This week's featured wedding planning meeting is an overview of how to formulate a detailed wedding vision - and equally as important, learning how to articulate and advocate for that vision with those who are helping you plan.

Here's an overview of the specific scenario we'll be discussing:

"How can we reign in our wedding planner? Our venue includes a coordinator for the rehearsal and wedding day, and initially I was pleasantly surprised by how accommodating and informative she is. Since the initial relief and excitement of finding and booking the perfect venue, we're starting to realize the huge task ahead of us in terms of booking EVERYTHING (the venue comes with nothing set up, so we need to choose tables, chairs, place settings, dance floor, bar, basically everything.)

At this point, I feel completely overwhelmed by her ideas & suggestions, and I'm starting to worry that the wedding she has envisioned for us does not line up with our vision OR our budget. How do I reign in our wedding planner and rest easy knowing that we are on the same page?"

In my years of experience, it's not just the wedding planners who need to reigned in ... often times it's also the moms, bridesmaids, aunts, cousins ... feeling familiar?

We're going to cover all these scenarios in today's episode.

You'll also enjoy a clip of exclusive audio, "Creating Your Wedding Vision". This exercise alone is one of the most valuable wedding planning tools I have to helping you create a celebration that truly honors your priorities & values.

Tune in for so much more!

Our goal this week? To save YOU $3,650 on your final wedding bill.

We could literally talk for hours about all the pretty things you see on Pinterest & Instagram that do not HAVE to be a part of your wedding celebration.

In the interest of time, I've chosen EIGHT wedding elements that I would suggest skipping - or scaling waaaaaaaaay back on. I think you'll be shocked at how easy it is for us to save over $3,000 over the course of a 20 minute conversation!

If your goal is a simple, beautiful, and affordable wedding - then the sky is the limit on the millions of wedding details you can leave out.

Partner links mentioned in today's show:

Wedding shoes on Amazon? Why not! Check out these beauties & more for a fraction of the price at a "wedding" retailer.

Support a small business AND shop high quality, low priced wedding accessories on Etsy.

Last word! A CLASSIC way to save? Purchase once-used decor & other wedding items from another couple on a resale site like Craigslist, Ebay, or Facebook Marketplace. 🙌🏼

Today I'm sharing AN ULTIMATE ENGAGEMENT CHECKLIST, including 10 key "to-do's" to launch your wedding planning journey into action.

CONGRATULATIONS! The days & weeks after saying "YES!" are a whirlwind of fun & excitement ...

From sharing the news with your loved ones, flashing that ring every chance you get, and dreaming of cakes and dresses, you're definitely at the start of an unforgettable time in your lives.

I've worked with thousands of engaged couples over the past 7 years of producing this podcast, and most of them are in autopilot mode already at this point in the planning process.

And unfortunately, those couples miss a much larger opportunity.

An opportunity to wait patiently for their ideal wedding vision to unfold BEFORE going out and making big, irreversible decisions that end up really limiting what's possible for them ... and I don't want that for you.

SO MUCH MORE inside today's free audio meeting!

Links & resources:

Is Engagement Ring insurance for you?

"When the initial excitement settled, we felt like planning an entire wedding seemed really expensive, overwhelming, and exhausting."

Let me back up ...

My now-husband John proposed in the summer of 2009, at the end of a 3-week trip we took through Europe.

We were in Paris - our last stop - and we waited for hours to get to the lower platform of the Eiffel Tower, where he dropped to his knee with the sparking lights of the tower above us, and lit up city buildings & river boats in the distance.

We never even had dinner that night because it got so late, but you know how it is with the crazy excitement you felt on your engagement day - dinner didn't even matter. We had just lived an incredibly powerful moment that was about to change our lives forever.

Within weeks, my ring was resized and fit perfectly. We had shared the news with literally everyone we knew, and we started discussions about potential venues and dates, and of course, the elephant in the room - how we would pay for everything.

Tune in for so much more!

A universal truth? Your wedding day will FLY BY.

Having a well-thought out, well-planned WEDDING DAY TIMELINE is critical to keeping the day organized, and flowing stress free.

In this featured episode of the Wedding Planning Podcast, we're actually reviewing & creating two separate timelines:

• The DAY-OF TIMELINE, including all the events between waking up, and the wedding reception beginning,
• The RECEPTION TIMELINE, including the events that will happen within the reception itself.

We're going to focus on the DAY-OF timeline first, and you'll find specifics on creating your reception timeline in the second half of this meeting.

Here's a link to the Pinterest Wedding Timeline examples that I mentioned in the show.

Mastering the art of compromise is incredibly tricky.

Today we're exploring the importance of being on the same page with respect to finances, how you spend your free time, and of course, the ability to COMPROMISE - whether it's about your honeymoon or your wedding guest list. Tune in for so much more!

I'm looking for new stories from you about your engagement, wedding planning milestones, questions, anxieties, and anything else you'd like to share.

I'd love to feature your voice on the podcast, so please get in touch with your stories and questions by heading to weddingplanningpodcast.co/contact.

I can't wait to hear from you!

If you're looking for some CREATIVE + AFFORDABLE wedding reception entertainment options that go way beyond dinner, drinks & dancing, then this wedding planning workshop is perfect for you!

Today's wedding receptions feature creative entertainment ideas that are increasingly more personalized, more interactive, and more representative of your values, personal style and tastes.

There are endless ways to reimagine classic wedding reception entertainment & activities, and create a memorable, shared WEDDING EXPERIENCE based on your values & priorities.

In this meeting, we're covering an overview of creative wedding entertainment ideas, and highlighting some fun twists on tradition that you can plan to treat your guests to an unforgettable experience.

GATHERING INSPIRATION FROM PINTEREST

I know podcasts don't always lend well to visual examples, and I don't like simply rattling off long lists during the show ... so here's a list of search terms that you can simply copy / paste into Pinterest for instant wedding entertainment ideas & inspiration:

• creative wedding guest book ideas
• wedding seating chart ideas
• wedding place card table ideas
• DIY selfie station
• DIY wedding photo backdrop,
• Bouquet toss ideas
• Garder toss ideas
• Money dance ideas
• Creative wedding toast
• Dessert bar ideas,
• Unique first dance ideas

For easy tips on getting a private Facebook group up and running, you can visit this link.

A LOT of our energy during the wedding planning process is centered around the fear that things will go wrong, and how we can avoid and prevent minor mistakes - and major disasters - on our wedding day.

I've been deeply involved with weddings for over a decade, and candidly, it's a universal truth - no matter how much you plan and prep and delegate and assign, something will go wrong and / or not according to plan at some point during your wedding celebration.

The good news is that big or small, I have some solid practices that you can use right now to be able to adapt, improvise, and mentally overcome any unforeseen issues & challenges that are bound to arise.

Tune in for so much more!