The reactions I get when I tell people I’m a wedding planner crack me up. Most say something along the lines of “Oh wow, I wouldn’t want that job in a million years!” or “Goodness- that’s a tough job. How do you deal with crazy brides??” I laugh every time because they couldn’t be more wrong. Sure- wedding planning is absolutely not for everyone (hence the necessity for a wedding planner) and most people hate logistics, especially those surrounding weddings. I, on the other hand, actually think it’s fun!! 🙂 As for the “crazy brides” – that’s also very far from the truth. Especially for Keen Wedding Brides. I may end up jinxing myself by saying this, but I have the BEST brides (and grooms!). Seriously- becoming friends with the couples I work with is the highlight of my business. I sometimes go through post-wedding communication withdraw with my brides, which is something I JUST emailed Marcee about last week. Thankfully, she felt the same way so we scheduled a post-wedding meeting, which was really just an excuse for us to enjoy some time reminiscing about their amazing day! I think I need to establish a weaning process with my brides during the months following the wedding- I am not good at “cold turkey-ing” it.

Marcee and Garrett were an absolute blast to work with! Marcee is originally from Virginia and Garrett is from Texas. The two have been together for many years and are seriously awesome people.  Marcee loves Rosé, while Garrett is a Scotch drinker. The two own a house in Richmond and gravitate towards modern decor and furnishings; however, they’d eventually love to move out of the city onto a nice piece of land. They have a very eclectic taste in music- loving everything from T-Swift and Beyonce to The Head and The Heart and Of Monsters and Men. The two also have the SWEETEST puppy, Georgia. Georgia is a standard poodle and is just the cutest. My heart melted when I found out they wanted her to be in the wedding! <3 <3 <3

What is super awesome, kinda crazy, and is likely the makings for a new sitcom- is that Marcee and Garrett share the same best friend, Joe. Joe was one of Garrett’s groomsmen, but Marcee said she found him first 🙂 Joe is super awesome and was, my go-to guy on the day of the wedding. It’s always nice for a planner to have someone to communicate with who knows just as much about the brides vision as she does- and in this case, I would argue that Joe often knew what Marcee wanted before she did. I love it when I have a Joe around 🙂

As it always does- the planning process flew by and in a blink- we were at the Rehearsal! Marcee and I were a little nervous about the timing for her processional. Marcee wanted her and her bridesmaids to walk down the aisle to a string quartet playing an instrumental version of “Love Story” by Taylor Swift (told y’all she loved T-Swift!!). However, this was more complicated than it sounds. It had to be perfectly timed so that the bridesmaids could walk out of the trolley they were arriving in, the trolley could pull away from the ceremony aisle, the vehicle Marcee was getting out of (which was an absolutely STUNNING vintage Bentley) had to pull up to the aisle and still allow enough time for both Marcee and her dad to get out and start walking at EXACTLY 3 minutes into the song (where the key change occurs). Confused yet?? Well, I had every second planned out and even accounted for some buffer time, because you always need a little wiggle room!! We ran through the processional twice and were SO happy when our timing worked out perfectly- SCORE!

We wrapped up the Rehearsal and everyone thought they were on to smooth sailing for the night ahead. WRONG. Marcee & Garrett realized they forgot to pick up their wedding bands, poor Marcee got a flat tire at the venue, and they needed to pick up their guestbook picture before the shop closed. Oh- and still make it to their rehearsal dinner on time…NBD! They say bad things come in three’s, right? Such is life- you just gotta roll with the punches sometimes. I was able to pick up their wedding bands (after Garrett called to let them know I was authorized to pick them up haha…that was an interesting experience) and grab their guestbook picture! Anyone stranded at Tredegar due to the flat tire was able to Uber to the Rehearsal dinner- gotta love Uber!- and everything was back on track. Crisis averted! 🙂

Finally, the wedding day arrived!!! I tell you what- we couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was a GORGEOUS day. Marcee and Garrett did a first look and Marcee did a first look with her dad. A lot of people debate between having a first look and going the traditional route by waiting until the Ceremony to see each other. Of course, it’s tradition to wait- but it REALLY saves SO much time and stress to knock out the majority of the pictures before the Ceremony. And I mean- how sweet and precious are these moments??

I truly think wedding days are shorter. Someone seriously needs to investigate the validity of “Wedding Day Time Warping” haha. It has to be a real thing. The venue looked absolutely gorgeous as did the entire bridal party and it was time for the guests to start arriving- YAY!!! I mentioned that Garrett was from Texas, right? Have you ever been to a Texas wedding? It. Is. Awesome. Cowboy hats, boots, and handlebar mustaches galore. So great. I loved it!