Tales of an Aspiring Wedding Planner

Since moving to Dallas and starting my job as an associate wedding planner, the most common question I get is “what do you do every day?” See, everyone knows that wedding planners are busy on the rehearsal and wedding days, but what about Monday-Thursday? Well, friends, I am here to answer that question. Sorry in advance for the lack of pictures…I felt I needed to spare you from that horrific sight.

A typical day involves waking up, usually no earlier than 9:30, making breakfast, and turning on my morning news staple: Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda. Then, I proceed to check my email which usually keeps me busy for a while.

Most of my days include responding to emails from different vendors about meetings, events or general questions. I also spend a lot of time talking to potential brides who are interested in our services. It’s a lot of fun to talk with brides who are recently engaged and excited about the planning process—or brides who don’t have a clue where to start. Actually, those are my favs.

After that, I will check our current brides task lists and schedule meetings for them, follow up with their progress and update their spreadsheets. Really, my job is just to make sure nothing gets slipped through the cracks.

I also spend aaaa llloooottt of time on social media. Partly for myself, obvi, and partly to keep up with current wedding trends, publications etc. If we are published or advertised, I need to find it and post about it. I write a blog twice a week and update Facebook and Twitter as needed. I also read other wedding blogs from all over Texas and the United States to make sure we are up-to-date on trends.

We also host a networking event for wedding professionals and brides every other month that I am involved in planning. This is a fun, laid-back atmosphere for brides and vendors to mingle and meet new people in the industry. It’s always a fun time when you combine wedding vendors with free alcohol.

Some days are spent running errands, attending meetings and touring venues…but most days I do all of this from my apartment living room. When I first started working from home, I thought it would be fabulous, and don’t get me wrong, it is pretty fun! But when your motivation for showering and wearing anything other than tights as pants is gone, you know you need to get out more. I love the flexible hours and the ability to be in a relaxed, comfortable environment, but I really miss human interaction. Sometimes I venture down to Starbucks just to see and start random conversations with strangers.

So, there you have it. The typical day in the life of a budding wedding planner. Or something like that. Also, if you have a gmail account, chat me. It’s a staple in my work social life.

Tamrah is a Mrs!

On December 10^th, my sweet friend and former roommate Tamrah tied the knot with her boo Tredrick. What a blessing it was to be a part of her special day! It seems like Tam and Tred have been waiting on this day forever, but now it has come and gone and they are honeymooning in Hawaii!

Friday night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It was so exciting and fun to be all together with Tam and Tred's families.

We started off the wedding day morning with breakfast at Café de France in Addison. If you haven’t been there—go! It is delish. One of Tam’s gifts to the b-maids was a gray track suit. We looked like the Kardashian bridal party everywhere we went on Saturday and I loved every second of it.

Sidenotee—maybe not every second. After the bridal breakfast, we had a few hours before we had to be at the church, so I was going to run a few errands. Tam asked me to run by the mall and see if I could find her a cute little jacket to wear when she leaves the reception. No big deal. So I run up to North Park, still in my gray track suit and slippers wearing not a stitch of makeup and my hair in a pony tail. I am starting to realize I need to hurry when my house shoe catches the top of the stair in the wide open area of North Park (during Christmas time) and I start to trip. Seriously, it was slow motion the way I fell straight on my stomach and slid about five feet on the freshly waxed marble in front of at least 30 people. Humiliating.

Anyway, after the North Park fiasco, we went to the church where we got ready, had our makeup done, took pictures and just hung out until it was showtime.

Tamrah was seriously the most beautiful bride. She was calm, relaxed and excited to marry the man of her dreams!

My roommates and I actually clean up pretty nice.

Tam's delicious cake!!

My favorite people in the whole world! Love you girls more than I could ever tell you!

This was their sweet wishing tree. Guests wrote advice or a special note on little snowflakes for the newlyweds! Super cute.

College roommates! We were missing Laura, but it was so much fun to be reunited!

