I feel like I have been long over due in sharing a wedding update post. Let me be real with y’all- it has been a huge challenge for me. I honestly had no idea what I wanted for a wedding. As a little girl, I always dreamt of this beautiful day and imagined it being somewhere beautiful and all of my guest dancing and having fun but I never thought more than that. I am a detail oriented person, but for some reason, I never thought it through with a wedding! Pat proposed over a year a go, and I am just finally aligning all of the dots. Yup, I said it, still working on it and no shame here.
This past year has been one of the craziest and best years of my life. I have been super busy with traveling (one of my favorite things to do) and focusing on other areas of our lives that it has been a slow and steady process for me. I initially looked at four or five venues in Pittsburgh, where home is, however, I faced the huge dilemma that most likely, the weather wouldn’t corporate. I then ruled Pittsburgh out and re-started the research and planning here in Winston Salem. Pat and I must have looked at nine or ten venues between Winston/Charlotte/Raleigh and while I found one or two that I started seriously considering, none of them seemed the perfect place for the amount of money we would be spending in those 6 hours that day. I kept thinking over and over again, wow, to spend this money on less than one day, can I justify doing that when I felt personally, that something shouldn’t cost that much. I felt spending our budget could be better spent in many other areas in our lives. This caused me to really slow down and rethink what it was that we truly wanted.
We wanted to make sure our closest family members and friends would enjoy our special day as much as we would. While most of our loved ones do not live in the Carolinas, we knew that almost everyone would have to travel. And that got us thinking if 95% of our closest family members and friends would have to travel, why not travel somewhere beautiful and make it a celebration spent over multiple days?
Pat and I are currently planning a destination wedding in the Dominican Republic! This decision did not come lightly, we talked about it over and over again because our decision impacts our friend’s wallets pretty heavily. We are asking our friends to set a side this set of money and ask for time off to celebrate our wedding. It’s quite a question to ask. And one that I still think about a lot. I wish money grew on trees and I could pay for everyone and anyone, however, this isn’t the case.
We first made sure our immediate family members understood our decision and supported our decision. Our moms were thrilled- my family had traveled to Riviera Maya and stayed at an all inclusive resort a few years ago. Pat’s family knows how much my family loved that trip and how incredible it was. We still talk about that trip over and over again. It was out of this world beautiful and amazing on every single level.
Our next step was to ask our best friends if they think they would be able to come. We gave them a target budget of what we were thinking they would have to spend. We informed them that they could choose the length of time they wanted to come if they even wanted to come, what the cost included, target wedding “week” and target ceremony date. Our goal above all was to make sure our friends knew that we didn’t expect them to come and that we 100% would understand if they couldn’t come. It’s a huge financial decision for our friends and that is something Pat and I initially struggled with. It’s hard to feel so excited about something and know that you may be causing some discomfort with friends who want to be there but possibly might not be the easiest for them to get there.
I can honestly say that Pat and I are beyond lucky. Every single one of our closest friends showered us with love and support and said they would try their hardest to figure something out so they could be there to celebrate our special day. We feel so grateful and truly blessed that God has placed such incredible people in our lives that we have developed these amazing friendships over the years. Some of these relationships since we were five or six-hello Aaron and Becca! It’s kind of funny that I just realized this, Pat’s best man, Aaron, Pat met in kindergarten. My twin sister Marissa, is one of my maids of honor and Becca, my childhood best friend, is my other MOH and Riss and I met her when we were six! We really have amazing and supportive friends and we just can’t wait to spend a long week with them in a beautiful tropical location! I’m so excited to share more and more with you guys!
Okay, so after that long update, let’s get to it! How I asked my girls! I wanted to ask them with a few things to get them in the mood for what will be a much needed vacation by the time of our destination wedding! I immediately thought of cute luggage tags, like these Bando ones that say “I’m Outta Here”. I’m a huge fan of this blush pink color and with the rose gold foil- had to have them! I got these cute flamingo bottle openers on sale from Bed Bath & Beyond. If you search “Kate Aspen” in their search box, you are bound to find the most adorable items! I’m warning you! I found the “Be my bridesmaid?” card from Homegoods and the two “Will you be my maid of honor?” cards from Target! I printed out a map of the Dominican and wrote where we are getting married on it as an added touch! I think the Alex and Ani bracelets are just the perfect gifts for these girls! I thought it was really cool they have specific maid of honor bracelets- really special! I had a hard time finding a box that would fit everything for the girls I had to mail the boxes to, however, I found these baker boxes online on Etsy and they were perfect! I just love giving gifts 🙂 Don’t you?
I would love to hear your thoughts on planning a wedding if you are in the same boat as me or how you made your decision on your wedding if you are already married! Feel free to email me or leave a comment in the below!
Have a wonderful weekend, we are off to a wedding up North!
Wish me warmth!
xx, Brittany Ann
Shop the Post:
P.S. Find all my wedding-related post here!
