ONE MONTH UNTIL THE WEDDING!! How is that even real?! This past month was full of fun wedding planning that got derailed a bit by 2 positive COVID cases in our household. That’s right – Jared and I both tested positive the week before Thanksgiving. While this made me have to cancel some important meetings (touring the venue again with the wedding planner and meeting with the photographer), it also gave me lots of free time to get other wedding items checked off my to-do list. So here’s what I’ve been up to the last month!

Bridal Shower

My favorite part of our engagement so far! I had the absolute best bridal shower brunch that was made so special by so many people. We planned to have the bridal shower in my mom’s backyard. With a hurricane approaching, we weren’t sure if that was going to be possible. We rented a big canopy tent, tables, and chairs, and had such a nice setup. We were hoping it wouldn’t start pouring on us! While it was extremely windy, it only sprinkled for a few seconds and the canopy kept us dry. We were somewhat grateful for the wind because it wasn’t too hot out!

The night before the bridal shower I went over my mom’s house to set up as much as we could. When I got there, she asked me to go upstairs and grab some of the decorations. When I got up there, I heard, “SURPRISE!” Two of my aunts and two of my cousins form New Jersey had come down to surprise me for the bridal shower! Of course I immediately started crying. I couldn’t believe they would fly down just for me! It was the best surprise and they were such a big help getting the food ready Friday night. My aunt Joni made cookies for the bridal shower and they were the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen! They were such a huge hit.

We played a fun Jeopardy game, a 20 questions game where Ashlynn asked Jared questions beforehand and I had to guess his answers, and a game of Bingo while I opened presents. I was surrounded by so many people who love and support me from so many different aspects of my life. In attendance were band moms, pageant friends, Hyatt Survey family, family from New Jersey and Florida, neighborhood friends, and so many more.

I have to give a MASSIVE shout out to my mom and Ashlynn (one of my maids of honor). They put in so much work to make sure my bridal shower was everything I wanted and more. They were up all night Friday and all morning Saturday getting everything all set and making it so beautiful. I could not have asked for more.

Bridal Shower Thank You Notes

Being quarantined gave me tons of time to get my thank you cards written out and sent from the bridal shower. I received so many kind, thoughtful, and generous gifts from the bridal shower – almost too many to count! I was definitely showered with love! I’m still receiving gifts to the house and writing thank you notes as I receive them, but I’m grateful to have gotten most of them sent out not too long after the shower.

Send Invitations

I finally got to send out our wedding invitations. I’ve already gotten tons of RSVPs back and I look forward to getting the rest! Please even if you can’t come, send back an RSVP. You can also always RSVP on the wedding website zola.com/wedding/sammyandjared. If you’re coming from out of town, we are hosting a welcome party on New Year’s Eve and the RSVP for that is on the website as well so please make sure you fill that out!

Apply For Marriage License

Since we’re quarantined for 2 weeks, we haven’t been able to go apply for our marriage license in person yet, but I did get things moving by filling out some of the info online. This way it will expedite the process in person.

Design Wedding Program

I started a rough draft of the wedding program a few months ago, but there have been so many changes since then. I created a more finalized version this month, but I am going to wait to get it printed because with how things are going – you never know what other changes might occur.

Order Guest Book

We are having a photo booth at our wedding that will serve as a fun activity, the guest book, and the wedding favors. After guests get their pictures taken, they will keep one strip and put the other in the guest book. We will have markers around the book for guests to sign their well wishes. I got the book off Amazon and it should be delivered any day. I like that it has slots for the photos so we don’t have to worry about taping or gluing them in.

Book Wedding Weekend Resort

Since we aren’t going on our honeymoon until July (hopefully) we still wanted to have some sort of “getaway” after the wedding instead of just going home after. We booked two nights at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota. It has private beach access and a spa. We’re looking forward to enjoying a relaxing few days to start off our marriage.

Make Custom Denim Jacket

All over Pinterest I’ve seen brides with custom denim jackets that have their new last name on the back. I am a huge fan of denim jackets and Jared is very vocally against them. Because of that, I knew I had to make one for myself for the wedding! You can check out the TikTok video I made of my process making the jacket here! I’m so happy with the way it turned out. I’m planning on bringing it to the Bachelorette weekend too in case it’s chilly.

Make Bachelorette shirts

For the bachelorette weekend, we’re going drinking around the world at Epcot at Disney! I made us all matching shirts to be festive and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out! I’m keeping them a secret for now, but I promise you’ll see them in next month’s post!

Florist Consultation

I’m doing the bare minimum when it comes to flowers for the wedding. It’s just not really my thing. So, Mom and I thought we could just do the bouquets ourselves and call it a day. That is, until we attempted to make a bouquet. At the rate we were going, it was going to cost more money (and take way more time) for us to make terrible-looking bouquets. We decided it would be easiest to just get them done by a florist. I asked for inspiration on the wedding Facebook group I’m in for white bouquets with lots of greenery and the ladies on there did not disappoint!

I brought my inspiration pictures to Bradenton Flower Shop and had a consultation. The florist said it was the quickest consultation she’s ever done because I knew what I wanted and I’m an easy bride. Bet you never thought someone would say that, huh?! We’re only doing bouquets, corsages for the moms and grandmas, and a boutonnière for my dad. No aisle decor, no floral arch, no groomsmen boutonnières. I’m keeping everything as simple as possible and I can’t want to see how it turns out!

Get COVID Before the Wedding So You’re Immune

Well we didn’t anticipate checking this one off the list, but we’re so grateful for the timing if it had to happen. Wednesday the week before Thanksgiving week, Jared woke up with a fever and a cough. We both called in to work and went to the instant testing center in Sarasota. Jared tested positive, while I tested negative. However, the next day I started feeling sick as well. I got tested myself and tested positive. Fortunately it’s just been like having a cold or the flu for both of us – Jared worse than me. Fortunately, my school had the whole week of Thanksgiving off so that’s time I’m not missing in the classroom with my students. The one saving grace in all of this is that we’ll be immune for the next 3 months or so – so we’re all good for the wedding! If anything, Jared and I will both be there!