100 Days To Miller!

MARIKAH + DURAN #TheMillerLove

Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday. Big life update: I AM GETTING MARRIED! I know, take a breath, a couple more breaths, inhale, exhale, now let’s get this post going!

My love and I are tying the knot in 100 days, so I thought it’d be cool to start blogging about it until the big day. Are y’all here for this? Let me know in the comments if I should keep doing it! 

[Special thanks to the amazing Hakeem M. for the photographs. ]

100 DAYS TO MRS.!

Disclaimer: I’m keeping it 100% real with yall this whole post! It is super exciting. I know many of you may have questions, but before you bombard me with them, take another breath and rethink. My groom-to-be aka my personal photographer for the majority of my blog photography aka my best friend (Duran) and I have BEEN planning our wedding and it has been a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings! Let me tell you right now, it has gotten 10,000x more REAL now that it is 100 days away!  Every day has been me doing more and more ‘wedding involved things’. Yes it has consumed all my time now!

Surprises are fun!

We do not like to be predictable, nor do we like the “traditional” way of doing things ever. Our whole relationship has been literally us being “us” the only way we know how. We did not have a whole proposal for our engagement. We decided that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and chose a day that was suitable for us. That includes saving the rings until the wedding day. We also knew that we wanted something intimate and meaningful with our closest friends and family there. We are literally an imperfectly perfect pair and I love it! That is our story.

Why we decided to have a wedding?

I know a lot of people who are anti-marriage/weddings and I understand it is not for everyone, but for me personally, it has been something I have always seen myself doing with the person God sent into my life. It’s so crazy that I remember this, but when Duran and I started dating back in 2014, throughout those months leading to our one year anniversary he told me that he was dating with the intentions of getting married. That was his end goal and I always admired that. As scary as it is to think about living the rest of your life out with another person, it is that same feeling I get of excitement, comfort, and amazement knowing that it will be with him. 

The Planning Process

The process of planning a wedding without an official wedding planner/coordinator has been stressful, yet rewarding. Here’s why: I am hands-on with every decision, but on the other hand I have lots of HELP! Help can be good and bad though, haha! Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for it, but at the very beginning, the struggle was real having so many opinions on what to do and how to do it. My best advice: KNOW WHAT YOU WANT! I’m super indecisive sometimes, so that was my downfall. I have learned what it means to have patience throughout this process and I’m still taking it all in daily. I have been ‘vlogging’ some of my most special moments also and I may share some of those videos in my later posts. I’m trying to bask in this moment because it’s so special. Not just my wedding day because this is literally the beginning of the rest of our lives together as one.

Wedding Website

We have a wedding website designated to talking about our love story, registry, schedule of events, photos of our love over the years and so much more! Let me know if I should link it for you guys, in case you want to contribute to our registry! I want to be as open as possible and take you guys along on this journey.

Reality is we are still in planning mode. Now let’s briefly go through the checklist of things that got done:

• Bridesmaids are chosen.
• Groomsmen are chosen.
• Bridesmaid dress is paid.
• Bride dress/and veil is secured. I SAID YES TO MY DRESS!
• Groom suit is paid. HE SAID YES TO HIS SUIT!
• Makeup artist secured.
• DJ secured.
• Venue locked in and secured.
• Photographer/videographer locked in.
• Invitations sent. (MAJORITY OF THEM)
• Reception Host locked in.

Things that have to still be done:

• Flowers/Centerpiece.
• Rehearsal Dinner.
• Bridal shower.
• Bachelorette shindig.
• Bachelor shindig.
• Bride/Groom shoes.
• Flower-girl/ring-bearer outfits.
• Second engagement shoot.
• Hotel needs to be secured.
• Hairdresser needs to be fixed.
• Hair needs to be ordered.
• Cake tasting and # of tier size need to be decided on.
• Dance rehearsal- father/daughter, bride/groom.
• Bride/Groom rings/bands.

Weddings might look light, but it’s heavy though!

So much goes into planning a wedding. It is a lot of work, but I am pretty sure it will all pay off on that day. SO EXCITED! 100 more days to Mrs.! Keep us in your prayers.

Tune in for more next week! Thanks for stopping by! xoxo MJ.