Getting Your Friends & Family Involved

Since Husband and I were on a budget, we needed all the help we could get. That included begging, tricking, and bribing our friends to volunteer their amazing skills and time. Thankfully, it didn't take much!

It goes without saying that S and I have incredibly talented friends. We are lucky to be surrounded by the most creative, imaginative people. Even though we had a vision for our wedding aesthetic, it was thanks to all of them that we could translate that vision into the beautiful details that made our day so perfect!

So now you may be asking, "How can I get my friends and family to help me?!!! (without having them hate me by the end of it.)"

Here are some fun and inexpensive ways to trick, er, I mean graciously entice your beloved network of amazing people to contribute in planning for your most special day:

1. Food. This is the best way to get people to help you. It has been proven to work 100% of the time. Trust me on this one. Invite your friends over for snacks and writing out table cards. Writing out 143 names does not sound that exciting. An ice cream sundae night does! Invite a few people over for a Crafty Brunch! Fix up some waffles and coffee while your friends are stuffing envelopes.

2. Margaritas/Wine/Pick Your Poison. No one wants to come over on a Tuesday evening, after work, and help you and your beloved make wedding favors. However, pick up a bottle of inexpensive wine, or mix up a pitcher of sangria and it may be easier to sway someone! Not a drinker? Pick up some fancy tea or prepare some good coffee! I've even known a few people who could easily be persuaded by a late night milkshake...

3. Do It Outside. If you have the luxury of having a deck/yard/roof/stoop, lucky you! No one wants to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon cooped up in your house. Take it outside! As long as the sun is shining and you don't need an electrical outlet, you're all set! It will make the experience much more pleasant.

4. Beg/Plead/Bribe. I'm half serious when I say this but there were moments when S and I were so stressed out and overwhelmed that we would do anything for a few extra hands and boy, were we thankful that we had them!

Lastly, remember that these are the people that love you! They want your wedding to be amazing/perfect/go-off-without-a-hitch just as much as you both do! It probably won't take much to convince your friends and family to help you out but the point is to just be thankful. You may think you can do it all on your own, and you probably could, but having your loved ones there makes it so much more special. And who knows, they may have an idea or two that you will love (just as our friends did!). I will end this post by saying (again!) that when we walked into the barn on our wedding day, S and I were overwhelmed with a feeling of graciousness by seeing all the beautiful and amazing contributions from everyone around us and all the love that went into making our day special. It made it that much more meaningful for us, and I hope for them too! If not, at least they got some margaritas out of it!