They’ve been talking about marriage for a while. Savannah was sure that Jordan was going to propose when he went to Michigan for Thanksgiving. Well, Jordan wanted to surprise her and he wanted her family there so he knew he needed a new plan. Back in May, Jordan received his great-grandmother’s diamond ring as a gift from his aunt. She told him to use the diamond in a ring for Savannah. Such a generous gift! Jordan took that ring to the jewelers and chose a beautiful setting that he knew Savannah would love. The ring has been in his room since July!

Every fall Savannah and her family go to a fall festival at an apple orchard. Jordan decided he would surprise her there, at the end of the corn maze. He flew to Michigan on Friday and stayed at Savannah’s neighbor’s house. Saturday was the big day. Hysterically, Savannah had posted a picture on Snapchat of her, her brother, and his girlfriend in the backseat of the family car with the caption “Apple picking adventures with the cuties. #3rdwheeling”. I laughed so hard, she had no idea what was about to happen.

When they arrived at the end of the corn maze, Savannah looked ahead and saw Jordan standing there. She screamed and ran into his arms. She just kept saying, “You are the worst.” She was just totally surprised. After a little bit Jordan took a step back and started his speech. He talked about how they’ve known each other for 3 1/2 years. They traveled together as teammates with The 99 (as missionaries to the youth of America) for a 1 1/2 years. After Jordan left the team they stayed friends, texting a lot, then calling, then it grew into something more.For about a year and a half they have been in a long distance relationship, it isn’t always easy but it is worth it. Then he went down on one knee and asked her if she would marry him and she said “Yes!”.

It’s bittersweet to think that my “baby” is engaged. I am so excited for the adventure Jordan and Savannah are just beginning. The wedding will be next September in Michigan and then they will settle down here in Florida. We have an exciting year of wedding planning ahead and I am so glad Savannah and her mom have asked me to be a part of that process. I sent them a copy of the wedding planning notebook that I used to help me plan Aaron and Summer’s wedding 3 years ago. It was such a great resource then and I know it will be know as well.

The post They’re Engaged Jordan Pulled off the Surprise appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Planning the Wedding Rehearsal

• Check with the wedding party and key family members about work schedules on the day before the wedding. This will help in scheduling the rehearsal. Work these times around the times that the venue is available for the rehearsal.
• Send invitations to those you want/need at your rehearsal at least 4 weeks in advance,
• Hold the rehearsal in the ceremony space if at all possible. Sometimes this is not a possibility and if that is the case be prepared with photos and diagrams so that the wedding party understands where they will be.
• Have the rehearsal before the dinner. No one eats (or drinks) until the rehearsal is completed. This helps to guarantee attendance to the rehearsal.
• Have a coordinator who is in charge of the rehearsal, and the ceremony on the wedding day. Some churches supply this person as a part of the rental fee, often this is the pastor’s wife. It can also be a friend or family member who is not involved in the wedding party. Lastly, it could be the wedding coordinator who you hired to help you plan your wedding. It should never be a parent of the bride or groom or someone in the wedding party. Make sure the coordinator knows exactly what the bride, groom and officiant want/need for the ceremony. Meet with the couple and their families at least a week before the rehearsal to map out exactly what needs to happen when.

The Wedding Rehearsal

1. Start on time-Coordinator asks everyone to have a seat. Coordinator introduces themself and the officiant to the crowd.
2. Officiant prays over the rehearsal.
3. Coordinators speech. This sets the tone for the rehearsal. Remind everyone that they are there in love and support of the couple. This is not the time for petty arguments or comments about the way the ceremony is planned. The planning is done it is time to execute the plans that have been made. Remind them to pay attention and listen carefully so that extra run-throughs are not required.
4. Review how the rehearsal will run-out of order. Recessional, Processional, Ceremony.
5. Show the girls how to hold their flowers and remind everyone not to lock their knees.
6. Place the wedding party on stage, where they will be for the end of the ceremony. Discuss how they will process out, what their cues are etc. Rehearse the recessional at least 2 times with the music, starting with the officiant’s announcement of the couple.
7. Line everyone up wherever they will be starting from. Typical line is grandparents of the groom, grandparents of the bride, parents of the groom, mother of the bride, bridesmaids, maid of honor, ring bearer, flower girls, bride with her father. Play the music and rehearse the timing of sending people in 2-3 times as needed until everything times out properly.
8. Rehearse the ceremony up to where the father gives away the bride. This is where we did something different! We sent all of the guests, parents and other family members to the rehearsal dinner site so that only the bride, groom, wedding party, officiant, parents of the children in the wedding party and the coordinator were left. This way the unique parts of the ceremony were a delightful surprise to everyone on the wedding day.
9. Run through the rest of the ceremony 1-2 times.
10. Run through the recessional once more for good measure.
11. Everyone then heads to the rehearsal dinner.

