August Wedding Update: Wedding Bands, Decor & More
Holy smokes you guys! Wedding planning has officially kicked into high gear. I feel like I blinked and we’re somehow only a little over two months away from the big day. How is that even possible? Things have been so busy and hectic, I completely forgot to write a July update because all of the months are starting to blur together. My brother also got married in July at Castle Hill Cider, so their wedding was the top priority! It was an absolutely stunning wedding, and I am so happy to welcome a new sister into the family.
All-in-all, I have loved wedding planning, but as we get closer there are just so many elements that are adding stress to my plate. I told Matthew that I am only dealing with drama and issues (that are unrelated to us living happily ever after) until October 1st, and then I am going to live blissfully unaware until after our wedding day in November. I am a people pleaser, and if I give too much energy to making everyone else happy, I am not going to be focused on the most important part of the wedding: Matthew and I. Plus, all brides know there is already enough stress on your plate to get everything prepared for the wedding!
Matthew and I at my brother’s wedding in July
As mentioned, wedding planning officially kicked into high gear over the past month. We are finally in the stage of having to make final decisions for everything. Keep reading for an update on how wedding planning is going!
One Year Engagement
On August 15th, Matt and I celebrated our one-year engagement anniversary. I still get butterflies in my stomach thinking about Matthew getting down on one knee and asking me to be his forever. What is even crazier to think about is how quickly this year flew by. When we first got engaged, November 12, 2021 seemed like plenty of time to plan for our dream wedding. Now I have a feeling no amount of time is enough to plan a wedding; there are so many little details and things to plan!
August 15, 2020
Wedding Bands
We can now officially cross “order wedding bands” off of our to-do list! Matt and I both have our wedding bands stored in a safe place for the big day. There have been a few big moments throughout the wedding planning process where it hits me that we’re really getting married. Picking out our wedding bands and seeing Matthew wearing a ring for the first time was one of those giddy/excited “OMG we’re getting married” moments. We never went engagement ring shopping together (Matt surprised me with my ring) so it felt really special to be able to pick out the rings we’re going to wear for the rest of our life together.
We both had a pretty good idea of what we wanted our wedding bands to look like. Matt and I are both insanely picky and know what we like/dislike. We took one trip to Finks to try on bands and immediately knew what we wanted. After a little price shopping online, I ended up ordering my band from Diamonds Direct during their summer sale in July when everything was 20% off. Matthew ordered his from Adiamore, the same place he ordered my engagement ring from. They offer a discount if you order multiple items from them!
Hey, weddings are expensive and there are some pretty good discount codes out there!
Ikea Decor
If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you’ll know I’ve been running to different Ikea stores over the past two months to track down the BORRBY lantern. I plan to use the lanterns to line the aisle, and I didn’t realize that they were sold out at EVERY Ikea within 8+ hours of us. All of the similar lanterns online were $10 more per, and I couldn’t justify the price.
Picture via Ikea
In late August, I realized there were 3 lanterns in stock at the Woodbridge Ikea. Matt and I got to the Ikea 20 minutes before it opened, waited in line, and ran straight to the lanterns. There was only one in stock, so I grabbed it and then started freaking out that I may not be able to find any others before November. I searched every day on Ikea’s website for restocks and realized this past weekend there was finally stock (59 to be exact) in College Park, Maryland. Matt and I once again loaded up the car and made the trek to Maryland. THANK GOODNESS the lanterns were actually in stock and I was able to snag my final six, 11” lanterns. Now, I only need one of the 17 1/4” lanterns, and I’ll be all set!
Flowers
We ended up officially placing our florist order with Bouqs in August. Of course, I had the order in my cart for over two months, just to see if they would offer any form of discount. I ended up placing the order randomly just to cross the flowers off my list. A day after I place the order, they emailed me a 15% off code and then an email with free shipping a few days later. Legit my BIGGEST pet peeve! Flowers are such an investment and to have a discount offered hours after we placed the order was a little annoying, but all-in-all we have been impressed by working with Bouqs.
Wedding Invitations
Our wedding invitations are officially out for delivery! I designed both our save-the-date invitations and wedding invitations with The Knot. I am excited to share all of the details about our paper suite after the wedding. Our final RSVP deadline is October 8th, so we’ll finally be able to do seating charts and finalize numbers with our caterers soon after.
Final Tasting & Trip to Corolla
We have one final trip to Corolla planned for October to have a final tasting with out caterer to set the final menu. Everything is seasonal, so although we know we love the caterer, we wanted to try the exact dishes we’ll be offering.
Wow, things are definitely starting to heat up! Thank you for following along with all the fun as we’ve gone from engagement to now only 2 months until our wedding day.