLs are forever." So everyone's going to have to sift through some other brides to find my photos (hah!) but I'll keep posting my stuff on there too. That's what happens when you go from a practically non-existant last name (Sarlis) to a popular one (Cardona). 

Also a note- your wedding hashtag is supposed to be UNIQUE. So, don't use one that someone else already did. (Update: It’s so funny what seems like a huge deal when you’re wedding planning. In the end, barely anyone even used the hashtag! So, I freaked out over absolutely nothing.)

I feel like this post was heavy, so I'm going to try to wrap this up with some advice, and maybe a positive note? Ummm... uh.... don't focus on the people that didn't come. Focus on the ones who did. Any time someone says something negative, remember that they aren't criticizing you, but they're just upset about how if affects them. Then, re-read a text from someone that was excited or call a family member that you know is excited. Tell them something fun and positive you did (We just ordered the favors!) and see how they get all excited. For every Negative Nancy, there's 5 others that are Happy Harriet's. (that's a scientific fact, but don't look it up :p). Also you get what you put in- so if you call a family member to complain and be negative, you'll probably breed more negativity and it'll be harder to shake. So try to focus on the good. Easier said than done, but that's my advice :p 

Need to do:

Bachelorette party- later this month I have my bachelorette! We are going to Philly, and I'm really excited. I've never been to Philly before, but my sis went and it seemed colorful and fun. She was telling her coworker about her upcoming trips and her coworker was like, wow you guys like Pennsylvania, huh? I guess we do! We're going 3 times this summer, between the trial, bachelorette, and wedding haha.

Final fitting and jewelry- I need to get my dress all perfectly fitted, and I need to get some jewelry to go with it. I also need to decide what I want. Dangly earrings, or studs? Necklace or no necklace?! I have no idea, but I need to decide soon!!

Finalize the little loose ends- I created a Trello board a few months back and added in all the tasks, and it's actually been really really useful! I think I'm going to do a blog post about it, because it's really helped me to stay organized and get everything done. I'm down to the last few tasks, and yet somehow my board looks just as full as a month ago! It's amazing how many little things there are to do for a wedding!

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 Phew! I'm tired. This was a rough month of planning, but it's over now, and the wedding is so close I can practically see it. If I have time, maybe I'll do a post 2 weeks before with some last minute wrap ups and details. Otherwise, your next post will be from Mrs. Cardona herself!!

So... any last minute advice? Did you get really bummed over your RSVP's? Think I'm simply crazy? Let me know in the comments below!