Aaron and Summer’s wedding rehearsal lasted about 90 minutes. It went smoothly and Kim, our coordinator did a great job of keeping everything moving and answering questions along the way.

Have you been a part of a smooth or bumpy wedding rehearsal? Share your story in the comments.

The post 10 Steps to a Smooth Wedding Rehearsal appeared first on The Mom Maven.

If you remember they got married 2 days after Thanksgiving and that in itself could have added more stress into what can be a crazy week.

Aaron and Summer’s Wedding Week

Aaron had to work Monday and Tuesday and Summer had to work Monday-Wednesday, though she ended up only being needed in the morning on Wednesday-so the beginning of the week was a “normal” week with no additional wedding activities planned. We were blessed by the fact that we could get into the reception space at 9am on Wednesday morning and into the prep space at 1:30pm that same day. This is one time when having a holiday wedding helped us. The church we had the wedding at does not have Wednesday night activities on the day before Thanksgiving so families can be free to travel or start preparing food for Thanksgiving. Since they weren’t using the building we got to. Wednesday at 9am Ron, Aaron, Jordan and I arrived at the church and started the deconstruction phase-we had to stack all of the 120 chairs in the sanctuary, vacuum and rearrange the stage so that we could hang our backdrop and set the head table on the stage. Later Ron’s mom, my parents, Summer and Jessica arrived to help with the decorating of the sanctuary (where the reception was being held) and setting up of the prep/staging space in the fellowship hall and nursery. We had everything done by about 4pm.

We were able to relax and enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday just like we normally do. It was a wonderful pause in an exciting week. Since Friday was rehearsal day, I opted not to take part in our annual Black Friday traditions, much to my father’s dismay. Friday we arrived at the church early to set up enough of the outdoor ceremony space for the rehearsal. We had a great rehearsal, more on that in another post, and then an interesting rehearsal dinner, again-another post

Saturday I did not go to the church until 90 minutes before the ceremony and it was delightful! I got my nails and hair done and had lunch with friends. Ron was at the church all day. He was there to oversee all of the deliveries and be there while the girls got their hair and make-up done.

Great tips on How to Have a Stress Free Wedding week!
Click To Tweet

Why We Were Able to Have a Stress Free Wedding Week

In short, we planned it that way. From the beginning we planned to have all of the work and planning completed 2 weeks before the wedding date with out stress thanks to our wedding binder, we created a planning schedule that allowed us to be ready ahead of time. I have said it all along, planning is key. Our weekly wedding planning family meetings were the key to making sure everything got done well and on schedule. We also made sure to schedule in a buffer of time in case something didn’t go as planned.

IF for some reason we didn’t get the decorating done on Wednesday, we had plenty of time Friday to finish up. Thankfully we didn’t need that time so we were able to relax. The decorating went smoothly because it was planned. Everyone knew what they were in charge of getting done and they did their work and then helped the next person get their work done. All of the decorations and supplies were organized in bins so that items that went together were together. The grandmothers of the groom sat at a table and rolled the silverware in the napkins and attached the napkin rings. They also built the cupcake boxes. My mother ironed the cloth tablecloths that we decided to use for the head table while my father vacuumed. All this was happening while tables were being moved in and set up and everything else was being decorated. It worked as a well-oiled machine, for the most part, because we were organized.

This was a DIY wedding, we did most of the work ourselves. I made most of the decorations, my friend was the wedding coordinator for the rehearsal and the ceremony. Other friends worked the reception and my in-laws hosted the rehearsal dinner. We worked together, in community, and we pulled off a great event. You can do this too! Especially if you are doing the wedding yourself, please plan, plan, plan. If you have questions, please reach out to me-I’m happy to help. Don’t leave anything to the last minute, relax and enjoy your wedding.

The post How to Have a Stress Free Wedding Week appeared first on The Mom Maven.

The wedding is over, you are home from the honeymoon and settling into your home and life together. Now there are still a few more wedding related tasks to tackle before you can put the biggest event in your life behind you. One of those tasks is writing thank you notes. In our society today, handwriting thank you notes is a lost art. Growing up, I learned how to write a thank you note in penmanship class but that no longer happens in public school. In case you were not taught the art and etiquette of the thank you note fear not, I am here to help and to hopefully make this as painless as possible.

