Our Wedding: How Far in Advance to Book your Church or Venue

Hello Everyone and I hope you’re well!

This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a long time as this is a question I get asked quite often. How far in advance did we book our wedding?

The answer is 13 months and I’ll tell you how we got to that time frame.

I’ve always known I wanted to have at least a year to plan and organize our wedding. Some of our married friends had told us they’d managed to organize their whole wedding in 2-3 months but I knew that would not work for me and my anxiety. Also, I wanted to plan everything in detail and make it special day.

We got engaged on 23.03.2018 and decided we’d like to have the wedding a year from that date, as it is also our anniversary (23.03.2013). We had no doubts about the church we wanted as it holds special meaning for us (I’ll tell you all about it later) so we immediately looked into booking it. Being it a national monument, we realized it wasn’t going to be that easy. It happens that they have this rule where they only start booking weddings for the following year in September of the current year, meaning we’d have to wait until September to book our March wedding. That would give us a 6-month planning window but we really wanted the date and the church so we decided we would have to do it.

Fast forward to September, the day had finally arrived. They were taking bookings for 2019. We decided to go have breakfast and then go book our wedding. It was during said breakfast that we chickened out and decided 6 months might not be enough to plan a whole wedding for 100+ people. We ended up randomly deciding on a Fall wedding, in my favorite month, October. And that is how we ended up with 05.10.2019 and 13 months to comfortably plan our dream wedding.

Funny thing is, we pretty much ignored wedding planning until January which is when we decided that maybe we should start looking for a reception venue. Always the procrastinator. We did end up planning the whole thing in 8 months. We were actually very good in taking care of the bigger things as soon as possible and leaving only small details to be dealt with later. I distinctly remember answering many wedding planning related questions with “everything is mostly done, we only have a few small things left to do”. If I remember correctly, by the end of February we had church, reception venue, photographers, hairdresser, makeup artist and my dress picked out.

What no one told us and I want to make sure to share is how many little things are left to be done the week before. Granted, this could have been our fault. We left a few things to be done 3 days before the wedding because we both took those 3 days as vacation days and my maid of honor and his best man would be staying over to help us. We could have printed and cut out the menus a few weeks before, I’m sure.

Knowing myself, 6 months wouldn’t have been enough. My nerves would not handle it very well and it would be too rushed as the 6 months before the wedding absolutely flew by. Also, what if something went wrong? No, I definitely needed to have at least a year.

So yeah, if you’re planning a wedding, this is my advice. One whole year.

I’m happy to answer any questions you might have on this topic.

Your opinion and experience are also welcome.

Much love,

Chey

 

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If We Were Having Coffee – Part II

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that my hair is falling like crazy. I mean, I must have lost about 50% of my hair in the past year. I had some blood work done and it turns out I have an iron deficiency, meaning I’m close to being anemic. My doctor thought that might be the cause and that an iron supplement would stop my hair loss. Nope. Keeps falling. I have a dermatology appointment booked for this week and hopefully they’ll figure it out. Should I have gone about 6 months ago? Yes, but I procrastinate.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you I’m sort of suffering from adult acne. I never had any pimples as a teenager but I’ve been getting them for the past couple of months, mostly on my forehead. It’s not bad, just a few here and there (except for that one time a couple of months ago when it looked like I was having an allergic reaction which coincided with my first makeup trial for my wedding) but it bothers me that my skin is changing right now, at 27.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that my best friend and maid of honor (sort of, that’s not exactly what we call it here, it’s like you have a pair of godparents for the bride and another for the groom. She’s my “bridal godmother”) is coming here to visit in June (she lives in Vienna and I never get to see her) and I can’t wait. I’m so excited and wish June would just hurry up and get here. She’s one of my absolute favorite people in the whole world and I miss her so much.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you Rui and I are attending a wedding in May and are very exciting. We’ll be among his friends from high school whom we happen to be very close with right now (life is very funny because we all ended up living in the same city, which is about 300 km away from where they all went to high school) so it will be so much fun. I should say they’re my friends too, otherwise they get mad. It’s so nice that we’ll share the year we got married with that couple.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that it’s less than 6 months until our wedding. October 5th. We’re very excited. Everyone around us is very excited and looking forward to it. I’m so glad we decided to have a “big” wedding. I thought I’d be fine with a very small civil ceremony but I think I’d regret not doing something more traditional.

If we were having coffee…

I’d ask you if you’re married and then I’d ask about your wedding day and hopefully get some wedding advice 🙂

Love,

Chey

If We Were Having Coffee – Part I

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that I wear glasses now. Not always, but I need them to watch TV, go to the movies, drive (I don’t drive but if I did), etc. I’m short sighted and it’s not that bad but the glasses make a huge difference. First couple of times I wore them I keep taking them off and putting them on to see the difference. Literally. I think I began to see there was an issue, again literally, about 6 months ago. I could have been before that. I was at the movies and kept asking Rui if the screen was blurry or unfocused. It looked fine to him. Then it started to get worse while watching a movie or a TV show at home. Everything was blurry, even faces. And God help me if any letters or signs came on the screen. Then I was at work and it was hard to focus someone’s face at a distance. I could see them but their face was a blur. Same for street signs. I could go on. A couple of weeks ago I finally got tested and they confirmed I needed glasses. What a HUGE difference it makes. Do I think I look good wearing glasses? I mean, I don’t know yet. It’s weird. They keep getting dirty and I’m kind of obsessed with them being spotless. Rui thinks I’m crazy and that I’m going to end up scratching them from cleaning them too much.

