Bride + Groom
You may find Part I here!
The following topics will be covered in this post:
- The Proposal & Ring Questions
- Planning & Budget Questions
- Reflective Questions
- Honeymoon Questions
The Proposal & Ring Questions
Did you know Ryan was planning on proposing? Did you discuss it ahead of time?
I had absolutely no clue that Ryan was planning on proposing. Though we had obviously talked about the future and marriage before, the last time we seriously discussed getting married, I told him I wasn’t ready. Apparently Ryan sensed something change and without us ever talking about getting engaged, bought a ring, asked my parents’ permission and proposed! I was totally blindsided and totally ecstatic!
Did you tell Ryan what kind of ring you wanted?
I never told Ryan what kind of ring I wanted, but he remembered me talking with some of my girlfriends years ago about how much I loved the Lucida ring from Tiffany’s. He designed my ring after the Lucida ring, but made the band thinner, which I liked a lot since I have small fingers (size 4.5 which is apparently “freakish”). Though he picked out my engagement ring on his own, we selected our wedding bands together.
New Ring Bling
How did you announce your engagement to your family and friends?
Ryan surprised me by having my family and his family meet us for a private dinner at Houston’s restaurant in Winter Park, Florida, so they all knew I said yes about 40 minutes after he proposed! I called my best girlfriends that night and called additional close friends the next day.
Planning & Budget Questions
What’s your best tip for keeping balance in your life and staying calm during the process?
Never forget the purpose behind the day. It’s so easy to get caught up in every last detail of wedding planning. I tried my best to keep my eyes on the prize and told myself that no matter what, the day would be amazing because of the reason behind it. Between working full-time, maintaining this blog and having any sort of a social life, it would’ve been easy for me to feel super stressed, but Ryan and I tackled all of the most important decisions early on (choosing the venue and booking our vendors), so as the wedding day approached, we only had to worry about the little things that popped up like creating our menu and programs, making the cookie bar, purchasing gifts for our bridesmaids/groomsmen, etc. I also really depended on help from my mom and sister. When I finally recognized that people close to me genuinely wanted to help, it became easier to rely on them and took a lot of the stress off of me.
I actually published a post about the things I wanted to remember on our wedding day which really helped me keep my head in the right place 10 days before our wedding.
What are some of your best money saving tips? What aspects of your wedding did you feel were worth splurging on and what areas did you feel were good areas to save money?
My number one money saving tip is to figure out what is most important to you early on and budget accordingly. Be willing to cut back in other areas so you are able to spend more money on the aspects of your wedding that you feel are most important. Right off the bat, Ryan and I knew that we wanted good food, an open bar, a nice venue and a great photographer. We were willing to save money on the florist, our attire, invitations and favors.
He Makes Me Smile!
When we created our budget, we made sure to allocate the majority of our money to the areas we felt were most important. Also, don’t be afraid of “do it yourself” projects. We saved a ton of money (literally hundreds of dollars) by making our menus, programs, invitations and save the dates ourselves.
Homemade Menu
Homemade Programs, Cookies & Cookies Bar Bags
How did you decide who would make the “wedding guest list” cut?
Ryan and I both created separate lists of people who we put on one big “must invite” list. These people were “non-negotiables” like family members, best friends, etc. We then asked our parents to provide us with a list of people they wanted to receive invitations and discussed the importance of including these people with them. Then Ryan and I created a “would like to invite” list. We were able to add people from our “would like to invite list” to our official guest list after we saved a bunch of money on our wedding invitations and went under budget with my wedding dress. Creating a guest list is difficult, but people understand that you have a budget and cannot invite everyone.
Did you hire a coordinator to work with you throughout the weekend? If not, how did you handle the set up and clean up of your ceremony and reception? Who told people when to walk during the ceremony?
No, we did not hire a coordinator. However, we were lucky in that the hotel where we held the wedding (the Vinoy) provided a catering manager who worked with our vendors to make sure everything was set up and cleaned up correctly. She was also the person who told us when to walk down the aisle. Additionally, I provided pictures of how I wanted specific things to look with details for the catering manager to follow. We cleaned up the cookie bar and other things we brought into the reception site, but the Vinoy handled the cleanup of the food and tables.