How to Write a Thank You Note

Remember: Thank You Cards should be sent within 3 months of receiving the gift, the sooner the better. They must be handwritten and personalized. They take time so if you have a spot in your home where you can leave your supplies set up so that you can work on them over a few days time, it will make this task easier. I suggest setting a goal of writing 10-15 notes a day. Writing thank you notes is a tedious process and if you write too many at one time they become a bit insincere. Break up the task into manageable bites and it will be much easier on you.

Who Gets Thank You Notes?

• Everyone who gave you a gift or cash for your engagement, bridal shower or wedding.
• Everyone in your wedding party.
• Anyone who hosted a shower or party for you.
• The wedding hosts (your parents, his parents etc).
• People who help the day of the wedding-guest book attendant, the cousin who handed out the programs, the friend who set up chairs etc.
• Any friends who jumped in and went over and above to help make your wedding day special.
• Any vendors whose services were above your expectations.

Gather your Supplies

• Your note cards-You can use formal thank you cards, photo cards or, if you’re crafty handmade cards.
• A good pen, preferably black
• Your gift list
• Your wedding invitation list-for addresses
• A wet sponge
• Stamps
• A return address stamper or labels

Writing your Thank You Notes

1. Dear (insert name here)
2. Thank you so much for the (specific name of gift) or for cash (generous gift)
3. Let them know how you will or have used their gift-We have/plan to: buy a ____ with it/display it in our___/cook a___with it. 
4. Thank them for sharing your wedding day with you and tell them how much you appreciate their friendship/love/support.
5. Close with another thank you and sign it from both you and the groom.
6. Address the envelope, put a stamp on it and seal it.
7. Mark it off of your gift list and move on to the next one.

While this is geared towards wedding Thank You Cards, the process and sentiment is the same for any kind of thank you. I hope you found this helpful and if you don’t need this information right now, you may want to pin it for future reference.

The post How to Write a Thank You Note appeared first on The Mom Maven.

It is hard for me to think that my son has already been married for a month! It feels weird not seeing him and Summer on a daily basis. I actually went almost 4 weeks without seeing or talking to Summer which was very odd for me. Aaron texts regularly and he stops by at least once a week. I’m glad he works on this side of town

#5 Our Wedding Binder

#4 How to Make Glitter Mason Jars

#3 They’re Engaged!

#2 David’s Bridal The Good, The Bad and The Disappointed

#1 Wedding Registry Do’s and Don’ts

The post that I thought would make this list and didn’t was The MomMaven’s Ultimate Printable Wedding Gift Registry Checklist.

I appreciate all of you following along on our  journey and i hope you found these posts helpful or that you pinned them for the future.

The post Top 5 Wedding Posts of 2014 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving week, the week of the wedding. Groomsman Jordan J, was supposed to come back to Florida from Texas, where he had moved the week before. Due to weather and holiday planes being over booked, Jordan spent a lot of time in the airport waiting, hoping to get on a flight. Friday at the rehearsal we had our friend David stand in for Jordan-still hoping he would arrive before the wedding. Later that evening, during the rehearsal dinner, we got word that there was no way Jordan was going to arrive for the wedding and he was leaving the airport. We sent my son Jordan to the house to get Jordan J.’s suit for the wedding because we had a few people in mind who it might fit. Jordan arrived back at the party with the suit and we had David try it on first…it fit! David was now in the wedding instead of just a guest.

To us, both parts of this story show us how God is in the details. We didn’t have time or money to order another dress but the extra one fit. With 18 hours until the wedding we found a replacement groomsman who fit the suit and had already rehearsed his part. God is good, all the time!

The post If the Clothes Fit…A Wedding Story #schultzwed14 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Wedding table-some of the decorations

The wedding cake

Before the cake was cut, 60 additional white frosted cupcakes were added to the table.

photo courtesy of @goodmorningbill

I LOVE this picture taken by our friend and Aaron’s co-worker, Bill Martin.

Jordan toasting his big brother and his new sister-in-law

First dance

Cutting the Cake

The bride and groom were very nice to each other while cutting the cake…this time. They practiced with the groom’s cake at the rehearsal dinner and well, let’s just say Summer had to wash her hair in the bathroom during the event because she had a lot of blue frosting in it!

I hope you enjoyed this peek into the wedding reception. Next week I’ll share a few of the stories from the wedding weekend.

The post Wedding Photos-Reception #schultzwed14 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

The Bride and her father walking down the aisle

Summer came down the aisle to the theme song from “We Bought a Zoo”

Aaron waiting for his bride

The Kiss

Sand Ceremony

Since the Sand Ceremony was new to many of our guests, it might also be new to you. Here is what was read during this part of the ceremony:

Now we shall celebrate Groom and Bride’s union as it is symbolized through the pouring of two individual containers of sand. One represents Groom (he pours a portion of her sand in vase) and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be.

