So, we found a Wedding Coordinator. I saw Wedding Coordinator instead of a wedding planner because she will be there to consult along the way, but will not be waiting on us hand and foot. The step was important for us to have since we have some much going on, the pandemic is still limiting travel, and we are 1,300 miles away from the wedding destination and do not want to bother our families.
What do we have going on you ask? Well, both my fiance's and I's maternal grandmothers are not doing that great and are the whole reason we are having the wedding in Chicago, I still have a trip in July of next year to Japan I need to rebook plane tickets for, and we plan on moving to a new state for the first time since college in April 🙃. I know, don't look at me like that. It's A LOT. So that is indeed why a Wedding Coordinator is quite necessary for this wedding to take place.
The next step is to meet up with my local bridesmaids to go bridesmaid dress shopping as well as at the end of August I will be quarantining in Chicago, thanks to Mayor Lightfoot's Emergency Travel Restrictions for 14 days prior to my scheduled wedding venue tours. I plan of making a decision on the venue and bridesmaids dresses upon my return. Choosing the venue as soon as possible is super important in this COVID-19 situation. Most individuals who wanted to wait are moving their new wedding dates to 2021 and the individuals that married at the courthouse or in a "micro-wedding" are moving their receptions to 2021 so they have more time to save money. On top of all of that you have individuals like myself that are looking to get a venue for the first time, mind you, these venues have to honor their original wedding and adjust to their new dates accordingly so, that means you are on a first come first serve basis to the third power. If we wait any longer we will not have a place for the wedding in downtown or Schaumburg area.
There is no way I will be having it on the South Side. That place is a walking nightmare for me and I would rather elope at that point than have it on out there.
A few things to keep in mind for those planning:
Be prepared to go slightly over budget. The wedding tax is real and bites you in the butt everywhere you go. In between cake cutting fees, service charges, gratuity, and upgrades that prices can change fast. Have a little extra saved.
You can't go over budget.... Cut the guestlist down and I mean WAY down. Have you talked to everyone on the list in the past 6 months? Are they going to get you a gift? Look I know if sounds selfish, but if you are on a budget try and recant any of your funds from the wedding with money given to you as a wedding gift if you are not already using it towards a house or honeymoon. Are these people going to be here to help you through your marriage? I think that is a really important question to ask. Will this person be here in the low times as well as the good? That needs to be understood if you have spending $155 per plate, you know what I mean 🤷?
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