Kana Brown 6/21/22 Kana Brown 6/21/22

3 Hard Truths of Wedding Planning

You hear of crazy things happening all the time when people are planning their nuptuials. Maybe nothing quite as crazy as the classic Monster- in- Law or The Hangover has happend to someone you know. Those could be a little far fetch, but there are a diffrent breed of disasters to be on the look out for.

Having been in the bridal industry for a decade, I thought I had seen and heard it all. It truly takes going through the process yourself to feel the weight of it all. There are such emotional waves that I did not expect planning the smallest wedding. We are hoping for 50 of the closest people in our lives to celebrate with us this September. I want to tell you some things I did not realize going into all of this that may help the blow a bit when it’s your turn. Granted I live in the midwest and in my 30’s so I’m pretty late to the game. Here are the things that I am experiencing currently during my wedding planning process.

You will really have to analazye your finaces.

Even with seeing and working with wedding vendors all the time, I had no idea that everything cost SO MUCH. You hear it and expect it for the more extravagant weddings, but everything that we are seeing online as picture perfect weddings are 20k + easily. SImple flowers, 2k. Photographer 3k. Food 3k + and on and on.

At the end of the day I just want to be married to the person I love, but there are certain things that we can’t even think about adding once we realized how much everything costs. We were lucky to recieve help (make sure there are no strings attached, a story for another time), but it is still a stressor to know that such a HUGE finacial investment, I just do not think it is talked about enough. A lot of people are covered entirely by their families and that is a blessing that not everyone has. We may be able to create a vibe for about a lttle under 8k. Only because we’ve kept it small, gotten creative and called in some favors. I would highly recommend just eloping and inviting people at a later date for a dinner they pay for. We are lucky to live in a time where weddings are becoming less and less traditional and more personal.

If your feeling the love and want to contribute to our weddings feel free to send a few dolla dolla bills to my Ko- Fi account!

People will judge your entire relationship based on if they are invited to your wedding.

Speaking of personal … We want to keep our wedding small. We want to celebrate with people who have a big part of shaping us and shaping our relationship. Needless to say, doing this means people we care about, but aren’t close to us won’t be at our wedding. This has stirred up a lot of hurt feelings. I hope that more people start to realize that a wedding is not the end all be all of a relationship with someone. You can totally still be a part of their life and not be invited to their wedding. As for you bride babe, you have to not put their emotional response on your plate- you are already dealing with enough. Just know that your truest relationships will not crumble over this one day.

It’s all really a big ol’ test for your relationship.

I love this man, I do. When planning anything I get very stressed, but somehow nothing has touched wedding planning stress. You have to really look at your relationship and the values you are wanting to create as you are solidifying your little family to be. I think ithis part is actually amazing, albeit difficult. We have learned a lot about how we handle stress, what feels like a celebration, childhood triggers…the list goes on.

Something that has been helpful for us finding the balance in it all is keeping date nights. It makes it a little less “plan-y” and “vibe-y”. Being in different atmospheres while creating the wedding also lets think in new ways. At the end of the day you have to remember you are a team that is CO CREATING something special.

Our photos were taken by Megan Vinson Photography

I would love to hear more wedding planning tips in the comments below! What did you love about your process?

Kana Brown 8/7/17 Kana Brown 8/7/17

Louisville Love | Meagan Jordan Photography

In the process of discovering my favorite Kentucky city I have truly found some gems in the people & places.

As many of you know I've spent a fair amount of time in Louisville this year. Some of you may have even thought I was leaving you high and dry and packing my bags for Kentucky. While I have had some great adventures and hope to continue to do so in Louisville, Evansville is still my home.

In the process of discovering my favorite city in Kentucky, I have truly found some gems. Some of my favorites are places like Forage, where I gave my first Kentucky skin care class and is my total Pintrest dream come true. I also frequent places like 21c, Mr. Lee's and Lola above Butchertown Grocery. The people are equally amazing. Like Brooke Meadows, who I met on a shoot for Kentucky Bride is my Kentucky twin beauty soul mate. Monroe is...just freaking beautiful man, (literally a model) who I met dining at 8up Eatery which has one of the sickest views of the city. The superstar photographer, Meagan Jordan, I actually met at one of my most memorable weddings to date, The Biggs, featured in Love IT! EVV. We've caught up for drinks, food and laughs almost every time I've been in her neck of the woods. This woman is the sweetest. I mean seriously even her voice is the sweetest thing you'll hear all day!

I was thrilled when she was available to snap some pics. A quick flip through her portfolio will show that she has a range of diverse people, which is SO IMPORTANT to me. I see such a lack of diversity in the creative field and I am thrilled to know that's of importance even to new people that I meet. We decided to get some headshots ( be on the look out for another post) for myself and Monroe's portfolios and then we had some fun. Meagan spent some time playing with light and a prism and also sharpened her already amazing skill of capturing couples.

So NOW for the reason this is on The Beauty Room blog is for my bride babes! I wanted to drop a few tips for your engagement session as that's exactly how our lovely couple shots came out.

TIPS FROM KANA

Coordinate...but wear your favorite things. I know most people go out and buy new attire for photo sessions, but I think there is something so much more fluid and relaxed in how you move your body in familiar clothes. Plus it will make the photos even more special. I wore my favorite yellow tassel earrings & my go- to off the shoulder shirt.
Spend some chill time beforehand. Couples can be sooo go go go all the time and never really get to sit down and enjoy each other. I got to spend some quality time exploring Evansville with Monroe a few days before this shoot. I think it really shows in the photos how comfortable we were with each other.
Try to just have an experience. It's hard to do with a camera in your face, but the right photographer will definitely make it feel like it's just you two...but with professional suggestions.

TIPS FROM MONROE

Music
Food
Comfortable Space

(Guys are simple)

I've worked with quite a few photographers and I must say studio work isn't knocked out of the park by everyone. Known for capturing candid + organic moments Meagan hit it out of the stratosphere. This is a great representation of the work she can do for you and your bae.

Now enjoy these lovely, romantic pictures. They totally take me down memory lane.