Planning The Wedding

HELLO AGAIN all, It’s been A MINUTE since I’ve last posted about our wedding and I’ll be honest, I had all the best intentions on getting this blog post up on our actual 1 Year Anniversary July 22nd, along with our full wedding video but life happens, right?! Better late than never, as they say! 😀 Well, it’s finally here and Brides this is a special addition for you!! Read through to the bottom for lots of wedding planning insight! IGTV wasn’t my best friend in getting our full wedding video uploaded so after trying everything possible, I finally reached out to my amazing Videographer for help because he’s so awesome he helped me out immediately so it’s now LIVE on IGTV! Although, because of IGTV’s video regulations most of the picture is cut off through the entire video. . so no worries! I’ve got the link for it in this post so you can experience it the way it was supposed to be seen!  🙂

He just took you to a special place, had this whole set up prepared to surprise you, had the whole day with family and friends or maybe just the two of you planned around this one moment, where he got down on one knee, told you how much you mean to him and how he could never live without you, then uttered those 4 words every girl waits her whole life to hear. . . “Will You Marry Me?” while pulling that ring box out of his pocket.

  Emotions run high, happy tears are shed, she exclaims “YES” with excitement, the ring is placed on her left finger, hugs and kisses are given, and you are now ENGAGED and get to call your significant other your “FIANCE!”

  Next comes telling everyone about the exciting news, and then Immediately after ALL the questions begin about details on the wedding like. . . “When is the Wedding?!?!” and you’re like. . umm I have no clue because we Just got engaged! lol or “Do you know what kind of dress you want?”, “Who will be in your wedding party?!”, “Where do you want your wedding to be?”, and the questions go on . . .

and unless you are one of those girls who has their entire wedding planned before the question is ever popped (which is a rare few, and GOOD FOR YOU if you are one of those girls!!) but if you’re like the other 95% of us who have no friggin clue yet on ANY details then when all these questions start rolling in you may start to feel Pretty Stressed and Overwhelmed!

   Now I know budget is always a MAJOR killer when it comes to planning a wedding, especially if you’re engagement was a surprise! If you have to splurge on ONE thing (Besides your dress of course) then I would say a Wedding Planner WOULD BE IT! Your big day is meant to be FUN and MEMORABLE for Everyone but most importantly for the BRIDE and GROOM! And without a Wedding Planner, who do you think all the responsibility, planning, details, and stress come back to?… That’s right, THE BRIDE and that means the Groom is stressed too because no Groom is a happy man when his Bride turns into a Bridezilla. 🙂

   So you may be wondering, if you are local to the Chattanooga area, “Who did you use as your Wedding Planner?” Well I CANNOT brag enough on mine — The one, The only, Tina Murray with  InStyle Weddings and Events She was my Momma Bear during the whole wedding process and kept me, stress free from the minute I met with her for the very first time all the way through my wedding day, although let’s be honest it’s hard to be TOTALLY stress free as a Bride but she, with all her experience, knew just exactly my vision and helped me execute it perfectly! She’s worked in this industry for many many years so had knowledge and experience with almost EVERY Single vendor you can think of local to Chattanooga and could honestly tell me who I would like, who would give me the best quality for the money, and stay within my budget. She is also the SWEETEST and treats you like you are her own daughter (Also why I called her my Momma Bear) and will even shed tears over you on your wedding day. That Connection with Tina was REAL and what I feel every Bride truly wants during the planning process.

   All you Brides out there Please, Please, take this one piece of advice I beg you and HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER!! You WILL NOT regret it!! We don’t have time for all that stress and hassle that every single vendor will be putting on you and they will put it on you ON the actual wedding day too. This one Most special day of your life is meant to be enjoyed and lived up to the fullest, be in and love every single moment because it already goes by in the blink of an eye so there’s Literally No Time to deal with anything else besides Enjoying Your Day! This is why I love Tina and InStyle Weddings and Events so much because that is her main focus and her main goal is to make sure you are just as much in love with your day as you are with your Handsome Groom! -And you will also fall just as much in love with Tina!!

   So that being my biggest piece of advice I hope this can help all you New Brides out there on where to begin.

Here is a little check-list I would start with.

1. Choose your Wedding Date!

   This will be the one thing you need to know when booking ANY vendor for your wedding Including your Wedding Planner! Definitely choose the date before anything else! Not to mention this will be the number one question you will be asked after getting engaged! 🙂

2. Buy yourself a Wedding/Brides Daily Planner Book. OR Download “The Knot” app and create yourself an account

   I bought myself a Planner book from Home Goods that I was blessed to come across one day and it lead me through multiple lists of tasks to tackle and check off and write down information  along the way. It broke it up into “6 months before the wedding” “3 months before” “2 months” “1 month” and so forth, you get the picture. For each time frame it had a list of things that needed to be done by that time. It was Very Helpful, and keeps you on track along the way so you don’t forget or miss something and then have to stress about it last minute or maybe miss it all together. “The Knot” app is the exact same way and also very helpful! The biggest difference is just being able to have something tangible and the book had places you could put business cards of all the different vendors you’re sure to talk to, especially if you go to Bridal Show.

