Welcome to Soul sugar. I'm your host carry rad. You might know me from my videos on YouTube. I love to chat about all things self-care self-love living our very best lives and finding our inner magic Soul. Sugar is a community of blooming Soul Seekers like sugar for your soul. Hello everyone. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Of Soul sugar podcast I'm happy to be here. It's a nice gloomy day. I've got my Earl Grey tea, I'm going to take a sip. I almost choked on it because I tried to sip it so fast, it is after Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a great holiday. I am coming into the end of season 2 now. We have probably about three more episodes. I think we're ending right before Christmas and then we'll be back again in January for season 3, which I cannot wait for season 3. It's going to be nice to take some weeks to Does kind of take a step back and prep before continuing on I think doing podcasts in seasons has been a really great way to kind of just like at the end of the season you re-evaluate kind of the things that you talked about and how you want to move into the next season. So if you guys could or want to I always loved reading your feedback, especially over on the Instagram at Soul sugar cocoa and I go in and I read your guys's DM that you send me. Your comments about what you thought about the episodes. Also, if you love the episodes and you want to give us some good reviews definitely always remember that you can do that on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcast you just to give us a review and let us know what you think about it. That's really helpful for the podcast. It helps get more ears listening and it gets the podcast out there. I'm just feeling like today. I want to sit down and just have like a candid chat with you guys. I have had Adding planning on my top of Mind recently, of course because Alex and I are getting married in May of next year. So May 20 2010. So we're getting into the home stretch. We have about six months more to go and so I'm in like kind of like the crucial part where you start sending out the save the dates you get the guest list all settled in and I'm just having all of these feelings through the process of wedding planning and the more I talk about how I feel in the more I'm honest about all of my feelings the more I realize that people feel very similar in terms of wedding planning on having a wedding or not having a wedding and I think that it's really important when we're doing these big milestones in our life. And when we're diving into you know, these huge moments in our lives like remembering one. It's important to be honest with ourselves about how we feel remembering why we're doing them like always finding out the why and also like being honest with other people about our feelings because it's been really fascinating to see how other people have felt similar ways, but they never said anything to other people and you know, you can really relate to people when you open up and you're honest with them and I think the reason why I really want to make this episode is because if anybody is in the wedding planning process right now, I would just love to open up the conversation and talk about how you're feeling and what working for you what's not working for you and you know wedding planning is them an emotional process and so we can sit back and say like, oh, you know, I'm loving it wedding planning is going great or wedding planning is so stressful or it's so easy, whatever whatever somebody's feeling like it's easy to just you know, give that sentence and move on but I think that we all have to be honest with the fact that there's emotions involved. It's a big milestone in life and it shouldn't be something that you kind of sugarcoat and I think that that's what I'm And I'm really enjoying being honest about how I feel and it feels really liberating and it feels like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. So that's why I wanted to this episode with you guys because I've been thinking a lot about how I wanted to start creating videos about, you know, wedding planning to help you guys figure out the best way to put together a wedding and you know, I've never I'm not a wedding planner and I've never planned a wedding before so I've just been kind of waiting to figure out more about my feelings and like How I'm going about doing everything, so I'm going to give you guys tangible information to help you in your wedding planning process. And I'm also going to give you guys some information about the emotional part of the wedding planning process and just how I've been feeling. I'm in the heart of it right now and instead of waiting until after my wedding and maybe potentially looking back and saying, you know every moment was worth it and I loved it and it was the best moment of my life which is what a lot of people say is the truth and maybe it will be my truth, but I So think that it's there's something valuable about being in the middle of the process and talking about how we're feeling emotionally about it. And then after the wedding I can kind of reflect back to this episode and and see how it changed and how it evolved from that moment. So, I guess I want to start from when Alex and I got engaged and sort of how I felt and we felt during that time and what our plan was Alex and I talked about getting engaged before. We before he popped the question. I knew he was going to at some point. It wasn't a huge shock or surprise to me. We talked about the future and we know we wanted to end up together. So when he asked me I was a static I am still so excited throughout this entire process the most exciting thing to me every single day since the moment that we got engaged is the fact that I get to marry Alex and that for me I get to have this partner. That is honestly And truly and wholeheartedly