FINDING ARIZONA WEDDING PLANNING: MONTHS 12-9 TIMELINE

Alright, its time! A wedding planning post! I know… long overdue, but I promise we have been putting in work behind the scenes. We are not planning your average wedding. I am sure you have heard others say that in the passed, but I’ll break down the traditional chronological wedding planning timeline and show you we are putting our FInding Arizona spin on it!

Month 12

ANNOUNCE & SET A DATE: Our engagement was in Dec 2017 and you can read the post all about it here. We did not set a date right away as we wanted to enjoy the engagement and take out time. After buying a house / our venue we set the date for October because in Arizona you get Spring or Fall Weddings. So 12 months prior to the “I do’s” our friends and family had already heard the announcement.

CHOSE PRIORITIES & SET A BUDGET: We are fortunate to have the wedding venue taken care of because I have always dreamed of a backyard wedding and could never justify spending tens of thousands of dollars on one day when you can invest it into the rest of your lives! But, our backyard has a ways to go before it’s featured in Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine. We call our situation unique to our wedding planner because when she wants to talk budget, we want to talk home rennos! Our biggest purchase for the event will be the block wall we will be installing in the next few months!

PLANNER & THEMES: Our wedding planner is Paige of Front Paige Events and we couldn’t be more fortunate. She is detail oriented, determined and of course a Finding Arizona Podcast Alumni! You can listen to our episode with Paige here. She is sending us emails to keep us on track and when we have meetings with vendors she has questions prepared for us. She is amazing! Speaking of questions, one thing we are figuring out is how to word our theme on our invites! No children - I love them, but this is an adult ONLY party and Black and White Attire ONLY- we want everyone part of the wedding party!

Month 11

CREATE AN INSPO BOARD: I already shared that I was never the type who had this day already planned out. I don’t dream of a fairy tale wedding and when I switched my mind from planning a wedding to planning the best party ever, things became fun! I am constantly adding pins to my board which you can follow here. But, after meeting with a medium she said I need to see what I want everyday to manifest it! So I printed out my pins and took it old school with a vision board- constantly adding things!

DRAFT A GUEST LIST: I feel like I should do an entire post about this because WOW! Between asking for lists from the parents and us figuring out how many we can fit in our backyard without ordering a port a john we solidified on 75 including ourselves and the vendors! We know we will break hearts sending out the invites!

Month 10

BOOK A PHOTOGRAPHER: With the unbelievable support from this community and this beautiful group called the Honey Book we found Matt Vivanco of MVivanco Photography! We met over brunch getting to know him and sharing our story! We know for sure he will be more than our photog, but a true friend!

HAVE ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS TAKEN: We have done so many great shoots with photographers from the podcast that we have sessions of engagement photos to choose from. Starting with a couples boudoir shoot we did before we were even engaged With Katrina Call and from an engagement shoot with a photographer who flew out from Ohio to shoot a wedding and needed some real life models! But on of my favorites are the photos featured in this post are from Jen Jenkins. You can hear the entire episode here.

Month 9

START SHOPPING FOR THE WEDDING DRESS: Okay, I promise this will be my next post because let me just say I WON IT & it is everything I could never imagine!

BUILD YOUR GIFT REGISTRY: Being homeowners has allowed us to start filling up our gift registry from day 1. Power tools, kitchen gadgets, even furniture! We have an amazon list going and everytime we think of something we need we add it to the registry!

Weekdays are spent sending emails and prepping for weekends. Weekends are spent pulling weeds and scheduling meet up with vendors. We are enjoying the journey and I love being able to share it with you all. Looking forward to months 8-5 !

XoXo

Britt

FINDING ARIZONA KITCHENS: PEANUT BUTTER PUPPY BISCUITS

When we adopted WInter 2 months ago I was shopping for dog treats and after reading the ingredients list I said to myself- I can make all this! So I went to my kitchen and started pulling ingredients. Now I’m back at it in the Finding Arizona Kitchen and sharing my recipe, but this time I’m cooking up biscuits for my biscuit. Here is a delicious treat for your dog- Peanut Butter Puppy Biscuits.

Ingredients:

• 1  C Coconut Flour

• 1/2 C Natural Peanut Butter

• 2  Lg Eggs

• 1/2 C Water  

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and begin to mix your ingredients.

2. Cream eggs, peanut butter and water together in a large mixing bowl.

3. Next add the coconut flour to make a dough.

4. Shape into balls all the same size and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 (chewy) to 40 minutes (crispy). Depends on your dog’s preference and age on the texture of your biscuit.

5. Thoroughly cool before rewarding. Store in airtight container up to two weeks. Because this is a natural product with NO PRESERVATIVES you want to serve them fresh!

Let me know what you think, and how it turned out! Also if you are in the market for a new furry friend, remember to #AdoptDontShop. Check out the Adopt-a-Pet.com website to learn how you can sign up for alerts for certain breeds and areas to find your next best friend.

XoXo Britt

TAROT TIME

I have always been drawn to the metaphysical world. From Ouija boards to crystals to manifesting and meditating I find the mind so fascinating and all the connections we have to the universe. If I lost you in my woo woo words already then maybe this isn’t the post for you, but recently, I was called to cross the line and share my experience into this world.

A few weekends ago I attended a girl’s night event put on by Simple Jane Co. with a tarot card reading and after my session I was called to another one. For some, these cards maybe just pictures and words meaningless. I actually watched a reading from someone who was so closed minded to listening not only to others, but herself. It was so hard to watch and the energy needed to be cleared and the deck knocked before we could move on. But to others, these 15th century italian card cards showcase answers to the “Acana” or mysteries of life.

Tarot is not a fortune teller. Nothing is set in stone. I use it as a way to guide me and listen to who truly matters the most, myself. Often times noise disturbs our thoughts and ability to make decisions or accomplish goals so tarot, for me, allows me to quiet the mind and listen. Each card helps me focus on what is right in front of me.

CHOOSING A DECK

I always read a deck had to be gifted to you, but I was told you can be called to pick your own. For my half birthday I was gifted the Universal Tarot Deck and have found the cards easy for me to see and hear and the deck includes a breakdown of every card meaning for me to continue learning.

READING THE CARDS

First ask a question of what you need to hear, see, understand to the universe. Then, shuffle the cards and see what you are called to pull. First see what that card means to you. WIthout over thinking, what is the first thought this card brings. Next look at the symbols and what meanings they hold. Now apply those meaning to your own life and questions. Be open to insights and that the answers are not always right in front of you. Lastly, look up the meaning and how you can apply it to what you just unintentionally saw .

SPREADS AND REVERSALS

I’m not practicing this to be called for hire at your next party, but being aware of events in my life and creating a tarot spread to guide me has been something to look forward to. Pinterest has several spreads for moon cycles, calendars and many more events. There are spreads for past, present and future. There are spreads for mind, body and spirit. And although, I haven’t dabbled too much into spreads I am always aware of how the card is laid out. If it faces me or if it is in reverse. This has an enormous effect on the message and should be noticed.

CLEANSING AND JOURNALING

I make it a point to write down my cards in my planner everyday to notice any trends or reoccuring cards. I take my cards in my purse with me and pull my cards in all different places. I make sure every few days to sage and smudge my deck to clear the energy and create new space.

This is a new journey for me and I am learning everyday, but one thing I constantly remember is to be grateful. I am thankful for any guidance I receive in any and every way. My relationship with my deck will get stronger and I look forward to sharing with you my journey into all things new and obscure. Check out the links throughout this article to learn more about Tarot and when you are ready, pick up your own deck by clicking on the one above!

XoXo

Britt