Bachelorette slash Crazy

Life has been crazy lately. Just over two weeks to the wedding, and even though I am super organized and love list-making, other people's disorganization is driving me bananas! Also the fact that I have to use my laptop as a desktop right now until my new battery comes is super annoying. Oh, and please keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain October 17th.. please!

ANYWAYS, let's talk about my Bachelorette party last weekend! We went to a winery in the middle of nowhere, which is kind of my favorite place to be, and it was super fun! We got a gazebo all to ourselves overlooking the vineyard (and a wedding!) and we ate yummy food, drank wine, and they all gave me underwear (as well as some other nice gifts) and I had to guess who they were from.. surprisingly I only got 1 wrong! #resumebuilder? haha

I probably won't be back here much for a few weeks considering the wedding and everything, though who knows, maybe I'll need a break from the crazy. Speaking of crazy, we just decided to have  a gathering at our house for like the 30 people who will be in town on the Thursday night before the wedding. It'll be fun but yea, we are a little nuts.

Speaking of crazy again, does anyone watch Scream Queens? OMG that show is hilarious and I really like it, you should definitely watch it.

Anyways, I need to go do laundry and get a flu shot and go shopping (because hurricane!) and take out the dogs in this ugly rainy weather. If you pray, could you say a prayer for our chocolate lab puppy Oatmeal please? I don't want to get into all of the details right now, but my little princess could use some good luck. I'll update about it sometime in November. Thanks guys! Here are some pictures of her and Brian from December when she was 8 weeks old, I don't think I've ever shared them on here and OMG they are the cutest ever!!

If I Had a Million Dollars

I don't know about you, but sometimes I think about what it would be like to win the lottery. Not the mega millions or anything, but a more modest (haha) sum, you know, like a million dollars. I guess I'd have to win more than 1 million to actualy have a million after taxes, but whatever, here's what I'd do if I had a million dollars (you're welcome for getting that song stuck in your head).

First, I'd pay off my student loans and credit cards (thanks college and especially thanks law school). I'd also pay off our cars and our mortgage, plus my parents mortgage. It'd feel so good to be completely debt-free right off the bat, so that's why that would be the first thing I'd do!

'tis true

Next, I'd hire a fancy trainer to come and train the dogs. The dachshunds are potty-trained and that's about it, and that took me over a year and a half. Not for lack of trying, those German dogs are stubborn! They are super well-behaved though, I just want them to do a few cool tricks and a couple behavior modifications (like Schnitzel not barking his head off when the doorbell rings). I want some tricks taught to Oatmeal too, but she does know how to sit, come, drop, and she was potty-trained pretty much as soon as we got her (labs are great with that!). I also want prettier dog cages than the wire ones we have. Plus I'd buy them like a bajillion more toys. #spoiled

Then, I'd buy like 5 more vineyard vines long sleeve pocketed men's shirts (they're so comfy and my favorite) and some more shep shirts. Plus I'd get Brian some stuff from there even though he doesn't like to dress super preppy.

Oh, and then I'd buy like 6 bras at once. I have a few nice bras I like, but I hate buying them because they cost so much money! So I would definitely buy a bunch at one time if I came into some money.

I think then I'd put aside some money to hire a cleaning service. I hate cleaning, so yea, that'd be nice.

I know that Brian really wants an outdoor movie projector, he thinks it'd be super cool, so I'd get him that and a hot tub to sit in while watching it next to our fire pit that we already have on our patio.

I'd probably then do a few house improvements we are planning to do over the next few years, like hardwood floors for the bedrooms (better for my allergies), remodeling the upstairs bathrooms, and putting some more stone on the front of the house. Nothing extensive, just some projects we've been wanting to do.

Then I'd donate to ALL the sick dachshunds I see on my Facebook news feed. I belong to a dachshund lovers group and I try to donate as much as possible when I see a sick or hurt dog that needs help, so I'd love to have more moolah to be able to donate way more!

Last, I'd invest the last $100-200K. Definitely necessary plus it's the responsible thing to do!

I know money isn't everything, but man, having some would make things a heck of a lot easier, huh? What would you do if you won, or if someone gave you a million dollars? And hey, if you know someone giving out money, give them my name won't ya?!