my best friend and I could not imagine being with anybody else the moment that he asked me to marry him. I felt this sense of Freedom, which I found really fascinating. It was a feeling that I didn't expect to feel I didn't think that freedom is what I would be feeling but I realized that that was the case because of how myself I feel with him and how much I have been able to just melt. Into who I am because I'm with somebody who loves me for everything that I am and I feel so lucky to be marrying my best friend when we got engaged we talked about how we just wanted to elope Alex and I are were social but we're also we love being the two of us and you know, we are learning more about how to balance our relationship with social engagements and family, you know, like work-life balance. All of these things, you know, you're always learning in terms of that and we've really come to a place in our life where we're learning more about that. And I think that part of that really affected the fact that like maybe we didn't want a big wedding just because we felt like we didn't need a wedding to validate how we feel about each other and I still feel that way and so I think the feeling that arises for me often Throughout the planning process is what am I doing? This necessarily for that has brought up a lot of conversations with Alex come conversations with friends and family about how I feel about the wedding planning process and it's been so interesting because I have felt so many different things throughout the process. I am so excited about it when I imagine the day and I also can understand that the day is Not entirely for Alex and I I'm sure a lot of you who have gotten married and had a wedding or those of you who are in the planning process, you know, it's easy to at the very beginning think this is for me. This is our day what do we want to do? And I understand that mentality and I think that for me what's been really interesting is that I didn't grow up imagining my wedding day. I Never did. I never imagined what my dress would look like. I never imagined what the day would look like how I wanted it to be I went into this with just the purest intentions of like, I don't really have a set plan and I don't have a idea of like exactly how I want it which I feel like has been helpful for me in the planning process. I've been able to be a bit. Flexible and I have a little bit less anxiety around the planning process. I think because I don't have a specific way that I need it to be or be done. So it was interesting when that switch happened Alex and I were just driving through Topanga Canyon one day and actually Alex found this venue because we talked about maybe eloping in Topanga Canyon. We were talking about a lot of different options. We were Gagging okay will elope maybe we'll have a really small wedding or how do we want to do this? And we would just go back and forth with different ideas and Topanga Canyon into place that was is still really meaningful to Alex and I and it was really meaningful to us at the beginning of our relationship because we would go on little getaways and Topanga Canyon we would ride on the motorbike through there. We would get brunch there and Alex found this spot that we realized was an actual wedding venue and we walked in there. And it just felt so much like us and it was the one venue we ever looked at and we just decided to book something because we loved it so much. And so then we had the space and we could kind of do whatever we wanted in that space. We could have a small wedding. We could have a wedding up to a hundred and fifty people because that is the max at the venue holds and so we have gone back and forth in the process of how many people we wanted to have and as the wedding became. More confirmed because once we booked the venue and we put down the deposit for the venue. We were able to play around with the option of like how many people we want. And so as soon as we started to, you know, talk about the venue more. We got family involved and Friends involved because of course you, you know want to ask people to be in your bridal party if that's the way you're going to do it and that's what we wanted to do because we like, okay. Well if we're going to do this and let's definitely have friends and family involved in I'd say our wedding will be somewhat traditional but somewhat not there are a lot of things that were not doing traditionally and there is definitely a major part of it that we are just doing things that reflect who we are as a couple and a lot of the decisions we've made in the wedding planning process has been because it's just very us and there's definitely a couple things in there that people have been like really that's what you're doing and And we're doing it because it's us and we want to feel like us on the day but what's been really interesting is that the more that we've planned the more that we realize that this wedding planning process is not just about us it is so much so about our family and friends and I called my maid of honor one day and I was just like can I be totally honest with you my my best friend Chrissy and I said, like I feel sometimes I ask myself. Why I'm doing this if this isn't necessarily at first what I wanted to do, like I'm so excited to marry Alex and to you know, go through this next chapter of our life together and I can't wait to do that. Like I want to do that tomorrow, but I have to wait for this wedding in May of next year and like I'm just going through this whole it's an undertaking to plan this essentially huge party and sometimes I just wonder why I'm doing it and she said Well, the reason why you're doing this is because of your friends and family remember, like people love you guys as a couple and like you have to remember that like essentially she didn't say it just this way, but you know the way I took