7 months out.

I love blogging, telling little tid bits of my day to anyone who is willing to listen. However, the last five months have been so busy with wedding stress, decisions and hoopla I have not yet had the time to create. Engaged on June 10, we decided to wait the traditional year with a June 2 date set. Eighteen bridal magazines have managed to overtake my coffee table, acting as a verbose reminder of checklists, appointments, to do's and hundreds of dresses, cakes, place settings, photograph styles and much much more. On my desk sits a 5 pound binder with cutouts from those various magazine, contracts, contracts and more contracts and of course timelines. We are 7 months from becoming Mr. and Mrs. but overwhelmed is a understatement. It comes in waves; however, and I must say for the past week I have been relaxed. Sidenote, you should know that in my year to get fit and fabulous, I joined Gold's gym. Three spin classes later, an injury overtook my health and posture. I overworked facet joints in the lower back, where the only treatment was physical therapy and muscle relaxers. Feeling better, not perfect.

I've been reluctant to look at my to do list in that it is invitation time! But let's digress. 

In the first month, we had the venue booked, church booked, florist booked, decor booked. It's not impossible. 

TOUR

We visited three venues before deciding on a nearby ballroom and those three visits were about an hour from meet to tour to formalities. Do not book the venue before the church. This was some of the best advice I was given. For, without a church, there wouldn't be a marriage to celebrate. We're Catholic, so skewing from the path of tradition would not fly in the family. We did look at some all inclusive venues, but just decided it wasn't us. 

READ

Young adults, finding true love and preparing dream weddings dig and dig night after night through countless photos of dresses, bouquets, wedding bands, etc. I was very pleased to find that local florists and planners are stellar bloggers! Though not booked in that first month, I stumbled upon our photographer through her blog. It's a great way to get a feel for styles, which is a whole other subject matter. Photojournalism wedding photographer vs. traditional versus a hybrid versus artistic...and it goes on and on.

DELEGATE
I was totally out of my comfort zone delegating to my future hus, Kyle. However, I realized I could not be the contract negotiator, especially when blocking rooms. Guess what!? He did it, and it was great. Negotiating blocks, especially for parties of 30+ was his strong suite and he rocked it. He is also planning honeymoon, men's attire (I may step in here) and actually I think that's about it. And that's okay!