Confess Sesh

I think that title sounds cooler in my head but whatever, I'm confessing today!!

One. I may or may not have left a laundry basket of clean laundry on our bedroom floor for over a week! Then I did 2 more loads laundry while that was laying there and it finally got put away (Brian did it, not me lol). Then I left those 2 new loads in the laundry room for 2 days, then I finally got completely fed up with myself and put those away... all wrinkly and everything. "Shame shame I know your name" (I LOVE New Girl, does anyone know when it's coming back on?)

Two. I hate hate hate it when people start bashing other people based on their political beliefs. You don't know that person's life or what they've been through or why they believe what they believe, so just knock it off alright? It's just so sad to see all the fights online about one issue or another. I've said it before and I'll say it again: belittling someone's beliefs and calling them names is never ever ever going to change their mind, it's only going to settle them more firmly in those beliefs. So just... don't. End rant.

Three. I am FED UP with the post office. I mean seriously, how hard is it in two thousand freaking fifteen to deliver the mail and not lose things! Just this month we haven't received 2 RSVPs that were sent to us, as well as a birthday card from my Grandmom, And over the past year, there have been FOUR, yes FOUR, packages lost/misdelivered to the wrong addresses, and many before that. It is getting super old. C'mon Pennsylvania post offices, get it together or privatize already. #USPSstinks #UPSftw

Four. Sometimes I think I use capital letters and exclamation points too much, but I actually don't care, it's just an observation.

Five. I can't think of a fifth confession today so that's what you get folks for making whoopee. Happy Hump Day! And no, I'm not sick of saying that, that camel is my favorite.

Sh*t Taylor Says

Remember Taylor? My 17 year old sister who always has something funny or snarky to say? I've shared a lot of her antics here before (like this buck tooth beaver story, and this quote: "Why don't adults just wear diapers so we don't have to have toilets anymore? It'd save a lot of money."). Well I've been secretly checking out her twitter and the things she tweets are HILARIOUS! So I figured I'd share them with you, even though she'd kill me if she found out. Oh well, I'll take the risk.

"Wearing a one piece bathing suit today will be the death of me,"

She was lifeguarding at the local pool for the weekend and apparently it was torture,

"The Sirius radio subscription in my car ran out and my parents 'aren't wasting money' on it, so idk what to do with myself now honestly."

So sad, except Taylor doesn't have a car, nor does she have her driver's license yet! She's talking about my dad's car and wow, not having satellite radio in Dad's car is just life-altering, especially considering you have an iPhone!

"A guy asked for my number at the Revs game and I lied and said I had a bf and Mitch said 'no you don't!' Needless to say Mitch is now dead."

Yea this even didn't happen!

"Dad just tried to have a nice convo with me about how casual sex with people you don't love is not a way to live & should I laugh or cry idk"

I would have died!! Dad and Taylor went to NJ for a nice weekend of Broadway shows and the beach and visiting with family, and I guess on the way home Dad decided to take advantage of the fact that she couldn't go anywhere and have a talk. Bahahaha poor Taylor.

"Don't lick your ice cream cone then post a pic of it, it looks like an actual piece of shit."

Umm wow I wish I could have seen that ice cream cone.

"My sister just threw my entire ice cream sundae out the car window and idk whether to cry or turn back around and eat that shit off the road."

This happened in May in NJ, the girls were in the car following Brian and I and we didn't even know this happened. I'm not sure the exact details, but I know there was a fight and one ice cream sundae got thrown out the window and one ice cream cone got thrown in someone's hair.

"I just lost to Eric but it's okay bc he tripped while cheering and smacked his face on the floor... who's the real winner here :-) :-) :-)"

Well I guess Eric got what he deserved. Whoever Eric is.

"A real savage is a girl that post a pic of her and her friend that she looks bomb in while the friend looks like straight ass."

I almost couldn't figure out what this tweet meant, I'm getting so old.

"It became clear that my life's a joke when someone commented 'lmao' on a selfie I just posted."

haha awkward

"When my bra and underwear are matching I honestly feel like the baddest bitch out there."

And on that note, I'll end this post, though there are definitely SO many more. One note, Taylor doesn't like ever use curse words in real life, but apparently on twitter she has to do it for street cred, haha! Do your siblings ever post anything funny online?