Yes, I’m wearing pajamas. Don’t judge

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that I quit sugar. I won’t eat anything with added sugar or add sugar to my coffee or tea. I do eat sweeteners because I’m not that good. I have a major sweet tooth. I’ve had a slip up or two but one of them was accidental. I had no idea my stevia had added sugar. WTF? It’s very hard to be sugar free, honestly. Not in the sense that I’m constantly craving it because it has been easier than I thought but it’s definitely harder to find food you can eat. Your options get pretty limited. EVERYTHING has sugar. Why does BREAD need sugar? We are lucky that our bread, Portuguese bread, is not that sweet so we can find a few varieties with no sugar added but in general, most bread contains sugar. I’ve been getting creative and trying to come up with sweets and desserts with no sugar, using vanilla extract, applesauce, ripe bananas, coconut milk and cinnamon to add flavor. Sometimes I do use some sweetener as a substitute for sugar because again, most recipes ask for sugar. I’ve actually been trying to cook a lot more lately. Would you like a list of recipes? Some of them I find online and adapt, others I kind of make up myself. I’ve discovered this very easy 2 ingredient pizza dough: Flour and plain Greek yogurt. The pizza (I made the sauce too) turned out pretty yummy.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that I began having my eyebrows threaded and I’m never going back! It’s the perfect method for me. It’s relatively painless (definitely less painful than wax or tweezers), natural and they look so perfect and well defined. The lady I go to is awesome! She has being doing this for 10 years and she only charges 8€. I had never tried it before because I thought it would be too expensive but I’m so glad I did.

Awkward photo so I can show you my eyebrows…

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you I’ve been getting gel nails and it’s great. I bite my nails to the bone and they look so miserable all the time. Even when I paint them they still end up in my mouth. It’s a horrible habit and this seems to be the perfect solution for me. They last 3-4 weeks, they’re not terribly expensive and my hands look so much better. I instantly feel like a lady and more put together. I feel way more confident if my nails are done. It’s the third time I’ve got them done and they look more natural each time because my nails can grow freely since I’m not munching on them.

First time – I may or may not be sitting on the toilet here.

Second time – Looks kind of black but it is dark blue

Now – That’s my driver’s hand. I’m marrying him.

Now – The red is slightly sparkly but my shitty iPhone SE didn’t pick that up

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that we got our wedding bands last week. I absolutely love them!! I can’t wait to marry the love of my life so we can wear them together, even tough Rui has this phobia of getting a ring stuck on his finger and having to get his whole arm amputated. Or both arms. I’m serious, the guy can’t even try on a ring without asking “what if it doesn’t come off????” Now he’s gonna kill me because I’m sharing too much. Or maybe he won’t because if he tries I’ll put a very tight ring on each one of his fingers and watch him cry and call emergency services. Phobias are weird, aren’t they? I’m always afraid I’m gonna fall in the shower and die. I’m not 80 years old, but still. Don’t like to shower when I’m home alone.

I won’t show you our wedding rings yet so here, take a photo of our pupper begging for the hamburgers I was making for dinner.

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you that between November 27th and today, I’ve read 41 books. I’m currently reading book 42 and 43 (yes, at the same time). I’m so in love with reading right now. My goal for 2019 is 100 books and I’ve only read 24 so far. Better hurry. Do you follow me on Goodreads? https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/25856029-cheila-cruz 

A few favorites from the past couple of weeks:

If we were having coffee…

I’d tell you about the movies I’ve watched lately and ask if  you’d seen any of them. If you’d like to check how I rated them you can follow me on Letterboxd: Chey23

Finally,

If we were having coffee…

I’d ask you to tell me all about you. What’s happening, what you’ve been doing, how’s life, what’s making you happy or sad. I’d ask all the things. I’d love it if you’d share what you’ve been up to in the comments.

This post is now longer than I intended. Anyways, if you do get to finish it, thank you for coming by and putting up with my randomness.

Love,

Chey

***All book and movie covers were stolen from google images***

***Spelling mistakes may be present because I don’t have glasses for my brain***

 

The longest Time

It has been 84 years…

Joking, but almost.

My last blog post was almost 4 months ago, which is insane.

I’ve even made my blog private for a while for reasons I won’t go over now but it’s back to being public.

I miss blogging and I miss you all.

This is just a general checking in post to let you know that I’m alive and well and that I miss you all.

I’ve changed jobs again, but it’s all good. I work for a startup now.

Our wedding is in 7 months away (October 5) and pretty much planned. I even have a dress.

I deleted all my social media 4 months ago and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

On Deleting Social Media

I’ve read about 30 books in the meantime, which is more than I read in the past 2 years combined. Some of my favorites include:

Paper Wife

The Little Orphan Girl

The Lost Letter

All She Left Behind

My Heart Remembers

Yellow Crocus

Mustard Seed

Say Goodbye for Now

Waiting for Summer’s Return

The Widow of Larkspur Inn

The Wedding Dress

Some of them have been really cheesy regency novels. Would you like a full list and reviews? That could be fun.

And that is it for my little update.

Hope to talk to you all soon.

Love, Chey.

 

 

 

 

 

…And we’re getting married! A thousand ring pictures in just a few days ❤️

Now is the time I very excitedly announce I said yes so…

I said yes!

I feel kind of silly because I had said yes a long time ago and we’ve been technically married (civil union – legally recognized as a marriage in terms of rights) for a few years but I guess we’re having a big wedding and I get to be a bride and say yes officially and have a ring.

I’ve honestly never been happier because I absolutely love the ring. The guy, I don’t care about him as much but, I mean, who likes their husband? 😂

Joking. You know I love him with all my heart and have committed to spend my life with him a long time ago.

Now, I must show off…