Hi Loves! It's been a minute since I've shared an update on wedding planning! We're two days away from the year anniversary of when Kollin got down on one knee and asked me the best question ever! When people see my ring or I mention something about my fiancé the next question is always, "when are you getting married?!" 

I follow up by saying September 2019 and there's always a surprised look on their face. "Oh wow, that's a long engagement" or "why are you waiting so long?!" It's a fair question, but it's the one thing (outside of saying yes!) that I'm so glad we decided to do. Our plan was to always get engaged near the end of law school and then married the year following graduation. If Kollin had stuck to that plan (guess he couldn't wait! hehe) then we would've had the "traditional" engagement of about a year and a half. 

The thing that people don't talk about? How expensive, time consuming and exhausting wedding planning is. Not to mention we are so young! My response is always the truth, "we wanted to wait until Kollin graduates law school (which he did in May!!) and passes the bar. Planning a wedding with a fiancé who actually wants to help (it's so cute, y'all) is tough when he is studying 9+ hours every single day for a test that determines the rest of his career! I personally don't think that's fair and also something I don't want deal with! #lawschoolprobs

So, here we are, a year into our engagement and about three things checked off our list! Woo!! In all seriousness, the reasoning behind that is pretty #reallife and comes down to two things: unexpected hiccups & money. 

THE VENUE

About 4 months after we got engaged we found our perfect venue and thought we were so ahead of the game. We didn't sign because #lawyer and we had plenty of time to get the details worked out around vendors and other details that would dictate some of the decisions regarding our venue. During that process, we kept finding reasons that this place wasn't the place. So, 7 months in we were back to square one trying to find a venue from almost 300 miles away.

To be honest with y'all it was pretty crushing to make that decision and it took a lot of wind out of planning process. There is a point when planning turns from giggles, excitement and all the amazing details to the harsh reality of a budget, pleasing people and basically adding a second job to the one you already have. 

But, today we finally booked our venue and I am so excited about it! It's the perfect mix of southern charm, big city glamour and classic elegance. With a huge decision out of the way, Kollin and I finally feel like the smaller, more frequent decisions will be so much easier! 

THE DRESS

Y'alllllllll, I dream about my dress every night! Just like every other wedding detail, finding that dress took time. I went to a total of three stores, one in Louisville and two in Chicago. On the last store, second to last dress I knew I found the one. I didn't think I would get emotional since I had the dress on for a while and there wasn't a single tear. My amazing stylist, Erin, put a veil on me and nope, still no tears. We walked to the front of the store to see the dress in natural light and she said, "is this the one?!" I said, "I think so!" 

She quickly replied, "well I know what will do the trick!" She disappeared for a minute and my mom, Kollin's mom and I were chatting about the dress. Erin came back with a bouquet and said here's a final touch. She handed me the bouquet and I turned to the mirror and immediately started bawling. Like Kim K ugly crying... it was kind of embarrassing honestly haha! I knew this was the dress I was supposed to wear!  

WHAT ELSE?

When I said three things I meant three things! The venue, dress and our photographer is all we have booked! But, after the venue I feel such a big weight lifted because now all the smaller details become so much easier. We know things like theme, color-scheme, bridal party and our church, but it's decisions like menu, tuxes, flowers, decor and stationary that are still on our list of to-do's! Post-Bar in July we will start making moves and I'll have more details to share! Thank you so much for reading! Any brides-to-be, wives, mother of the brides, grooms, etc. please share any advice or questions in the comments! I would appreciate any perspective so much! Have a fabulous weekend, y'all!