Wedding Planner or No Wedding Planner That Is The Question?

As I was planning my wedding, I faced the dilemma of whether or not I was going to be able to plan this wedding on my own and handle the stress or would I be able to afford a wedding planner, if I decided to have one.

Unfortunately, since I couldn’t afford it, I planned my own wedding.

Below I have listed the pros and cons of not have a wedding planner:

NO To Getting A Wedding Planner:

PROS:

1. Save money $$$!
2. You have a sense of accomplishment once the wedding is over and it turned out amazing.
3. You can do what you want without someone telling you otherwise.
4. You will know 100% of the time how things are going.
5. If your venue has a maitre d, you don’t really need a wedding planner. They do a pretty good job setting everything up.

CONS:

1. If you don’t deal with stress well, it can get stressful.
2. On the day of the wedding you are still left making sure everything goes well, unless you have an amazing maid of honor.
3. You learn first hand when what not to do by using your own wedding as the test subject.
4. All vendors contact you with problems and concerns.
5. If you are disorganized, you will be even more stressed and something will go terribly wrong.
6. If you are a spender, then you will blow your budget quickly because little purchases add up.

Essentially, if you are a control freak who is very organized and can handle stress well, with a little research and the combined experience of your vendors, you will be able to plan your wedding on your own.

If you are the complete opposite, then you are better off getting a wedding planner who can set a plan for you and stick with it.

Let me know what you think!

My Wedding Makeup/Hair: Before & After

How did I end up like this? Lol

Scroll down and see my before and after photos.

Me the day of the wedding without any makeup

Relaxed and ready for my hair to get done

My hair getting done.

Final touch!

Makeup time!

Some shadow…

More stuff!

All done!

My makeup and hair was done by Barbie at Cinderella Bridez. She did an awesome job. My makeup and hair lasted the whole entire day!

Check out their facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/cinderellabridez?fref=ts

Fun Ways to Ask “Will You Be My Bridesmide?”

http://www.wedinator.com

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Poll: What Makes A Great Wedding? Please Help Me Out!!!

Every Girl’s Favorite!!! The Dress!

The first thing I did after I got engaged was go dress shopping!

My outfit!!!

                 

I will have more photos to show soon.

The Details:

For my dress I selected a Sweetheart Beaded Lace Trumpet Gown Style CRL277  from David’s Bridal. http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Sweetheart-Beaded-Lace-Trumpet-Gown-CRL277_Bridal-Gowns-Features-All-Gowns

For my veil I chose the Two Tier Fingertip Length Veil Style V158 from David’s Bridal. http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Two-Tier-Fingertip-Length-Veil-V158_Accessories-Veils-All-Veils

The Engagement Party! Do We Really Need One?

What is an Engagement party?

The engagement party is a celebration for the soon-to-be married couple to bring both families together for the first time.  This party occurs within a few months of the actual engagement. Generally the parents of the bride handle the setup and cost of this celebration but in this day and age, anybody can foot the cost and plan the day. For my engagement party, I handled the planning and my parents and in-laws took care of the funds.  Some parties play games, tell stories, share baby photos and provide gifts to the couple (gifts are not a part of this party, although some people can bring a gift).

Planning an Engagement party?

I say keep it simple but of course, if you can and depending on your situation, go all out! You will hopefully only get married once, so why not make it the way you envisioned.

I kept it simple since I did all the planning  and I had enough stress with planning my own wedding which was only 6 months away.

This is what you need to do no matter how simple or elaborate you decide to have your engagement party:

1. Pick a date. Try not to pick a holiday or the Super Bowl! Pick a date that wouldn’t be an inconvenience for your guest.
2. Pick a location. I had mine at my in-law’s house with only the immediate family but if you want an elaborate engagement party you can choose a hall, a restaurant, a park, a beach, a hotel and the list goes on.
3. Pick a Style. This can be a color scheme or a theme. I chose pink for my engagement party because it was the color for my wedding. Have fun with it!
4. Pick the Food. Now for me this is the toughest part because you want your guest to be happy without making yourself unhappy about the food. There are many different options to choose from. You can have a buffet, catered, home cooked or at a restaurant. You can have a breakfast party, brunch party, lunch party, dinner party or a dessert party. The types of cuisines to choose from are endless. Think hard about what you like and what your parents can afford first. At the end you should be happy with your choice no matter what any body else thinks.

Do we really need an Engagement party?

NO!!! You don’t really have to have one.

If you don’t have room in your wedding budget for it, then don’t have it! Your family will love you either way. Instead of throwing a “party” just have a causal get together with family and friends without mentioning that it’s an engagement party. This will allow the two families to interact with each other before the wedding.

