Founder of Identity Magazine, Susan Vernicek shares her personal and real wedding journey. She provides some authentic advice on steps to take after you get the ring.
After you soak in the happiness and excitement of getting engaged–making those phone calls to your family and close friends, and then finishing out the day or night celebrating –you may start to get anxious on the next steps in planning your dream wedding.
Don’t fret because I’ve got a few tips and tricks to help you stay calm, cool, and collected. After all, you don’t want to be that bridezilla, right? You may be thinking, how the heck can I help you when I’m not even a wedding expert?! That’s the best part–I managed a smooth, fun, successful wedding because of these few tips and tricks I discovered along the way. Let’s also note that I was that girl that never had a wedding vision growing up, so I really was starting from scratch!
First things first, set a date because those go quick! I was shocked on how quick the dates filled up 15 months in advance, especially at the beautiful wedding venues! (link to “wedding venues” to Stroudsmoor) Let’s jump ahead and skip the whole choosing your bridal party because that is an entirely different article that needs its own space.
I initially started with the oh-so famous Pinterest website and created my “Wedding Inspiration” board. This really kept an organized and centralized location for all things wedding inspired.
Inspiration: The first thing I found were flowers as inspiration. I just loved everything about these flowers I stumbled upon. They mixed style and textures and the rainbow color just popped fresh to me! Ugh, how I love rainbows! They are just so beautiful and happy. How could they not light up a room?
Find your ONE piece of inspiration just like if you were going to decorate a room–mine was my bridal flowers. What is your one piece that you will work around? Mine were the flowers to the left and right. Then and there I knew my color scheme was going to be rainbow, and I knew I wanted a rainbow bouquet that was free of the usual constrained perfect circle bouquet.
From this point, I felt like everything was a breeze, well besides dress shopping. I bought one and then returned it for another because I didn’t follow my initial gut and listened to the eight other women in the room who all loved the dress. I digress…
Wedding Location: The one thing I miss about college is the fact that everything you need is right there! Your friends, your classes, the bars, Sheetz for late night meals, and much more are all at your fingertips. I wanted that for my wedding weekend. I wanted everything I needed to be in one place and not have to drive around on my wedding weekend. So this narrowed my search down to finding wedding venues that offered on-site ceremonies, had the spas, hotels, restaurants, etc. We had everything from our rehearsal dinner, wedding, after party, and brunch all in one location–simply the best!
Wedding Planner: My favorite question is, “what is your wedding budget?” Really? We don’t have a wedding budget. Who has a wedding budget in their back pocket these days? My husband and I had a tight wedding budget, so I would have never hired a wedding planner and I didn’t–well, I didn’t have to! The wedding location I chose, Stroudsmoor Country Inn, the #1 wedding venue in the Pocono area has EVERYTHING you need, including a wedding planner. I was floored when we found out that we weren’t going to have to have a second job with all the details and worry about missing something. The systems they have in place were extremely impressive and smooth. Being a business owner myself, it was fun to see how they worked and communicated with one another because not only was my wedding being planned, I was picking up some business tips! Bonus!
Keeping Your Identity in Tact: The most important aspect in planning your wedding day is for you and your fiancé to remember why you are getting married and sharing the journey together. It’s a special day for both of you, so keep your identity in check and respect each other’s wants and needs in order to shine both personalities. Your wedding day should express both of you and exuberate both of your energy.
Starting with these 4 tips and tricks will allow you to check off those to-do items on your never ending wedding list, and you will be on your way to a smooth journey to your wedding day.
Identity Magazine is all about empowering women to get all A’s in the game of life — Accept. Appreciate. Achieve.TM Every contributor and expert answer the Identity 5 questions in keeping with our theme. As a team, we hope to inspire and motivate ourselves and inspire you to get all A’s.
What have you accepted in your life that took time, physically or mentally?
When it came to planning a wedding, I accepted that I could not control everything about the wedding and it wasn’t all about me. Physically I had to make sure I didn’t get caught up with my weight, tan, makeup, hair, etc. It’s important to be comfortable in your own skin.
What do you appreciate about yourself and within your life?
I appreciate my husband, family, friends, and Stroudsmoor for making my wedding day absolutely amazing!
What is one of your most rewarding achievements in life? What goals do you still have?
Not being afraid to say “yes” and start a journey with an amazing man. Our goals are to create a happy and healthy family!
What is your not-so-perfect way? What imperfections and quirks create your Identity?
I work too much at times, same with my husband.
How would you complete the phrase “I Love My…?”
I love my romantic soul.
