Happy Week of my Wedding!!! JK, it was supposed to be on Saturday (RIP) but my actual wedding is a year away…it’s the strangest feeling I can’t even describe. I realized my last update here on all things #OnceUponACline was way back in May (!!!) which means I have quite a few updates to share!

The Dress

Choosing a wedding dress was both the easiest and hardest parts of the planning process for me. I fell in love with a dress at my very first appointment in July 2019 and was assured that it was a core style from the brand that would 100% be available when I was ready to purchase. Fast forward to August 2020 and I learned the dress was discontinued. I found The Dress Bridal in Santa Barbara and their website showed they had the dress in a sample size on sale. I booked an appointment only to learn that unfortunately the sample size was just small enough that it would not work for me (all the tears). I did fall in love with another dress from the same brand and was thrilled! I made a plan to order in the Fall (a year out from my original date) but fast forward to our wedding being cancelled and me deciding to wait on ordering until I had a new date. Spoiler Alert: that dress was also discontinued. In May I started dress shopping once again since we had a new date and a new venue and found another dress from the same brand that I LOVED! I placed my order so I would not miss out on the perfect dress for the 3rd time and it arrived last month! I haven’t gone to see it or try it on yet since I am 9 months away from the fitting process but just knowing that my dress is safely stored a mile from home makes me so excited!!

The Videographer

I feel like every aspect of our wedding is important to me but early on acknowledged that the most import vendors were our photographer and our videographer. At my core I am a sentimental person and know I will love looking back at these for years to come. Ashley LaPrade, our photographer, was the first vendor we booked and thankfully has stuck with us through a cancelled wedding, no new date, a venue change, and a different year. She was actually in Santa Barbara last month and took the most incredible second round of engagement photos for us! As for a videographer, I fell in love with the idea of 8mm style video since so much of our wedding involves vintage elements. I reached out to a few videographers I found who did Super 8 and almost cried when I saw proposals over $10,000. A friend of Chris is actually a wedding videographer and film maker who we had talked about hiring but my heart was set on 8mm…thankfully Mark was able to come up with a post production edit of video that mimics 8mm without the cost of actual film (God bless these talented people who know how to do that!). We hired Mountain Fresh Films (Mark’s company) last month to do our video and I can’t wait! I love the idea of hiring friends for our special day to not only make everything that much more personal but to have someone who knows us bring our day to life as an incredible gift.

Other Updates

Beyond these we have also booked the Sunken Gardens at Santa Barbara City Hall for our ceremony. After a brief scare that I would have to find a new location to get ready we are confirmed for our original plan and now Chris and I need to decide where to spend our wedding night in Santa Barbara. Our save the dates 2.0 just went out and I am currently paralyzed trying to make a decision on bridesmaid dresses…do I do same style different colors? Same color different styles? All the same? All different? This decision has become even more difficult after a recent change to my wedding party…I am optimistic that once we do a full walk through with our Uber-talented wedding planner and florist I can make the right decision. Oh, and we decided on our rehearsal dinner venue!

Now, it’s time to go pack because 6 months ago I told Chris we should book a trip for this weekend and get away to celebrate us. We are going to one of our favorite places to relax, unwind, not check our email (hopefully) and enjoy time together. Bring on the bubbly!

XO, Niki