Guest Table
Was your dinner served buffet-style or sit-down and why did you choose to do it that way?
We had a sit-down dinner at our wedding. Both Ryan and I wanted this from the start, but were open to buffet-style since we thought that might be less expensive. At our venue, it was actually more expensive to offer a buffet dinner because the Vinoy explained that they have to prepare extra portions since many guests will take more than one portion of certain items. We mainly chose to do a sit-down dinner based on the fact that we thought it was more intimate.
I remember you said you printed your own invitations. I am trying to save money on this part of the wedding… Can you go over the program you used to do this, and where you had them printed?
Ryan and I agreed that we didn’t want to allocate a lot of our budget to our invitations. I don’t remember any of the invitations I’ve received to weddings and we wanted to save our money for other areas of our wedding that were more important to us. We used a box set of invitations that my mom and I purchased from Michael’s and printed them using my parents’ printer. We also made our own Save the Dates by using a template from The Wedding Chicks website. We printed them at Staples.
How important did you think the selection of a DJ is in planning a wedding?
I think the selection of a band/DJ is extremely important. We wanted our DJ to be the person who kept the night rolling without taking over or seeming too “over the top” or invasive. I didn’t want the kind of DJ who yells out stuff like “C’mon, everybody! Get on the dance floor!” I wanted people to want to dance due to the awesome music and energetic atmosphere and that’s exactly what happened. We gave our DJ a timeline of the evening so he knew when to announce that it was time for speeches, first dances, the cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc. I highly recommend our DJ, Jeff Staples, to anyone in the Tampa Bay area. He was amazing!
My Dad Gettin' Low
Dancin' with My Brand New Husband
Reflective Questions
What you would have told yourself a few months ago now that your wedding is over?
- Logistically: if I could go back I would have met with the catering manager of the Vinoy one more time to avoid confusion over where I was supposed to get ready with my bridesmaids on the day of the wedding. Since I got sick on the Thursday before our wedding, I wasn’t able to sit down with her one last time and I wish I had the opportunity to do so.
- Personally: I would’ve done my own make up. I don’t wear a ton of makeup as it is but I think I felt like I had to have the help of a professional on my wedding day. I wish I would’ve done my own to alleviate the stress I felt once my makeup was done. I felt a little “off” after looking in the mirror and basically “re-did” my makeup myself.
- Emotionally: I wouldn’t tell myself anything different. I felt like I was completely in the moment throughout the ceremony and the reception and I loved every minute. It was such an incredible day!
Honeymoon Questions
How in the heck did you decide on a honeymoon destination?
This was honestly the hardest decision related to wedding planning for me and Ryan (which is probably why we were so bummed when our honeymoon was canceled due to a hurricane). We selected St. Lucia after doing a lot of research. We wanted a location that was tropical, not too far from Florida by plane and had a lot of adventurous things to do. We felt like St. Lucia offered all of these options.
I know you and Ryan had a honeymoon planned to St. Lucia. Where were you guys going to stay before the weather dilemma? Do you all plan to go back?
We were going to stay at the Anse Chastanet. The pictures on their website are truly breathtaking and the reviews we read about the resort were amazing. We hope to finally visit the resort on our one-year anniversary.
You may read about our totally last-minute honeymoon here:
- Little Palm Island/Key West: Day One, Day Two, Day Three
- Captiva/ Sanibel Island: Day One, Day Two: Part One, Day Two: Part Two
- Cruise: Recap One, Recap Two
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Awe Julie! I love reliving it again with you! These recaps are fun!
I really love reading all of your wedding recaps. Again, your photos are absolutely beautiful! 🙂
Sanibel is such a lovely spot, the white sand was what really stuck in my memory 🙂
The photo of you from the back is absolutely gorgeous!
you.make.me.even.more.excited.for.my.wedding 😀 <—said that all as one word!
How's married life treating you? Do you and your hubby feel any different?
aw so excited for you, leanne!!! 🙂
it doesn’t feel crazy different (which is actually a good thing, in my opinion) but we both said we feel like our relationship is somehow stronger… more legit and “sturdy” or something. it’s hard to describe, but i think we just feel even more committed.