There were so many special parts about this wedding, but my favorite was the veil Tamrah wore. It was her mom’s veil that she wore when she married Tamrah’s dad. The lace matched perfectly and Tamrah looks gorgeous.

I can’t wait to see the new apartment, Mrs. Moore! Love you guys so much :)

A Waynechel Engagement

I have seriously been waiting to post about this for months!! First of all, RACHEL IS ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!! Wayne told us back in August that we has planning to propose to Rachel at the beginning of December, and it was SO hard to keep it a secret. We had so much fun planning and setting up for the engagement party!

On Friday afternoon, Ashley and I left for Abilene in the afternoon and Emily followed soon after. Once we got to town, we met up with Emily Caldwell and went over to Rachel’s parents’ house to set up for a little after party while Wayne and Rachel were busy getting engaged :)

This was while we were setting up. SO excited!

Wayne sent Rachel sweet little notes all day, took her to dinner, then took her to the roof of his old house: where he first told her he loved her. Earlier in the day, we had put little candles and poinsettias on the roof, so everything was decorated.

After Wayne popped the question, they came over to the Jinkerson’s where Wayne and Rachel’s families and friends were waiting, ready to celebrate.

Waiting on them to get there...

The ENGAGED couple!

We spent the next several hours laughing at old pictures, eating, and taking lots of pictures of Rachel’s new GORGEOUS ring. It really was a perfect day.

I am so, so excited for my sweet friends and the journey they have in store. What a blessing to be able to be a part of the their relationship. I seriously do not know two people for perfectly made for each other. The Lord really knew what he was doing when he brought Waynechel together.

Last weekend, Rachel asked us to be bridesmaids too! We are so excited and ready to celebrate! Woohoo!

Hope everyone is feeling loved :)

Catching Up

Let's rewind the last couple of weeks and pick up at Halloween. My roommates and I decided to host a small, casual Halloween-themed get together.

I dressed up as Eden Wood, famous from her work on the hit show Toddlers and Tiaras.

It was lots of fun to spend time with my friends, taking pictures, eating snacks and playing some games. And let's be real, I enjoy any time we can throw a party :)

Over the next month or so, I wasn't so good about taking pictures with my camera, but thanks to my trusty iPhone I can give you a little picture update.

Tamrah had a wedding shower and I was so glad I was able to go. I also got to meet her precious flower girl, Sienna. And she is seriously precious!!

This picture really has no significance except it just represents the nights we stay up way to late talking and laughing when Emily comes to Dallas. So ready for her to be here permanently.

Right before Thanksgiving, I made a quick trip to Abilene to see my newly engaged friend Leah and attend my friend McVey's lingerie shower. It was such a fun day and it was so great to see my little Siggie friends. So excited for you McVey! Can't wait until January.

Then, Thanksgiving came and I got to spend some much needed time at home with my family. I am really thankful to be able to spend time with them. We had a fun week of shopping, baking, and being incredibly lazy. On Thanksgiving day, we drove to Fort Worth to spend the day with our family followed by a delicious dinner and Christmas puzzle (a tradition).

I came back to Dallas the Saturday after Thanksgiving for Tamrah's bachelorette party. Shockingly, I only took one picture. Which is actually probably a good thing, if you know what I mean. I can't believe the wedding is so close! Yay!

The very next weekend, my roommates and I drove into Abilene to surprise our BFF Rachel when her boyfriend (now fiance) proposed!!!!! More on this later.

After the big engagement, Emily and I roadtripped to Wichita Falls to see Lady Antebellum in concert! You see, Em and I have been trying to see Lady A for seriously two years and there has always been a conflict. But FINALLY we were able to go and it was SO worth the late night drive with no lights, rain, a broken car window and deer. Ha! I had sooo much fun.

Our tree is up in the apartment and we have been playing some Bieber and Michael Buble Christmas albums all day long. Love this time of year :)

Whew! What a catch-up. I'm sure there are very important things I have forgotten, but life has been good and crazy. Wedding season is slowing down, so it is nice to be able to catch up on everything before the new year. Hope you guys are having the best holiday season!