I can’t believe we are already half way through the planning process.

Here’s what we have done so far:

• Picked the venue
• Tony found our photographer
• Engagement photos
• Picked a caterer
• Bought my wedding dress
• Finished our guest list
• Sent Save-the-Dates
• Booked the room block
• Cake tasting + decided the look of our cake
• Decided on favors
• Picked our centerpieces
• Tony picked the band
• Tony booked our honeymoon
• Hired a day of coordinator

Here’s what we’re currently working on:

• Finding a Rabbi (talking with one next Wednesday)
• Suits (we are going to Men’s Warehouse on Sunday)
• Bridesmaid dress (we know the color and I have date set to go to David’s Bridal)
• Tony’s working on our song list
• Finalizing the rentals
• Wedding bands (going shopping next weekend)
• Hair (I need to make sure my stylist is available)
• Meeting with our florist on April 20
• Register for gifts on April 7
• Wedding food tasting (will probably happen in April)

Here’s what we still need to do:

• Bridesmaid gifts
• Groomsmen gifts
• Parents gifts
• Flower girl dress
• Order invitations
• Buy guestbook
• Buy alcohol
• Decide on wedding shoes + accessories
• Find someone to do alterations on bridal gown
• Tony and his parents plan the rehearsal dinner
• Out of town gift bags
• Book wedding-night hotel room
• Ceremony programs
• Decide on escort cards
• Find nail salon
• Buy a wedding veil

So far I have really been enjoying the planning process. I feel like we have the majority of the big stuff out of the way. I want to make sure I don’t feel rushed the last couple of weeks before our wedding day so I want to get everything done early on.

I hate having unmade decisions and there really isn’t a wrong way to decide. Wedding planning has become super easy and fun when I started to trust my gut feeling and not look back. It feels great to make a big decision and move on to the next task without seconding guessing myself.

Any planning advice for a bride that’s 6 months out?

After the gym I came home, sat around in my sweaty workout clothes and ate a big bowl of oatmeal. Another  one of my favorite things to do on Saturday.

After I showered my Mom and I rushed over to Starbucks to meet my day of wedding coordinator. To give you a little background information …I was a day of wedding coordinator for 4 years during college. I didn’t do much of the planning, but I would coordinator the rehearsal, ceremony and reception.

Being a day of wedding coordinator is a lot of work. It can be a stressful 12 hour day where you’re running around trying to make sure everything is perfect and everyone’s happy (basically impossible). I LOVE creating schedules and timelines and didn’t think I would want to hire a coordinator until I realized I don’t want any of my family or friends doing the job. I know if I don’t have someone who knows what they’re doing I wouldn’t be able to let go of the control. I would end of coordinating and worrying about everything when in reality I’m not going to be available to do that on the day of my wedding.

I was nervous going into the meeting because I hate giving up control, but I instantly clicked with Tami from Creatively Yours Wedding Planning. She was extremely professional, seemed very enthusiastic and didn’t seem to be burnt out. The wedding industry is an interesting beast and you can easily get burnt out after doing it for many years. I’m really looking forward to working with Tami and letting her take care of all the details so I can just relax and enjoy the day.

After our meeting my Mom and I went shopping to find something to wear to my cousins wedding next weekend. She found a great outfit at Coldwater Creek and I found this dress at Express.

I also found this gorgeous turquise purse at a resale shop for $12. I like that it will give the outfit some color.

I usually hate shopping so this trip was a success. My Mom and I spent the rest of the night watching the Devil Wears Prada and cuddling with our pup. It was a great Saturday with Mom.

Last weekend my Mom and I went to the Swiss Maid Bakery for a wedding cake tasting. Tony and I don’t particularly like cake so I brought my Mom to help me decide on the flavors. We might not like cake, but we both love ice cream so we’re also going to have an ice cream cake (more info to come).

I didn’t know the Swiss Maid Bakery made wedding cakes until my Mom and I saw them at the McHenry County Bridal Show a couple of months ago. The women running the booth at the Bridal Show were super sweet and right away I knew I wanted them to make my wedding cake.

The Bakery had a table set up with a photo album of wedding cakes for us to look through while we waited. Then they brought us a couple of trays of cake and fillings to try. We tasted the white, chocolate, marble, yellow, and red velvet cake flavors and butter cream, chocolate butter cream, ganache, whip cream, and cream cheese frostings. They also had butter cream, mocha, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, and custard fillings.

We fell in love with the yellow cake and butter cream and quickly knew we had winner. The cake was soft, spongy and not overly sweet. Since my wedding cake will have three tiers, we decided each layer would be different. The bottom (largest layer) will be yellow cake, strawberry filling, with butter cream frosting. The middle layer will be chocolate cake with custard filling, and the top layer will be marble cake and chocolate butter cream as the filling.

I have been going back and forth on having a sweets table. At first, I loved the idea of a candy bar, but with the limited space at our venue and the cost of all the candy and candy dishes, I finally decided against it. The Bakery makes beautiful frosted butter cookies and they will decorate them to match the theme of our wedding. I’m not 100% sure this is what I want to do for our favors, but it’s a nice option to have.

At the end of the tasting we met with Ashley, the manager and she was a huge help and super friendly. I didn’t know the exact look I wanted to go with, but we walked out the door with a pretty solid plan.

What does your dream wedding cake consist of?

Originally I wanted to send magnet save-the-dates, but they were double the price so I went with the postcards. I received a save-the-date postcard from a friend and loved the clean look of the photo on the front with more details on the back.

We bought our save-the-dates from Wedding Paper Divas and will probably buy our invitations from them as well. I really like the quality of the paper and the vibrant look of the photos. I will reveal the front of the save-the-dates as soon as our family and friends get them.

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Have you signed up for the Pretty Muddy race?

The Concorde Centre is located in my home town and my Mom has been driving by it for years. We had a tour on Saturday and I fell in love with it.

We put the deposit down and I feel so relieved to have that big item crossed off the list.