How to Start Planning Your Wedding

Disclaimer: Now don't get me wrong, I love me some Martha! But even Martha isn't perfect [for me])

Image from Martha Stewart Weddings

It just goes to show how accurate those quizzes are…not very!

I just took What Is Your Color Palette Quiz over on Martha Stewart Weddings. What a disaster. I answered as honestly as I could, eschewing my favorite trends for my core sense of style and Martha deemed me a romantic. No surprise there. It takes an incredibly romantic woman to continue blogging about weddings after her wedding has come and gone. I love weddings, they make me so happy. Yes, Martha, I am a hopeless romantic.

Um, Yuck!

But when Martha made her color palette suggestions for me, I had to throw up in my mouth a bit. They were totally not me! They were these weird, super-soft baby blues, pinks, and pastel purples. Um, no, no, no! At least not the way Martha curated them. They were way too conventional; way too safe. So, what went wrong?

Are you marrying Martha? Then don't worry about her for now!

Well, the fact that I was taking a quiz for insight into "my color palette" was my first mistake. As The Eastside Bride would say, f* this! You don't need a test to tell you what your wedding should be like. You don't even need inspiration boards, or bridal magazines, or wedding blogs! (woops, did I actually say that?) What you need to do is sit down with your fiance and discuss you dreams and explore your priorities.

Let me say that again:

STEP ONE: sit down with your fiance and discuss you dreams and explore your priorities!

Five random questions to get you started…

• big wedding? small one? Just the two of you eloping?
  • Believe it or not, size determines so much. It can determine your venue, you budget, your food choices, and your level of DIY activities.
• What are your favorite things to do together? (i.e.  outdoorsy stuff? dinner and a movie? read heady literature and philosophy? eat gourmet dinners?
  • Here's where all the cute details and personalization come in. The best wedding decor reveal something about the couple and their families.
• outdoor or indoor?
  • Like your wedding size, this determines your venue, decor, and season
• Season?
  • Winter weddings in the western mountains have a whole different set of concerns that sticky mid-summer weddings in the Whites of New England. Season can determine your dress, guest lodging and transportation,and footwear
• What are total deal breakers? That is: what do you definitely NOT WANT at your wedding.
  • This can be as telling as what you do want. After taking Martha's stupid test I realized two things: 1)Yes, I am a romantic 2) I also like unexpected details and highly creative design. Finding out what you absolutely don't want can go far in bringing you to what you do want.

Of course there are many more questions you could ask. What do you think is the most important question to answer about your wedding before diving headlong into stacks of bridal mags and dozens of wedding blogs?