For my engagement party, I was extremely stressed. I had to wake up early to get to my in-law’s house and set up all the decorations. Not to mention, I baked cookies 2 days before as favors, which I had to decorate and package. I also had to make sure everything else was setup.

So, if you think that it will be too stressful then don’t do it! Save the best for last, the WEDDING!

Can’t talk about the wedding without talking about the Engagement. (Pt 2)

Back to my engagement story!

Like every other day, I came home from work and Emilio was home studying Chemistry.

We were sitting watching tv and drinking a Monster energy drink, but this day was different. As I was drinking the energy drink I noticed it felt weird, not thinking anything of it, I continued to drink it.

When the can was almost empty, I realized the can was still heavy, so I decided to peak inside the can. I saw something round and sliver but of course I didn’t think much of it, so I put the can down.  I decided to take another look and saw the little top of the can float by, so I put the can down again. As I put the can down I noticed Emilio’s facial expression and decided to look inside again. It was finally clear to me what it was. In excitement, I shook the ring out and then Emilio grabbed the ring from my hand. He went on one knee and asked the question I have been waiting four and a half years for,

WILL YOU MARRY ME? 

And of course I said YES!!!

6 Years Together and Happy!!! Here’s How We Did It.

Today my husband and I make 6 years as a couple, so I’m going to veer off my wedding for just a little. In any case, it definitely wasn’t easy getting to where we are now. We experienced the good and the bad in all shapes and sizes.

We started everything very quickly, from moving in with each other as teenagers after only 6 months of dating. Because of this, we had experienced everything at a different scale of crazy, but through it all we stuck together.

Why we decided at a young age to hold on and how it happened is hard to pin point exactly but I have a few ideas I think made a difference in our relationship.

1. We never kept how we truly felt about an issue bottled up inside: This is very important. I find when you hold in anger, frustration and/or disappointment it tends to escalate into a time bomb that with the tiniest incident can make it explode into something very ugly, which becomes harder to fix then if you would have spoken about it when it started. I say if it bothers you then say it.

2. Bend a little and let him/her win a disagreement: He or she might be wrong but sometimes if it’s a little thing just say ok, your right, I’ll be more mindful next time and actually mean it! Lord only knows how many times the argument went nowhere because I was right and he was right and we weren’t giving in until finally one of us finally realized it was a pointless argument.

3. Realize that you are your own person and he/she is his/her own person: I learned this after a year or two together. Just because I liked something one way doesn’t mean he would like it the same way. If you like to do something and your other half doesn’t then that’s ok. Have differences. If you are too much alike you lose the excitement in the relationship.

4. A disagreement is just that, a disagreement: When you take that word to heart you realize it is just that and it becomes easier to smile the next day and be happy to see each other.

5. See each other as equals: I hate when I hear certain things such as the myth that a woman is supposed to cook and clean. Our relationship is based on what we like to do or can tolerate. I hate washing dishes but I like cooking so after dinner he washes the dishes. Compromising is the best policy.

6. Love each other and show it!!!!!: Is sounds so simple but it’s really hard for some people. I tell him I love  him whenever I can and show it by doing little things. The little things really count, from notes left around the house to cleaning the house when it wasn’t expected.

I think if you follow the above six tips, you will be closer to a happy, long-term relationship.

Let me know what you think!!!

Can’t talk about the wedding without talking about the Engagement. (Pt 1)

Me and my now husband, have been dating since 2007. So it was about 4 1/2 years until he popped the question, which drove me mad. And, why wouldn’t it, I mean, we were only dating for longer than most people stay married!!! Of course, you would think, we have been together for this long and if he didn’t know by now that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me then he wasn’t going to know later, but my immature self, at the time, forget we were only 17 & 19 when we first started dating and were too young to make a decision like that. We finally grew up and realized we wanted to be with nobody else but each other.

The picture above is our first picture. I was 17 and he was 19. We look completely different now!

My Dream Came true!!!!

Before my dream could come true, a lot of work went into it!!! I’m what they call a do-it-yourselfer, so I decided to plan my own wedding.

I had no idea what I was doing as far as negotiating prices and budgeting, but I did know what I wanted. I would always watch David Tutera and dream of my wedding being as amazing as the weddings he designed. I wanted it all from the flowers, lighting, decor …etc. Of course, as any fan would, I waited around his site for months trying to see if there was a casting call that I could sign up for, but all casting calls were for CA wedding, which sucked!!!.

This Blog is my experience in a nutshell from start to finish!

Please feel free to give me your feedback and share any experiences you might have had (the good and the ugly).