99.9 WFRE – Bridal Blog

Post Wedding Blues and To-Do’s…

Bridal

Hi Guys!!! It’s been almost 2 months since our wedding and time has flown by!!

Photo: Amanda Summers

Summer flies by every year anyway, but especially this year. So, I’ve heard of the “Post wedding blues,” but did you know it was actually a real thing?? Many girls, and sometimes even the guys, find themselves feeling down after the wedding. Of course, not because they tied the knot, but because all the planning and coordinating is over, friends and family have gone home and won’t be around as much, you’re no longer the center of attention and all of the excitement has faded away. I guess it’s a more intense version of the “Monday Blues” after the weekend is over.   Apparently, even your parents can feel the blues, too! Boredom, sadness, lethargy, loneliness and isolation are just a few of the signs that someone with post-wedding blues might have, according to The Knot.

Honestly, I don’t think I have them! Even immediately after the wedding, I was so excited to be done with the planning, because it took up so much of my time. There was some time where I did feel like I was left with “extra time” and that feeling that I should be doing something, but then I would just sit back and relax, knowing the wedding was done and everything was perfect! I think focusing on the honeymoon and getting right out of town after the wedding also helped steer me clear of the wedding blues. Then coming home and knowing that I needed to start prepping for my cousins wedding, also helped. I could tell my mom was feeling a little sad it was all over, that was until we got our pictures back and then it was fun re-living the day through them and looking at how beautiful everything was.

So, I think if you are down about your wedding being over— focusing on other upcoming events, or just on your new hubby and all the exciting things the future holds will help you get through!

As far as after the wedding!! These are a few important things that I’ve found are a MUST DO….

1. REVIEW your vendors. It helps them out so much to show how much you appreciated their business and the great job that they did with your wedding. (Obviously only if you think so).  Plus it’s an extra great way to say thank you, again!
2. Don’t put off your Thank You’s…I’ve researched and found that 3 months seems to be the ideal time to get cards sent to everyone at the wedding who came and showed their love and support for you on your big day.  Working on mine now….. (See! the wedding isn’t completely over….)
3. Change your name ASAP!– This one might be more personal choice… some of our wedding gift’s were checks and neither of us had any clue or thought about the fact that yes, we are Mr. and Mrs. now, but my last name wasn’t changed yet! So we couldn’t deposit any of them that used my husband and I’s first and “new” last name on them….because I didn’t officially have that last name yet. So, that was fun. It’s a time consuming process getting your name changed. So, the sooner you start, the better.
4. Order your photo book and prints to frame…because who doesn’t want to put their pictures all around the house as soon as possible?! 🙂
5. and…be ready to answer the question “When are the kids coming???” A LOT after you get married 😉

Two months into married life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!!

<3 Katie Ryan

The Most Perfect Day 🙂 Our Wedding

Bridal

Hi from the other side!! Well we’ve been Mr. and Mrs. for a little over two weeks now and have had plenty of time to rest, relax and reminisce on the amazing day that we had on June 17th. So this is going to be a lonnng one 🙂

I’m so happy to finally share details about our special day with you!!

As you know, we got married at St. Peters Catholic Church in Libertytown and had the reception in the backyard at my parents house, where I grew up. I wouldn’t change a thing about either. It was so so special to be married in the church in front of everyone we love and having our cocktail hour and reception at my parents couldn’t have been more beautiful.

It is a LOT of work though, if you plan to have a backyard reception. The night before, we held our rehearsal dinner on my parents back porch under twinkling lights with gorgeous flowers and one long table where we all sat together. After dinner, I was a little anxious, seeing the big tent in the yard and knowing that the next day it would be filled 185 guest! I spent the rest of the evening trying to set everything up to make sure everyone knew where things were supposed to go for the next day.

The next day, our wedding day, I woke up and felt so calm, I knew there was nothing that could be changed now and it was kind of nice knowing that all the hard work we put into preparing was finally here and we were going to see it come to life!

Then I looked outside, around 7 am, and saw how gloomy it was….. I know rain is lucky for weddings, butttttttt….I still didn’t want it. I was a little disappointed about that. But, we got up and ready and the girls started showing up so we could head to downtown Frederick for hair and make up. They were all wearing their cute pink rompers with their monograms on each and I wore mine- that was their bridesmaid gift along with a necklace and earrings. I definitely recommend rompers, if you’re looking for something different from robes, they were super easy and the girls loved them…and can wear them as a beach cover up for the summer!

We arrived at Unique Studio Hair Salon in downtown Frederick on Shab Row to get started and the ladies at Unique were ready for all 11 of us! Each of the girls got a glamorous “up-do” of curls swept over to the side and pinned. They all looked so effortlessly beautiful and the ladies at Unique were amazing to work with!! My hair…omg I LOVED IT!! It was curly and pinned back on one side with a sparkly clip that I got from TLC Bridal. We had so much fun that morning and brought breakfast, drinks and turned on a fun “wedding day” playlist.

