Planning Through the Holidays

Wedding Wednesday

First, let's address the obvious, I realize it's Thursday not Wednesday and that this post is a day behind. This week (yesterday specifically) was a bit more than I could handle. I fly out of DC to Hawaii today and from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed yesterday I was running errands, packing, doing laundry, and prepping my camera/equipment for the trip.

Anyways, I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas holiday and if you're back to work this week, I'm sorry to hear that. I took two weeks off for the holiday, a friend's wedding (in HAWAII), and of course my own wedding coming up NEXT WEEK! This is an extremely exciting time and the weeks have just flown by faster than I expected!

I wanted to talk a little bit about my experience of planning a wedding in a) for the "off season" and b) over a holiday season. There are pros and cons to a wedding at this time of the year and you should consider all of your options when picking a date.

The off season is that time of year when fewer weddings are occurring, the frequency at which vendors are booked for these months are much slower, and generally life has slowed down in the wedding industry. So, what's the advantage to an "off season" wedding? Number one for me, the ability to plan in a short amount if time yet still have a wide range of options to choose from when looking at vendors. Our greatest score? Our wedding photographer. Photographers book extremely quickly usually at least a year out so planning a wedding in 3 months can complicate things. Next biggest score(s), our locations! We were able to book or ceremony at the church Joe and I fell in love with a while ago and our reception location was available plus we are the only wedding that weekend which means cost savings and very special attention!!

The cons of booking in the off season? The wedding off season is in the winter so bundle up and prepare yourself for unexpected weather...did you see the snow yesterday (hence the picture of Maddie)?! I was overwhelmed with things to do throw in a wintery mix and I was reminded reminded that sometimes you just have to let things go. Another con? People are taking vacation, well deserved, but when you have a wedding to plan your life certainly isn't gong on hold. This blends with point 2, the holidays are rough to plan during. This week more than ever my vendors are away and I don't blame them, I also want to spend time with my family that doesn't include crunching numbers or picking out details over my holiday. I did my best to get as much done as possible before December and then made a point to not look at anything for 24-48 hours. Christmas time was harder than Thanksgiving since we are closer to the big day but I did my best.

A pro about having a wedding close to the holidays? It's not scorching outside. Not to mention look how pretty everything is with decorations and how happy people are with their new things/toys/gagets. Everyone is in a great mood around the holidays.

Happy Wedding Wednesday (or Thursday)!

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