it was like that it's not necessarily about you guys entirely and it's not and like that's what I'm learning throughout. This process is like it is about us coming together as a couple, but there is so much more to it and it's a very traditional thing to have a wedding and we're not a Additional couple and so there's all these questions that I ask myself throughout the process and that I have asked myself throughout the process and you know, I'm the type of person that like doesn't feel the pressure of you know, I try not to of course we all do but I try my best not to feel the pressure of like doing something because it is something that everybody does and so I really had to take a step back and ask myself like why are the real reasons why I'm doing this and the answer I've come to today is truly. We because of the people in my life and to be able to celebrate the love with Alex and knowing that like really at the end of the day like this does not define. My my love that I have for Alex it is at night to end a day to celebrate that love but it is not the reason and is not like all-encompassing like what I what our relationship is all about and If the wedding is fantastic awesome, if it goes, okay, great. If it's not that great then we move on like whatever it maybe like I have come to this place where I feel settled and okay with whatever the outcome is now because I am a Virgo. I'm very detail-oriented. So, of course like if we have decided to take on this Challenge and this, you know process of wedding planning I Have Become Very like detail-oriented and I'm really going in through the planning process and really figuring out the best way I can make it like as fun as possible and as beautiful as possible in you know, what our budget is and how I can make people feel special on the day and you know, all of those things that will make it a really special day. I am really paying attention to but I also know so much so that I don't need it and I think that you know in the wedding industry I notice is like once you start to have to go through this planning process it can be so there's just so much pressure that comes in and there's so much pressure from picking out the dress to the flowers to the music to your family members to friends to your bachelorette like bridal showers all of these things and like what I'm trying to do throughout the process is understand like that. This is an exciting moment in my life. Life and will only happen one time and I will only have the celebration of Alex and I with my friends and like it gives an excuse to like go on a vacation with all of my girlfriend's which is one thing that like I was like do I really want to Bachelorette like is that me like, I don't know but then I then I thought you know, when am I ever going to be able to have like all of the girls that I love in my life all together on one trip? And so I'm really looking at this and like a very optimistic Outlook and thinking like when am I going to get to do? It's like I obviously could plan a trip like this with my best girlfriends, but not all of my best girlfriends have grown up together and hang out with each other the way that I kind of interact with all of them, right they all have their own sets of friends and their own things that they do in life. So if I were to bring up a trip for us all to go together, if I didn't have this excuse to do it what it actually happen and have as much weight to it probably not and so that's why I like these moments as I go along I think like oh like this is why people love this and this is why people are so excited about this because it truly is like something very special that does only happen at this certain time in your life. And I think that one of the reasons why I wanted to make this episode is because I know a lot of you are going through the wedding planning process whenever I post something about Alex and I getting engaged or I talked about the wedding planning process. I get DMS and common back letting me know that you guys just got married or that you're in the process of getting married, and so I just wanted to like talk to you guys and have like a candid chat and those of you who are not even engaged and who might want to have a wedding later on like I'm talking to to those people too because you know, I think that opening up a dialogue of honest and candid conversation is so important and I think that at the beginning of me feeling the feelings of why am I not feeling totally all A static every moment of this process like why am I not so excited about this in terms of like, you know, I wasn't like thinking about it every moment moment to be completely honest with you I think about my business and what I do for a living and like having fun with Alex I put that as like a priority in my life and to be honest the wedding planning process has been like what I do when I have a free moment that I'm not just relaxing. You know, where a moment where I'm like, oh I'm free right now and I have An energy let me work on the wedding. It's really been like on the last it's been the last thing on my list of things to do because I think about you know going on a hike with Alex and like being with him and cooking dinner and like being with Lanka like before I think about oh my gosh, I have to plan this wedding like I'm still living in the moment and I think like for me because people become so obsessed with the wedding planning process and it becomes their entire world. I was like, why is this not my entire world right now and then I started realizing it's because I don't feel like the wedding defines my relationship and it's it's really interesting because when you're in a wedding in the wedding planning process people ask you so many questions about it all the time. That's like what people care about when you're planning a wedding. It's like, you know, I have a lot of