Have a great weekend everyone! And never forget; here's my 9/11 memories post, we will NEVER forget.

Help! Questions From the Bride

Okay so obviously I am pretty much done with all the wedding planning, but I still have some questions left and maybe some are weird but hey, it's only weird if you don't ask right? Some of these are about the ceremony because if you read my wedding planning post, you probably noticed I didn't talk much about the ceremony and that is precisely because we really haven't planned it yet. But don't worry, we still have two meetings with our pastor before the wedding.

ONE. So I've always pictured myself standing on the right side at the ceremony. I know I know, that's not typical and every wedding I've been to has the bride on the left and the groom on the right, but is it WEIRD? Like will everyone laugh and point if I stand on the right? Should I suck it up and stand on the left even though that's not how I've always pictured it? Help!

TWO. What's the right length for a ceremony? We've been to some that lasted 5 minutes and some that lasted an hour, and all types in between. We were thinking between 15-20 minutes for ours. We aren't doing a unity candles/sand ceremony or anything like that, but we wanted to write our own vows. Nothing too lengthy (mine are like 6 lines long and mention Lorelai and Luke... IS THAT WEIRD?!), and I think I still want to do the traditional vows.

THREE. We aren't doing a bouquet or garter toss. What do you think of that? If you were a guest would you even notice? I don't think it is weird, and in fact, I hate the whole bouquet toss thing. I'm not going to change my mind about not having it, but I just want to know your thoughts.

FOUR. We aren't having kids at the wedding. We made it clear well in advance that kids are not invited, and it became a huge "thing" and caused some major arguments. I know we did it the correct way and that it is extremely common not to have kids at the wedding, but with the backlash we got, you'd think we didn't invite MEN or something. Did you have kids at your wedding? Did people flip out if you didn't? I don't feel bad about not inviting kids, but I just can't believe how people reacted.

It's almost as if I wrote this one myself (I didn't)

FIVE. Am I wrong to be annoyed that people couldn't find the time to send their RSVPs back? It's not like it's just a few people either, it was like 26 our of 64 RSVP cards we haven't received at this point, and they're due this week (and we sent them out a month and a half ago!). We started contacting people this weekend and most people didn't even have it on their minds to send them back. We've had people say that they didn't have any stamps (umm it's pre-addressed and PRE-STAMPED!) and the whole gamut of excuses, plus people who didn't even respond to our text messages when we inquired.

Most people already knew if they are coming or not, as we sent Save-the-Dates out in January, and a ton of people already booked hotel rooms, but we need to know numbers and our venue also requires that we give a food choice count, so we need to know what our guests want to eat. I definitely don't think people are being intentional or malicious at all with not returning them, I just think most people assume we know they're coming or just completely forgot, but still. Am I being completely oversensitive here?

Sorry for that last rant, but I swear, that has been the worst part of wedding planning. Any advice or opinions you want to give me, please, lay it on me! I can take it, be honest, thanks!!

What I've Been Reading

I hope everyone had a great three day weekend! We were supposed to go to the lake but we had to stay home because of sickie me. I did order a bunch of candles from Bath and Body Works this weekend so that was good at least!

So honestly I've been a pretty awful book reader lately. I normally read so much and finish like 1-2 books a week, but I've been in a slump this summer. I think it's because of all my allergy headaches; it's uncomfortable to read when your head is pounding. Anyways, if you want to check out the books I've been reading over the past 6 months-ish, check out my Instagram because that's where I'd been posting all my book reviews before I came back to blogging.

Here are the 2 books I read in the past month or so since I last posted a review on Instagram.

4.5 stars

From the publisher's website:

In this fast-paced and evocative novel, beloved New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank again takes us deep into the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where three unsuspecting women are brought together by tragedy and mystery

Lisa St. Clair knows a thing or two about weathering storms. A dedicated nurse with a healthy sense of humor, she single-handedly raised her truculent daughter, Marianne, after her ex walked out on them twenty-four years ago, sending them a lottery ticket once a year as support. One day he reappeared and lured their daughter into a dubious but lucrative venture in Colorado. Now mother and daughter aren't speaking.

