This month was pretty light on planning since a) I have most of the big stuff done and b) we went to the Keys mid-June for a monthlong vacation. Before we left, here is the wedding planning I got done with 7 months to go before the wedding!

If you haven’t already, check out my other posts in this series (Wedding Pre-Planning, 9 Months ’til the Wedding, and 8 Months ’til the Wedding) to see all I have done so far.

Shop for Mom’s dress

This was by far one of my favorite parts of wedding planning so far! If you know Pam Hyatt, you know she is not someone who dresses up often, especially in a floor length gown. It was so fun to get to have our roles reversed so I could help her find her dream dress! I kept reminding Mom that after her wedding day, this is the day she is supposed to look extra special – as the Mother of the Bride.

We planned to look at the mall first, figuring Macy’s and Dillard’s would have what we were looking for. However, the mall didn’t open until later than we set out to go shopping so we decided to kill time by looking at a nearby bridal boutique first. We googled what was close and The Perfect Dress of Sarasota came up. We booked their first appointment that day and headed right there. We had the best experience at The Perfect Dress! They had a huge selection and it wasn’t too matronly looking either. My mom loved multiple dresses she tried on and found a dress more beautiful than we ever could have imagined. I can’t wait until you all get to see it at the wedding!

Order bridesmaid dresses

I had my bridesmaids use Azazie to find their bridesmaid dresses. The prices are really, really good with most dresses priced under $110. I picked the color I liked so they just had to choose the filter settings for that color, chiffon fabric, and floor length. With those settings, they had tons of beautiful dresses to choose from. I wanted each girl to pick something that she would feel comfortable in and that reflected her personality. I requested that each of them send me their 2 favorite dresses so I could make sure they all worked well together. Not only did none of my 6 bridesmaids send me any 2 dresses that were the same as someone else, but they all ended up able to get their first choice! I love how individualized it will be, while still signifying that those 6 girls are special and important to me on my wedding day! They’re going to look so beautiful!

Get my ring resized

Luckily when Jared bought my ring, it fit almost perfectly. This meant I could wear it for a while without having to get it sized right away for fear of it falling off (or not fitting on my finger at all). It was still a liiiittle loose though so I got it sized down half a size for the perfect fit. When I went to Kay Jewelers to do so, I also ordered the coordinating wedding band. I decided to get it resized when I was going to the Keys for a month on vacation. I knew I wouldn’t be wearing my ring a lot since I’d be in the water a majority of my time in the Keys so that was a perfect opportunity. When I told them I needed my ring resized they said it would take about 4 weeks with everything going on right now, so it was perfect timing!

Order invitations

I really, really struggled to find formal wedding invitations that I liked. All of them were either too plain, too flowery, or just too much. I wanted something classic, with a little design that wasn’t over the top. I ended up finding the perfect match on Minted, the same website I ordered my save the dates from. Everything I’ve seen says to order invites 4-6 months in advance and since I’m an over-planner, I ordered them just before we hit the 6 month mark. With the invitations, I also ordered an “additional information” card. This tells guests about the hotel block we reserved, attire for the wedding, and our wedding website address.

One cool part of ordering the invitations was Minted offered to print the envelopes for us for free! This is such a time saver because I printed my own envelopes for our save the dates.

WEDDING HACK: We’re doing RSVPs on our wedding website, but I know some people won’t even look at the website. However, to cut down on costs of having an RSVP card and envelope in every invitation, I’m waiting to order RSVP cards until just before I send invitations out 2 months prior to the wedding. My hope is that a majority of people will have already RSVP’d on the website by that point so I only have to order enough physical RSVP cards for those who have yet to RSVP. So, save us some money and RSVP on the website please and thank you! We’ve already started getting some RSVPs back and it’s been one of the most exciting parts of this month! It’s never too early to head over to our website www.zola.com/weddings/sammyandjared and RSVP!