Welcome back to another great edition of our Q + A series with event planner extraordinaires Aleah and Nick of Valley & Co.! If you're new to the scene, each and every month this incredible design duo answers your ultimate wedding planning questions. If you want some expert advice all you need to do is leave a comment below with whatever planning conundrum has been keeping you up at night. Next month, Aleah and Nick will pick a handful of your questions from the comments below and bring their never-ending buckets of knowledge to SMP California!
So without further ado, here are the answers to your questions from last month's post! Don't forget to leave your question in the comments below!
Q + A with Valley & Co.
We have asked a good friend of ours to be the officiant at the ceremony. While we are thrilled he said yes, we have no idea where to start when it comes to planning what elements we need to include and the flow of the ceremony. We are not religious and are not sure of what needs to be covered to make it a meaningful ceremony for us and our guests. Readings, stories, vows.. do we start with "dearly beloved"? Help! Thanks so much in advance!
Your wedding ceremony is where it all begins: it signals the start of your life as a married couple, so it should be heartfelt, thoughtful, and really meaningful to you both and also to the guests who’ve come to wish you well. It should be magical and a welcoming entry into wedded bliss. To start the process map out what’s most important to you and your fiancé, starting with the formality. Are you two more formal and serious? Perhaps you’re both goofy and love to laugh? Think about the seriousness and traditional elements of the ceremony and you’ll determine the level of formality you’d like.
Writing your vows can be a wonderful way to personalize the ceremony, but it’s not for everyone. We love when our couples sit down with their officiant and tell him or her the story of their lives growing up pre-courtship, the courtship itself, and the engagement. The more sentimental and silly the stories are the livelier your vows will be. Share snippets of your lives with your families and friends to give a sweet nod. Then let the officiant weave a beautiful story about your lives coming together.
Leading with Friends and Family… is a great way to start and signify that the ceremony will be a little more lighthearted or not-so-traditional. However, there is something to be said about “traditional” vows as they’re steeped in years of history and thousands of couples have said those very words, dating back centuries {though they have evolved a bit}. A combination of your love story and traditional vows would be quite lovely.
We would also ask a family member who’s a talented poet or writer or perhaps a guitarist to lend something special to the ceremony. This could be a simple scripture reading {if you’d want to include something subtly religious or spiritual}, a beautiful poem, a book excerpt, or a song they wrote especially for you. It’s the perfect way to seal the personalization of your ceremony. A groomsman at one of our weddings some time ago actually read the entire book Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss at a very formal ceremony. It was the perfect sentiment and it made everyone laugh but really appreciate what he was saying.
Wherever you start, just remember to keep it true to you both.
Your wedding ceremony is where it all begins: it signals the start of your life as a married couple, so it should be heartfelt, thoughtful, and really meaningful to you both and also to the guests who’ve come to wish you well. It should be magical and a welcoming entry into wedded bliss. To start the process map out what’s most important to you and your fiancé, starting with the formality. Are you two more formal and serious? Perhaps you’re both goofy and love to laugh? Think about the seriousness and traditional elements of the ceremony and you’ll determine the level of formality you’d like.
Writing your vows can be a wonderful way to personalize the ceremony, but it’s not for everyone. We love when our couples sit down with their officiant and tell him or her the story of their lives growing up pre-courtship, the courtship itself, and the engagement. The more sentimental and silly the stories are the livelier your vows will be. Share snippets of your lives with your families and friends to give a sweet nod. Then let the officiant weave a beautiful story about your lives coming together.
Leading with Friends and Family… is a great way to start and signify that the ceremony will be a little more lighthearted or not-so-traditional. However, there is something to be said about “traditional” vows as they’re steeped in years of history and thousands of couples have said those very words, dating back centuries {though they have evolved a bit}. A combination of your love story and traditional vows would be quite lovely.
We would also ask a family member who’s a talented poet or writer or perhaps a guitarist to lend something special to the ceremony. This could be a simple scripture reading {if you’d want to include something subtly religious or spiritual}, a beautiful poem, a book excerpt, or a song they wrote especially for you. It’s the perfect way to seal the personalization of your ceremony. A groomsman at one of our weddings some time ago actually read the entire book Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss at a very formal ceremony. It was the perfect sentiment and it made everyone laugh but really appreciate what he was saying.
