Getting engaged is such an exciting time. Telling all of your friends and family, getting to celebrate, taking cute pictures, everyone saying congratulations, but it all comes to a halt when the wedding planning comes into play. With so many decisions to make and so many things on your mind, some small details tend to fall through the cracks. Guest Blogger, Emma Miller, founder of Vow to Be Chic, provides some resources that you may find helpful in the planning process, from finding the perfect Chicago wedding venue to special gifts for your bridal party. 

Bridal couple at The Haight, a wedding venue near Chicago.

Photo by Mary Rose Photography

Groomsmen Gift Source

A huge part of having an elegant wedding is giving meaningful and personal wedding favors and that starts with your wedding party. Groomsmen Gift Source is a great resource for all of your groomsmen gifting needs. Whether you are looking for ideas or wanting to purchase something directly from the website, both are an option with Groomsmen Gift Source. They have so many great ideas that are sure to cover any type of guy you have in your groomsmen wedding party. Sometimes, the wedding party favors are forgotten about or aren’t given much thought and that should not be the case. It is important to make sure your wedding party knows how much they mean to you. 

Photo by Pexels

The Black Tux

 

If you are looking for a wedding resource mainly for the groom, then The Black Tux is a great option. It is focused on the groom and things that he can do to help plan the wedding or even things that involve him specifically when it comes to the wedding. Whether you have a groom that is super involved or not, this is something they can take advantage of. Maybe they have nerves and are not sure how to help, this is super useful to use as a guide for the wedding planning process. It walks you through everything that is involved with the wedding planning process as a whole. From before you start to plan, before the wedding, the wedding day, and then after the wedding. It is the ultimate groom’s guide to wedding planning.

Wedding Happy

Wedding Happy is a great resource to assist you with your wedding invitation list and your RSVP list. You can add your list onto the app in your account. You can then also edit and view it from anywhere you can log in. It’s a simpler and easier way to help you keep track of your list and if they RSVP’d or not. The invitation list and keeping track of everyone that was invited and if they RSVP’d or not and added a plus one can be super confusing and overwhelming. But using this resource helps ease that stress a little but providing a great application to keep everything in one place.

Photo by Erik Anderson Photography

Etsy

If you are looking for wedding favors, gift ideas, décor ideas, or anything personalized for your wedding, then Etsy is the place to go. It is filled with different artists and small business owners that are the best at making customized orders. There is such a large variety of different items for sale that you are sure to find anything you need. Most people that do sell on Etsy will also offer a deal if you purchase a larger quantity of items. For example, you could get something décor wise for your tables at the reception on Amazon, however you could get that same décor item on Etsy personalized and at a discount because you would need more than a typical amount. We cannot promise this to be true for all sellers but it is a plus to some.

Photo by Erik Anderson Photography

The Knot

The Knot is probably one of the most common wedding resources out there, however that is for a reason. They provide so many articles, resources, lists, even quizzes to help ensure you are planning your dream wedding. Even if you have a tight budget and don’t foresee being able to afford that super elegant wedding, The Knot offers resources that can help you plan a wedding on a tight budget. No matter the style or theme anything is possibly even on a tight budget. Or if you are unsure of what type of wedding theme you want, they provide a quiz where you can simply answer a few questions and it will pull your answers together and tell you what you are drawn to and give you a name for your style or theme. This is super helpful because if you do have a wedding planner or someone at the venue asks you what your theme is, you have a few words you can use to help describe to them what you want and ensure they understand so you can get exactly what you asked for.

Bride and groom kissing on the rooftop deck of The Haight, a Chicago suburbs wedding venue in Elgin IL.

Photo by McKaila Singer Photography

Pinterest

What? Pinterest? No way! Well, yes way! If you are not familiar with Pinterest, then you need to be. It is a great resource for literally anything you could think of. If you are looking for specific décor ideas, tight budget help, or any other wedding assistance, Pinterest is a great place to start. They essentially have a huge selection of resources for anything you may need. If you are trying to plan that tight budget but elegant wedding then do a quick Pinterest search, “elegant wedding on a tight budget,” and I can promise you hundreds of resources will come up. Ways to do elegant décor, DIY style, or even tips like cut down your guest list so you can afford a smaller, more elegant venue. Pinterest will be your best friend, we promise.

Photo by Colette Marie Photography

We hope you will use these resources to plan your dream, elegant wedding. It can be so stressful at times; this is why we hope the list will be useful to take some of the weight off of your shoulders. Wedding planning should not be stressful, that takes the fun and excitement away from the whole process.