The OurWeddingDay Blog

Celebrity weddings and glamorous bridal magazines are a lot of fun, but nothing’s more helpful than learning how real brides plan their big day.

Meet OWD's Real Brides: real OurWeddingDay.com Brides-to-be sharing their experiences.  It’s not about the “right” way to plan; it’s about each bride planning the wedding that’s right for her.

Natalie from Irving, TX writes:

Well, we finally secured our photographer and videographer this past Friday; what a relief to have those wrapped up.  Still communicating with the florist to put together the perfect package that will meet our needs for the wedding day, while still staying within our budget. So at the moment, we are fine-tuning the order to get it just right.

My wedding gown has arrived, so this Wednesday I will be picking it up; my Matron-of-Honor and Bridesmaid #2 will be there with me to share in the excitement.  The cake topper in Austrian crystals arrived on Friday, along with the guest book, ring bearer pillow, engraved cake server and knife, my garter and my sixpence.  I was so excited to see just how beautiful they were in person, because I had ordered all those online from WeddingDepot.com.  I highly recommend that site based on the quality I received. 

On Saturday, I picked up an antique-looking treasure chest from Hobby Lobby for guests to place their gift cards, checks or cash -- it will be elevated as the centerpiece of the gift table with its lid open.  I also picked up some more gem confetti (because you can never have too much ;), plus I picked up materials to make the bridesmaid gift bags; ivory organza sachet bags with a dangling crystal border and then a decorative trim to wrap around the entire bottom end (front and back); my fiancé was impressed with how pretty and professional looking it turned out.  This bag will hold the earrings and bracelet I purchased for all my girls.

Oh, and over the weekend we added a 7th Bridesmaid, a 7th Groomsman and 2 more Ushers to make up 12 Ushers all together. 

In the coming week, I will continue to speak with the Florist to wrap up that order and hopefully secure the DJ, as well. 

Happy Planning!

We just posted a new article about the specifics of church ornamentation.

Altar and aisle decorations are one of the finishing touches to your beautiful and elegant church ceremony. They can be extreme, with extensive flowers draped along the church and orchids hanging at the altar, or simple: a few candles, a simple arch. Although the tradition dates back to the Christian Mass, nowadays, adding decorations to your house of worship is considered a wonderful way to bring joy to your day.

Check out the full article here.

Real OurWeddingDay.com brides, sharing their personal planning experiences.

Planning a wedding moves in stages. Most of these stages are big and take up a ton of time spent interviewing, reviewing, looking at magazines, hotels, venues, and dresses. These big issues fill up your day. And they are easy and at the end of the day whether you have booked a vendor or not, you will like you have accomplished something. At least you know what you do not want.

But slowly creeps in the process that is stage 2. Stage 2 will drive you crazy. I am in stage 2 at present and I am going crazy. This process involves the smaller detailed type items. You know addressing invitations, picking out the tiny details like “head pieces” and underwear, altar décor, and ribbons, and the list expands. I wish I was ready for stage 3. Stage 3 is the getting ready for the big day stuff; like packing stuff to take on the big day, rehearsal, and the actual wedding.

I met with my florist for the first time this week. I didn’t interview ahead of time. I didn’t go check on her work, my boss told me her work was divine and I called her up. My boss has amazing good taste and if her daughter thought she was good enough for her wedding… well I was sold.

Friday afternoon Jonathon and I hopped in the truck and headed over to the florist. Let me just say, I adored her. She asked me great questions, wrote down my ideas, told me what would be best and she could get most of what I wanted. The only thing being the peonies which she said I would hate the price of that time of year. So, I agreed.

But she did ask me a hard question. “How do you plan to decorate the stage?” To which I stuttered I thought about white poinsettias but otherwise I hadn’t really thought about it.

How do you plan to decorate your ceremony stage?

-Amy