Wedding Planning

Early Years · Engagement · Wedding Planning · Wedding · Reception · Honeymoon

The planning for our wedding began as soon as we got home from our engagement trip in 2004.  Kim quickly started researching and collecting information as she knew it would be mainly her task to plan the wedding.

Getting started

Kim attended a couple of bridal shows over the 4 years between the engagement and the wedding.  These events are extremely overwhelming and crowded.  And once you sign up for information, it never ends.  Thanks to Shanna for accompanying Kim on these journeys.

Throughout the planning process, we had several talks on how we wanted the ceremony to go.  We both agreed we wanted it to be simple and intimate, but had to balance this with including our extended family.  We also never wavered on the location or date – it had to be in Yosemite National Park on our anniversary date.  There were some other things that were very important to Kim that had to be included:

  • wearing a wedding dress and veil
  • having her dad give her away
  • having flowers for the wedding party and parents

We decided early on that we would pay for a professional photographer – not only was this a once-in-a-lifetime event (hopefully!) that we wanted to have captured beautifully, but we also wanted to showcase the location.

Staying organized

It was important for Kim to keep all of her planning tools organized so she created her own wedding planning binder.  By the time of the wedding, this binder held the critical information for the ceremony, florists, photographer and lodging.  This was Kim’s lifeline and helped make planning and follow up a lot more manageable. The binder also came in handy for organizing and managing the reception back in Arizona after our roadtrip.

The dress and rings

After several visits to various bridal shops, Kim ultimately decided on the first dress she had ever tried on at David’s Bridal.  The dress was “the one” and brought tears to Kim’s friend Shanna’s eyes when she witnessed Kim try it on for the first time.  There was no doubt that this would be the dress Kim wore as she walked down the aisle.

Looking for the wedding rings took a major back seat in the preparation process so we didn’t actually start looking until about three weeks before the ceremony.  Kim’s ring was quickly located at Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, so Kim can say “He went to Jared.”  Not being a huge traditional ring fan, Kim’s band is a stunning display of alternating emeralds and diamonds.  Scott’s ring was a lot more difficult to pick out as he is not a jewelry person and can barely stand to wear a watch.  We took multiple visits to multiple jewelry store before he found a simple band that we both thought looked good on his finger.  We had both rings about a week before we left for the wedding.

Getting the marriage license

Because we were holding the wedding in Yosemite National Park, the marriage license had to be obtained no more than 3 months prior to the ceremony in any California county recorders office.  That meant that we had to wait until the late spring or early summer and take a special trip. Originally, the plan was to take a few days, get the license in Merced County and do some pre-wedding scouting in Yosemite. However, Scott changed jobs in early May which made a multi-day trip more difficult.

On Friday, June 13th – yes, Friday the 13th – we headed over to the closest office, which happened to be Indio.  The process was very exciting, at least for Kim.  Scott documented the whole event, from Kim completing the form to filing it to our celebration dinner at Outback – and even the drive home. It was a long day, but still exciting. It was official, we were getting married! Check out the rest of the trip pictures and the accompanying video.

Kim’s bridal shower

On June 14th, Kim’s friends, Molly and Tami, hosted a bridal shower for her at Aunt Chilada’s Mexican restaurant.  All Kim knew was when she was being picked up as the day was to be a total surprise.  They did a fabulous job and the shower was all Kim could have wanted it to be.  The only negative was that Kim’s mom,  sister and Grandma could not make it down for event. The generosity of Kim’s friends and family was astonishing and Kim truly appreciates all that everyone did to make the day special. You can find more pictures of the shower here. So what about Scott’s bachelor party? He skipped having one.

Early Years · Engagement · Wedding Planning · Wedding · Reception · Honeymoon