It's no secret that I was overwhelmed when I started planning my own wedding. I was so overwhelmed, in fact, that in the beginning, even the mention of the word "wedding" would cause me to panic. "Then why on earth are you now a wedding planner?" you might ask. Stay with me, we'll get there, I promise.
Because I was so overwhelmed at the concept of planning a wedding, one of the first things I started looking for was a wedding planner. I needed someone to help me and I needed someone fast, but I could not find a full wedding planner within my budget who I felt would plan my wedding just as I would (or would answer emails as quickly!).
It was at that point my mother intervened. With wedding and event planning experience under her belt, she offered to help me plan everything. Realizing that I now wouldn't have to plan everything alone, I quickly accepted-- I needed all the help I could get!
I am a very driven person by nature, so as soon as I took my mom up on her offer, I dove head-first into the planning process with the goal of getting as much done as quickly as humanly possible.
For the entire week after my mom took over as my co-planner, every free moment I had was dedicated to Project Wedding. I would research, email, and update my budget sheet and vendor list on my lunch breaks, after work, on the weekends, even from the couch while my fiancé and I watched movies (shh, don't tell!). With my mom and fiancé by my side (and taking over my inbox), we did it all: the vision-boarding, emailing, calling, contract-reviewing . . . all of it. By the end of that week, we had all but two vendors booked for the big day and we were well on track to end up under budget.
Now, I don't want this to give you an unrealistic expectation of wedding planning. Vendor decisions and contract signings do not often happen that quickly, and that kind of "rage planning"(as my fiancé came to call it) is certainly not how I approach planning weddings that are not my own, but that one week taught me something very important.
I had finally found a way to fall in love with my wedding. An event that initially seemed like an intimidating and overwhelming mountain to climb, turned into my biggest passion project. I fell in love with all the things that brides don't usually love doing: budgeting, organizing, emailing. It was when I checked the final vendor of that week off the checklist that the proverbial lightbulb went off. All I had to do was find a way to love the chaos. Organizing, budgeting, checking things off, and seeing the whole vision come together because of all our hard work was exactly how I did that.
As I was highlighting the only two vendors we had left to book in my cherished, color-coordinated spreadsheet, my mom said, "everyone I have spoken to has been so impressed with how quickly we have gotten everything done . . . we should start our own business!" Two minutes later, I was already creating the website.
Getting married is an occasion filled with so much joy, happiness, and love, and being engaged and planning the wedding should be no different. I truly thought it was different until I found my own way to fall in love with wedding planning. That is why G&N Events was born, to help you fall in love with wedding planning too.
And that is where it all started.
