70 Wedding Tips + Ideas [Part 1]

The Thursday before our wedding, we were headed up to @campwandawega — just Isaac + I, to take it all in + get settled. We got our marriage license, had a convo with our therapist, + cooked our favorite meal: salmon, potatoes, + kale. I still remember everything so vividly.

My number one intention for our wedding weekend was to BE PRESENT. I knew this weekend would go by so, so fast + I wanted to savor every second + be filled up with JOY, allowing myself to fully receive love 💞. Well… the weekend was BEYOND our wildest dreams. Truly a LOVE BUBBLE. I remember at the end of the weekend crying, saying “I’m never going to feel this happy + this much love ever again!”

Now, over a year later [+ a baby in tow 😌], I wanted to reflect on THE MOST MAGICAL weekend of our lives… + share 50 wedding tips, ideas, + thoughts that I learned throughout the process. ✨ I hope it inspires you to create the wedding of your dreams — whatever that looks like to you!

(Also, I can confidently say that while YES our wedding a PEAK EXPERIENCE of our lives… we will have more peak experiences in our lifetime… hello, having a home birth + meeting Noal Sol! 😍)

50 Wedding Tips, Ideas, + Thoughts:

👉1] Savor being engaged. This might sound obvious, but I wanted to share it because I feel like sometimes people feel pressure to start wedding planning right away + they immediately feel stressed about dates, venues, budget, etc. If *YOU* want to start wedding planning right away — do it. But, if you want to simply enjoy being engaged for a few months prior to wedding planning — that’s okay, too! Do whatever feels best for you! There’s no right or wrong answer. We took our time + didn’t pick a date or venue until 7 months after getting engaged. Whatever you decide to do: Celebrate the fact that you are choosing to marry each other + honor how special this chapter of your life is!

👉2] Create an intention. Prior to diving head first into wedding planning, ask yourself: “How do I want to feel?” How do I want to feel while wedding planning? How do I want to feel during the wedding weekend? Create an intention around what’s most important to you. Hold that intention near + dear to your heart!

• Wedding planning: I wanted to be a chill bride [I was a little too chill, as you’ll see later lol], have fun + be creative, + make our wedding fully feel like “us” + incorporate special moments + surprises
• Wedding weekend: I wanted to be so so so present, savor every second, receive love, + hold Isaac’s hand as much possible

👉3] While wedding planning — lean in on your intuition. Treat this time as a playground for manifestation + to HAVE FUN! You are co-creating something so special with your partner. Ask yourself: “What would the best wedding ever look like to me if I had no limits?” Create from that space. Anything is possible 🥰. We had quite a few divine moments + it was so fun to tap into that. Also, have fun “wedding planning dates” with your partner!

👉4] Online RSVP is definitely the way to go, IMO. Simple + effective! No cards getting lost in the mail or hounding people down!

👉5] Consider starting couple’s therapy, reading a book on relationships together [Getting The Love You Want is a good one!], or going through a course together to prepare you for marriage. We went through “pre-cana” with our Church + worked with a therapist — it was so helpful to be able to reflect on our relationship + talk about our desires in marriage.

👉6] The week leading up to your wedding go down memory lane with your partner + visit places from the beginning of your relationship. Where did you meet? Where was your first date? Did you have a favorite coffee shop or neighborhood you used to hang out in? Did you both live elsewhere? The week of our wedding, Isaac + I visited the coworking space we met at, walked past our old apartments, had a picnic in the park we always used to hang out at, + worked on our vows at our fav coffee shop.

👉7] Learn from my mistake + DO NOT get dermaplaning the week of your wedding. Honestly, I would not stray from your normal skin routine at all or do any facials/skin treatments during the 2 weeks leading up to your wedding. Even though my skin is *normally* okay during dermaplanning, I ended up breaking out badly on my cheek. Makeup was able to cover it up fine, but WOW — it was also the kind of acne that hurt!

👉8] I vote YES to a hair + makeup trial!
*Also, if you have friends who are good at hair + makeup —have them do your bridal look! It was so nice to have my friend Bridgett give me the wedding look of my dreams. Also, because your friends know you, they will be helpful in giving you a bridal look that still feels like *you*.

👉9] Speaking of friends — if there’s a way to showcase your friends’ amazing talents during your wedding weekend… DO IT! Whether that’s help with DIY decor, hair + makeup, leading a movement class, etc. We involved so many of our friends during our wedding weekend + it made the weekend even that more special. 🥺

👉10] Create a separate “wedding instagram” for wedding planning. I didn’t want to look at wedding content ALL THE TIME when I was on instagram, so I created a separate handle just for following wedding content for inspiration on dresses, decor, colors, etc.

👉11] If you are having a destination wedding, highly recommend you + your partner arriving a day earlier than anyone else. Once your friends + family get in there’s going to be so much going on logistically + energetically. I loved being able to have time to slow down + connect with Isaac in the space we were getting married!

