Real Wedding: Aileen and Troy Pt. Two

Part two from yesterday's lovely wedding is here with great tips on wedding planning from the Groom featuring the lovely work of Maria Angela. Enjoy!

The date was set for March 5 of this year and there was much work to be done, as both Aileen’s and Troy’s families lived not only out of state but many would be flying in from out of the country. Perhaps the greatest tools that they developed were three lists of to-do’s—one for Aileen, one for Troy, and one for both to accomplish. Although the wedding plans and ultimately the ceremonies progressed to fruition with little worry, they offer several pieces of advice for those young couples planning their own wedding:

1) Decide on the color scheme of the wedding first; this will make the selection of cake decorations, brides maids dresses, tuxedo vests, floral arrangements, table and chair dressings, etc. a whole lot easier. They bounced around on colors until nearly the last week before the wedding and several decisions were made more hastily than they would have liked.

2) Make your own invitations. If you are on a budget like Troy and Aileen were, you would benefit greatly from constructing your very own. This not only adds a touch of personality to the announcement, but could save you potentially thousands of dollars if you take the time.

3) Decide on the major decisions such as cake, entertainment, and food early. Troy and Aileen had a horrendous experience with their first choice of entertainment and were sent scrambling for an alternative within two weeks of the big day (luckily it worked out better than the original). The entertainment is THE most important part of your reception; choose carefully.

4) Make an overestimate about the level of attendance that you expect on the big day. Troy and Aileen only expected about half the number of people who actually RSVP’d and needed to adjust their reception seating and decorations. If there is food and alcohol, they will come.

5) The alcohol budget should be well thought out (if you are on a budget). The wedding guests drank their way through the allotted budget within two hours and the recently wed couple was forced to add the price of additional drinks to the back end of their tab.

6) Make visual contact with each of your vendors well ahead of time and then again in the weeks leading up to the ceremony. If you fail to maintain contact with your vendors, they will almost certainly produce something that is either out of your budget or completely different from what you had in mind.

7) Do as much as you can in the months leading up to your wedding, then take the last week off to recuperate. Troy and Aileen were busy toiling away with each individual detail until the last minute, leaving little time for relaxation and enjoyment of their time planning the wedding together.

8) Make sure that your photographer has already compiled a portfolio that you enjoy looking through. If you do not like what they have already done, you probably will not like what they will do for you. The photographs are what you will still have years into the future and the budget for the photographer should be skewed towards this end.

9) Enjoy yourselves while working hard. Troy and Aileen took very little time to step back and enjoy the roses while they were planning and the stress sometimes took its toll. Don’t forget that this day is about the two of you (mostly her) and everyone else is just along for the ride.

It is now almost 3 months into the honeymoon and Troy and Aileen are planning their next big life decision. Troy has accepted a scholarship to attend law school and bringing his new wife along for the ride. They will be leaving the sleepy beach town where they met in South Florida and heading to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The trip and subsequent years will be trying, but because of their past together and the love they both share, Troy and Aileen know that they will weather any storm.

Photography by Maria Angela Photography submitted via Two Bright Lights