   I actually did BOTH the book and the app! Because I honestly thought both of them were fun, plus you can create your own wedding website through “The Knot” which is always fun and makes everything seem more official.

3. Pick out the color scheme for the Big Day!

   The reason this is on the top of the priority list is because almost everything that you do and put together will be around what your color scheme is, the decor – including drapery, centerpieces, the bridesmaids dresses, the mens tuxes, details of the cake, how your family will want to dress, Flowers, lighting, etc. This will also help for when you plan to ask your closest friends and family to be part of your big day in a special way. . . which leads me to the next one. . .

4. Ask those who mean the most to you if they will say “YES” to standing by your side as you say “I Do” !

   This is definitely something that is better being done sooner than later because there will be quite a few things they will be involved in along the way including getting fitted for dresses/tuxes! Find a fun way to ask them which can also include fun little mementoes all within the color scheme for the big day. This will be pretty and fun for them to receive and give them an idea of your wedding vision.

   I had a girls get together at my house with all the girls I wanted to be my “Bride Tribe”. I decorated my dining room with a “Bride Tribe” banner, I had pictures of me with each of the girls hanging in front of the window, I had cookies made in the shape of diamond rings (Since I was proposing to them), I had a gourmet cheese platter with crackers and some fruit set out. Also, I knew everyone in my wedding party would enjoy a nice bottle of wine or bubbly so I hand picked a bottle for each one that I knew she liked and had labels custom made on Etsy to wrap around the bottles with their names on it and asking them to be my Bridesmaids/ Maid of Honor. I had these sitting in a basket with an arrow bracelet wrapped around the neck of each bottle to go with the “Bride Tribe” theme. (Can you tell I like to plan and throw parties/ get togethers??) I probably went a little more overboard then most or maybe not even as much as some. This is totally something you just DO YOU here! and Have Fun with it! Oh yeah, I also had the movie ‘Bridesmaids’ playing the whole time 😀 -This was also our theme all the way to the Wedding Day- All things ‘Bridesmaids’ because that may be the best movie ever made! 🙂

   While I had this going on at our house Richie took his guys out for golf and drinks and asked them to be his Groomsmen.

5.  The next step. . Go ahead and BOOK YOUR WEDDING PLANNER. . . since you already know I Highly suggest getting one and have given you a referral if you are in the Chattanooga area! (Tell her I sent you!)

6. Book your Venue!! So this is very high on the list right there with booking your wedding planner because there’s only that One Venue that will be your favorite and the one you imagine having the most special, biggest, magical day of your life so Don’t Wait on the search and on booking your Venue! If you’ve been following my posts on Instagram – @emmalaura_j then you’ve probably noticed our venue was the Chattanooga Golf & Country Club. were able to have both our ceremony and reception here so keep that in mind on your search as well. Are you wanting to have your ceremony in a church with the reception at a different location?

 -Venues book up EXTREMELY fast just like Quality Wedding Planners do so I can’t express enough be ready to book it when you find The One! Your Seasoned Wedding Planner can be a big help for you here with knowing what it is you want, the feel you want, your must haves, what you can do without, and they’ll know which venues will fit your needs best.

  You may look at so many venues that they begin to run together so you may ask, “How do you know when it’s the one?”

  As soon as I stepped foot on each venue I looked at I would fall In Love with it just imagining having my wedding there, but I decided I was always going to wait and think on it for at least a day (I would suggest NEVER booking on the spot unless it’s your second or third viewing of the venue) I also wanted to discuss it with Richie and family- (Although He would have been fine with the courthouse) 😉 think about everything that venue has to offer and what all I might would have to do EXTRA because the venue didn’t offer it. What did I know that I wanted to have more than anything as part of my wedding and would that venue offer it or let me do it. Also, the vibe of the place was very important to me. There are so many barn venues these days, and although I think they can be gorgeous venues, it just wasn’t what I was feeling for my wedding day (Personal Preference)! I definitely wanted it to be a party but I also wanted a more formal atmosphere. SO. . . once we looked at the CG&CC for the first time and after we left that place I KNEW that was it!! There were absolutely No hesitations, No questions holding me back. We had a very detailed conversation with the event coordinator, I understood what all they had to offer and what would be included, it was like this venue was pulled out from the vision of my dream wedding, plus I knew that Richie liked it as well which just put the cherry on top of that ice cream sunday.