So when Kathy Harper, Lisa's favorite patient, loses her battle with cancer, Lisa finds herself drawing closer to Carrie and Suzanne, the devoted friends who were always by Kathy's side. As these three women's lives inevitably connect, they share their concerns about men, getting older and the horrors of maintaining financial stability. Suzanne's ninety-nine-year-old grandmother, a former chanteuse, offers unexpected perspectives on the mores of the day. Carrie's greedy ex-stepchildren are a chorus of cackling crows. And Lisa's mother just can't help herself as she henpecks her to distraction.

Somehow their conversations always return to the enigma of Kathy. Who was she? What did her short life mean?

Lisa, Carrie, and Suzanne power walk the beaches of the Isle of Palms with Pickle, Lisa's adorable Westie. Gradually they uncover the truth of Kathy's life and unfurl plans to secure their own futures, as fate steps in to help them discover that being single doesn't have to mean being alone. Dorothea Benton Frank shows us that friendship is as powerful as the turning tide and that love is about more than just finding the right person. You'll fall under the magical spell of the Lowcountry and of all the single ladies who have a whole lot of living to do.

What I thought: This book was adorable. It ended so neatly, which I loved, and it was just a cute, easy read all around. Nothing earth-shattering or award winning, but I really liked it and recommend it. 4.5 stars

2 stars

From the author's website:

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life–dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge–he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues–and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

What I thought: Apparently this is a movie now? Didn't realize that. I did not like this book. I kept reading until the end, but it was weird. Weird weird weird. I couldn't relate to the characters at all, couldn't understand why they'd all sacrifice major things like walking at graduation for a selfish girl. Just strange and unrealistic in my opinion, and none of the parents in the book were like any parents I have ever met in my life. Disappointing. 2 stars, only because it did somewhat keep my attention. 

What have you read this month? Anything good I should try next? I have a few on my bookshelf in Overdrive that I have to quick read in the next week before they expire, wish me luck!

All the Wedding Details, T-minus 44 Days!

Now that you're all updated on my life and I posted about my awesome shower this past weekend, I'm going to give you all the wedding details. When I was first starting to plan our wedding last summer/fall, and even when I wasn't planning a wedding, I loved reading all about other people's wedding stuff and I still do! Maybe I'm nosy, but I just love all the little details that go into making that day special and unique for each person. So basically I'm going to list out every little detail I have for our wedding in no particular order, for your sake and for my future self to look back on. It may be the longest post known to man. Sorry if you hate this kind of stuff!

Ceremony: Outside at a nearby farm venue that is also a cidery/brewery, 4pm. This will basically be what it looks like, except that the leaves will be fall-colored! So pretty! P.S. I didn't take this picture, the venue emailed it to me.

Ceremony music: The wedding party will be walking down the aisle to Going to the Chapel by The Dixie Cups, so fun right?! I will be coming down the aisle to the string version of Pachelbel's Canon in D. We will be walking out after we get married to I'm a Believer by the Monkees, you know I had to do it!

Cocktail hour: On the patio right outside of the barn. It's awesome with a huge fireplace and will be so pretty. Too bad I'll be getting pictures taken during it, it will be fun!

Reception: In the gorgeous barn at the farm. If you want to see more pictures of the barn and where we will be getting ready that day, check out this post from last year. We love that everything on our wedding day is all at the same location. Makes it easy for our guests, most of whom are from out of town. We will be using rectangular farm tables without tablecloths, and it will most certainly be set up much different from this picture, but you get the idea. We aren't using the balconies, we won't need them. The barn can hold up to like 250 people, but we are only having around 110-115 people.

Reception music: When the wedding party and we make our entrance, We Are the Champions by Queen will be playing. We aren't super cheesy/romantic people, and our music choices certainly fit that theme. Well okay, except for our first song, it's Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis. Brian and his mom are keeping their first dance song a secret, and my dad and I are having the worst time coming up with a song for our Father/Daughter dance, any suggestions (please!)? We won't be doing a bouquet or garter toss (yuck, I just can't) but we will be having an Apron Dance, a Polish tradition. Our last song of the night will be Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, an homage to all the formals Brian and I used to go to in college; they always played that song at the end of the night. For the rest of the music, we pretty much just told our DJ we want classic rock and dancy pop music, no rap or hip hop.

