The Daughter just got married. Here are a few things I learned about wedding planning.
Updated: Sep 26
The Daughter is married.
She was the first of our three kids to tie the knot, and we are still riding the high that comes with watching her step into her happily ever after.
The wedding and reception were pretty fun too.
This would be my first (and only) chance as mother of the bride and you better believe I enjoyed every moment of it.
Brooke and Max got married on Sept. 14 at The LINE Hotel in downtown Austin with about 240 of our closest loved ones. (We love a lot of people.)
And after 10 months of planning, we pulled off the wedding of her dreams, and I’m going to share a few things I learned along the way.
Whether you are planning a big affair or smaller, more intimate gathering, every wedding is special.
One of my most favorite things about Brooke and Max’s wedding is that her uncle Kevin officiated the ceremony.
It was incredibly special.
1. LOCATION IS EVERYTHING
This might seem obvious, but I had no idea how early wedding venues book up.
In many cases popular sites can be booked a year in advance, so this was our first big step.
Brooke and Max got engaged in December 2023 and knew they wanted to get married the following September, so we called places in Austin that were available and set up tours.
Because we knew there would be a lot of people traveling in from out of state, we wanted to have a weekend celebration at one location.
After touring several hotels in downtown Austin, the kids settled on The LINE because of its gorgeous floor to ceiling windows in the ballroom and overall wedding package.
We worked closely with Stephanie Selaiden and Becky Peter who made sure that everything was perfect.
2. HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER
This was incredibly important for us because we planned a wedding in a city about three hours from where The Husband and I live. And even though The Daughter lives in Austin, she was unfamiliar with the vendors.
We hired wedding experts Whitt Ross, and let me tell you, these women know what they are doing.
They orchestrated every detail of the ceremony and reception, connected us with the best vendors, secured the best pricing and made the process of planning a large wedding seamless and fun.
We worked with co-founder Gina Whittington and I can’t say enough good things about her.
She understood Brooke and Max’s vision for their special day and executed every detail to perfection.
On the wedding day, she and her team were on scene for 13 hours and handled absolutely everything while I enjoyed my mother of the bride duties, which included watching Brooke get ready and sipping champagne.
3. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ENTERTAINMENT
Brooke and Max wanted a band for the reception, and after researching a few in the area, they decided on the Love & Happiness Band.
This incredible group of professionals provided pre-ceremony and ceremony music, a saxophonist during cocktail hour, classic dinner music and the absolute best dance set we have ever heard.
We literally had 240 people crammed on the dance floor all night long!
The thing about wedding planning is that it should be fun and exciting, so relax and enjoy it!
You can have a beautiful celebration on any budget.
A few other vendors we used include Allison Ermon Photography, Crescent Films for video production, Lola Beauty and Blue Bridal Boutique.
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