7. Start the dress search! IMPORTANT FACT HERE: : Start your dress search knowing you will need at least a 6 MONTH cushion of time for your dress to be ordered, made, and shipped. This was NOT something I was aware of before starting to dress shop but luckily since I had such a long engagement once I did start the search I still had plenty of cushion time for my dress to come in. But can you imagine the horror of finding your dream wedding dress and finding out that you won’t be able to get it in time for your wedding?!?! That might be one of, if not The worst thing to happen to a bride! Now that you know what your venue is going to be this will help you with the style of dress as well. Never settle on your wedding dress – so always do the style that you’re in love with that fits you the most. Since there are different styles just like there are different styles of venues, more than likely you will already have the style of dress in mind that will also fit the style of your venue. I.E. we had a formal venue and I went with a more formal dress – which is what I always envisioned. THAT BEING SAID. . . It seems to Never Fail that brides will have a specific style/shape dress in mind that they want but when you start trying them on that. changes. EVERYTHING! I thought I wanted more of a ball gown shaped dress but once I started trying them on I realized I didn’t feel like a bride in those I felt more like a little girl playing dress up for a Ball. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that the ball gown style makes others look like “little girls” that’s just the way it made me feel. Again, Personal Preference here! You Do You Ladies!! I ended up falling IN LOVE with the fit and flare style which I had always previously told myself that was the last style I would ever want for a wedding dress . . well honey, that’s what I went with because I ended up head over heels for it once I tried them on! It gave me more sophisticated, chic vibes and made me feel more like a woman, and let’s be honest I also wanted to feel sexy in my wedding dress! The fit and flare was so perfect for me! Another piece of advice here, give yourself time to gather your thoughts and understand what will make you feel the best on your big day. You will try on so many dresses that it can become a blur but one thing is for sure, once you find the dress that is The One it will stand out from the crowd like a bright white rose in the middle of a thousand red ones. You may shed some tears along with the ones who came to accompany you on the journey and you will just know, “This is THE ONE!” -Such a fun unforgettable moment! Oh and don’t forget the Veil, the Shoes, and the jewelry you want to go along with the ensemble! Maybe go ahead and see if you can incorporate something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue with some of these things!

8. Once you have your dress picked out it’s time to figure out how the Groom needs to dress (if he doesn’t already know what he wants) and the rest of the wedding party! These dresses can also take a long time to come in so go ahead and schedule a time for you and your bridesmaids to go and have them try on dresses and be fitted. It will make everything go more smoothly if you already have what you want for them in mind such as the color, style of dress, fabric, length, etc. Everyone (Should) understand that this is the Brides day and it’s whatever the Bride wants so make some decisions beforehand on these details! Also, you can make a fun day out of it by bringing some Champagne, if the boutique allows it, or go out afterwards for some cocktails to celebrate! Everything feels like it’s coming together! The Groom and Groomsmen don’t have to worry as much on timing for their tuxes or whatever their ensemble may be so it’s not quite as much of a rush as the Bride and Bridesmaids dresses.

9. If I had to choose which Vendor to get booked next I would say simultaneously go ahead and book your Photographer, Videographer, and what you want for music/entertainment. By this time you have had at least 1 sit-down meeting with your wedding planner (with Tina you have a Free Consultation with her before you ever have to commit but be ready to because you will fall in love with her!) and this portion of planning is where she can help you choose who to go with for all your vendors such as for a DJ or Band, Florist, Drapery, Caterer, Baker for the Cake, Videographer, Photographer, Make-Up Stylist, Hair Stylist. . the list can go on and on you all. With Tina I think we only needed to meet twice because she was openly available through email and text after I committed to her. (Which is a huge blessing to have because if you are like me then you will end up having a million questions along the way!) You will find along with the venues and quality wedding planners,  vendors also book up quickly!! Your wedding planner will help you stay on schedule but keep in mind you will need to book fast! –

10. Don’t forget about ordering your wedding rings! One of the most symbolic parts of the ceremony is when you place your spouse’s wedding ring on their finger with your vow to them to seal the deal – right before the kiss that is. Sometimes your fiance may have already purchased the full wedding set when he bought your engagement ring so then you only have to concentrate on his wedding band. Most of the time, I think guys are usually pretty simple in what they want and luckily their rings are a lot cheaper than ours!

More to come on weddings on Eye of The Chic and as always leave a comment below and any questions or things you need help or advice on. I’d love to help you!

In celebration of our 1 Year Anniversary here is our FULL Wedding Video!  Click “Video Menu” and then “Feature” to watch the full video.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter into my AMAZING giveaway on my Instagram and Facebook post of this picture. . . 

Love to all,