The Food and Drinks: We chose for our guests to have a choice of Apple Cider Braised Boneless Short Ribs, French Cut Chicken Breast with Truffle Marsala Sauce, or Vegetarian Roasted Vegetable Strudel. Our venue is also a cidery and brewery, so the drinks will be their ciders, beers, private label wines, and homemade sodas. Delicious!

Friday Groom's Golf Outing, Rehearsal Dinner, Limo and Shuttle for all of our guests, and Sunday Brunch: All are at a nearby hotel/golf resort. Again, we thought it would be nice to have all of this at one location, plus we got great deals for doing so. I love that we are having a whole wedding weekend to hang out with everybody, less pressure on us during the reception and it will be nice to see everybody multiple times throughout the weekend. For the golf outing, I ordered personalized purple and orange golf tees for them to use, it's all in the little details :-) For the rehearsal dinner, I'm wearing an adorable, long-sleeved lace dress from a shop I follow on Instagram called Lady Cherokee Boutique, brown tights from Lands End, a gold headband I found at Target, and gold Mrs. earrings from Kate Spade. I'm not 100% sure what I'm wearing for the Sunday brunch, but I was thinking just a cream sweater and these plum jeans I got at American Eagle, plus my boots.

The Bridesmaids: My 3 sisters and my friend Amanda. This is the dress they're wearing, and I told them they can wear whatever goldish/champagne colored shoes they want.

The Groomsmen: Brian's brother, two of his good friends, and my two brothers (my youngest brother is only 11, so hes technically a junior groomsman, and his clothes will be similar but a little different, mainly because Men's Wearhouse doesn't carry his size). The guys will be wearing off-white shirts (so they don't make my ivory dress look dirty like it would if they wore bright white shirts), black suspenders, shoes, and belts, light gray pants which I can't seem to find online, and a plum tie to match the bridesmaid dresses.

Bridesmaid Gifts: Luckily none of them read this blog so I can post all about it here. The girls will be getting personalized waffle knit dark purple robes (mine is white with purple writing because I'm the bride duh) from this awesome Etsy shop and silver Kate Spade Bridesmaid bangles. I am so excited!

Groomsmen gifts: We got Brian's brother and two friends these awesome bottle openers from this Etsy shop, and we got my brothers the below bags from this Etsy shop.

Parent Gifts: We got both of our moms personalized robes and jewelry from Kate Spade (my mom gets a necklace, Brian's mom gets earrings). I got my dad this picture frame, which I think he will love, but it is obviously personalized to us. We got Brian's dad the below beer holder, personalized with his actual last name obviously, from this Etsy shop. I have to say that all of the Etsy shops owners we have worked with for our wedding have been AWESOME!!

My Dress: Like I'm actually going to post a picture of it on here!! You will just have to wait until the wedding day (add me on IG) to see it just like everyone else. Hint, it's ivory, I'm getting straps/sleeves added, it has lace, and it has a poufy skirt and train. I finally went to pick out my dress at like the end of July (talk about waiting until the last minute) and I had an alteration appointment Wednesday.

My Shoes and Accessories: I have big time right ankle issues so I had to splurge on some nice flats (yea that's why..). Also, it was extremely hard to find pretty gold flats, so I got these Tieks and they are gorgeous! I can't wait to wear them all the time after the wedding is over! I will also be wearing a elbow-length veil tucked under my hair, as well as this headband and this necklace and earring set. I still need something borrowed and something old, any ideas? Oh and I bought this clutch to use. The owner of this Etsy shop was SUPER awesome and so nice, and I love the clutch and will probably also use it at the rehearsal dinner.

Hair: My long-time hair stylist and another girl from the same salon will be coming to the bridal suite at the venue to do our hair that day. I have my trial and fresh highlights scheduled for the week leading up to the wedding. I've been growing my hair out much longer than my comfort level so I can get the below hairstyle  I found on Pinterest (my veil will be tucked underneath), but the week after the wedding I am going in for a chop of like 5-6 inches and I CANNOT wait!

Makeup: I found an awesome girl to come to the venue that day and do all of our makeup too. I don't want anything too heavy, but I do want false eyelashes!

