We just hit the 1-year mark since the day Zach and I celebrated our love in front of our family and friends.

With half of our guests coming from out of town we choose to have our wedding on a long weekend (4th of July). This worked out perfectly as many of the guests ended up coming for the entire week, which enabled us to have more time to spend with extended family.

My vision for our wedding was to keep everything clean, simple & casual so everyone coming would be able to enjoy themselves. We had guest from New York, Illinois, Minnesota, California, Florida, and Georgia. I had not met all of Zach’s extended relatives, so it had the feeling of a reunion. This made our wedding weekend more fun than anticipated because I got to meet my new family!

Our color scheme was shades of grey and green. This transformed the Left Bank Annex from an empty urban space to an earthy garden feel.

There were lots of lessons that we learned throughout the process, but below are a few of the key ones.

1. Make it personal – What will stand out in your guest’s minds are what you do differently from the ‘normal’. Zach and I combined a little of his background (Jewish) and a little bit of my background (Catholic) to make the ceremony our own. We shared a Margarita after our vows which was a tribute to our first date, which was at a Mexican restaurant.

2. Do not overcommit yourself and assign tasks out – This seems obvious, but it is easy to think you can save money by ‘DIYing’. If you choose to go this route divide up the tasks between friends and family members. Everyone wants to help, so dole out tasks when possible.

3. Day of coordinator is a MUST! I was lucky to have Stephani as my Day of Coordinator and not only does it take all the stress away on your big day, but they make sure no details are forgotten.

4. The planning process is inherently stressful. We found that opening a bottle of wine every time we had to “work on the wedding” helped to keep things fun J

5. Remember this day is all about YOUR SPOUSE and YOU. It is the best party you will ever throw so remember to enjoy and soak up every moment of it as the day comes and goes so quickly.