Meet Courtney - a Sweet Lil Bride to Be!

I'll give you ONE guess as to where I met this little gem of a gal... Instagram... you got it! It's the new place to meet new faces - if you aren't on board you are missing out! Anywho, if you didn't quite get it from the title {which you are all smarty pants and I know you got it!}, Courtney is getting hitched and I am so excited to follow along with her wedding planning adventures! Seriously, if I could quit my job and plan weddings for a living, I would do it in a heart beat! I love the details and the flowers and the dresses and the cakes and the food and most importantly the FUN! I hope you enjoy meeting Courtney - and take her advice - it's good stuff!!! 

I'm so excited that Lauran is letting me take over her blog today!! 

Isn't she the best?? She has such great style, a Handsome Husband, and a cutey pie puppy! I mean what's not to love about her??

I met Lauran on Instagram which is where I have met some incredible ladies lately and discovered some oh-so-fun blogs too! 

I'm Courtney and I write over at a lil blog called Tales of Lace & Glitter. 

 (That's one my puppies Ellsworth!) 

I started my blog right after I turned 30 *cough, cough* I'm 31 now and my blog is about to turn 1 year old! I write about my life: feeling like I need to grow, learning to take on grown-up responsibilities, trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, and just overall enjoying every minute I have with family & friends! I just got engaged in June and lately I've been spending my Wednesdays sharing the latest dish on my wedding details. 

 (This is us right after we got engaged)

Our wedding is planned for June 1, 2013 and so far the wedding planning process has been relatively painless...I have learned a few lessons along the way I thought I'd share with you: 

(1) EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE is going to have an opinion about what you should do. 

Even after you've decided on a detail and put down a deposit, they are still going to share their opinion with you. 

Sometimes you'll want the advice and others times you won't. Practice saying "Oh really? What I cool idea! I'll have to look into that. Thanks!" 

and move on... Don't say "Ugh that's a TERRIBLE idea!" 

I may or may not have learned that lesson the hard way... 

(2) Your fiance is not going to be into planning EVERY detail of your wedding like you are, and that's ok!

 Ask him his opinion, if he has one listen and try to be accommodating. If he doesn't have an opinion, don't get mad at him for not having an one. Not having an opinion over which formal China pattern you should pick does NOT mean he doesn't care... it just means he doesn't know about fine China. He'll have an opinion about the details he knows about I swear! 

(3) Pick one part of your wedding to spend the most one money on and stick to a budget on all the others! 

Ok...this piece of advice I cannot take all the credit for... I MAY have first read this in that Wedding Book Jessica Simpson put out right after she said her first set of "I do's"...Side Note: Didn't you just love her show Newlyweds?? I have a craving to watch it but sadly, in a fit of decluttering, I sold the DVDs on Amazon...

 "Till Death Do Us Part" she might not know about, but wedding planning she does! 

You could spend MILLIONS of dollars on a wedding *cough**Kim Kardashian**cough* but in the grand scheme of things we don't all have those budgets. So pick one part that's REALLY important to you, whether it's the flowers or music at the reception or your dress and overspend on that... the rest- try to stay in a reasonable budget! Trust me after you've got all the details nailed down and you write up when ALLLLL the payments are due- you'll wish you'd heeded this advice.

(3) Don't sweat the small stuff. 

This is the piece of advice I need to keep reminding myself of...  The details don't actually matter- it's the big picture you need to stay focused on. 

It doesn't matter if your bridal shower invites are EXACTLY what you would've chosen or if you don't have calligraphy on your Save the Date envelopes...What matters most is that at the end of this process you get to marry your best friend, the love of your life,  the man you just can't live without!

Thanks for reading! 

For more on my wedding planning or to hear about my journey of 'Sweating for the Wedding' or just read all my randomness be sure to hope over and check out my blog! 

You can also follow me on PINTEREST or over at Instagram: @Cookie1881

Courtney really took the words and advice right out of my mouth! It is humorous to me though, that we as brides and soon to be brides pretty much deal/dealt with the same issues during the wedding planning process! I'd like to look at it now as a type of "Rite of Passage" into becoming a wife! A lot of this advice can be applied to marriage too! It's a perfect training tool for life with your spouse and the new combining of families!! Make sure you head over to Courtney's neck of the woods and leave her some love!!! Happy Thursday my dears - Almost Friday!!! 

I am not booking for April guest poster/sponsors! If you are interested in being part of The Real Young Housewife of Southern VA family for the month of April, please e-mail me at Lauran.Huffman@gmail.com!