Sometimes ambition can be our very own undoing.  This is a lesson that I am slowly starting to realize.  We are in our under 30 days to the wedding countdown, slowly realizing that trying to juggle so much, makes for a frazzled brain!  Sometimes I am feeling like this:

Well, maybe not quite as fabulous as Ms. Giselle, but you get my point.  I feel like there are days I am literally fighting myself.  Planning a wedding is hard.  If anyone ever told you differently, they were lying.  True it can be as complicated, and detail orientated as you make it, but no matter what, there are lots of moving parts, lots of various things going on, that you are always trying to juggle all at once.

Our engagement has been over a year now, by design.  Not because we thought we needed more time, but literally there was a logistical issue.  We got engaged on July 4, 2010, and wanted to get married in the summer.  So either pull a crazy celeb move and get married a month after our engagement, or, do the typical move, and take a year to plan it.  Clearly, we choose the later.  This has resulted in a blessing and a curse all in one shot.  While we have never felt time pressure to get things done, I felt another pressure entirely.

I have spent the last year contacting/acquiring vendors and endlessly searching decor designs/ideas/arrangements, etc.  Sorting out what I can do myself, what I need to buy to DIY, what I cant make so I need to buy, finding more ideas, rinse and repeat!  Its has become and endless cycle that I cant quite seem to break.  Its a funny thing, as you often hear, when you find your dress, stop looking!  Don’t go to stores, don’t look in magazines, leave it alone.  What no one ever told me was, that can easily apply to the other elements of your wedding as well!  With so much time before the wedding, and general interest in it all, well, it easily spirals out of control!

Not to mention, solidifying various elements with your different vendors.  A lot of decisions cant be made until closer to your wedding date.  Your final number of guest can greatly effect different parts, & easily effect the way they end up being.  A perfect example is we are waiting on a few more RSVP’s to trickle in.  Until I get those I cant lock down my caterer, cant exactly finalize our  dessert bar, won’t know the number of tables that we need ,which effects not only our rentals, but floral for centerpieces.  I feel like so much is still left hanging in the air!  I am desperately at a point where I not want, but need to start to close some circles, cement exactly what is needed, know that I can finally cross things off my list!  It also sounds crazy, but I am desperate to pay my vendors too! I just want the monkey off my back, if you will.

And lists, dont get me started!  I have started countless lists of To-Do’s, projects, items for those projects, things to buy and so on!  I have a folder that I swear is hanging on for dear life.  I am even considering having a retirement ceremony for it after this puppy is over!  This coming weekend is a big DIY weekend for me (posts to come!) & I am beyond thrilled to knock things off my list.  I feel like if nothing, I simply mentally need it!

Of course like most of us, we try to balance planning our wedding, with our work!  I work like anyone else Mon-Fri.  So lets throw that into the mix shall we!  The irony of it all, that ambition that has actually trapped me, is….. Storyboard Wedding!  Apparently doing all the things that I already had on my plate was not exactly just enough for me!  I loved my wedding planning tool and site idea so much, that I had to get it going, like now!  I am beyond thrilled when I look at it everyday, and dreamily look into the near future when I can turn my full attention to it, I currently almost cringe at it now.  I want it to be great, I want readers to like it and come back for more.  Did I take off too fast, did I put too much on my own plate?  Is one thing suffering to make the other stronger?  Likely so to all of those questions.

Ambition drives us in life, and it can also be our own undoing.  It takes a strong person to know when what drives them, might be taking them in a direction that they hadn’t really wanted to go.  Feeling like a circus juggler with balls, scarves, bottles, plates, and axes in the air, is a frightening feeling.  Try to realize what you can and can not take on, and by all means I must stress, ask for help when and where you can!  Planning a wedding alone, is stressful.  So many moving parts and elements make for a pretty soupy mix sometimes.  Lean on those that want to be there for you, and know, no matter what, you will get through it….. all of it.  I intend to!

