Photo: Her World Brides, March 2016. Available at all major bookstores and local news stands.
What was the inspiration behind your beautiful blue, silver and white wedding?
As we were getting married on boxing day, we wanted a theme with a Christmas feel. Red and green would be too much, so we went with blue, silver and white. We liked how elegant the colours looked together and most importantly, the colour scheme wasn’t too feminine. Girly colours (like pink) wouldn’t sit well with Jon’s style at all. Our wedding stylist, INVITED also helped us to nail the look by putting together a moodboard.
How did you go about planning the wedding? Did you have help from a planner? If not, how did you manage your time, with a full-time job?
I did the planning on my own and it was pretty challenging! I spent many evenings after work co-ordinating and planning the day’s events. I think my experience from planning events for work helped me immensely. I made a list of everything that needed to be done and set timelines for them (such as 6-10months, 4-6 months, 2-4 months before wedding, etc.).
I think it also really helped that I did some prior research on Pinterest and wedding blogs before I started the actual planning, so I had a clear idea and vision of how I wanted the wedding to look. I could tell my vendors exactly what I wanted so there wasn’t any confusion. I could make decisions quickly and move on. That’s the best part of having a clear vision of the final look. My goal was to tick off items from the to-do list as quickly and as early as possible. I didn’t want to have too many things to do at the last minute.
Having an awesome wedding party also helped. My bridesmaids were all so helpful! Most of all, I think that I was lucky with the vendors that I worked with. They were all super responsible, gave great advice and made the planning a breeze for me.
Jeneen, in our previous interview, you mentioned you made most of the decisions when it came to planning the wedding. Were you satisfied overall, or were there some aspects you wish you had a little more help in? If so, what were they?
Yes! I was satisfied overall. Things pretty much went on as planned… although, I now wish that I picked another aisle runner that would’ve made a stronger visual impact for the dinner party. I was deciding between two options and I went with the one I picked in order to save some money.
Did the both of you have any particular aspects of the wedding that you insisted on? Were there any compromises made, and how did you two deal with them?
I think we made a good team when it came to the wedding. Jon knew that I’d be more particular with how the wedding turned out and looked, so he pretty much left everything to me. Of course, I made sure to spare a thought for him in the planning and go with a concept that he liked, or at least, didn’t hate. I put him in charge of the music – he planned the playlist and hired the band.
So I guess, we kinda split the wedding planning according to our strengths and we were very considerate about each other’s tastes. If Jon could have his way, we’d have walked in to heavy metal music, but he chose a nice, romantic tune by Ennio Morricone from one of his favourite films. Overall, it felt like we were more a team against the whims of our parents. We had to stand by our decisions and stand by our decisions, most of them, anyway.
What were your priorities and his priorities?
I’m very much a visual person, so my priority was for the wedding to look nice. The decor and everyone’s outfits had to be perfect.
His priority was more practical – that we didn’t exceed our budget! His priority was also for the guests to enjoy themselves.
No matter how well planned a wedding is something always goes wrong – is that true for your case? Any major fiascos and problem pre-wedding or on the day itself?
I’d like to think that I’m quite a ‘go with the flow’ kind of bride. I tried to plan as much as possible before the wedding and I told myself that I wouldn’t fuss over anything on the wedding day. If any hiccups were to happen, it’d make a good story to tell in the future anyway. Thankfully, no major hiccups occurred. Our wedding party managed everything really well and all my vendors were very trustworthy. The only hiccup I can think of is that the lady who was in-charge of opening the doors to the church came really, really late. She was almost an hour late – that caused a bit of a scramble for my wedding stylist to set up the church and for the choir to settle in.
What did you love, and hate, about the wedding prep?
Honestly, I hated almost everything about the wedding prep. Haha! It felt like so much work. I only loved co-designing my gown with my designer and shopping for my wedding shoes.
Complete the sentence! If only…
If only…the wedding day went on for longer! It was all over before I knew it. It felt like so much planning for such a short time.
What did you learn from this experience that you would share with other brides-to-be?
- Start the planning and get things done early so you won’t have to scramble at the last minute.
- Have a clear idea of what you want so it makes the planning and working with vendors a breeze
- Focus on the big items that matter (e.g. aisle decor and stage backdrop that will be the centre of everyone’s focus vs reception table decor for example)
- Pick your battles with your husband-to-be and parents. You can’t win them all.
Has your relationship changed after the wedding? If so, what’s the biggest difference?
I think we are both settling into our new roles as husband and wife. Somehow, it’s just different when it’s official – there’s no backing out. We know we are stuck with each other, so we have to solve problems together. This means that we talk through our differences more; there’s no sweeping of unhappiness under the carpet. Also, we try and do more things for each other. I know that Jon likes home-cooked food, so I’ve been learning how to cook and trying to do it more often.
Any lessons about marriage you’ve learnt so far?
Marriage is hard work! It takes a lot of compromising, communicating and choosing to love even on days when you feel like killing each other. It really is a commitment to be in on this together. The good thing is, you have each other to lean on at the end of the day and you know that someone is there for you, no matter what.
Jonathan and Jeneen’s wedding was first featured in Her World Brides, March 2016.