like pivotal Milestone moments in my Career that I'm so ecstatic about and people keep asking me about the wedding planning process and I'm like, wait a minute. I'm putting more time into my you know, my career moments right now than I am. People are constantly asking me about how the wedding planning process is going because they know that I'm planning a wedding but to be completely honest with you. I'm more concerned about these major Milestone moments that I'm experiencing. in my career than I am about, you know planning a wedding like planning a wedding is the thing that I do on my off time where I have more energy where I'm not spending quality time with my fiance and my dog and you know, these aren't like life is not all about having a wedding getting engaged like and having a child, you know, these things are Huge beautiful pivotal moments and like I cannot wait to have a kid like honestly having a child in my future. I'm more excited about that process because it's going to be such an adventure in life in such a beautiful change, but I'm more excited about that than like this one day where I have a wedding and I just think that talking about this and being open about my feelings about the wedding planning process has been a huge weight off of my shoulders because I I think that people are not honest about how they truly feel when they are in the process of planning a wedding. I think people can be so sort of just brought about how their feelings are like they can just say I feel so excited and it's been a great process or they can feel. Oh my goodness. It's so stressful. There's so much to do but I think it's really refreshing when people are honest what I've started to understand the more that I talk to people is that Are excited about it specifically like our family because they love us and they're excited about this Milestone that they can be a part of our relationship on this day, right? Because Alex and I met three years ago or it'll be four years the day we get married. So like, you know, three and a half years now and from that moment, it's just been this world one of love and we've moved into this house together. We've adopted a puppy and our families like truly love our relationship and our parents are together. Other for Thanksgiving and like they like each other and it's been truly this beautiful moment. And I know that those people want to experience our love with us and to have that celebration and it's been a year of a lot of different emotional things that have happened, you know, there has been disease in the family. There has been a death in the family. There has been a lot of stuff that we've gone through as a couple and have This wedding for our family feels like this, you know really pure party and celebration of love and celebration of happiness. And that is the reason why I'm excited about our wedding is because we're all going to be able to come together and celebrate this love and celebrate life in particular. We will get back to the episode in just a moment. But first I want to tell you about today's sponsor away thought The luggage for modern travel. I can't tell you guys how exciting it is to be working with away. I've been using away. Honestly since the company first came out. It is my go to travel companion and I recommend it to everyone to friends family to you guys. If you've been following me for a while you guys know that I post stories all the time with my away luggage. When I am at the airport. Sometimes people stop me and ask me how I like it and I immediately tell them you have to get one. I have the carry-on and the bigger carry on. I am a carry-on only Kind of girl. So I love switching these out whether I'm going on a long weekend trip or if it's a longer trip. 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So that makes me happy to have him definitely like helping me like over Thanksgiving we were putting together all of the save the dates and he was like sitting at one point there by himself like Packaging the envelopes and like putting on the stamps and like, you know counting the gas less making sure I like we didn't do doubles and all that stuff. So I just appreciate him a lot and you know, I feel like a lot of people get like frustrated with the process if you can bring something up and say do you want this or that and they'll just be like like for Alex? He's like he has his super great optimistic like patient vibe to him about it, and it's just Just if if he didn't have that, I don't think we would be having a wedding to be honest. Like if it felt like I needed to push and pull. I don't think actually I know we wouldn't have a wedding if it was like me feeling like I had to like push and pull him to like make decisions and if I felt like he didn't really want it then we wouldn't be having it because part of the reason why I want to have a wedding is because I know that he's excited about it too and so were both able to like Balance each other out. We both want the same thing. And so it makes it so much more enjoyable through the wedding planning process. Once we picked the venue, then it all came to life. I think that like I couldn't imagine a wedding because I couldn't imagine where it would be and so I was having the hardest time like I was like, let's just elope somewhere in the world like we go to Italy we could of Tuscany like let's just elope and he was like, yeah and then we were like, but do we want to have a Wedding or we're going to regret not having a wedding because it would be so fun. But because we hadn't picked a venue. It was so hard to imagine a wedding and then the moment that we confirmed the date and the location that's when everything came to life. So I think a lot of people before they get to that point. They're like, where's the gist it just feels like so much before you pick the venue because you're just you feel lost in