Rounding up all of your questions from my wedding in one place! It’s been really enjoyable and fulfilling to share my advice and perspectives from our special day with you all. Answering your questions and going through all of our photos and videos is like reliving the magic all over again.

♡ ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS ♡

Q: Can you share a vendor list?

A: We were SO happy with all of the vendors we chose! Can’t recommend them all enough.

Photo/video - @theauthenticstorytellers
Planning - @detailsdarling
Florals - @joyofbloomflorals
Lighting - @brillianteventlighting
Rentals - @adorefolklore @sigpartyrentals
Signage - @wildhouseink
Dessert @thebakedbear
Makeup/hair - @courtdappmakeup @danielleryanbeauty
Photobooth - @romaphotoboothsocal
Guestbook - @afterthetone.co
Dj - @deejayzephyr
Venue/ Catering - Andalusia Country Club

Q: What were 1-2 things that were totally worth the money?

A: We honestly woke up the next morning and said “holy shit that was incredible and every SINGLE dollar we spent was worth it.” Lol but if I had to narrow it down- hiring a wedding planner and the light tent was 100% worth the $$$.

Make a copy of the budget tracker I used here.

Q: Did you stay with your bridal party the weekend of your wedding?

A: Love my girlies but no wayyy. I needed my own space to recharge during all the chaos and socializing. I kicked Connor out of our room the night before the wedding though and had a sleepover with my sis- which was fun and special!

Q: What are some things you prioritized for your big day?

1. Putting my phone away the entire day. Didn’t look at it until 2pm the next day!

2. HAVING FUN! WE just wanted everyone to eat bomb food, drink, dance, and have the best time. Nothing too formal or stuffy. It was a proper Olandt rager.

3. Doing a first look + enjoying our cocktail hour (a lot of times the B&G miss bc of photos).

Q: Would you recommend a sweetheart table?

A: We didn’t do a sweetheart table because I knew I’d have FOMO lol so we had some of the bridal party sit with us then the rest of the bridal party at the tables on each side!

Q: Can you share details on the mini dress you wore?

A: I worked with @flawlessfitoc to create this dress out of my mom’s wedding gown from the 90s. I vlogged the whole process, watch below!

All my bridal looks are linked here!

WATCH HERE

Q: Dress details?!

A: @galialahav Gimaya gown. I felt like a princess!!! Side note- do NOT spend money on an expensive veil! A friend let me borrow hers and it literally looked exactly like the $850 one I got quoted for at Galia Lahav. If it wasn’t for her, I would have worn one from Etsy which you all recommended!

Q: What small detail are you glad you did?

A: Unplugged ceremony!

Q: Looking back, what is a moment from the day that makes you feel the most happy?

A: Our first dance!!!

Q: Any regrets?

A: I didn’t do the photo booth. :( I was so excited for it and don’t know why I didn’t remember to do it??? @romaphotoboothsocal was amazing though! Literally everyone (except me lol) used the photo booth.

Q: What was your photo schedule with the photographer if you didn’t miss the cocktail hour?

A: We did all photos before the ceremony except for extended family - we told them to stay immediately after the ceremony so we could quickly get photos (had a very specific shot list) then went to cocktail hour just a couple minutes late!

Q: Biggest recommendations or regrets?

A: Wedding hack- we got quoted $5 each to rent napkins… lol. Bought linen ones instead from World Market for cheaper!

Q: First dance song!!!

A: Next to me by Rufus Dul Sol! We had the song cut down so it was shorter.

Q: Can you share how you budgeted for each thing? (floral, venue, food, etc).

A: I’ll give you the percent of our budget we allocated:

Venue & food - 35%
Florals - 10%
Rentals/ decor - 25% (we had to rent every single thing so this was higher than we expected)
And the other 30% on photo/video, hair and makeup, planner, DJ, etc.

Q: What were your bridal gifts?

A: Dior lip oil, Birdy Grey sweat sets + robe, hand pressed cards made with bougainvillea which is a popular flower in La Quinta so it was symbolic.

Q: How to narrow down the guest list?

A: 1. Figure out how much it will be per person and it will make it REALLY easy to narrow it down lol. Especially when it comes to plus ones. It sounds harsh, but you know what I mean. 2. We would picture ourselves on our wedding night and think about how we would feel if that person WASN’T there - gave us good perspective.

Q: Thoughts on a Friday wedding?

A: We chose to have a Friday wedding since it was a destination for most of our guests and we wanted to be able to spend as much time with them as possible during the weekend. We really looked forward to hanging with everyone the day after our wedding so personally loved it, and would recommend!

Q: what did your diet look like leading up to the day?

A: I really didn’t change my diet much. I stopped drinking alcohol for about 2 months before the wedding, limited processed foods, and just tried not to overindulge in sweets. I focused on eating well balanced meals like I typically do! And lots of water.

Q: Best piece of advice for brides?

A: The day is about you and your partner, and that’s all that really matters - you deserve to be in a blissful little bubble enjoying every single moment. Don’t sweat the small stuff - put your time in when planning but when the week comes, enjoy the ride! At that point everything is out of your hands. At least that’s what I kept telling myself lol. You can’t control what happens but you can control how you react.

Lastly, stay true to yourself and stop getting stuck in a Pinterest or wedding Tok rabbit hole once you plan… the industry wants to make you feel like you always need to do more, spend more, or follow what’s “trending.” Stick to your gut and DO YOU!!!

You get to marry the love of your life surrounded by the people you love most. That’s the most important thing.