Once a.m. rolled around we got started at Smooch! Studio for make-up, conveniently, pretty much right next door to Unique. So, we would swap girls back and forth between hair and make-up. It was so much fun and so easy sitting at Smooch with all the girls in their fun glam chairs and getting our make-up done together. We had a blast and the ladies at Smooch, gave my girls and I the most beautiful make-up. Even hours later, everyone still looked like they just got out of the make-up chair…nothing smuged, which was super important because we didn’t do many pictures until after the ceremony. My make-up was exactly how I pictured it to be…Ashley at Smooch, made me look gorgeous!

Once we were done with getting ready, we headed back to my parents house. Everything FLEW BY after that! Yes, it was still gloomy and I was still a little annoyed by that, but there was nothing I could do about it! The girls and I met my photographer, Amanda Summers and the videographer, Oak Valley Films, when we got there and took some super cute “before” pics all together outside. The it was church time!! AH!

We gathered everything up and got into the limo. We ended up being a little late to the church, but that was okay, the guys were already there and were hiding out back of the church and we snuck inside and went into the bridal room. The ceremony was amazing….and i’ll never forget the feeling of walking down the aisle with my dad and seeing Tim waiting for me ahead. It was perfect. I think he had a little tear in his eye when he saw me for the first time coming down the aisle 😉 After our first kiss as Mr. and Mrs. we walked down the aisle and it was like our prayers were answered! We opened the doors to head outside for some more pictures and I yelled “THE SUNNNNN!!!” YES! The sun came out and I was sooooooo excited! And then, it was HOT for the rest of the day, but I did not care 😉

Well….I take that back, I cared a little when we got into the limo with everyone and found out the AC wasn’t working, that was HOT! But hey, they say there’s always something that goes wrong on your wedding that, and if that was it, then oh well! Once we got back to the house it was picture time!! I was super excited, I’ve been stalking Amanda Summer’s wedding photo blog for months and couldn’t wait to get our pictures taken by her! and it was so much fun! Everyone in the bridal party waved at the guest at cocktail hour, grabbed a drink and a golf cart and we headed to get pictures done with a beautiful golf course background.

Once pictures were done, it was party time! We made it to the last few minutes of cocktail hour and our wedding planner, Jill, gathered all the guest for a HUGE group drone picture, which was really cool!!! We did our entrance after that, Tim and I walked into “Good Life” by T-Pain and Kanye West and I don’t think we stopped dancing after that! Our first dance was Ed Sheerhan, “Thinking Out Loud” and we laughed and cried as my Maid of Honors and Tim’s Best Men (his brothers) gave their toasts. The food was AMAZING! We had Fine Cuisine (Clarksburg) cater and they went above and beyond any catering company I have ever heard of…even coming to the house on Thursday to start setting up tables and chairs and preparing. Shout out to Mary-Beth for everything!

As I walked around and talked to people (as much as I could….) I just kept looking around at how beautiful everything was. I had an idea of what I wanted thing to look like, but it’s so hard to make it happen and put it into words. That was one of the biggest reasons why I wanted a wedding planner. Jill (Planning By Jill) was amazing and took my ideas and made it even more perfect that I could have imagined. She was great with moving people from the cocktail hour into the tent for dinner, and keeping everything in check and moving along all night!

My favorite part about the whole day, besides obviously marrying Tim, was that we danced all night with our friends and family and everyone had a total blast. Brian Mo Entertainment….you all know Brian Mo 😉 was our DJ for the night and between the cool lights, the shoe game, his announcing, and the MUSIC! No one wanted to leave or get off the dance floor all night until the end.

I wish I could relive the day over again because it was so perfect. Seriously the best day ever! We couldn’t have done any of it without our parents, siblings, family, bridal party, and friends by our sides the past year. It took a lot of people to make this day happen. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who played any part of our special day. We will never forget it!

For now, I will share some pictures, but more to come once we get our other’s back and the video, too!!

Check out our vendor list below and please message me on Facebook, add me, and let me know if you need any tips!!

Wedding dress: TLC Bridal Boutique Inc
Wedding planner: PBJ – Planning By Jill (we love you!! Thank you for making everything so beautiful and fun for us!)
Photography: Amanda Summers Photography
Make-up: Smooch! Studio
Hair: Unique Studio Hair Salon
Dj: Brian Mo Entertainment
Cocktail hour singer: Johnny D
Eyelashes: indellibelle
Jewelry: Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski Robin Bergantino Hayek
Catering:Fine Cuisine Cateringg (food was amazing and they were amazing to work with!)
Flowers:Forever Blossoms Floral Designs
Guys suits and tux:M. Stein & Company Tuxedos
Alterations: Joan Jenkins Seamstress in Frederick (she does magic)
Tent and set up:Grand Rental Events-Frederick & Odenton
Cake:Magnolia’s Cakes ‘n’ Treats (OMG YUM!)
Paving for tent:MGR Asphalt Servicing Group
Rehearsal dinner food:Mama Angela’s Pizzeria
Church ceremony:St. Peter the Apostle-Libertytown,MD
Venue: the Bassett resort ? Hope Valley Golf Course

One Month to Go!!! AH!

Bridal