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Let the planning…continue?

So – I had the guy, I had the ring and I had the amazing proposal in Paris.  You would think that this is where I started planning our wedding.

You’d be wrong.

In fact, I had been planning our wedding for about 6 months before we got engaged.  We were together for 5 years, and I knew we were going to get married-so I just got a jump on things!  It’s really not my fault.  I blame the wedding blogs.

We got engaged in December, yes-but our date and venue had been booked since October.  I’m so happy we booked it when we did.  It is the most gorgeous farm in the North Georgia Mountains, and that is where we went to college.  The leaves up there in October are simply breathtaking and I knew that’s where we had to get married.  I mean just look at this wedding shot by w.scott chester:

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Oh yeah.  That’s where we’re standing in…190 days….not that I’m counting or anything.

One of the biggest pieces of advice I give brides is this:

Build relationships with any and every vendor that has to do with your wedding.  Ok, I know you’ve heard that before-but I mean it.  I’m a relationship person in general so this was natural for me-but let me tell you friends, it’s been the best part of our wedding by far.  I had been emailing with the owner of the farm for months before we even picked our date.  We got to know each other and when we finally met-I felt like she was a long lost Aunt or something. This fact alone has made everything from cost to details so much more bearable.  I’m not saying you should build these relationships to get a discount, but when your heart is in the right place, great things happen.  Vendors love to work with brides who are fun and personable.  I never treat any vendor like staff or an employee-I treat them like a friend-and it’s wonderful.  They care just as much about our wedding as I do and that is a great feeling.  Knowing that our vendors have it all under control is going to allow me to be just like this bride who is jamming out at her reception (which is our venue also)

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How about y’all?  Do you feel like you’ve built relationships with vendors?  Any bride graduates out there who still keep in contact with vendors?

{both images from the talented w.scott chester}