The Engagement Edit: Q&A with Alex of The Fashion Brief

Photo: Greer Inez Photography

Fashionable lawyer Alex of The Fashion Brief sat down with us to discuss balancing work, life and wedding planning, guest list woes and the decision to involve pets on your wedding day!


Name: Alex LoCasto
Blog: The Fashion Brief
Location: Dallas, TX
Wedding Date: September 23, 2017

WW: Thank you for joining us, Alex! We’re so excited to have you a part of our Engagement Edit series. How has wedding planning been thus far?

AL: Wedding planning has been a rollercoaster! I had no idea how much it entailed until my wonderful wedding planner and college bestie, Brady (from Copper + Birch), sent me the first checklist. He’s incredible, organized, and knows me like the back of his hand so it has been absolutely amazing working with him. He’s kept me (mostly) sane, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say there were days when I was stressed. But it has also been so much fun. The creative side of me has loved picking out every single little detail, although there are so many options out there that the indecisive side of me gets a bit overwhelmed. I’ve loved sitting down with Brady and discussing my vision and how we can incorporate different things to make guests feel welcome and have an amazing weekend. It’s an amazing feeling when little pieces of the wedding start coming to life - like picking up my wedding dress and getting our save the dates in the mail.

WW: What was the hardest wedding planning decision you have made? What has been the easiest?

AL: The guest list has definitely been the hardest part of wedding planning. It’s really difficult to decide where to draw the line on invites and it’s even harder when the venue has limited space and you also have to keep things within the budget. There are just so many people from my life and from Andrew’s life that we want to include. I think we would both invite everyone we know if we could. But the truth is that you have to draw the line somewhere. It’s hard when you’re friends with groups of people - for example, my college cheer teammates - and you feel like if you invite one you have to invite all, even if you only keep in touch with some. I’ve heard different rules to help with narrowing it down - like cutting anyone who you haven’t talked to in the last year or cutting kids - so we tried to incorporate some of those rules.

WW: Have any wedding planning tools on WeddingWire been especially useful to you?

AL: Yes! When I was trying to decide on what I would wear for our engagement pictures I looked at tons of inspiration pics on WeddingWire and read an article about what to wear for your engagement pics. I’ve also used the hashtag generator and looked at just about all the inspiration pictures - for dresses, cakes, gift ideas, etc. I also plan on using the seating chart tool when it’s time to figure that out!

Photo: Greer Inez Photography

WW: Did you find any of your vendors on WeddingWire? If so, which ones?

AL: I actually had most of my vendors picked out before I actually started the planning process...which makes me sound like I am insane, haha. But as I said before, my wedding planner is my college bestie, so I knew I was using him to plan the wedding and using his floral design company. I looked at some venues on WeddingWire and we ended up choosing after looking at a few in person. Our venue has some mandatory/suggested vendors, Brady has some vendors he suggests, and we had a few we already knew we wanted to use (for example, our photographer photographed my fiancé's sister’s wedding so we knew we wanted her).

WW: In addition to planning your wedding and blogging, you are also a full-time attorney. What is your biggest tip for balancing it all?

AL: Don’t sweat the small stuff. Balancing everything is a daily struggle for me! Some (most) days I work 10 to 12 hours and come home completely exhausted and the absolute last thing I want to do is look at a computer or think about anything. I have to unwind with some trashy reality TV (I can’t help it, I’m addicted), and then I try to do at least one thing - whether that’s research some honeymoon options, respond to Instagram comments, or answer emails. Some days it’s just not happening - and I don’t beat myself up about that. When it comes to the blog, my motto is: if it’s not fun, it’s not worth it. It started as a passion project to learn more about the blogging industry and have fun with fashion. If it turns into something that stresses me out it’s the opposite of what I intended when I started, so that keeps me in check. When it comes to the wedding, I think about what that day really means. My wedding day is going to be amazing whether I have black linens or white linens or gold linens or pink linens - it’s about me marrying the love of my life and celebrating that love with all of our closest friends and family. In 10 years, no one will even remember what the linen color was anyway, right?

Photo: Greer Inez Photography

WW: Can you tell us about your #justsaidyes moment to your fiancé?
AL: We were on vacation in Cabo last summer. We were staying at a friend’s house, which is the most gorgeous place I’ve ever been. It’s right on the water, beautifully landscaped, with several infinity pools and fully stocked bars. It was our second day there and we were getting ready to go to dinner at Flora Farms (a MUST if you’re ever in Cabo). We were meeting the property manager, Derek, for a drink before we left and Andrew was getting pretty antsy. He kept getting up from our patio bar area to go look for Derek and I was so confused about why he wanted to have a drink with Derek so badly. He walked up to the top of the property to good look for Derek (he was really making sure the photographer was in place) and when he came back down he asked if I wanted to go take a pic in this gorgeous area with the most breathtaking view. We walked upstairs and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and then we celebrated with a bottle of Moet and phone calls to family and friends before leaving for dinner. The photographer (also an amazing artist) painted us a watercolor of the engagement spot. It was truly the perfect day.

WW: We are obsessed with your two, adorable dogs! Will your fur babies be included on your wedding day?

AL: Ah, thank you!!! I am too, haha. I WISH. They are both too wild for that. Our vizsla, Ellie, loves, loves, loves people and has more energy than you can imagine. She would literally be jumping on everyone and kissing alllllll over their faces, whether they like it or not. Kali, our rescue, is the opposite. She’s a little sketched out by people and will bark for the first 5 to 10 minutes before she warms up to you. She’s a sweetheart once she knows you, but such a scaredy cat at the beginning. I’d love to have someone bring them up to the venue for a few pictures before everything starts though, so we’ll see if I can make that happen.

WW: Any tips you can provide for couples who plan on incorporating their pets in their wedding day?

AL: Just have fun with it! Of course, make sure your pet is comfortable with it and able to participate in the way you want him or her to, and then practice, practice, practice.

WW: Finally, what are you most looking forward to on your big day?

AL: Everything. Getting MARRIED, obviously. Seeing family and friends that I don’t see that often. Spending the day with all of my favorite people. Getting ready with my mom and bridesmaids. Dancing with my dad.