Surprise you guys, we are officially getting married..in Napa! I have given hints here and there, but I finally felt like it was time to officially fill you guys in on everything. I know most of ya’ll guessed it since we were out there twice in a matter of two months, but I had never officially said anything.
The reason I tried to keep it a secret for such a long time is because I just wanted everything to be finalized. I needed to talk to family members and tell everyone closest to us first before putting it on the internet. We are truly so excited about this and cannot wait for our big day.
When we first started planning, we had three options. (1) Stay in Texas and have a big 300+ wedding (2) Have a much smaller destination wedding or (3) Elope. Ultimately, we felt like #2 was the best option for us. I have always wanted a destination wedding. I had never pictured my wedding being a giant 300+ wedding but instead a more intimate and romantic one. I personally always dreamed of Cabo, but Colton shut that down really fast. Next I dreamed of Italy, but reality shut that one down. Then, after visiting Napa in September, we just knew it was right for us. We went again in October with my Dad to look at venues and after a lot of going back and forth, here we are!
You guys have sent me a ton of emails concerning the wedding so I figured the best way for me to answer all of your questions would to be through a Q&A.
I should cover all of your questions below!
Where and when is the wedding? How did you choose your date?
Yes – our wedding date is set to be 10-14-17
We chose this date, because we fell in love during the fall season. Colton’s Birthday is in late September and our current Anniversary is in late November so we liked that this was right in between. Plus, the date just felt right!
Why Napa?
As I mentioned above, I have always wanted a destination wedding. After visiting in September, Colton and I just knew. We love Napa because it’s just us. It’s classy and romantic yet very laid back and fun! It’s also just incredibly beautiful and has the best weather. Plus, we want our wedding to be very small. When I picture our wedding, I picture a really fun weekend surrounded by our closest friends and family. One where everyone can just really let loose, be relaxed and have the best time. What better place for this than Napa?
What is the most stressful part of wedding planning?
Everything. Lol – jk! For me, so far the most stressful part was picking a venue. I kid you not, it took me 6 months to make up my mind. I was searching for “the perfect venue”. What I learned to accept, is that there is no perfect venue. You just have to find in a venue what is most important to you. Now that we have a venue, I feel like everything is falling into place.
My current issue is finding time to plan the wedding and building the guest list. It has also been difficult trying to find accommodations for everyone that fits every different persons budget. I know in the end I can’t make everyone happy, but because it is destination, I want to try the best I can.
What has surprised you the most with wedding planning?
The COST! Holy moly. I always knew weddings were expensive, but I don’t think I ever realized jut how expensive. Colton and I still contemplate eloping – ha!
Are you glad to be engaged within a year or two after graduating?
You know, I am. It’s weird because Colton and I have always said that we wanted to get married around 27 or 28. The thing is though, we have been together for 5 years. If I would have met Colton yesterday, I think we would still be on the 27-28 track but I mean, we live together, we know each other are the ones and we are ready to finally start our lives together.
Are you the first of your friends to get engaged? If so, what is that like?
For me yes, for Colton, no. Because of that, I think this experience has been a little bit different for me. Colton has been in two weddings already and will be in two more this year. Me on the other hand, I kind of feel like the ginny pig -lol. The good thing though, is that all of my friends are literally so excited! I mean have been above and beyond the best and supportive.
Do you have a wedding planner?
Definitely. I picked my wedding planner before my actual wedding venue! I knew I especially needed one since we were doing Destination and I love our wedding planner! She has literally been so helpful and makes me feel completely at ease. I cannot imagine not having her. If you’d like to check her out, her name is Kathy Higgins! You can find her website, here and more of her weddings, here!
You have a different ring from the day you got engaged, why did you change it?
I did! Well, we added to it. When Colton proposed, he proposed with the one single diamond. He already had the additional diamonds, but wasn’t sure how I wanted them arranged. So he wanted to wait until we returned home, so that we could design it together.
My favorite part about my ring, is that the additional diamonds we added were actually Colton’s Memo’s from her engagement ring. Colton and his Memo were very close, so it really makes it incredibly sentimental.
How did you and Colton meet & how long were you together before he proposed?
Colton and I met the summer going into our Sophomore year at Baylor. We had just moved into our off-campuses houses that ended up being one house down from the other. His roommate at the time was my big in my sororities boyfriend (now husband!). When he heard that I had moved in one house down from him, he made it a point to come up and introduce himself to me at a party. We started dating that November!
He proposed after about 4 1/2 years of dating. We dated for three years while in school and 1 1/2 years post college. Now, we have just hit our official 5 year mark! I know everyone is different, but I love that we dated for so long before getting married. Maturity wise, we weren’t ready for marriage anytime before that. We had to grow up a little bit. Now, there are no surprises between us and we have made it through some really hard times with one another. I have no doubts that Colton is the one and only person I am supposed to marry.
Are you planning on doing a wedding diet? If so, which one?
This one is in the works…. I do not plan on doing any major “wedding diet” but I do plan on getting much stricter on my diet the closer and closer we get to the wedding.
Do you like being engaged?
I LOVE IT. Like I want to be engaged forever lol. Hints probably why we are having a little bit of a longer engagement.
Have you found your dress?
No, I have not! I plan on starting to look around February.
Thank you guys for all of your love and support! I love knowing that you guys care so much and are truly interested in our plans.
If you guys have anymore questions, please leave me a comment or just send over an email!
xo,
Lauren