Wherever you start, just remember to keep it true to you both.
I got engaged over Christmas break and am excited to get started but don't know where to start. Thinking about it a spring wedding would be perfect but is that rushed? If most of our invited list lives nearby how much advance should we give them? What about vendors? What would you say is the first place to start (aside from budgeting and a date?)
Congratulations! What an exciting time! Getting started can often times be the hardest part: then the fun follows. First thing’s first: make sure you and your fiancé are on the same wavelength and discuss the vision you both have for your wedding.
Consider:
Formality, time of year, ambiance, and the overall experience you both want for yourselves and for your guests. Put logistics like budget and restrictions {like so-and-so can’t attend if it’s here} completely out of your minds and lay out on the table what you your ideal wedding would consist of. If one of you says 250 guests under a glittering tent in the summertime with a band playing into the wee hours and the other would like an intimate lodge celebration in the dead of winter with classical music and a tasting menu and wine flights, you’ll need to do some compromising { we could envision a really eclectic fusion here!}.
But having this conversation up front is the perfect way to sync up and also to voice your personal visions before you get anything cemented. Getting into the planning process in a comfortable smooth way is really important; it signals a new process together. Once you determine overall what you’d both like to see as your wedding day it’s time to move onto the nitty-nitty details. Enter: budget, realistic number of guests, a date, and a venue. The rest will fall into place once these key elements are secured.
In terms of a spring wedding, while anything is possible be sure that if you go for it you really take into consideration the feasibility. If your guests do live nearby then it should be ample time if you can mail out their invitations 6-8 weeks in advance. Regardless of the distance all guests should have as much notice as possible to plan accordingly.
The good thing is that if your heart is set on a springtime wedding and a venue still has your date available you can likely get a great rate as they want to book up. Vendors like florists, planners {like us}, photographers, and the like should be able to accommodate a shorter planning timeline if they are available, but ample time is always a nice luxury. If you want to shorten the planning process for a reason like deployment, moving, etc. then a spring wedding could be perfect. Just make sure that you can accomplish the wedding you envisioned and bring on a stellar team that can bring your vision to life. Good luck!
Thank you Aleah + Nick for once again bringing your fresh perspective to SMP California! Remember, if you want Aleah + Nick to help you with a pesky wedding planning problem please leave your question below!
Photography: Llanes Weddings
Congratulations! What an exciting time! Getting started can often times be the hardest part: then the fun follows. First thing’s first: make sure you and your fiancé are on the same wavelength and discuss the vision you both have for your wedding.
Consider:
Formality, time of year, ambiance, and the overall experience you both want for yourselves and for your guests. Put logistics like budget and restrictions {like so-and-so can’t attend if it’s here} completely out of your minds and lay out on the table what you your ideal wedding would consist of. If one of you says 250 guests under a glittering tent in the summertime with a band playing into the wee hours and the other would like an intimate lodge celebration in the dead of winter with classical music and a tasting menu and wine flights, you’ll need to do some compromising { we could envision a really eclectic fusion here!}.
But having this conversation up front is the perfect way to sync up and also to voice your personal visions before you get anything cemented. Getting into the planning process in a comfortable smooth way is really important; it signals a new process together. Once you determine overall what you’d both like to see as your wedding day it’s time to move onto the nitty-nitty details. Enter: budget, realistic number of guests, a date, and a venue. The rest will fall into place once these key elements are secured.
In terms of a spring wedding, while anything is possible be sure that if you go for it you really take into consideration the feasibility. If your guests do live nearby then it should be ample time if you can mail out their invitations 6-8 weeks in advance. Regardless of the distance all guests should have as much notice as possible to plan accordingly.
The good thing is that if your heart is set on a springtime wedding and a venue still has your date available you can likely get a great rate as they want to book up. Vendors like florists, planners {like us}, photographers, and the like should be able to accommodate a shorter planning timeline if they are available, but ample time is always a nice luxury. If you want to shorten the planning process for a reason like deployment, moving, etc. then a spring wedding could be perfect. Just make sure that you can accomplish the wedding you envisioned and bring on a stellar team that can bring your vision to life. Good luck!
Thank you Aleah + Nick for once again bringing your fresh perspective to SMP California! Remember, if you want Aleah + Nick to help you with a pesky wedding planning problem please leave your question below!
Photography: Llanes Weddings