Wedding Planning Timeline
Just for laughs, I wanted to share the timeline of events from when we got engaged, to when we got married! We spent a whole 3 weeks engaged! I still cannot believe we pulled off a wedding in 3 weeks, but I had some wonderfully helpful people that it couldn't have been possible without.
December 29- Hunter asked me to marry him 💍
December 31- We got back from our trip to the Smokies 👜
January 2- Snagged the BEST photographer in all the land-- Melissa Shelton 📷
January 4- Tried on dresses at Andrew Jackson in Cape, and at J Marie's Formal Affairs in Chaffee. 👰🏼
January 5- Went back to J Marie's and bought THE dress. 👗
January 6- Took the dress to Mrs. Jane to get altered, and to see how soon I could book the chapel. ✂️
January 7- Booked the Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs for a one-hour elopement ceremony on January 23 at 2:00. ⛪️
January 8- Booked The Barn Cabin at Cinnamon Valley for us to stay and get ready before the wedding. 🌅
January 10- Hunter got fitted for his tux from Trisha Vandeven, and we went to Piggott to get our marriage license (had to be from Arkansas since we were getting married in Arkansas). ✉️January 19- Picked up Hunter's tux. 👔
January 22- Mom picked up our cake from Susie's in Sikeston.
January 22- I picked up our flowers from Malden Flower Shop.
January 22- Packed the truck and drove after work through ice to Eureka Springs. ❄️
January 23- We got MARRIED! 🎉👫❤️
So, now that you know the timeline, we can get into ALL the details! The very first thing that I did, after we told family and friends, was text Melissa Shelton and ask her to take our photos. I've always admired her artwork and that's truly what she delivered-- ART. More than that, I've always admired her-- even way back when she was making me do toe-touches at cheer practice for not tucking in my thumbs 😉. She is a beautiful soul, inside & out! . She collaborated with me from the beginning on venue choices, coat options {it was fah-reaking FREEZING}, the vibe of the bouquet I wanted, etc. We literally talked through the whole thing. Of course, I had family and friends to talk to about it too, but I made most of the decisions alone, so I was so thankful to have a photographer who was so invested. I trusted her 200%, even so much that she finished my hair on the day of ❤️. Melissa went above and beyond, helping me finish my hair and helping me into my dress since no one else was there, (besides Hunter).
Our Decision
Before looking at venues, Hunter and I discussed what we wanted out of a wedding. We both agreed, that ultimately, our wedding wasn't about anyone else except us. We are both very family oriented. We go to see our families almost every single week, to spend time with them and we love hanging out with them. We are also both very future-minded and think about our future a lot. My parents were supportive of whatever type of wedding we wanted to have. They were giving us a certain amount of money, no matter what. We could've spent it all on our wedding, we could've spent nothing on our wedding, or we could have a sweet and intimate elopement wedding, and then still have plenty of money left over to have a big honeymoon, and money left to save.
There were jokes (and brief seriousness) about us going to the courthouse to get married, and I would've been okay with that, but I wouldn't get to wear a wedding dress or have pretty pictures of our special day (not that it makes it any less special, but it just made me sad). I also worked in a courthouse for a few years, and never once did I want to get married there. It was stiff and stuffy and not our style at all. We decided to go the middle route, and have a wedding ceremony with just the two of us, come back and gather with our family and friends, and take our honeymoon later {it's planned for December 2020!}. It wasn't that we don't love and appreciate our family SO much, not that we don't love our friends, NOT that I was PREGNANT {Yes, people thought we ran off because I was with child... NOPE!}, but because it was about us. We would be equally as married if we spent $15,000 on a wedding, or if we only paid the fee for the marriage license.
The Chapel
Hunter was also very supportive of whatever I wanted to do. He told me that he would do whatever I wanted, since I was the one who had been thinking about my wedding since I was a little girl. His one and maybe only opinion on the matter was that "it just isn't practical to spend x amount of money on one day", and I completely agreed. We are both adventurous (hence the engagement in the Smoky Mountains and the wedding pictures on a canoe), and I knew we must have some outside element to our special day. I started looking at intimate chapels for an elopement ceremony. Some that were on my list were Chapel of the Ozarks , Anthony Chapel, The Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel, and Thorncrown Chapel.
