It just got real!

Very exciting! The year will fly by, just stay as organized as possible and keep the bigger picture in mind (that you are marrying your FH) and don't let the little things stress you out because I promise when it is all said and done absolutely nothing matters other than the fact that you are married!

My advice is to enjoy every minute of being engaged. The year will fly by so, so fast. We are two weeks out after an 18 month engagement and it truly feels like just yesterday we were 500+ days away. For the first like year that we were engaged I think I was sometimes so focused on just getting to the wedding day and wanting the long engagement to go by fast that I didn't always appreciate and enjoy being engaged as much as I should have until we were about 6 months out. Engagement is such a special time in your life, it is a short period of time, and it goes by so fast. I think it's important to enjoy it and not "waste" the entire time being stressed and obsessive about the planning. The last 6 months I really slowed down and tried to enjoy this time with my FH as much as possible and I am so happy I did. I would plan something/do something on my list then I would take at least a week or two off from planning and just focus on us and our relationship. I think it has really helped us continue to grow our bond and enjoy this special season of life together.

As for the planning my best advice is to just be super organized and work ahead if possible. I was able to slow down the past 6 months because I worked ahead and didn't wait until the last second to do things that needed to be done. Excel spreadsheets have been my bestfriend through this process and have helped me keep everything super organized and easy to access on my computer.

Congrats on hitting your one year milestone. My advice is to not make everything about the wedding. Take time to enjoy simply being engaged.

So exciting Jessica

I would agree with all the advice of the PPs.

Time is really going to start flying now so enjoy the process

Thank you! I think I am on the right track then. Not too much is stressing me out but I have been taking time in between planning things to take a breather and enjoy time with FH, I'm also overly organized lol.

Thank you! We have been spending as much time together as we can and are enjoying it. Time has flown by since we have been engaged I know it will keep going by so fast. I am very organized and trying not to let things stress me out. I've been doing the same thing with planning, taking time off in between. We are hoping to have everything done, for the most part, by the end of the year so come next year we have all that time to enjoy everything.

Thank you! We definitely have and will continue to.

Congratulations! Be sure to keep up on when all final deposits are due and keep up any beauty routines you might have!

Congratulations! I remember one year out, how exciting! By one year out we had our venue, photographer, DOC, florist, and hair and makeup. We were about to take our engagement pictures & I was starting dress shopping. Enjoy this year, it will fly by!

Thank you! I am in the process of starting a "Day of binder" with all the vendors and their contact info along with copies of the contacts and time line and things like that so I will be also making a list of how much we owe and when final payments are due! As for my beauty routines I am trying to stick to it!

Thank you! We have all of our vendors booked already! The only thing I still have to d is reach out to my HMUA and confirm but she said she already saved our date. FH is away right now for work training so we still haven't done e-photos yet but once he is back I plan on scheduling them.

Then it sounds like you're all set!

Yay! that time will go by like a blink, i'm telling ya.

my best advice is keep things simple. so many brides think that things like chair covers and detailed centerpieces matter so much but at the end of the day people mainly appreciate the larger overall things like the food. so don't fixate too much on the small details

and remember to take breaks during wedding planning when or if it'll feel overwhelming

and lastly, HAVE FAITH THAT IT'LL ALL COME TOGETHER WELL - one of my mantras i like to say

Thank you! I'm definitely not focusing too much on centerpieces and decor because I know I don't really remember that stuff when I go to weddings. Food is at the top of the list lol. Taking breaks is a must or I'll go crazy!