All Things Wedding Planning

As we come up on our second wedding anniversary I wanted to write about the engagement, our planning process, vendors and everything in between. We had the best vendors that made everything run so smoothly and I can’t thank them enough!

Engagement Day – 9.16.17

My best friend was in town for the weekend and we were going to what I thought was my future mother in-law’s work anniversary party at the Omni in downtown Dallas. We had gotten our nails done that day (well played!) and got ready while my then-boyfriend went to the hotel early to ‘help get things ready’ and even took our overnight bags with him. We showed up to the hotel for the ‘party’ and went up to the balcony to check things out. Tyler had previously been talking about the Pegasus horse downtown and the meaning of it so he showed it to me from the balcony. Apparently I needed to be in a certain spot for the hidden photographer so he kept telling me to move towards him because it was a better view – I was so confused but moved anyway. All of a sudden my friend had disappeared and my then-boyfriend was behind me telling me we weren’t there for a party and got down on one knee and proposed! Long story short, he also invited my family down so they were able to share in the celebration and our friends showed up after, too!

The Planning Process

After all the excitement set in, it was time to get down to business. I’m a very organized, schedule-oriented person so my goal was to lock in as much as we could as early as possible. The most important things we wanted were a good DJ, a great photographer and simple decorations.

Photographer

In my opinion, photography is one place you want to spend money because at the end of the day your pictures are all you will have from your big day! We met with two photographers – the first one I knew was a no go after we met her. I just had a gut feeling it wasn’t the right choice for us. We then met with Michele from Michele Shore Photography and I was sold. She was so kind and I loved all her work. Michele was great from start to finish – her and her assistant captured everything on the day of our wedding and most of the time it was like they weren’t even there! If you’re in the DFW area and are looking for a quality photographer, I highly recommend her.

Wedding Planner & Flowers

From the get go we knew we wanted to spend part of our budget for a wedding planner to keep my anxiety in check. Lucky for us, she had already done a couple other weddings in our family so we knew what she could do. She also did our florals which was super convenient. We used Pam from Twigs and Twine Events and we were so pleased with everything she did. Her florals were simple and beautiful, which is what I asked for, and I didn’t have to worry about a single thing on the big day! I will never be able to thank Pam enough for all her hard work.

DJ + Photobooth

All Things Elegant Entertainment is who we used as our DJ. DJ Hutch was awesome from start to finish – he even got out on the dance floor with our guests at one point! We gave him the specific songs we needed for walking down the aisle, first dances, etc. and some songs that we didn’t want played and he did the rest and it was the most fun I’ve had! We did a combo package by adding some uplights and a photobooth but they also offer limo services, photography, monogram lighting and more!

Hair & Makeup

There are so many vendors for hair and makeup so I used website reviews from The Knot and WeddingWire to try to narrow it down and found Hair by Abby Hartsell and Candace Marshall from Three Zero Six Salon for our makeup. I did a trail with Abby and showed her a couple up-dos that I liked and she took each into consideration and created exactly what I was envisioning and then seamlessly recreated it on our wedding day! She also styled my bridesmaids with loose curls to keep it simple. Candace used to be in Colleyville but relocated her salon to Dallas! I was so please with the natural look she gave me and my bridesmaids and very impressed that we all still has makeup on at the end of the night after the outdoor ceremony and dancing the night away!

Venue

We went to about 4-5 different venues and ultimately decided on TPC Craig Ranch because of the location and the pricing we got for being family of some members there. The guys were able to golf the morning of the wedding and we used both locker rooms to get ready. The dividers between the two main rooms were opened up so we had enough room for the bridal party table, ten guest tables, a dance floor, a photobooth and the DJ set up. The ceremony was outside on a covered patio with a golf course view – we tried to keep it short and sweet since we were getting married on an August afternoon in Texas – oops! When we did the food tasting we thought it would just be little samples of each dish we requested but the chef went above and beyond and had cooked full meals for us to eat family style. let me just say it was some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had! Their staff was great throughout the entire process and I’d highly recommend checking them out!

Wedding Cakes

Luckily we had some family members get married before us so Colleen’s Cakes came highly recommended. We test tested all her flavors in the form of cupcakes and decided on a three-tiered cake, each layer with a different flavor. Tyler got his own groom’s cake with all his favorite sports teams on it. There was plenty of cake to go around and she’ll help you navigate what size cake you need based on your guest list count. She even re-made the top tier for our one year anniversary!

My biggest advice for brides is to have a plan. The most important thing is to decide on your budget and what that looks like. From there, decide how much of your budget is going to the categories above. For us, photography was the most important and we knew we wanted a planner to help us along the way. The rest we weren’t as picky on but the budget can really help you narrows down your vendors. Your date may depend on the venue you want or how big your guest list is. If I could go back and tell myself one thing it would be to take it all in – the good, the bad and everything in between becuase the planning is for about 4-5 hours of your life and then your new journey begins!

XO,
Morgan