Being engaged can get quite overwhelming, which is why it is important to surround yourself with people you trust, love and who know how to keep you calm through huge, stressful decisions and events. Try to remember to take every step of this with a deep breath and a moment to connect with your fiance`. After all, it’s not about the wedding, it’s about committing yourself to your love, your partner, for the rest of your lives. Will and I are taking every day, each week, and making sure we have time to enjoy each other during this exciting time.

Being far from the cookie-cutter bride you see on the covers of all of the pink glossy bridal magazines, I have been looking for any indication that
there are other indie brides out there who want an alternative way to tie the knot. Elegant, beautiful, classy, yet representative of who we are as a couple. A very DIY and earth-friendly couple who doesn’t want time, energy or money wasted on unsustainable, wedding-themed, one-use-only items. My best girl, Michaela no-middle-name Cullen always comes to the rescue, in serious times of need and when you just need a home girl to hear you out. So of course she found the two pieces of literature that will carry me through my engagement.

Michaela bought this fantastic and fun book, Anti-Bride, Etiquette Guide. You can find it on Amazon. Cala also gave me the above Eco-Chic Weddings for my birthday in mid-October. An incredibly helpful book written by Martha Stewart’s event coordinator, Emily Elizabeth Anderson. She has that “Martha” eye, and the background of planning large-scale, yet intimate gatherings. The perfect person to help you have your most important day reflect your love of the environment. This doesn’t mean any less class or elegance, it just shows you how to cut down on unnecessary waste, and have your wedding go along with your green lifestyle. It would be a shame to work hard making changes for the better, only to negate all of your positive steps forward by a wasteful wedding.