Welcome to Our Kind of Crazy! We’re a newly engaged couple sharing our crazy adventures in travel, wedding planning, and everyday life.
High in the rugged heartlands of British Columbia, you’ll find Canada’s ultimate winter wonderland - Whistler.
Famous the world over for its dramatic landscapes and enticing slopes, Whistler attracts thousands of skiers and snowboarders from across the globe each year.
“Welcome to New York!....it’s been waiting for you!” The famous T-Swift song plays on our phones as we come up on NYC. I absolutely love New York! Every time I’m there, it’s always an exciting feeling being in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the city that never sleeps.
1. Have the wedding that speaks to you.
Canmore Alberta is our favorite cozy mountain town, and getting engaged on the top of a mountain there made it the perfect place for us to get married. With Canmore being an 8 hour drive from home, it likely wasn't a popular choice at first for many of our family and friends. Once we spotted the venue of our dreams, there was no going back, and we decided we would absolutely NOT settle on a different venue. Having a wedding in our hometown would have been the easy option, but we knew we would look back and regret not having the wedding of our dreams, in our favorite place.
A trip to our nations capital, Washington DC, is one that should be on every Americans list. But a day trip to Arlington, Virginia should be included on that trip as well. Arlington is a quick 15 minutes outside the city, and definitely worth the trip. The most famous spots are, Arlington National Cemetery and The Pentagon.
1. Set a budget and Secure your Venue and Photographer ASAP!
The most important step in wedding planning is setting a reasonable budget. There are many apps like “Wedding Wire” and “The Knot” to assist you with budgeting and wedding timelines. Be reasonable with your budget. The worst thing is to start off your new union in debt! When your budget is set, you have an idea of the type of Venue and Photographer you could want for your special day. Do your research but try to book early, as most places are all booked up months or even years in advance.
On our US History tour, we headed to Gettysburg for the day on our way to Philadelphia. We had been before and took a driving tour in our car with a guide who took us around the battlefields.
Ever wonder about buying your Wedding Veil on Amazon?! There are so many things you can buy on Amazon to save you money! However, buying things online can be scary...sometimes its hard to know what you're going to get. But with the crazy prices some bridal salons are charging, brides are often wondering if it's even worth it to buy a veil. Well, thanks to Amazon, (and lots of our research), we've put together a list of real brides who have had success with their Amazon veils.
As tempting as it is to just start planning, establishing a budget is an absolute must. Get everything out in the open with what you can spend and if your parents or future in-laws will contribute. If you aren't happy with your budget, maybe that means a longer engagement. But just remember that there is an AMAZING wedding for every budget.
Still photos provide an image of a moment in time, but wedding videos capture both movement and sound. With a wedding video, you’ll be able to hear your spouse gasp during your first look, your dad’s toast and your mom’s laughter. You’ll be able to watch your first kiss as newlyweds, your first dance, and your grandmother’s amazing dance moves. For as beautiful and artistic as still photos can be, they cannot capture motion or sound—which makes a wedding video a must-have.
Bridesmaid Proposal Boxes are such a fun new trend. Now that you’ve got your celebration on, with your own Bridal Box Subscription, and you’re getting use to your new bride status...it’s time for, what I believe to be, one of the most exciting parts of your wedding planning process...asking your bridesmaids to stand up with you as you say “I do”. Your bridesmaids are the girls in your life who are there for you during the crazy wedding planning phase. “Back in the day”, brides simply asked their girls to be bridesmaids, but now...there’s a fun trend to ask with a fun gift...also known as a “bridesmaid proposal.” I personally love this trend, as I get to give my girls a special gift while I ask them to stand up with me as I marry my best friend.
Who dislikes traveling? Nobody! We all like exploring new places, literally everyone loves to travel.
Even those anxious about flights or bus and train trips love to arrive to the new place and see a new culture with enthusiasm!
I was always like that. I was anxious before my trips, rethinking if everything goes well and a lot more. But I definitely loved packing and dancing along as I fantasized about unpacking when I get to the new place.
I spent a year planning our wedding and at the start it was a completely different vision. Halfway through, I realized that I was planning a traditional wedding that would be just like every other wedding I was at, even though it didn't reflect what I had dreamt about my whole life. I am a free spirit and have my own unique tastes- I realized MY wedding wouldn't be traditional. Some of the things I changed were: *I went from having all matching traditional bridesmaids dresses to having all different mis-matched patterened, non-traditional dresses * I changed the flowers from just some uniform smaller bouquets to bright, fun, crazy wildflowers spilling out from every which way.
So, are you ready to dive into college? While many readers might be responding “yes!” the overwhelming truth is probably… “no.” Who ever is ready for something so new and different? This is the beginning of your adult independence. For most people, it’s the first time they live away from home, the first time they determine their own schedule, even the first time that they’ve cooked for themselves.
Looking to Save Money on your Wedding? Here are some awesome Amazon Deals to save you tons of money!
Is there anything you can’t find on Amazon? Amazon has everything from ebooks to Oreos. What you may not have considered though is that Amazon also has some of the supplies you need for your wedding. Everything from wedding invitations to candles can be found. Let’s take a closer look at things to order for your wedding on Amazon.
We struggled with the guest list the most. We are in our mid to late twenties so we still have lots of close friends and family friends that definitely added up when it came down to invite them all. We had invited 190, 175 had RSVPed and 165 came. We were a little upset that people weren’t more considerate about the fact that we pre payed for the plates but it didn’t interfere with the day at all. It took us over a week to realize they were missing.
Cocktail Hour...the dreaded in between time after the ceremony and before the reception. Weddings are always amazing and mostly full of excitement all around. As fun as it is to be a part of your friends or loved ones special day, the cocktail hour in between can seem to drag on while the Bride and Groom take their photos. But, your cocktail hour does not need to be the most boring hour of the day.
After you get engaged, it’s pretty much a guarantee people will start asking you questions about the wedding. The very same day of my super sneaky surprise proposal, B and I were asked, when…where…and what kind of wedding we were going to have...and we only announced to our immediate families!
1. Decide what aspects of the wedding you want to splurge on and where you can save.
Early on in the wedding planning, we decided what aspects of the wedding were the most important to us. From there, we decided what we were going to need to spend the most money on and where we could cut corners. For example, we both decided we wanted a venue in downtown Chicago that was unique, so we allocated a large portion of our budget towards that. For the things that weren’t as important to us, such as, invitations, we saved money by going the DIY route. I made the invitations using a template off of Etsy and printed them on Vistaprint, which saved us tons!
1. Please, LISTEN and remind yourself often when people tell you not to stress the small things. I heard that so many times while wedding planning and I shrugged it off thinking my problems were too large, expensive and nobody else could possibly understand, yadda yadda. There is so much build up and stress while wedding planning, that on the day of your wedding just give up pleasing anyone but you and your future husband. Throw it out the window because if others aren’t making sure things run smooth for you, chances are it was suppose to be another way for a reason and you’ll have no choice but to roll with it. It is suppose to be FUN and memorable for the right reasons.
My partner and I plan to get married in Iceland on June 5th, 2019. However, we wanted to do a private service one year prior so that certain family members who may not make it to Iceland could attend our marriage. We also thought that might help with the legalities of getting married in another country. We decided to get married exactly one year prior on June 5th, 2018 downtown Chicago at the courthouse.
