90 Day Fiance: Wedding Planning Update

If I’m being honest, I was excited to write this update just for the title lol — but there has been a TON of progress on the wedding planning front, and I felt a 90 Day Fiance Update would be a helpful/hopefully interesting time to share with all of you following along.

Ok, so the biggest news as a 90 Day Fiance is probably that we have secured our venue!! I can’t tell you how relieved I am over that because A) it means we have our date, and B) it means we can start with some of the other key (more fun) components that also require some lead time.

A little background of the spot we landed on…
I first came across them through a visit to last season’s National Bridal Show (true story) and am THRILLED to reveal that I’ll be partnering with the show for their Spring 2018 Show on February 2^nd-4^th at the Enercare Centre in Toronto! (see below for a special ticket promotion for readers!!) 

(image source: The Doctor’s House)

We will be getting married at The Doctor’s House in December, and if you’re not familiar it’s a gorgeous spot with an on site chapel and is the perfect mix of modern and rustic that we were looking for (think exposed beams, wood burning fireplaces and chandeliers).

I have gotten countless questions asking if we would be doing a destination wedding given our love of travel and the beach. Obviously now you know the answer is no, and I’ll elaborate a little on why… The main thing is I genuinely don’t like the idea of asking all of our family and friends to use vacation time & a lot of funds to take part in our day. While I don’t judge anyone who does, and have had amazing times at several friends’ weddings abroad, it’s just not something I’m particularly comfortable with. We obviously live for travel and will be planning a honeymoon for right after the wedding, but I don’t want to force a destination from my own list on anyone as their pick.

As far as our honeymoon destination though, we really want to make it a unique trip with details that will make it feel extra memorable and different than other trips we’ve taken. Through the lovely folks at the National Bridal Show, I had the pleasure of speaking to a few industry experts including Wedding Vacations by Sunwing to get insight on travel options that will help guide some of our upcoming planning decisions, and I’m hoping yours as well! The key takeaways for me were:

• couples should be looking to book their honeymoon 6 to 8 months in advance (so the 90 Day Fiance mark is a good time to start thinking about it)! You may want to even book sooner if like Ry and I, you prefer a more boutique style resort, especially because honeymoon suites can book up quickly (feeling the pressure, lol)
• seriously consider ‘adults-only’ resorts for your honeymoon – you’ll have more romantic dining, entertainment and lounge space options. The pros reminded me though that you should still be looking for places that suit your style (ie. relaxing and pampered versus adventurous, let’s say)
• do yourself a favour and research the plethora of cool new accommodations that hotels are introducing with couples in mind – think tree house suites in Los Cabos, overwater bungalows in Mexico, or waterfall villas in Costa Rica!!! You don’t necessarily need to travel far for a unique experience!
• lastly, I asked for one unexpected spot that would offer an amazing honeymoon, and if you were intrigued by our trip to Tahiti, you’ll be glad to know you can stay in overwater bunglaows much closer to home ( at the Palafitos in the Riviera Maya, Mexico), which also happen to be situated off of one of the top-ten rated beaches in the world!

I’ll just quickly mention as well, if a destination wedding IS your jam, the folks at Wedding Vacations by Sunwing specialize in that planning so would definitely be your go-to source and were so lovely and helpful!

(image source: Karisma Hotels)

In addition to the venue & preliminary honeymoon research, my DIY bridesmaids boxes have gone out, and I’ve scheduled appointments to go try on dresses in a couple of weeks when I’m back from travelling. I’m super excited!! I will definitely say here that if you are a fellow bride in the midst of dress shopping, don’t just defer to somewhere trendy without doing some research. Gather inspo for the type of dress you think you’ll like, and some designers that echo your aesthetic, and make appointments based on places that carry those looks/brands.

For my own dress, I am leaning to something a little more boho (not shocking) with a streamlined silhouette and maybe some texture as far as the fabric. I will not go with a strapless design, but TBD on what the sleeves will look like (I’m not opposed to a long sleeve since it will be winter, but currently my own top inspo images are more of a tank strap). Judging by those pics I’m referencing for my appointments, I also like low cut fronts and/or backs and a little bit of a train. I also imagine I will go with a headpiece or veil of some sort, but will get into that on my next update when hopefully a dress is decided on and I can think about some of the beauty/accessories! I have heard though that you can be pretty surprised at what you end up liking when you try it on, so maybe I’ll end up in a big poofy princess gown LOL. Very doubtful, but stay tuned.

Lastly, I’ll share that we have sent out our save the dates, which goes back to my point on the options (aka work) that open up once you have your venue and date. We were so lucky that we had images ready to go without doing an engagement shoot since Ryan had booked a photographer for our engagement, so we went with one of those (see below). We decided to send the save the dates digitally since in my opinion, no one keeps them anyway and I wanted to save trees 🙂 Again, this is a super easy way to shave a few hundred bucks off your budget.

So to recap, at the 90 Day Fiance mark we have completed:
-confirming the bridal party + gifts
-venue selection
-preliminary honeymoon research
-booking dress appointments
-save the dates

& hopefully by the next update, we will have news on:
-dress selection (!!)
-bridesmaids dress appointments
-beauty/accessories decisions
-photographer updates
-florist updates (I’ll be sharing my mood board soon, as per your requests!)
-short list of honeymoon destinations

It’s getting exciting peeps. If you are also a bride-to-be, or have a friend(s) who is, I really suggest getting out to the National Bridal Show over the weekend of February 2nd-4th! I will be there, and can speak first hand to the quality of vendors and loads of inspiration you can get in on!! Plus, if you use promo code INTLPEACH when you purchase your tickets online, you’ll save $3 per person!

See you there & please drop ANY questions or comments you have down below!! I love hearing about your planning and tips/thoughts for those who have already been through it xx