That’s what I keep saying to my fiance about how I think itll feel after we get married!! Although it hasn’t happened for me yet, I can’t imagine that saying vows and making promises in front of all of your friends and family won’t change anything. I’m so excited for that moment 🙂
When my husband and I got married 3 years ago, we agreed that “internally” our relationship felt the same- we’d already been committed since we started dating 2 years before. However, “externally” things felt very different- we didn’t have to hide the fact that we lived together from certain family members anymore, we could file taxes jointly under the same name, we’ll always be invited to weddings together now (vs. when some people can’t invite SOs for budget reasons) etc. Marriage is wonderful 🙂
I’m a 4.5 ring size too and I agree, it’s freakishly small. When I was a 5th grade teacher, the kids’ hands were bigger than mine by a lot usually.
i honestly didn’t know i had small fingers until we went wedding band shopping and everyone was like “oh my gosh, you have oompa loompa hands!”
I’m a 4.5 too! I guess when my fiance went to pick up the ring they said I should try it on immediately b/c they were sure they would have to re-size it! YAY small finger club 😉
Ha! I’m a 4 1/2 also. My husband complained when he purchased my ring. He said he felt like the lady thought he was getting engaged to a twelve year old!
Oh my gosh! I guess my 3.5 ring size is SUPER freakishly small, haha! Loved this post…great tips for my wedding in September 🙂
Another wedding question! You mentioned budget, so I’m curious if you spent any of your own money or was it covered by family?
my parents paid for the majority of our wedding while ryan’s covered our rehearsal dinner. we definitely spent a lot of our own money on some of the crafting projects, my shoes, etc.
Where did you get your shoes?
nordstrom but they were a HUGE pain to find! i initially found them online & had to track down my size. they’re badgley mischka xango pink satin pumps. 🙂
I love all of these wedding posts. Your wedding was SO gorgeous. I wear a 4.5 ring, too! Little tiny hands, unite! 🙂
This is totally random but I thought you might enjoy this article on what the 8 essentials are for an authentic red velvet cake!
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/8-essentials-for-authentic-red-velvet-cake-2451699/
Did you know it’s supposed to contain pecans?! 🙂
We’re honeymooning in St. Lucia as well! We’re so excited! Did you and Ryan live together before you got married? If not, was that an adjustment process, even though you’d been together for years?
we lived together for about 2 yrs. before getting married. to be totally honest, it really wasn’t a big adjustment at all for us. he’s pretty easy to live with! 🙂
oh & congrats on your upcoming wedding!!! have a blast in st. lucia!
Love your photos!!
We did a justice of the peace, and would love to have a wedding – it’s been almost two years!
what an amazing post, Julie! I love all these tips and although I got married 10 years ago for $299 at a Las Vegas chapel with a hot pink mini dress and a plastic bouquet of flowers and a kodak disposable camera with 24 pics on it that they handed it to me when our 5 min ceremony was over….for us, it turned out to be perfect. We spent the first 5 yrs of our marriage traveling and taking tons of trips…basically we traveled for 5 yrs based on what we would have spent on a wedding and it worked for us.
Your photos, your dress, YOU… beautiful!
Yayy baby fingers! I have them too. Though when we got sized for our class rings in high school, they gave us plastic rings to try on, and I got the 4 stuck on my finger. Oops! I love that Ryan remembered kind of ring you liked, even a few years before proposing!
My engagement ring is a 2.75. (I am petite at 5’0″ and 100 lbs). Apparenlty my ring was the smallest the jeweler had ever made. Last time I went in to have it cleaned all the employees gathered around to watch me put it back on and see who could wear “that” ring. It was weird…
omg! I’m 5′ and 100 lbs too, but mine’s a 4. I guess your ring finger’s like the size of my pinky. I could see that.
Here I thought I had the smallest wedding band! Mine is 4.75 🙂
Beautiful post, Julie! I am so happy for you & loved reading the recaps (and your journey along the way). You and Ryan make a wonderful, fun-loving couple!
You always have great words of wisdom in this department. While I am not yet engaged, I need to keep these posts in mind for the future. 🙂
Great Q&A!!!!!!!
Your ring is gorgeous! =D
That is so funny about your ring size- that is what I am too- a 4.5.