My cousin Devon is an architect, and I remembered seeing her pictures when she visited these little chapels in Arkansas. I started messaging her about them, and looking at pictures online. After looking at Thorncrown Chapel's amazing architecture (the flagstone, the beams, the glass, OMG), I was hooked. Devon told me that both the Cooper Memorial and Thorncrown chapel were designed by the same architect, E. Fay Jones (an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright). They all had the outdoor adventure look that I knew would be perfect for us. It was so funny because Melissa suggested Thorncrown, and I realized Devon and I were talking about the same ones. All of these chapels would've been perfectly fine, but after looking at pictures, pricing, dates that worked for us, and the uniqueness of an elopement, my heart was set on Thorncrown. I showed Hunter pictures and told him my thoughts. Why not go somewhere we've never been before, explore the area, and get married?? And you know what? He didn't think I was crazy. He said "Let's do it!" {Gosh, I love him!} We decided there was no point in putting it off (especially since we were eloping), we didn't need to be engaged for a certain amount of time, we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, and we were ready to do the thing!
Hunter and I had talked before about where we feel God the most. I told him that I always feel God whenever I'm outside, and he said the same (being the woodsy outdoorsman that he is). God is not defined to a church {as we're experiencing now, more than ever}, but He is with us wherever two or three gather in His name. I'm not saying don't go to church- we need fellowship with believers, but you know what I mean. Thorncrown was the perfect place. It was SO cold on the day we got married, but we were too excited to care. It was wonderful to have the outside feel, even on the inside of the building. The windows are so big, you feel like you are nestled right there in God's nature creation. At the front of the chapel (or would that be the back?), it looked like you could walk straight outside, but it was big beautiful glass. Y'all, this place was BEAUTIFUL. Stunning. Jaw-dropping. Melissa captured every essence of the chapel perfectly.
The Dress
I waited until I had a dress before booking the chapel, so that I could make sure it would be altered in time. The first place Mom and I went dress shopping was Andrew Jackson in Cape. My requests were nothing big and poofy, I wanted form fitting or fit & flair, and I was pretty sure I wanted lace. There was not a whole lot of styles I liked in the price range that I wanted to stay in, or in my size (I needed something close to my size so it could be altered quickly), but they were having a big moving sale, so a lot of their dresses had big markdowns. I tried on a few dresses there, and ended up liking one, but I wasn't sold. I also had an appointment at J Marie's in Chaffee that day, and I wanted to keep an open mind.
This was the dress I liked at Andrew Jackson-- I still like it, but I'm glad I didn't buy the first one I liked!
J Marie's was such a pleasant surprise. It felt warm and welcoming, and they had a large selection of dresses that were close to my size and well within my budget. I presented my requests, and Sara (my consultant), made it happen. My mom, Sara, and I pulled 5-6 dresses that I ABSOLUTELY loved. It was seriously so hard to choose (what a good problem to have). I loved every single dress that I put on! Sara was friendly, positive, gave helpful feedback, and was all around amazing to work with. She didn't rush us, and even allowed me to keep trying on after my appointment technically should've been over. She was patient as I tried on the same dress multiple times, so I could narrow them down and decide which were my top two. Here are some dresses that I really liked, but didn't choose. There are even more that I don't have pictures of 😂.
The dress in squares 1 & 2 is one that I almost picked (it ended up making top two), but it was a lot more expensive than the one I chose, and I liked the train on the one I chose a LOT. The dress in squares 3 & 4 I LOVED the back, but my torso is so short, they thought the alterations would be a bit tricky to get the back the right length where that netting is on the keyhole back. They all had things about them that I loved-- it was SO hard to choose! The dress in squares 5-7 was SO gorgeous-- almost a Victorian feel with the high back. I would've had to wear my hair up with it, which would've been difficult since I did my hair on my own (with Mel's gracious help). I also felt this one might be a touch too Victorian/formal for the venue we were wanting.
I narrowed it down to my wedding dress, and the one in the first two squares, above, and then went home to look at the pictures again and think about it. The next day, I went back and bought THE dress with the train, and I'm so glad I did! Like the venues, any of these would've been fine, I would've been happy, and the pictures would've been stunning no matter what. But, I loved the train on my final wedding dress and the low back-- and I loved its price.
I took my dress to my faithful Mrs. Jane (Jane's Alterations in Malden), and she told me when she could have it ready. When she told me a date, I then picked the date and booked the chapel for January 23, 2020!
I will leave you with these 10,000+ words for today, and save the rest for another time! Thank you all for reading! Up next on Happily Ever Hardin- Part 3.2: where we stayed, Hunter's tux, and other fine details like: jewelry, makeup, flowers, cake, etc.
Photos- Melissa Shelton Photography
Dress Shop- J Marie's Formal Affairs, Chaffee, MO
Dress Designer- Christina Wu
Rental for Hunter's Tux- Trish Vandeven, Bloomfield MO
xoxo,
ljh
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