Our wedding was held on a “heat wave” of a day in Oklahoma surrounded by 75 of our friends & family. What started out as a rather large affair of inviting over 200 guests, slowly turned into the more intimate event I had always pictured for myself. Now, if you are unaware – we actually officially tied the knot on February 25th at our local courthouse. But on May 14th, we exchanged our own vows & hosted a much larger occasion which turned out to be a beautiful day!
As I’ve said before, I’m someone who had always pictured myself eloping to Vegas or some tropical destination, but of course – within all relationships, you need to compromise a bit & when my grandmother agreed to host the wedding at her estate, [ during a time where finding venues was rather hard thanks to the pandemic era we are still in], I felt it was the perfect sentimental way to bring together two families. Personally, I always thought I was going to be the type of bride who would love wedding planning since of my Type A nature & love for organization. But boy was I wrong! To be completely transparent with you, I’m so glad the wedding planning process is over. And although there are definitely many things we could have done differently, I couldn’t be happier with our wedding day. And I’m so grateful how intentional we remained throughout the process. Here’s how we kept our wedding minimal & ways you can implement minimalism into your special day.
Check out this blog post: How to Remain an Intentional Bride
Keep The Guest List Small
The fact we had a destination wedding & one during a pandemic definitely helped us keep our guest list to a low roar [ although we didn’t necessarily plan it that way]. By having less guests, it was easier to visit each table & have conversation with most of them. It’s so important to acknowledge those who have traveled all this way to celebrate you, & having a smaller guest list helped with this factor. A great way to keep the guest list smaller is limiting the number of guests per person. Really take into consideration the history you have with said guests, whether you know them well enough or if you’ve stayed in touch.
Only Family in Wedding Party
We decided early on to simply have family in the wedding party [ siblings, SIL’s & BIL’s ] because it was a lot easier in coordinating with everyone in terms of fittings & other wedding details along the way. We still invited all our closest friends & got awesome photos together. But this way, the stress of contacting more than seven people made the process a lot smoother. We knew family formals was a huge part the photography session, so having everyone match seemed like the smart move.
No Guest Favors
We nixed the concept of favors completely because I feel like most people leave them behind. Instead, we focused on items for the wedding party or family members with guitar themed socks for the guys, getting ready robes for the girls & my mom as well as matching earrings for the bridesmaids. My husband also chose to gift decanters to the groomsmen & his college friends [ which quite honestly was a TSA nightmare ]. We tried to have the mindset of choosing gifts they could use after the wedding.
No Kids Allowed
A tradition we completely ditched was not having a ring bearer or flower girl. We actually had a no young children policy because of the travel aspect. Although we love our nieces & nephews very much, we felt this was the better option for our situation. It allowed us to have a shorter ceremony & to party all night long.
Personal Sized Cake
Instead of a large wedding cake, we opted for a personalized red velvet cake & an array of favored cupcakes for the guests. This is such a perfect idea because you rarely eat the entire cake anyway. And I think we had tons of cupcakes leftover.
Simple Florals
I chose to have lots of greenery, babies breath as well as flowers in the shades of white, blush pink & burgundy. Our sweetheart table for example had merely greenery & a few candles over this white tablecloth. The yard itself with it’s natural landscapes were beautiful on there own, so there was very little to add. My favorite feature was our wedding arch or arbor. It gave an elegant yet rustic feel.
Sentimental Touches
One of the commonalities my husband and I share is the importance of sentimental value. Having the wedding at my grandparent’s home was a huge sentiment of course. But we also honored my dad through a bouquet locket of his photo, peonies in my bouquet in honor of my husband’s late grandfather, songs that represented loved ones who were with us in spirit, as well as writing our own vows. As you know, the loss of my father this past year has been a level of grief I’ve never experienced before. But the way he was honored this day was a beautiful thing with my brother & uncle giving the welcome speech & them along with my father’s surgical group walking me down the aisle was something for the books.
The Big Picture
Weddings are all about two families coming together as one & pronouncing your love for one another to the world. To find a love like we have found in each other is something I’m so grateful to have. Like part of our first dance goes, “somethings just go better together & probably always will.” I always knew Todd & I were destined for each other & would tie the knot eventually. And I’m so excited to finally announce I’m a whole damn wife! Here’s to the next chapter of our lives & all the adventures to come.
I’d love to keep the wedding series going, so please let me know what you’d like to see from me. I already have a few ideas in the works including a recap of our honeymoon in Maui as well as a “Wedding Things I Regret” or “Things That Wen’t Wrong” post. Be sure you are following me on social media to see photos from the wedding & Hawaii.
I’m so glad to be back on the blogging grind.
Mind Beauty Simplicity 