👉12] Isaac + I promised to hold each other’s hands as much as possible throughout the entire weekend + to not be apart from each other for too long. I’m proud to say that we kept our promise, + it was amazing! 💞

👉13] At some point or another, wedding planning will be stressful. It’s a BIG EVENT with A LOT of moving pieces, PLUS you are most likely dealing with multiple vendors [+ maybe differing opinions from family?!]. I was a very, very chill bride [honestly, too chill]. There were a lot of hiccups in communication with vendors that took a toll on us. I wish I would have advocated for ourselves more + spoken up when things weren’t being communicated. Be as specific as possible + incorporate deadlines! Even though you may think “they are the expert” — it’s your wedding. You care about it the most!

👉14] If you are ordering your dress 8 months [or less] out, get it “RUSHED” + try to book an appointment with a tailor as early as you can. I found my dress in December [7 months prior] + they said I didn’t need to order it rushed… well, it ended up taking FOREVER to come in [1 month prior]. When it finally came… there were no tailors available other than ONE. I called at least 10 👀.

👉15] If you’re struggling or feeling stressed about wedding dress shopping, here are my 5 tips.

👉16] Something I splurged on: MY VEIL! Originally I had gotten a cheap veil from Etsy [it was only $22, + had a lot of good reviews!]. When I tried it on, I was like meh… but I didn’t think too much about it — I figured I would make it work or just not wear a veil. When I picked up my dress from Alice + Ivory + did a final fitting, I tried on a super soft veil + WOW… instantly, I knew it was THE ONE. It was $265 compared to $22… but worth the splurge because…

👉17] Something I surprised myself by: NEVER wanting to take my veil off 😂 It’s so ironic because I was unsure if I was going to even wear a veil… but it was SO bridal + I ended up loving. I’m so glad I splurged on the veil I loved! Unfortunately, it was getting trampled on while dancing so I ended up taking it off… but I didn’t want to!

👉18] Hire a day of planner. It was SO nice to be able to leave all the weekend’s logistics to our planner, so that we could be FULLY PRESENT [our #1 wedding intention!] to the weekend.

👉19] Isaac + I worked so hard to create a “wellness wedding” experience that would be fun for our guests [+ of course fun for us!]… BUT, we promised that once our weekend was here, it would be about US. We both have a tendency to worry about other people [example: “is so + so having fun?”], but we decided to let that go for this weekend + instead, allow ourselves to receive love + have our focus be on our union! We were getting married!!!!

👉20] FRIDAY THEMED PARTY! We did “wear your favorite blue” + it was so fun to see everyone dress up in denim… + made for some epic pics 🤩

👉21] Also… on the note of themes, if you have a color pallet that you want represented at your wedding, I vote DO IT! We said “earthy colors are encouraged” for our wedding [after being inspired by our friends who had a wedding that was “bright colors are encouraged”] + I shared an inspo color pallet lol… + I do not regret it one bit 😉

👉22] Instead of an exclusive rehearsal dinner, consider having a casual “welcome party” where you can invite all of your wedding guests. We did a casual cash food truck + BYOB! It was so fun to have almost all our guests present + it allowed us to say hi to everyone on Friday, rather than seeing people for the first time Saturday after getting married.

👉23] If you’re between a venue that has people stay “on site” with you vs one that doesn’t — I vote go with the FIRST. We almost got married in my parent’s backyard [which would have also been so special], but we ended up going with Camp Wandawega because 66 of our guests were able to stay on site with us! It truly was a BLAST. Read this post: 5 Reasons You Should Consider Getting Married At Wedding At Camp Wandawega

👉24] Ask yourself: “What activities do I want to incorporate into the wedding weekend?” Isaac + I were so excited about the idea of incorporating wellness into our wedding weekend — yoga, meditation, HIIT workout, ice baths, journaling + more! It felt very authentically us.

👉25] Spend time with your partner the morning of the wedding. So many people don’t see their partner the entire day until their “first look” late in the afternoon [or walking down the aisle]. I totally get why that can be appealing, but I really wanted to spend as much of the day with Isaac as possible. This was OUR DAY! The morning of our wedding, we spent time just the two of us — drinking coffee, journaling, meditating, reading letters [more on that below] + our friend gave us craniosacral work. I remember we were SO giddy that morning like “is this really happening?!” so it was nice to just relax + ground together + take time just the two of us.

👉Tips 26–50] Read This Post

Our Wedding Team

So many thanks to all of these incredible people who made our dream wedding possible! Want an intro to any of these people? Let me know!

💛 Camp: @campwandawega
💛 Photo + Video: @reeseandrenee
💛 Pop Up Design + Food: @clothandflame @nickrusticus
💛 DIY Details: @alyssakk15 @sarahkclem @kaevass
💛 Wellness Leaders: @cali.kristinesc @cataldanasager @itsmaryjewel @adrian_on_spaceshipearth
💛 Acupuncture + Massage + Fire Twirling: @meliss__rae @taniahugheslovely
💛 Day Of Wedding Planner: @katiemonster365
💛 Floral: @inthebrambles @la_tulipe_design
💛 Hair + Makeup: @bpiacenti
💛 Dress + Veil: @aliceinivorybridal @alexandragrecco
💛 Suit: @blvdier
💛 Music: @kevinparismusic
💛 Violin: @justnathaniel.mp3
💛 DJ + Light Show: Jeff Quay

Love,
Elisabeth