DIY Wedding Journals

Hey guys!

It has been quite a while hasn’t it?? Well I have many reasons for that, one of them being that Nick and I recently got Engaged! and then went to Paris! I shall proceed to disperse my favorite photos from the trip throughout this post for your viewing pleasure!

I’m not going to lie, since crafting has become such an integral part of my life and identity, I have DREAMED of having a wedding for the past few years! Now of course that thrill of planning and crafting a wedding has been a roller coaster. Forever rising to the highest peaks of creative energy and then plunging into the depth of feeling completely overwhelmed by all of the creative options you have (not to mention how much they cost). Yes, if you read into that properly, I was overwhelmed by planning an imaginary wedding before I even got engaged. If that doesn’t scream Samantha I don’t know what does.

I have been with Nick for about 5 years and we have been through so much together, our relationship is very special and important to me. I know that sometimes wedding planning is exciting to brides because of the joy of planning a party. Although I do thoroughly enjoy the planning side of things, even when I have the nights where I fall into the rabbit whole of color Palettes and Chiffon vs. Organza, I still feel very grounded in not losing sight that it isn’t just a big party, but celebrating a union with someone that means a lot to me. I plan to keep that mindset the whole time.

Just in my short experience with beginning wedding planning I can see how it is really easy to get caught up in feeling obligated to do things a certain way, but no matter how many people are pressuring you to do the wedding their way, I can already see that it is super important to not let traditions and other peoples vision (unless it’s your partner) tell you what your wedding has to be.

VERY surprisingly to me, I actually have a pretty solid idea of what I want this wedding to be. This is surprising because when I was planning imaginary weddings, I often felt overwhelmed by just how many different visual styles you can focus on, throw in the factor of trying to have your vision be cohesive and it feels like a recipe for disaster. However, when the imaginary wedding became a reality, it felt like I quickly became so much more decisive , which is unheard of for me, but I love it.

Now I will be honest, there is nothing wrong with how much any individual wishes to have their wedding cost. In my most whimsical moments, had the gull to look at how much a Disney Wedding would cost, and even uttered the words ” it’s not that much” (it was that much by the way). Would I love to have a magical fairytale wedding? Absolutely. Will I have one? Actually yes, but on my terms, it doesn’t have to be a $1 Million dollar wedding for me to be happy and think our wedding is beautiful.

Planning events isn’t the only thing that I get a crazy high from, but actually budgeting and trying to find deals as well. Honestly this probably stems from trying to be overly prepared and maybe a little controlling, but I will take it if it leads to me being smart with my finances!

What is my favorite way of saving money you ask? Unsurprisingly it is always going to be a good DIY project. Now there are times when a DIY ends up being actually more expensive, but it you play your cards right and most importantly are willing to put the time in, there seems to be lots of fun things you can do with wedding decor yourself! Again, I can already tell that it is really important to pick your battles strategically.

With all of that being said. While we are trying to lock down a date and venue as soon as possible, we don’t actually plan on having the wedding till 2021. That will be about 2 years of my life working on the wedding, and while i’m eager to get married, i’m not upset about the timeline.

I have a lot of ideas for ways to get crafty for the wedding just within a little over a week of planning, so i’m sure I will come up with a lot in the next 2 years. Because this is going to be such an important and creative time in my life, I wanted to have a sort of journal for me, to look back on all of my thoughts and ideas throughout the process, as well as a resource for other people.

Now I know there is no shortage of wedding planning resources out there and this is going to be anything super comprehensive, but just some DIY projects that I end up working on for this whole process. Some will be super simple or just informative, and others will be too ambitious haha but it’s a journey! If anyway chooses to follow me along on this journey, i hope you have fun!