Planning A Stress-Free Wedding in NC

After you receive your perfect ring, the wedding planning process has officially started! You are so excited to begin shopping for your dress, finding the perfect venue, and tasting wedding cake after wedding cake, but what you probably did not assume when you first got engaged was that weddings can actually be extremely stressful if you let it get to you during the planning process. Don’t worry, though - you can plan a stress-free wedding in North Carolina (or anywhere!). You just need to follow a week steps like these:

The Bridal Party

When you first get engaged, your first instinct will be to pick your bridal party, but hold your horses! The people in your bridal party have the opportunity to either stress you out or make the experience very smooth and exciting for you, so choose carefully! First, I want you to consider how long your planning process is going to be. Will it be a year? 2 years? Maybe 6 months? Think about the gals and guys who are thinking about asking to be in your party. Do you see them as life long friends? Would it be easy to walk away from the friendship over time? These are important questions to ask yourself because your wedding photos will be around forever and you want to make sure that the people in your party will be in your lives forever, or you will not want to showcase your photos. In addition, if you have a long engagement time and you fall out of friendship with someone, that will be an awkward conversation to have if you have already asked them to be in the party.

Your Vision

Everyone and their mom is going to have opinions on your wedding planning process, as well as the wedding day itself. Do yourself a favor and stop listening to them. This is your day and your vision. Who cares if Beckie chose hydrangeas for her wedding and she thinks that everyone else should have them too. It’s your day, so make sure you are doing what you want and not what those around you want.

The Venue

The venue is a huge aspect of your planning process and it has the ability to make or break your wedding. When picking a venue, you want to make sure that it is THE venue for you, so do your research, look at reviews, and visit it in person before you book. Luckily, North Carolina has great wedding venues - such as Jeter Mountain Farm - who will go out of their way to make your wedding day the best it can be and to make the wedding planning process not only stress-free but also fun and filled with joy. They say, “Jeter Mountain Farm has hosted hundreds of weddings since 2005; our valued guests have traveled as far as California and New York. Our guests often leave with huge smiles and lasting memories, commenting it truly is an experience like no other. The benefit of having your dream wedding is inherent in our location and history. With 411 rolling hill acres and pristine nature, the farm has been deeded since 1813 and is actively cared for and harvested for fruits (apples) and family picking. Our faith is our guiding principle to ensure you receive the special care and attention to this holy matrimony and joyous occasion.”

Jeter Mountain Farm is located in Hendersonville, NC, and sits on over 400 acres in the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains. It is a working farm surrounded by orchards, mountains, and lush rolling hills and they even have a juice company called Jeter Mountain Juice Co. Jeter Mountain Farm has a long history which dates back to 1813 and an interesting piece of that history is that the owners, Zach and Kayla Hunsader’s planned their own wedding on the farm. Now, they work together, providing other couples with the wedding experience of their dreams. They say, “We’ve just ended our fourth successful season of weddings at Jeter Mountain Farm, and we can both tell you we would not have our lives any other way. Zach and I are continually blessed with amazing couples and families, that choose to have one of their lives’ biggest days here on the farm. We count ourselves very fortunate each and every day in how God continues to provide a living for us at the same place we call home. So as the winter projects come out, and we prepare for another season, know that this couple is here to make your big day exactly how you dreamed it. We look forward to being your host whether it’s for your first time out, or for the weekend of your long awaited day. Our prayer is that each and every couple would go on the have long blessed marriages, and remember every moment they spent here with a smile!”

Timeline

I always say that all brides and grooms need a timeline for the day of (and maybe even the day before). If you have a good wedding DJ, he or she should help you follow the timeline and if needed, I always recommend hiring a day of coordinator, as well, for a second set of eyes just in case anything is missed by the DJ. While you can look online to find a basic wedding timeline, it should be unique to your event and preferences. Southern Weddings agrees with this and says, “Of course, there are many, many, many factors that can affect this timeline. Let’s discuss a few.

— One location or two. If your ceremony and reception are at different locations, be sure to build in time for your guests to get to their cars, travel, park, and walk. Take traffic into consideration. I would recommend underestimating the amount of time travel will take because there are few things worse than having guests arrive at a reception that’s not ready for them!

— Portraits. While there are many reasons to recommend them, first looks are not the only option – but, if you’re not having one, you need to be realistic about the time of year and time of day you’re getting married, and adjust your expectations accordingly. (i.e. If you’re having a winter ceremony at 5pm, don’t expect your photographer to be able to capture daylight portraits.) Whether or not you’re having a first look, I recommend checking off as many bridal party and family portraits as you can before the ceremony and leaving a concise list of group portraits for after.

— Location and transportation. Confirm where the gents and ladies will be getting ready, and if it’s not at the ceremony location, confirm transportation for everyone as well as how long it will take. If you’re taking portraits at the ceremony venue but getting ready elsewhere, consider putting on your gown once you arrive to make travel easier!

— Dances. At our wedding, we moved immediately into our first dance when we entered the reception, which I loved. You could also use your first dance or parent dances to open the dance floor after dinner or do them during dinner.

— Toasts. I like when toasts are offered during dinner, perhaps between courses. I’d also recommend splitting them up, so guests are able to focus on each one individually.

— Sunset. Your photographer will likely suggest taking a few bride and groom portraits at sunset. Even if you did a first look, I think this mini portrait session (10-15 minutes) is a great idea. You’ll be in a different “head space” than before the ceremony, and it will also give you a chance to be (mostly) alone in the middle of your reception. And, there will be lovely glowing light!”

Do A Walk Through

Before your wedding day, do a walkthrough of the venue so that you can anticipate every guest's needs. This sounds basic, but there are so many things that can be forgotten on the day of, so literally do a walk through and write out every single little thing that you need to bring to make your day look and go flawlessly.