Marty, how far in advance did you start planning your wedding?  My husband proposed to me the evening before I graduated from WSU. We had about 9 months from that time to plan

Did you have a wedding planner, or who was your main helper?  I planned most everything myself but it was with the help of my family, friends and vendors that the day I dreamed of was possible. I consider myself a pretty creative person and I am sure that a lot of my helpers thought at times I might be crazy; but spite their concern they believed in my ideas and worked hard to make them happen. Many thanks to all of them!

What was the most important part of the planning in your mind? Above all else we wanted our wedding to be centered on family and friends. We wanted our guests to feel involved. So we included a candle lighting ceremony as part of our unity candle lighting. Above all else, I think I was surprised that this went as smooth as it did. When it came time to do the unity candle the lights dimmed and a designated guest in the each of the back rows lit their candle and then passed the flame to the next person. This proceeded until the entire room was lit and the flames ended with our mothers. Then both or our mothers got up and lit our candles and we went on to light our candle. Throughout our wedding and reception we included a great deal of sentiment. We shared our wedding day with my grandparent’s wedding day so we honored them by renewing their vows at the reception. In addition, we had a small cake for them to cut, gave them a first dance, had a toast to them and had them precede my mother and I down the aisle to give me away. It was by far one of the most beautiful days I will ever remember.

What were your general impressions of the actual day? What do you remember most about the day? The day did go by rather quickly and I am surprised that I remember as much as I do; However, I am sure that with time those memories will begin to fade. For that very reason I felt that a good videographer and photographer were necessities. I wasn’t overwhelmed by surprises but I tried to make most everything foolproof. I even designated one of my friends to hold the “wedding day playbook” that I had made. It included a timeline, names of the bridal party and family, a back-up CD of the music for the ceremony and the reception, names of vendors and contacts, a  copy of the “do not playlist”  for the DJ and any additional information I deemed might be necessary at that time. This allowed me to be just the bride and enjoy the day without being bombarded by questions or problems. If something did go wrong I doubt I would have known about it. Thank you Holly! 

What advice would you give to women planning their weddings today? Don’t be mean and be VERY flexible.  Everyone just wants to help and many of them have done this before so take their warnings and advice seriously. This doesn’t mean that what you want can’t happen; It simply means that you may need to make some alterations to make things work. Remember your wedding day is supposed to be a happy day. You’re mission is to get married and the reception is your reward. So try to relax and enjoy it.

Any additional Comments? Be sure to talk to other brides about their day. This will allow you to better prioritize and plan for your wedding day. For example, if you talk to one bride that says she wished she would have had more time to spend with guests then find out why she didn’t have that time and plan your wedding so that you have an opportunity to mingle. Or perhaps a bride had a bad experience with music at the wedding ceremony. Find out why and do what you can to prepare and avoid the same situation. Finally, your dream wedding is possible if you are willing to be creative and FLEXIBLE. Not everything is always going to go perfectly that day, but don’t frown or get upset about it. If you keep smiling then your guests will never know that something went wrong!

Invitations: If not careful, this can be one of the biggest wedding expenses. In addition I believe that if you can't find exactly what you want then, if you can, do it yourself. We wanted the vintage look so we created our own look for the invitations, programs, and all of the other stationary. I made the invitations using plain ivory programs and embossed stamps that we bought on sale.

Jewelry:  I bought my bridal jewelry from Aspen Boutique. James and Monica are wonderful to work with and James was able to put some special finishing touches on the jewelry I purchased. Again, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted for the attendant’s jewelry so I bought a jewelry making magazine and made the bridesmaid's jewelry myself.