Brian's Clothes: Brian is wearing the same thing as the groomsmen, but instead of suspenders he will be wearing a matching gray vest. Since our wedding is outside and our reception is in an albeit really nice barn, we wanted the dress to be more casual than tuxedos.

Wedding Rings: We got our rings last year, and mine matches my engagement ring. Brians is titanium or tungsten so supposedly it's nice and tough.

Photography: The lovely Dayna (a fellow blogger) and her husband are traveling long distances to be our photographers and we couldn't be more grateful. She is awesome and I cannot wait!!!

Favors: We got these awesome personalized mason jar mugs as our wedding favors. They will be at each person's spot with a plum colored cloth napkin and an orange striped straw tucked inside.

Flowers: I saw the below bouquet on Etsy and had our florist basically duplicate it for the bridesmaids and me (mine will be bigger), except that there will also be plum flowers in the bouquet. The groomsmen, dads, and Brian's grandfather will be wearing boutonnieres with two similar but smaller orange flowers, and Brian will have one orange and one purple flower. The moms and grandmoms will have orange corsages. That's it for the flowers, except for some fall mums we may place around. We really want the fall foliage to be the main focus, During the reception, the bouquets will be placed in pretty distressed mason jars from this Etsy shop, and will be placed around the barn.

Decorations: We aren't doing a lot of decorating because, like the fall foliage during the ceremony, we want the beauty of the barn to shine through. There will be pretty lanterns supplied by the venue (that's why I don't have a picture of it right now) in the middle of each table, table numbers, fake leaves around that, and then the favors will also be on the table. Also at each spot will be each person's place card which they will pick up on their way in. The basic idea of the place cards is the picture below that I found on Pinterest, so a mini pumpkin with a tag attached, but each person's pumpkin color will reflect what they chose to eat: orange for ribs, white for chicken, green for vegetarian, and there will be one gold pumpkin for my little brother's kids' meal. We do have a few burlap banners we may use, but I'm not 100% sure yet. Our card box is pictured below, and we will have a table set up with pictures of our parents and grandparents on their wedding days. And hmm I think that's basically it!

Cake: Our cake will basically look like this cake I found on Pinterest, except it will be 5 tiers and will have flowers to match the bouquets. We even have this same topper. The flavors are Chocolate Raspberry (chocolate genoise filled with homemade raspberry jam and dark chocolate ganache then brushed with raspberry syrup) and Frasier/Gourmet Strawberry (yellow cake, French mousseline buttercream, topped with fresh strawberries and marzipan). During the cake cutting I want Sugar Sugar by the Archies to play. I'm a dork I know. I found our cake cutting set at Michaels.

Save-the-Dates and Invitations: We got these Save the Date Magnets and sent them out in January, and these are our invites from this Etsy shop. I just LOVE them and the owner was wonderful to work with and we actually had her print our invites. Ain't nobody got time for that printing invitations ourselves. We also got the matching RSVP cards from earlier in this post, as well as matching thank you cards. I've sealed all of our envelopes with these stickers, personalized to with our initials and date obviously. I would have posted a pic of ours exactly but I don't have anymore.

Guestbook: We wanted to do something different than just a book that we'd store away and never look at again, so we got this awesome canvas for our guests to sign and we will hang it in our bedroom after the wedding. I loved that I could customize the colors however I wanted.

Honeymoon: We are going to the Sandals Royal Bahamian (booked via Liberty Travel; that's not the deal we are getting but just a link to the deal they are running now I guess) two-ish weeks after the wedding. Brian has the PE test for electrical engineering shortly after the wedding, so we decided to wait until after the test to leave for the honeymoon. We also got free flights (besides taxes and fees!) because of Brian's frequent flyer miles for work. Yay! I am actually glad we have a little time to wait for the honeymoon because that way everything isn't over so fast, and I can get thank you cards out and wind down a little from the craziness so we can actually enjoy it and relax!

Whew I think I got everything! Sorry for the longest post ever, I thought about breaking it up but decided to keep it all together for my sake. If there's anything I didn't think of that you want to know, please ask! #weddingexpert #jk sorry not sorry for the hashtags

Obviously more pictures of the actual wedding will be coming in late October. My biggest piece of advice is use Etsy! We found SO MUCH stuff for our wedding on there, and I love supporting and dealing with small businesses, they are usually so accommodating.