We are officially within a year of our wedding and cannot wait! I am so relieved we chose to have a longer engagement so that we can really enjoy the planning process and not feel too overwhelmed by a timeline. We have secured most of our vendors and are thrilled to be working with such talented professionals.
Being a wedding guest a dozen times myself, one of the most important takeaways from the whole experience is the entertainment! Some of Matt’s and my favorite date nights include going to local restaurants and enjoying live music. We knew we wanted to incorporate live entertainment into our wedding day, but we also loved the party-vibe that a DJ brings. We started searching for local musicians and DJs when we came across Anders Hyatt who we felt could give us the best of both worlds! Anders is a wonderful vocalist who partners with a violinist, Ben Rogers. We loved their cover reel. We decided to have Anders and Ben perform live for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and first dance/special dances and then will turn to the mix tables for the rest of the night! Booking Anders for both services is so convenient. We love that the same two individuals will provide the music for the entire day and are so excited our guests will get to enjoy both forms of entertainment!
When I started wedding planning, so many of my friends warned me that fresh flowers are expensive and quickly add up to be one of the top budget items. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I also have such a hard time justifying spending so much money on something that’s going to last just a few days. I think that flowers are a beautiful touch to a wedding day, but I can honestly say I can’t remember what the centerpieces looked like at any of the weddings I have attended. With all of this in mind, shopping around for florists was not as difficult as I had imagined.
I hopped on the phone with Talana Maria and we instantly clicked. Talana used to work in the theater industry in NYC so we automatically had a connection. I loved that in our initial conversation she took the time to get to know Matt and me as a couple and what our vision was for our special day. In order to best enhance Holly Hedge’s beautiful rustic scenery, I want to keep our floral arrangements quite simple. Mixes of greenery with white and maybe a pop of blue was what I was envisioning. I shared my Pinterest board with Talana and she was able to create a proposal based on my preferences. I am so excited to work with her and see my floral vision come to life!
Another task I started to tackle is our wedding website. I am using Zola’s platform to create our site to offer guests information about our wedding and a look at how we got here! Zola is a fantastic tool we’ve used for planning everything from our guest list to our accommodations. We will only have a few out of town guests but we will of course include things to do in the area and the schedule of the day. Inputting our guest list onto Zola has been so easy and with the click of a button we can even request guests’ home addresses– how cool is that?! We will be able to send out invitation and create our seating charts seamlessly with this feature. We also have the ability to add our registry so everything is in one place.
Zola can curate a registry by pulling items from many different vendors to make the process super simple. We have been able to browse the popular items on most registries while also tailoring to our wants and needs! One of my top registry items is a new cookware set with pots and pans, and Matt is really hoping for a large YETI cooler. I also love the ability to add funds for certain gifts like a honeymoon fund, pre-wedding spa gift card, bouquet preservation, etc.! I will be editing and adding to our website little by little as we get closer to our date.
In just a few weeks, Matt and I will be doing our engagement session with our photographer, Taylor Cotilla. We are so excited to work with her and get some really wonderful pictures we’ll cherish. We have not settled on a location yet but we definitely want to be outdoors since Bucks County has so many beautiful spots that would make ideal backdrops. We certainly are looking forward to sharing these photos with our friends, family, and of course Bucks Happening!- Love, Taylor
Catch up with Taylor’s wedding journey here.
