86 days!!

Weeee that is super exciting! Did you have any plans for the honeymoon?!

I have not postponed, our big wedding is 87 days away 🥳. We still have to do our final tasting in the next couple of weeks as well as my first alteration appointment. Very thing else is pretty much planned, just paying the remaining balance to our vendors. What else do you have left?

I am 78 days away. Seems unreal.

But I only got engaged four weeks ago (though knew it was coming) and we started planning two and a half weeks ago. I only moved to the US three months ago and neither my fiancé or me have family here. So it's all very different - both what I've imagined and what most people here are planning. We don't have a bridal party and won't have a rehearsal dinner. I hope we can plan some sort of small afterparty with some close friends after the reception as we have an afternoon wedding.

We have got a lot done (in 16 days including the holidays) but there is also still so much to do. We are very blessed by an incredibly generous network of people who want to help. Our budget is on the smaller side. And all the planning is definitely overwhelming but my fiancé is very patient when I have my bridezilla-monster-moments. He is still super chilled (in his culture a lot of people plan weddings in a week or two (I keep telling him that's it's different here!)) - sometimes that's helpful and sometimes it drives me crazy. But he is involved and trying to help - that's great!

What we have so far:

- venue (church for ceremony and reception, they also have tables, decoration and most importantly help with the livestream for people who can't come (pretty much everyone on my side!)

- guestlist

- my dress (and accessories and shoes) - so relieved when I found a dress I absolutely love love love in a store that only sells sample dresses of the rack. When I bought it I didn't think much about alterations and now I am super super nervous about it because the top needs to be taken in quite a bit and it has a lot of lace appliques.

- cake (friend is making the cake and she is really good at it)

- informed people of date

- started with registry and website

- officiant

- we have a lead on a photographer and someone to do my hair and make-up

- My fiancé wants food from his country and he is a great cook and has actually catered weddings and rehearsa dinners in the past. He will plan the menu, shop, make what can be made in advance and ask friends to cook for us.

What we still need:

Professional engagement photos (tomorrow). Invitations. Grooms attire. Decoration. Finish website. Marriage license. Rent dishes. Timeline/program. Wedding rings. Plan ceremony. Choose and practice first dance (lessons??). Favors. Some furniture for his apartment (will move in with him after wedding). Honeymoon. Transportation for day of. Flowers. And probably a thousand other things that I am not thinking of right now. I am not working right now - that's helpful. We want it to be nice and special but also simple. I think we can totally do it. I just have to stop to compare myself and our wedding and our experience to everyone else's and I think we will be totally fine and it will be a beautiful wedding.