Planning Our Wedding — Nikki Taylor

Let me start off by saying that planning a wedding takes so much patience and is bound to be stressful at times; especially if you are a perfectionist - hello enneagram type one, but our wedding was worth every emotion I experienced. Our wedding was everything I had ever dreamt of! From my photographer, flowers, and down to the smallest of details, it was perfection.

So let’s start from the beginning of the planning, shall we?!

Bradley proposed on March 9th, 2018. I have known since I was a little girl that I most definitely wanted my wedding in the spring! Something about the spring season is so special. It symbolizes, for me, new beginnings and the blossoming of new things, just like flowers in the spring - cheesy I know, but I am a sucker for symbolism.

Once he proposed, I immediately began planning. I am not the type of person to wait so I picked our date first and would highly recommend this being your first step! With your date finalized, it will make the rest of your planning simpler and will also help your vendors.

Nikki’s Pro Tip: Every bride’s planning process is different! With me still being in school, I had to consider my schedule especially with it being my last year of college. So, plan your wedding at your own pace whether it is three months or over a year - it is your day! For the people who are still in college while planning a wedding, It is definitely a lot of work, but if you are dedicated, you can do it!

Now that you have your date finalized, you need to get a wedding calendar/planner. I received one as an engagement gift from my mother and I used it the entire time I planned. It is a planner/calendar specifically to plan a wedding and it is perfect to keep up with all of your vendors & appointments! Link to calendar: Wedding Calendar

The top three vendors I wanted to secure first were my photographer, videographer, and my venue! I have known since I was twelve years old who I wanted my photographer to be. Megan Kennedy photographed my cousin's wedding back in 2010 and I absolutely loved her. We kept in touch over the years and every wedding I attended as a guest, I always told her ‘you will be my photographer whenever I marry my person.’ and sure enough she did! Megan is an absolute dream to work with! We went with her largest package, which I highly recommend because you get so much and you can NEVER have too many photos.

Check out Megan’s blog post about our wedding here: Our Wedding Day

My videographer was the second most important vendor to book. I came across Hampton Road Studios through Youtube and they were also recommended as one of the best videographers in Alabama. Some people opt-out of getting a videographer for their big day, but I highly recommend it because a video, like photos, is something you will cherish forever. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched our wedding video. Matt & Ashley love capturing one of the most important days of people's lives. The way they connect with the wedding party, edit, and produce their videos is absolutely amazing.

Here is the link to our wedding video: Wedding Video

For my venue, I looked around the Birmingham area at a few different venues and I came across The Barn at Shady Lane. I knew when I first visited they were going to be my wedding venue. Everything about it was perfect. The owners are great to work with and the venue is a pretty blank canvas to bring your dreams to reality with a few unique touches already included in the venue.

For our wedding registry, we registered at Target, Amazon, West Elm, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Belk. Registering was such a fun thing to do! If you are trying to figure out where to register, I recommend Target, creating an Amazon registry, Bed Bath & Beyond, and one of your favorite stores! It is always best to give your guests options and different price ranges.

Nikki’s Pro Tip: If you are overwhelmed and you are not sure what to register for, ask your friends and family for their recommendations.

I have created a registry essential checklist for you to download:

Registry Essential Checklist

Now let’s talk about how I chose the design and colors of our wedding!

Selecting the colors and design for the wedding was so much fun. My inspiration came from earth tones and the neutral colors of spring! I have always been more of a neutral gal, but I wanted to make sure I incorporated earth tones into my color palette. I incorporated this look through the selection of my bridesmaid dresses, flowers and through my decor details.

Nikki’s Pro Tip:: Create a Pinterest Board + create collages and print them out + create a portfolio to showcase your inspiration to your wedding planner & florist.

Link to my Pinterest boards: Wedding Inspo Board & My Wedding Day Board

I am definitely a visual person so having a portfolio at our meeting helped me explain what I wanted. - I recommend doing this! It also helps the wedding planner and florist to have a better understanding of what you want so they can make sure your wedding day is perfect!