BridePOP Post #4: Making it Yours

** another post i'd just written for BridePOP went live this morning!! woohoo! and since the subject is something that i am REALLY passionate about when it comes to wedding planning (and from my perspective as a vendor, working with couples just as they are diving into things)... i wanted to share it all in its entirety here with you as well. enjoy! **

Everyone has their own opinion or advice on the best or most effective ways to plan your dream wedding. From your grandparents celebrating their 50th anniversary, to your best friend just married last week, everyone wants to give their two cents. These days, you can also easily find a lot of it on fantastic websites and blogs just like this one! And with the exploding DIY movement, many other resources have popped up, providing all kinds of incredible tips, tricks and ideas that can turn anyone into an aspiring Martha Stewart.

But one thing every bride-to-be must never lose sight of, is how to truly make your wedding your OWN. Trends aside, here are three things to ask yourself, to help point you in the right direction.

1. What inspires you? As you begin to make your own decisions in your planning process, dig into yourself, your relationship with your fiancee, your lives together and see what you find. None of that happened over night, or resulted from the latest, hottest fad of the hour. What is "it"? What drives you? What makes you who you are? Something makes you tick, and both of you tick together.

2. What is your story? Just like opinions and advice, everyone has one of these and they are all absolutely unique and amazing in their own way. You and your fiancee are coming from two different places, and are now about to make your own story as one. What was your life like before you met? What was it that brought you together? And how have things changed since? All stories worth telling, all utterly you.

3. Where are you going? The future always holds so much for everyone, regardless of how young or old we are. We all have our own goals, dreams and aspirations, which play a huge part in defining who we are as individuals. The same can be said for any committed relationship. Together, where do you want to be? What do you want for each other? How do you plan on getting there? You have your entire lives.. your future, ahead of you. Together. And this is the very start of all that amazingness to come.

A little soul searching does everyone a world of good every once in a while. And as a part of your wedding planning, it can provide a deeper, more meaningful direction than any trendy idea, or borrowed opinion ever could. Why not share all of it, and all of you, with your nearest and dearest for your big day?