*Photo courtesy of Birchgrove Baking

Our Vendor Spotlight section will be kicking off in the next week & we are giddy with anticipation!  We have high hopes for this area, and really intend to bridge that vendor customer gap, bringing some priceless insight as well as all kinds of great tips!  We’re not afraid to ask the hard questions either, so dont worry, we’re not holding back!

Just to give you a small taste of  what you can expect from this area of our site, we will reaching out to some of the top planners, bakers, florist, photographers.  We are going to get down & sweaty with some top people in the workout world to help you prep for the big day & offer some great tips!  We will hit up insiders in the fashion & accessories world from fascinators to nail polish!  Music questions?  We aim to give Rolling Stone a run for its money!  Ok, maybe not quite, but we will chat up some of the leaders in entertainment and see few we cant learn a few things from top DJ’s & bands.

We are always open to topics, suggestions, & recommendations too.  Is there an area we haven’t hit that you want to know more about, by all means email us and let us know!  submissions@storyboardwedding.com

Sometimes some DIY ideas are so simple & perfect, you bop the palm of your hand onto your forehead & go, why didn’t I think of that?!  Enter the Cocktail Umbrella Lantern!  Though this may not be perfect for your wedding style, however I think totally perfect for some wedding themes, it is a great idea & perhaps one you might be able to use for something else.

Etsy has put together a great how-to tutorial on assembling the lantern both with video as well as written & some great photos.  I love the over achieving approach on this DIY!   Whether video is your thing or following along some quick written steps, the how- to is all here.  If you give this a go, be sure to email us some images!  Maybe we will show off your work!

Etsy DIY Cocktail Umbrella Lantern

The wedding this past weekend was a brilliant success! The weather, for most of the country, but especially over the Rockies has been filled with sudden thunderstorms for the better part of this summer. Leading into the wedding, the one thing that no one really wanted to talk about, yet weighed heavy on everyone’s mind, was what was the weather going to do?

We woke up Saturday morning to glorious bright (read.. SUPER bright) blue skies complete with white fluffy clouds. The kind of clouds as a kid you used to stare up at and swear you saw an elephant, or maybe a bunny. Thankfully the temperature was spot on as well. Honestly, you couldn’t have bribed the big man for a better weather!

*Photos-Megan Coleman Blitzer

When Ted & Jen get their pro pics back, I will do a follow up post and get into some of the wonderful little details that they put on their wedding, that not only made it completely them, but added those perfect touches that sent it over the top. It filled my heart to see them Friday evening and of course on Saturday, and simply see how happy they looked. They looked at peace and beyond thrilled with the steps they were taking. It was so pleasant to see a couple that one could visibly see how much they meant to each other.

It should also probably came as no surprise, that this lil nugget of adorableness captivated more then a few hearts on Saturday as well. I smell future heart breaker!!
*Photos-Megan Coleman Blitzer

This weekend we are off to the wedding of an old friend from high school!  We didn’t grow up in the west, but as a big skier, it wasnt a hard sale for Teddy.  We have stayed in touch over the years, and as life would have it, ended up getting engaged right about the same time as well.  We joked with each other as to whom would actually make it to the alter first!  Seems Teddy will win this race, as my wedding is next month!  C’est la vie!  Its been really great though having a good friend going through exactly the same perils of wedding planning at the same time.  We’ve been able to bounce things off each other, and maybe gripe about some of the pains a little bit!

I am pretty sure it was an equally easy sale as well, for he and his fiancée to have their wedding at the ever amazing and picturesque Keystone Mountain Resort.  It perfectly fits who Ted & Jen are and we are so excited to venture back out to the great rocky mountains for what I am sure will be one amazing wedding!  The weather out there has been a bit insane this year, so our fingers are collectively crossed for no rain, and those amazing out west blue skies!

I’m imagining beautiful outdoor weddings with take your breath away backdrops, as captured here, by Julie Harris Photography.  I cant wait to report back, and sometime soon bring you beautiful imagery of my friend’s wedding!

*All images are from Julie Harris Photography  http://www.julieharrisweddings.com/