They sized me wrong initially- making me a 5.5 & the ring would slide ALL over the place & the stone never faced forward- I was like ‘hey! I want people to see the stone’ 😀 So they had to resize it to a 4.5. He’s like, “wow! you have REALLY small fingers, 4.5 is the smallest that I have ever seen!”
I thought I had small fingers! I wear about a 5.5 ring. Great photos!
We’re getting married in October (the 9th!) We’re thinking St. Lucia or Turks and Caicos… it’s soo hard to decide!
That hotel looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!
You did SUCH a great job answering all of these questions Julie. I just love everything about your wedding.
I have such small fingers too…4.5 for me as well. My husband got to save money on the engagement ring because it was so small (less white gold, less money, right?!) But the actual diamond looks much better/bigger because of that. For you too??
Awe, I love your ring! Plus all the pics are so pretty!
Love this Q&A! 😀
I’m a size 4.5 ring too, and mine gets a little lose when it’s cold, etc. Everyone says I have skelletor hands… I’m glad I’m not the only one!!
that’s a bummer about your honeymoon! still i’m glad you weren’t caught in the hurricane! you guys are such a cute couple 🙂
Your wedding pictures are beautiful! Keep the pics coming 🙂
I’m right there with you with freakish — size 4 wedding band and size 4.25 e-ring. Right ring finger is closer to 4.5.
I know what you mean about the small fingers! My engagement ring is a size 3!
Sounds like I can jump on the small-finger bandwago… size 4.5 for me!
Question… did your makeup girl do a practice trial for you so you could see what your makeup would look like? Or was the wedding day the first time she ever put it on… just curious! (Oh! and you do your own hair?!)
yes, but it was w/ a make up company and the girl who did my trial was NOT the same person who did my make up on our actual wedding day. NO bueno!
Oh no!!! Did you know that was a possibility going in?!!? They should have been up front about that!!!
i thought i had small fingers (5.5) but apparently not! the jeweler made a big deal about how small my hands are! sometimes i wish i had bigger fingers (especially in jr high/HS) because i could never wear rings from claire’s or anywhere like that because they were always too big!
Thank you so much for this. I’m getting married in Nov and I’m sooo excited. Reading about yours gives me ideas and insight. Keep the wedding posts coming. Love your blog. You two are a beautiful couple – obviously outside – but by reading, one can tell inside too. 🙂
I have gone from a ring size of 11 to about a 7. I can’t picture different ring sizes so I don’t automatically think “ooh weird, you’re only a 4.5?” I can’t even picture it! lol My engagement ring was the first ring I ever owned though, so that might have had something to do with it!
Again, I love your wedding related posts! The whole thing was so beautiful and I loved living vicariously through it. On some special anniversary I am totally getting our vows renewed so we can actually relax at that wedding! 😉
I was cracking up reading your ring size of 4.5- mine is 3 and 1/4- imagine the reactions to that! Baby fingers over here 😉
Hi Julie- I loved going though all of your wedding recaps. My husband and I live in New Jersey but our wedding was in Marco Island. I see that you had planned your honeymoon at Anse Chastanet. We honeymooned at Jade Mountain which is on the same property. It was such an amazing place and experience. I really hope you and Ryan go there!!! Thanks for sharing the wedding details! You were a stunning bride. BTW the picture of you and Ryan with the door between you before the ceremony is ALL OVER PINTEREST! It’s lovely.
I love your wedding recap! It was so beautiful! My question is what was the total cost of your wedding? Not exact, just a range.
Hey Julie! Total flashback post right here, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading your tips/ideas on wedding planning as I am currently going through all of that myself! I wanted to comment on here because I had to laugh at your ring size! Cheers to the freaky tiny finger club… I thought my ring size was a 4.5, turns out I’m a 3 3/4!!! INSANE.
I have to ask… now that you’re a mom to a beautiful boy, did you find you had to take your rings off before they swelled from pregnancy? I’m debating if I want to go a size up on my wedding band for that reason.
Thanks! Love your blog! 🙂
Hi Cari!! BIG congrats to you!!! I actually never had to take off my rings during pregnancy (my fingers were definitely swollen, but not to the point that my rings were uncomfortable). I hope this helps!!! And best wishes for a wonderful wedding!