Hey friends, yeah you there! You recently asked some really amazing wedding related questions, and today, to my heart’s delight I am answering your top wedding questions! Out of curiosity, I recently conducted a poll to see what wedding questions were on your minds. After all, as a wedding planner, I have been privy to years of mentorship and wedding experience, and I am a firm believer that sharing is caring! Every question is a GOOD question and I can’t wait to lend you my advice. As I had such a wonderful response to our poll, I wasn’t able to get to every fantastic question at once; so if you don’t see your top wedding questions answered here, make sure to follow along for our next segment! Now let’s get to the good stuff!
1. I would like to know what you think is easier to plan, an elopement or a local wedding? – Carolina F.
This is a really FUN question, and it’s a bit like comparing apples and oranges. To most, I think the typical answer would be that it’s easier to plan an elopement, but it really depends! Each wedding and elopement differs so much, and I have learned to never assume that they will be the same. Some couples want a simple and clean destination elopement; some want a local, elegant elopement filled with high-end vendors and design. Some couples want a small but beautiful wedding and others want an extravagant, intricate affair. For those reasons, I don’t think that there is a clear-cut answer and certainly, there is no wrong or right. My one goal to make things seem easier is to team up with the right clients and the right vendor dream-team, because it’s not really work when you are having a blast!
2. How can I pull off an elopement without upsetting friends and family that aren’t invited? – Rachel R.
I LOVE this question, Rachel! I get asked this quite a bit as we specialize in more intimate weddings and elopements. My best advice is to be honest and upfront with your friends and loved ones. Before you take on the task of breaking the (HAPPY) news, really reflect on why it is important for you to elope. Maybe it’s because you love the idea of an intimate and private ceremony, perhaps you’ve always dreamed of getting married in the mountains, or you are just so head-over-heels in love that you don’t want to wait! Be prepared to explain your “why.” Your friends and loved ones will understand, and if they don’t, then it just means that they love you so much that they want to share in your special day. This is a great reason to hire an amazing photographer and videographer to document your day; you can share it with everyone who may not have been there in person.
3. In lieu of a formal ceremony, what is the best way to approach a courthouse wedding? – Jared C.
Three words: Do your research! Courthouse weddings, while simple in nature can actually be quite tricky! You’ll need to make sure you have all of your ducks in a row; a marriage license must be issued within a certain number of days before the wedding, you must also be prepared to show valid photo identification for both parties, and most importantly, you must make sure that your local courthouse performs civil ceremonies! Although they will provide marriage licenses, they are not required to perform civil ceremonies on site; this may mean that you will need to travel to find a courthouse that will perform them in-house. When you have found the right courthouse for you, you’ll need to call them and confirm all of their requirements and most likely you will need to schedule your wedding date in advance.
4. As an American citizen can you get legally wed in another country? – Veronica H.
To sum it up, yes, generally! What I mean by that is that United State’s statutes list that a U.S. citizen’s marriage abroad is to be accepted as long as the wedding has met all of the local guidelines and rules of the foreign country.
Here is where things get fun, each foreign country, even down to the city can have different requirements. Some may require that you provide a health certificate, or they may require that are a resident, long or short term; think from days to months! There are countries that have very few to no restrictions at all. Your best bet is to reach out to the country’s travel bureau or a local wedding planner to ensure that your destination wedding dreams can come true! If you don’t follow the local laws, you may just get a big ol’ red X. So make sure to do it right; after all, no one wants to learn that their marriage isn’t valid because they missed a step.
5. What is the most significant detail that newlyweds often forget? – Anna D.
To have boatloads of fun and to take it all in! No, really I mean it! We all know that weddings can be stressful in nature, but they honestly don’t have to be. As a wedding planner my number one goal is to take on that stress for my clients so that they can enjoy the planning process, and more importantly so they can love love love their wedding day. It takes an average of 100 hours to plan a wedding, even more if you are not an experienced professional. Now imagine how much time and effort you can save if you hire someone to take that on for you! Think about all of the free time you’d have to do fun things with your soon-to-be spouse.
I am a FIRM believer that absolutely zero percent of couples should be so stressed that by the time their wedding day rolls around, they are beyond overwhelmed and they just aren’t excited anymore. When they aren’t giddy to say their “I dos” but are just ready for it to be over and done with. I really encourage all engaged couples to consider bringing on a professional planner for their wedding, or to at least reach out to a few to see if hiring one might be the right choice for them. In the end, everyone deserves to get his or her dream day and the wedding planning journey should be a really fun adventure. Your wedding is a party, isn’t it time that it feels like one?!
There they are, my answers to your top five wedding questions. I had so much fun with this, I will be making this a routine post for the future! Are there any questions you would like to have answered? Pop over to our Instagram or Facebook accounts and ask away. Ready to team up with us to make your wedding planning a breeze? Contact us here!
xoxo,
-Linnie