Hey Friends! Happy Wedding Wednesday! Today I have another blogger for my Q+A Wedding Series. I present to you, Jenn from Going the Distance! Her wedding turned out beautiful despite all the drama she had to face-- poor girl! Luckily you were such a doll about it and didn't let it ruin the true meaning of what marriage is. Take it away Jenn!
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When did you get married?
April 12, 2014
How did you meet? / or Engagement Story?
MG and I met on Match.com, and he was actually the first guy I met from there! He wrote me first and then we wrote back and forth for a couple of weeks before we decided to meet in person. The first time we were supposed to meet, an earthquake happened in DC and I couldn't get home in time for our date, so we moved it to Sunday. And over the weekend there was a hurricane. We DID actually meet up, but we always joked that even a zombie apocalypse wasn't going to cancel our first date! :)
**Fun fact: MG's name on my blog came from originally being called Match Guy and then I shortened it to just MG.**
Our first date was at Cava Mezze in Arlington, VA and on our wedding day we went back there and took a picture where it all began:
What was the one thing you were most passionate about?
I wasn't terribly picky about things like flowers, the cake, etc. I had ideas about them all, but I just wanted everything to look nice, and not cost a fortune. The thing I wanted most at our wedding was a photo booth, and thanks to a Living Social deal we were able to get one and I'm SO glad that we did--it was a total hit and we have some amazing photos of everyone from it!
What was the most awkward thing about wedding planning?
I guess the most awkward part was discussing prices with vendors and negotiating.I hate doing it and always feel bad asking for more things for less money, but it's part of the business and I got over it relatively quickly!
How many bridesmaids did you have? How did you go about choosing them?
I had 5 bridesmaids and a junior bridesmaid. Two were MG's sisters, and the junior bridesmaid was his oldest niece. One of my bridesmaids has been my friend since 6th grade (Crystal), another was my roommate in college (hey Trish!), and my Maid of Honor was my coworker-turned roommate-turned best friend, Genna!
How long did it take you to find your wedding dress?
I've talked about the dresses that didn't make the cut on my blog before, but it didn't take me long to find The One. I went to two stores and at the second one, I found my dress. I went to one other store after that to try on some more Casablanca dresses and really reassure myself that it was the one. I knew it was my dress because my face lit up when I saw myself in the mirror, I didn't want to take it off, and my friend Trish who is a self proclaimed sarcastic person was like "that even made me tear up a little!" lol
Spill some deets that went on. We wanna hear drama!:
Oh, the drama!! There's so much of it that I can't contain it in this one post, but I'll direct you here and here to read ALL about the major drama that surrounded our wedding. Other drama before our wedding included a friend talking badly about me the week of my wedding for not sending out thank you notes for my bachelorette party (I've never gotten a thank you note from a bachelorette party before, including from the girl who was talking about me--I just didn't think I needed to send a formal note to my closest friends when I expressed, in person, how much it meant to me and how thankful I was, repeatedly, that they were there), and then there was drama with one of MG's cousins asking for her boyfriend to come, then telling us that her boyfriend wasn't coming, then a few days later that he was again....all days before the wedding...
Bottom line is: sometimes people get crazy surrounding weddings. It happens. You just have to move forward and focus on what and who is important.
What was your color scheme, and what made you choose it?
Purple and silver were our colors. I've always loved purple since I was a kid, so that was a given, and since the guys were wearing gray suits, silver/grey was our other color.
Did you do any DIY projects/etc?
I DIY'ed my table numbers and escort cards, as well as the programs. My blog bestie Shay helped me design them, and then I printed, cut and folded them myself.
If you don't mind sharing what your budget was, and if you stayed on track or went over budget?
I'll share with you that we had a budget and we stayed super on track! We even had some money left over at our venue that we used to get draping behind our head table with purple uplighting which made everything look extra pretty! It was the perfect way to use the extra $$$
What was your favorite thing about your wedding day?
I have to say two parts: 1) saying my vows with MG...I can still picture being on the altar and listening to MG say his vows, and then telling him mine and it makes me smile to this day.
2) My father-daughter dance with my dad. I had been really worried about his health and how he would make it through the day, but he was a trooper and our dance was everything I had hoped it would be and more.
What was the most stressful thing about your wedding day?
Honestly, the only thing that stressed me out was feeling not 100% and very tired on the morning of my wedding. The glasses of wine that kept getting refilled at our rehearsal dinner did not do me well the next morning. Luckily once I got a couple slices of pizza in me, I was good to go!
If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
Honestly, I don't think I would do much differently, other than monitoring those glasses of wine from the night before a little better, but everything went so well that I really don't have many regrets.
What's your best piece of advice for future brides out there?
Try not to stress, especially over the little things (you will be the ONLY person who notices the tiny stuff). What can get done, will get done, and if it doesn't, it won't matter much in the grand scheme of things. Focus on the important part of the day (you're marrying the love of your life and best friend!). Don't let other people steal your joy. And if you can afford it, get a videographer--it wasn't in our original budget but we got one and I'm SO glad that we did! The memories that were captured are priceless :)
Thanks so much Jenn for being a part of my series! Your wedding day was perfection!
Are you interested in showcasing your wedding on my series? Email me for more information. Also, if you are interested in being a part of the Wedding Bloggers Connect database, you can do so below:
I'm also being featured on ASHLEY'S blog today! Check it out!
