Now What?!?!

All I have to say is Hallelujah for the Internet and the WOL. Once we decided to have the wedding in Ireland - I had NO idea where to start, who to ask or even a clue of what I wanted.

I started by doing what any new bride in her right mind would do. Buy every Bridal magazine I could get my hands on. I mean - now that I had 'license' to buy and look at everything wedding related - I was going to do my research. After going through about 6 magazines, I quickly learned which magazines I liked and which ones I thought were a waste of money. Which my H2B was quite happy about - he was worried he was going to have to add a section into our Bridal Budget just for wedding magazines and my reading materials.

Now, just so you know a little bit about me… I truly am an unorganized person, love piles of everything, a packrat, and well let's just say - not the cleanest of people. I considered myself to be ANYTHING but detail oriented and feel that I have a very a laid back approach to life and I try and deal with things as they come, not prepare for them ahead of time. So needless to say, when I started to color code all the pages in the magazines with different colored post it notes, when I began printing off stuff I found off the internet and then putting all of them all into clear sleeves in a binder with category dividers - my H2B got a bit worried. But I am glad that this new force took over me - because it pays off to be an organized bride. It makes life a lot easier… because once you get started, there are soooo many things you need to look at to find your style - if you haven't thought about it all your life like me. But looking and doing are 2 different things and your opinions truly do change over time. So when it came time to actually enquire or book something - I would out the specific category of what I was looking at that included tips, ideas, questions to ask and favorites and freshened up my style. I was PREPARED.

I talked to my H2B and all of his family for church and reception venue ideas - since I had only been to Dublin once, I had hardly a clue in what areas to have the wedding. And I have to say that thankfully many venues have detailed information and pictures on the Internet. I found most of the sales contacts good with email and follow-up - which really made my decision to book the reception loads easier. Churches on the other hand - aren't so readily available to be found on the Internet. Nor do many priests have email. So my search for a church was a much bigger task. If it weren't for my In-laws to be, going around Co Kildare and visiting every church and taking photos and getting contact phone numbers for the priests, I don't know what I would have done. Thanks to the help of my future family, the Internet, the patient sales staff that answered ALL of my questions, and of course the B2B's on here with their opinions and advice on churches and venues. I actually felt comfortable and confident - booking places I had never seen with my own eyes. Which I thought was going to be a very hard thing to do. Phew - 2 down and a million to go.
Once the church and venue were picked it then began a long long process of planning. Prior to my trip to Ireland over Christmas, I looked at EVERY option, booked what I felt comfortable booking and narrowed my list down to 2-3 options of vendors to meet while in Ireland. Good correspondence is key. There were several vendors that everyone raved about, ones that were well known in their work, ones that even family recommended - yet they were either not interested in the business, or were poor at communicating. So those were the first to be scratched off my list. In order for me to feel comfortable working with someone so far away - I need to know that I could reach them with questions and trust that they will respond in a decent time frame. Vendors that I eventually wound up booking without meeting or those that I was almost certain I was going to book before I met them - showed their expertise and personality to me - through their writing. I was able to 'bond' as well as you can over email with them and when picking vendors (whether you live in Ireland or not) it's so key that they 'click' with you and your H2B.

For those of you just starting out - Communication is so important… I can't stress this enough. Ask friends and family you trust for their opinions, use the WOL, email as many random questions as you feel the need to and pay attention to how they respond (in answers and in time) to your requests. Ask for recent references and call or email them. All these help you make a clearer decision and feel good about it. For me, it was so hard to feel comfortable to leave the details or some of the control to the vendor. When you haven't met them, or talked with them much, it's hard to know if you can trust them, or if they will do what you'd want. The more I talked with them and eventually met with most of them, the more I could hand over to them - comfortably. Which was such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Once I knew it was in their capable hands, I could truly check that off my To Do list and know that I didn't need to worry or think about it again.

The days leading up to our trip to Ireland were very nerve wrecking. I was positive we wouldn't have enough time to take care of everything in 17 days. With all the holiday celebrations and friends/family gatherings and the fact that many vendors would be busy doing the same - I was prepared to get nothing done but determined to try. A month before our trip, I scheduled as many appointments as I possibly could, to get an idea of what days were going to be 'wedding days' and what days would be 'visiting days'. I compiled list after list of vendors who I needed to call, pulled out all those category sheets out of my binder with photos and questions and tips and hoped for the best.

Now remember I am the type of gal who doesn't do laundry or pack till 5 hours before my flight, but I had all my 'bridal ammo' ready to go the week before. So seriously… it is possible for the most unorganized person like myself to tackle what seems to be a very intimidating list of tasks. One-step at a time I say… and what doesn't get done, will get done eventually and what doesn't get done eventually doesn't need to get done. In my opinion, it really is that simple.

31 weeks to go - still lot's to do, but lot's done as well.

More on the specifics SOON to come! I promise! ;o)

Terra