3 Months, 9 Days

3 Months and 9 Days

Or, How to Plan a Wedding Fast


It wasn't a shotgun wedding or anything.  We just knew that we wanted to be married, had time-off in the summer, and thought--why wait?  After getting engaged on April 21st, we were married July 30th.  Here's how we made it happen.  (It wasn't even that stressful!)

1. Have your Bridesmaids' dresses made in Honduras.

The whole color scheme of my wedding was ultimately decided 

by the shade of yellow that the designer had available. 
photo by Josh Morris

My sister, along with Daniel's sister and brothers, comprised our wedding party. I was SO fortunate to have my sister in Honduras with me for my last month before summer break. That gave us time to have her fitted with a designer.  Daniel's sister, living here in Honduras, was also able to be fitted with the designer.  This prevented me from having to choose a bridesmaid dress while home in the summer with my other million things to do.  (It was also nice that I could bring the designer a picture of whatever I wanted!)

2. Get a package deal on your vendors.

Photo by Josh Morris

My mom hunted for locations while I was away, and we ended up choosing The Chapel and Tavern in the Garden in Port Orange, Florida.  They had a special promotion going on in July, so we got the use of all four of their buildings (the chapel for the wedding, the Tavern for the reception, an old train for the guys to get ready, and a gorgeous house for the girls to get ready and for Daniel and I to spend the wedding night).  The promotion also included the catering and DJ.  A lot of decisions were made in one.  

3. Know People.  

photo by Josh Morris
I LOVE my bouquet!!!! 

 My florist has been my neighbor my whole life and she's awesome.  I just showed her my (pinterest) collection of flowers I liked and said, "make something I'd like"... and she totally succeeded! She has also worked with the Chapel in the Garden lots of times and so she knew of things I would need/not need--things I would have never considered. This is her : www.pinkflamingoatpetals.com/

My friend, Mandi, just happened to e-mail me the week I was stressing about finding a photographer while in Honduras, and said that her husband was doing some wedding photography.  I saw some of his work, liked it, (he even speaks Spanish!) and bam--another decision made fast! This is him:  Morris Media

4. Make your own invitations.

Ok, So I guess this part probably doesn't belong in a list of how to do things FAST.  We spent a while designing our invitations, choosing a printer, and then correcting the mistake that made them print without cropping everything off, but we think it was worth it.  Without tons of planning time, I think wedding details can tend to get too "off the rack" (read: from Michaels or Target).  You know... I wanted to just be married, and many times that meant saying, "the heck with it" and going with an easy version of something I would have otherwise made (because I'm a make-it-yourself kind of girl).  However, when it comes to paper... I'm hesitant to give away that kind of responsibility. 

Which is why I also made my programs.
My good-with-computers hubby designed the image.

AND I painted some rocks as table numbers and decorations.
I guess that's not paper... but it's crafty, nonetheless.
(If you check out my post about how he proposed, you'll understand the rock thing.)

5. Seek assistance.  

Get those talented friends to work!  

My friend, Rachel, painted my fingerprint tree guestbook.

My wonderful sister made my little cake and cupcakes!

My mother grew tons of succulents after I decided on them as my favors.
I made the little paper flags that served as guests' escort cards.
And my mom, sister and I spent one evening stamping, tying,
and gluing the little tags to the pots.
They said "T & D" and "Let Love Grow" 

6. Go dress shopping your first day back in the U.S. and do not return home without one.

Ok, so this picture was actually taken the day after the wedding... but it seems
 that I never acquired any pictures from dress-shopping day.

I looked at dresses in Honduras, but they were all too pricey (being imported) and nothing I really fancied.  I considered having my dress made, but, never having tried on a dress style I loved, I didn't even know what to ask for.  Plus, the time crunch would have been stressful.  So, on my very first day home, my mom, sister, and best friend, Mackenzie, went to some local dress stores.  Fortunately, we found my dress in town and got a great seamstress to alter the heck out of it since I didn't have time to order one in my size.  

6. Be a teacher. 

This is just a little something that made the short engagement possible. Having a month and a half prior to the wedding to do nothing but wedding stuff is a very helpful bonus.  

7. Pick a great guy.

a Josh Morris photo

The most important of all--choose a man who can help without needing to be told what to do, who knows how to calm you down when you feel overwhelmed, and who cries when he sees you walking down the aisle, letting you know that it was all so worth it!