Reflections on My Wedding Philosophy

After engagement and a few frightening experiences in planning the wedding that left me in tears, I began to cling to the idea that my wedding needed a philosophy.  From the pages of 2000 Dollar Wedding and A Practical Wedding, I borrowed aspects with which I identified and built my own philosophy.  I would love to say that we had an amazingly transcendent family sit down where every one understood the importance of having a wedding philosophy and participated in building one.  However, I was the lone crusader on the war path of defining it.  Others thought it was over-kill, granola, heady, unnecessary, etc.  From the perspective of being on the other side, having a wedding philosophy, even just one that I adhered to, was pivotal to keeping me sane and freeing me to truly enjoy our wedding.

When I got down/upset, it seemed like everything was out of budget, or every craft was failing, I thought of the most important thing about our wedding: It was the beginning of our marriage.  In the grand scheme of starting a marriage, finding the perfect wrapping paper to line envelopes could be put into its proper category of "not that important after all."  Stemming from this main philosophy, I focused on a few sub-principles that I thought would enhance the intimacy, ease the coordination, or decrease costs.  For fun, I labeled these principles with a catch all phrase: High on Style, Low on Budget - Just how Mother Likes it.  In the following paragraphs, I highlight a few of the principles and the application to our wedding planning.

Principle 1 - Reuse/Recycle

I collected glass vessels from local thrift stores to use as candle centerpieces.  These reused pieces still have a lot of life left in them and I plan to pass them along again.  I've already sifted through for a few favorite pieces to use in my home decor.

I also found glass plates and candlesticks at the thrift stores to assemble our cake plate centerpieces.  My mom also donated a few plates from her collection that she had purchased at the dollar store a few years ago.  Again, I plan on passing these along for other events.

Our church was beautifully decorated to celebrate the Christmas holiday.  Rather than redecorate, we asked that the decorations be left up for an extra day.  We didn't have to spend money or man power on thinking of a new scheme, buying more decorations, or taking the time to decorate/tear down.

Since I was going for a vintage look anyways, I searched for vintage accessories.  Not only was I able to reuse many lovely pieces (my earrings most notably), I was also able to up-cycle a few brooches into other wedding decor.

Principle 2 - It's Not What You Know, but Who You Know

We contacted our friends and family with musical talent to be our friendor musicians.  Mr. Palindrome's cousin recently played a solo for high school's senior recital and was booked for another wedding.  Our vocalists included an accomplished soprano and a professional opera singer.

There was no need to search for an officiant when we were already close to our pastor.  He served as our friendor officiant which included premarital counseling.

If you don't know somebody and people you know don't know somebody, then who might?  Craig.  I consulted Craigslist and found both our wedding planner and our jazz band.

Principle 3 - Necessity is the Mother of Invention (DIY)

While not all of these items are necessarily true necessities, they were items that my little heart desired.  Making them myself was a better overall value.  I enjoyed these projects (my advice is to only take on what you enjoy doing) and completing them kept me focused. 

• Veil
• Monogram labels
• Unity candles
• Silk/fabric florals
• Semi-DIY invitations
• Guest book alternative
• Photo booth
• Bird seed
• Cake stands

Do you think creating a philosophy would be helpful in your wedding planning?  If you already have one, how has it helped keep you grounded?