The other represents Bride (she pours a portion of her sand on top Groom’s sand) and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be.

As the two vials of sand are poured into the third keepsake vase, (both Groom & Bride together pour their remaining sand in the central vase) the individual containers of sand will no longer exist, as they are now joined together as one. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual vases, so will the love and bond between the two of you render you inseparable.

Aaron and Summer Schultz

The Wedding Party

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

The post Wedding Photos-Ceremony #schultzwed14 appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Why use a wedding hashtag?

Hashtags are searchable on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram so anyone who posts a picture or comment using your hashtag can be found and collected. By using a wedding hashtag, guests can share their view of the ceremony and reception and often, they will focus on things your wedding photographer didn’t.

Choosing a hashtag Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Do make it memorable. If you want your guests to use it, your hashtag needs to make sense so guests can remember it.
• Do keep it short, 15 characters or less if possible.
• Do search the hashtag before you start advertising it. You don’t want to use a hashtag that has already been used. One hashtag we came up with actually led to gay porn! Not what you want your friends and family viewing.

Don’ts

• Don’t use special characters. Keep your hashtag alphanumeric.
• Don’t use all initials, your guests won’t know what it stands for and it will be hard to remember.
• Don’t use more than one hashtag. Keep it the same for bridal showers, bachelor parties, ceremony and reception.

Advertising your Hashtag

If your guests don’t know what the hashtag is, they won’t know to use it.

• Signs-Create a cute sign for the hashtag and use it at the entrance to the ceremony and later at the reception.
• Programs-Make sure your hashtag is listed on the program.
• DJ-Have the DJ announce the hashtag at the beginning of the reception.
• I Spy-If you are having I Spy games as favors make sure the hashtag is printed on the game cards.

If you want to follow along on Saturday, November 29, 2014, our hashtag is #schultzwed14 .What are your thoughts on using wedding hashtags? Leave me a comment and let me know.

The post Tips for Wedding Hashtags appeared first on The Mom Maven.

1. Reception Layout

According to some event planners before you even finalize your guest list, it is best to decide on your reception venue. If you have decided on a banquet room, for example, you should plan the room layout next. This will give you the numbers you need to know a) how many tables will I have and b) how many people can I seat comfortably. Armed with this information you can pare down your guest list to only the amount of people you know you can seat.

2. Start Early

Even though you can’t finalize your seating plan until after the RSVPs have rolled in, I find it much less stressful to start with a masterplan, knowing it will be edited while you go along.

3. Get Input

Ask you parents, the groom and his parents if there are any people who definitely shouldn’t be seated at the same table.

4. Where to start?

Start with the families first. Are all the parents going to sit together? Are you having a head table or a sweetheart table? Where is the bridal party sitting if you don’t have a head table? Once those questions are handled move on to other family and friend groups

5. Singles?

Where to seat your college roommate who knows no one at the reception except for you is always a tricky situation. If you have several single friends, whether they know each other or not a singles table can be a good idea. It is also fine to use single guests to fill up tables with one or two empty seats. Take into consideration who they will be sitting with and try to make the best matches as possible but don’t stress over it.

THE Tool to Help you Manage your Guest List & Seating Chart

If you search Pinterest for tools to help you create your seating chart you will find ideas spanning from index cards and sticky notes, to notebooks and spreadsheets. I am going to introduce you to my favorite, easy to use, FREE online tool…AllSeated.com. I discovered All Seated while doing some internet searches right after Aaron and Summer got engaged and it has been the best tool I have used in planning this wedding, and I’m not even using all of the features.

AllSeated can manage your guest list, RSVPs, meal choices, floor plan and seating plan all in one free convenient website. I love that with AllSeated you can design a custom room layout. You put in the room dimensions, table sizes etc so that your floor plan truly matches your room.

Once you have uploaded or created your guest list and created your floor plan you can use the simple drag-and-drop interface to seat your guests at their tables. Need to make a change? Double click on the table and move or remove the individual, couple or family. As our RSVPs have rolled in, I have removed people who will not be able to attend and I have moved people around and even added people as the bride replaces those who are unable to attend. Thankfully I can click on the pie chart looking tool at the top of the page and I get a colored floor plan. Red tables mean too many people are seated at them, Yellow means they are full and green means there is room for more-how easy is that?

The only, minor downside I have found to AllSeated is that it doesn’t allow you to add a seat to the end of the tables. This is why some of my tables appear to have too many seats on one side, that person will be sitting on the end.

I hope you find these wedding seating chart tips helpful!

The post Creating Your Wedding Seating Chart in 5 Easy Steps appeared first on The Mom Maven.