Wedding Planning: Gathering Inspiration

Hi friends! Happy Friday!

Now that we’re getting deeper into wedding planning, I wanted to start sharing some of the process with you all, and I thought it was appropriate to start back at the beginning of the planning process! Right after Mark and I got engaged, we took some time to just soak it in. We made some big decisions like when and where - we knew that we wanted a fairly long engagement, and that we wanted to get married at a venue that unique (and that I hadn’t shot a wedding at a bunch of times)!

It was nice to get those big decision out of the way, and then to sort of just take time to process this huge commitment we were planning to make to each other!

Once I was ready to really delve into planning, I started where any girl would, Pinterest. Pinterest gets a real bad rap, and I totally understand where that comes from. Looking through so many beautiful wedding images, really the best of the best, can not only be overwhelming, but I think leads a lot of planning couples to just copy a bunch of things they see others doing. I truly believe that a wedding should be first and foremost about your relationship with your partner, and celebrating that love. I also feel strongly that your wedding should reflect your values, beliefs, and taste as a couple, and nothing should deter that. This means that you shouldn’t be swayed by what other people do, or what families/friends want you to do. It also means that you should stick to the budget that makes most sense for you, whatever that may be.

Can you tell that i’ve though a lot about this? What can I say - i’ve seen a lot of weddings!

With all of that being said, I do think that if used in the right context, pinterest can be a really great tool and resource when planning any event, but especially a wedding. I mostly used the site to gather general inspiration at the beginning of planning, but since have used boards in order to keep lots of links in one place - and to also share lots of information with my bridal party and our mothers! It’s been so helpful for not only the wedding, but also in designing the invitations, and in the organizing of my bridal shower and bachelorette party.

Here are the two mood boards that I began with. These are what I brought to our planner when we first met with her. I feel comfortable sharing these because the vision has really changes and been majorly refined since these were made - but I will say it’s so fun to look back on these and to see so many elements of our wedding that came out of these images and were expanded upon.

If you’re in the beginning stages of planning, my best suggestion is to start with basics or your event: What are the feelings you want to evoke? What will dress code be? What kind of experience do you want your guests to have? For the most part, you don’t have to worry about budget, or how to bring anything to fruition, or any specifics really! once you refine your inspiration, those things will come into focus! I would also suggest to pull inspiration from many different places. Vintage weddings, architecture, and fine art were some of my favorite places to pull inspiration from, especially as we moved into a more cultivated vision for your wedding!