Santos Soirée Planning Part 1

Woo hoo!! We are in the midst of wedding planning. Both an exciting and terrifying place to be.

Set aside the overwhelming number of details, ideas, and opinions that come flooding in, I have truly loved the process so far. Getting to plan, dig into all things creative, and having an excuse to spend more time with my family and friends… what could be better? With that said, wedding planning doesn’t come without a few waves of sheer panic, death by a thousand details, and a bit of all-consuming stress (good times!). My saving grace has been our ultra supportive family, friends, and amazing vendors. Without them there’s a chance there’d be all beer and no water, and dessert but no dinner. On second thought, that might not be so bad…

We got engaged on a Friday and decided to keep it quiet until we could tell all our family and as many of our close friends as possible, personally. Second to getting engaged, telling our family and friends was probably my favorite part. I loved seeing their reactions and excitement! It filled my whole heart and body with love. My favorite reactions were probably my Mamoo and Grandpa’s, and Jared’s mom. They were just so funny! I could relive those moments a hundred times over.

Once we had told everyone, it was time to dig into the good stuff…

First up was finalizing our venue. I knew I wanted to avoid a formal venue location, as there are so many unknowns with COVID. I have enough stress in my life without worrying about whether or not we’d be able to have guests at our wedding when the day finally arrived. Fortunately for us, we are able to have it at a family property. A few years ago Jared took me down to his grandpa’s hay ranch in Dyersville, and I immediately fell in love. From that day on, I knew that was where I wanted us to get married. It is so quiet, beautiful, peaceful, and it brings me so much joy being down there. It will be the most unique and special backdrop for our wedding!

After confirming we could have the wedding at my dream spot, we had to pick a date. This gave me major anxiety. I mean, this is one of the most pivotal days of your life, would hate to pick a crappy day and have to live with that forever. (Cue overthinking to the tenth degree.) I sort of tried to put it off because I didn’t want to think about it, but in the same hand I couldn’t make any real plans without one (major sigh). There was a lot to consider – weather (yay outdoors in Humboldt!), my work travel schedule, other weddings, other events, etc. But through our very scientific informal process, we landed on a date in July.

But after marinating on it, all I could think of was dried grass, and it didn’t bring me a spark of joy when I thought of it.

Ultimately we scratched July off our list and went back to the drawing board. Actually, Jared was relatively unhelpful on this and didn’t care which date we picked. Instead, I talked to my boss about it. After much determination and review, Richard (my boss and our wedding preacher) and I figured out the new wedding date.

And happily ever after begins: May 29, 2021.

Phewww. Getting the venue and date lined out took some years off my life. But, they were probably the crap years anyway. Now to the fun stuff!

Jared and I’s (okay mostly my) highest priorities were: food, flowers, photography, videography, and music. I know how fast vendors fill up, so I started reaching out and getting those confirmed as quickly as possible (I’ll share more on our vendors in a future post!). From there, the details and planning process has become a blur. But as I started choosing decorations and details, my inspiration has been a mixture of elegant, classic, western, and vintage, with very personal, unique touches. I hate all things generic and common, and despise over-played ideas, so I have worked really hard to forge original ideas and content.

Towing the line between traditional and unique, was my need for church pews. Yes, church pews. Regardless of the fact that it is an outside wedding, come hell or high water I was getting my church pews. They are classic and traditional, but a bit unexpected for an outdoor, hay ranch wedding. As would be expected, they were no easy feat to obtain.

Remember when I said my friends were my saving grace? Case in point…

I locked in my pew purchase and called in the big guns, aka one of my very best friends and my six month old niece. On a Friday afternoon we loaded up the truck and trailer and headed to Watsonville, California. The drive down was exhausting enough, between navigating Bay Area traffic and the squirrel trails they call roads, let alone pulling up and setting eyes on the heap of pews I had bought… As soon as I saw them I was convinced not a single one would fit in the trailer… but someone the couple I bought them from managed to get every. single. pew. into that trailer. Still not sure how they did it. The finished product was really a work of art. They had those pews stacked, shoved, and deconstructed to fit into every nook and cranny. After they loaded us down, we started our four hour trek home…

Turns out picking them up and traveling 8 hours with a six month old (perfect) baby on board was the easy part… unloading them with your future husband, not so much. I like to call that our first round of pre-marital counseling…

But, at the end of two very long days we are the proud owners of some heavy AF pews. Send us well wishes as we dig into refinishing them, loading them back up, and bringing them over to the coast… (I really need to stop putting this off…)

In addition to church pews, I had my heart set on real plates and flatware. I wanted this to be another really cool showpiece, so my future mother-in-law and I have been thrifting for dinner plates, dessert plates, and flatware. I am quite impressed, between the two of us we’ve collected nearly 300 dinner plates, and about half as many dessert plates and flatware sets in the last two months. Not only do I love thrifting and finding hidden treasures, but I’ve also loved getting to spend more time with Jared’s mom. It is so fun to share my ideas and collaborate! She probably thinks a lot of my ideas are crazy, but thank goodness she runs with them and helps me execute everything!

These mis-match, shabby-chic plates keep help round out my vision for the tables, and tie in details from other aspects of the wedding. They have the functionality and sophistication of being real, without having an overly formal feel. The lack of conformity with the plates keeps the vibe light and fun. Each of the plates are white or white with floral design on them, so they don’t clash with one another, but rather blend nicely with the all-white tablecloths, runners, and napkins. I opted for a muted color palette on the tables (and other key elements) so the flowers could serve as the real focal point and pop of color. I love bright, seasonal flowers, and am not a big fan of specific wedding colors (too traditional and stuffy for me), so you can bet there will be a myriad of beautiful flowers (everywhere).

Rounding out the table design, the center of rectangle tables will be covered with a mixture of clear, milk glass, and green bud vases (all filled with those bright, seasonal flowers!), and candlestick holders of varying heights. A bit whimsical and vintage. To tie in the western aspect of our life and the venue, the round tables will have a pair of worn cowboy boots in the center. Each boot will have a small bouquet of flowers, and will be surrounded by candles of varying heights (matching the rectangular tables). These details will be replicated in the ceremony and cocktail portions of the wedding.

And there you have it – a quick glimpse inside my wedding planning mind!! Have I overwhelmed you with ideas, details, and information yet?! Our poor friends and family, they are troopers for listening to me and putting up with all this nonsense. I have a constant flow of ideas and thoughts, some changes, and a growing list of to-dos. But, as I mentioned, I am loving executing all these special projects and pieces for our big day. I definitely have a few more planning posts in the works (this is just the tip of the iceberg people). Let me know what details you are curious about, and I will share away!

But until then, cheers! Wish me luck…