this world of like, what does it even look like but the moment That we pick the venue. We were able to dream everything up because we were like, okay like this is the vibe of the venue. It's very natural. We know that we can make it very much. So like this or like that like we're going to do a very like Bohemian but elegant kind of Spanish Vibes into the mix, but also like a vintage mid-century, so there is definitely like somewhat of a theme. But it's also like a mix of all the things that we love and I know what the colors are now like I definitely came up with the color scheme. Alex was just sort of like I showed them what it would be and he was like, I love that but for him, it was more so like coming up with like, you know, we have a little bit of like secret things that are coming up at the wedding that like not everybody will know about like after the ceremony and later on in the evening, which we've had a lot of fun just like dreaming up and and planning and And so, you know that process has been really fun, but it really all started to come together after picking the venue. So if you are in the wedding planning process and you have not picked a venue yet. That is the first thing I would recommend to do because once you pick a venue and a date then the rest of the wedding planning process comes so much easier because then you can actually call vendors to see if they're available on that specific day you can see Has now you know where it's going to be if they can drop off at that location what their delivery fee would be and how you exactly want to go about it. So picking the venue I'd say comes first because when you pick the venue, then you have to pick the date. So then it becomes really real because then you can tell your friends and family and you can ask your bridal party. Can you be here on this date to be my bridesmaid because we're getting married on this date and I think that of course Course, it's important to like ask your parents and like your best friends if they're available on that date when you are doing the wedding planning process because what if your parents or your you know, parents-in-law future in-laws have a vacation plan on that day and you just booked that date for the venue. So just like making sure before you confirm that the most important people in your life are available on that date is probably a good thing to do and then book it and then you go into it and you get to just play around and I think That that is the best part of the wedding planning process is like being able to dream it all up. I'm such a visual person. So I had to create all of these different, you know, Google Docs where I just put in photos for inspiration Instagram has been super helpful in the inspirational aspect because I just started a board like a saved collection on my Instagram. You can like go in and save your photos and add them to a collection. So I start adding all these photos. Go to a wedding board on my Instagram and then I just go in there and look at everything and you can actually find a lot of your vendors that way by like loving their stuff and then you go in and you click on their phone number because like you can click on the contact when it's a business page and then I've just been calling places and going to their website and figuring out what what their prices are and a lot of the things that I have found our through Instagram, which is pretty cool. And then if I have an idea about something I'll just Google it and see what's up. We hired on a wedding planner, but we hired on a partial wedding planner because it was less expensive. So if you want somebody to be there to help you on the day, I would highly recommend getting a partial wedding planner our partial wedding planner gets involved six weeks prior to the wedding and she does something called a takeover meeting six weeks before the wedding to just talk about all of the vendors that we have booked and Of what the plan is and then she calls all of the vendors and she kind of takes it from there, which is really cool. A full wedding planner will plan the wedding from A to Z with obviously your help and your inspiration and like what you and your partner want the wedding to look like in mind and all of that good stuff we decided on no partial wedding planner because one I like being detail-oriented and planning and putting things together to it was Expensive to go with it as a partial wedding planner and three we wanted somebody to be there on the day. And then also we because we had so much time. We had almost a year to plan like we're six months away and I think I pretty much have everything booked so far. So I knew that I could do most of the like reaching out and planning on my own because you know, I am a detail-oriented. Good person. Like I said, and I do enjoy this process but to each their own like if you're somebody who's more like I can't even visualize how I want to do this or like don't want to contact people and it's in your budget. Then I think a wedding planner like full wedding planner from A to Z is probably so incredibly helpful and if it's in your budget by all means do it, and if it's not in your budget to even get a partial wedding planner, then you can totally do all of this yourself. I just know for me on the Day and having her get involved like six weeks before I'm going to feel so much more at ease and less stressed because I am a person who I can honestly say that I like to I'd like control like I like control of situations, especially if it's something that I'm planning. I like to make sure that I'm like managing the situation and that's just who I am. I'm a Virgo. So that's what we do. I knew I'd be that way on the day and so I knew that having somebody who can like pick up and know more about the wedding process than I do who I can trust to coordinate everything and to make sure that the vendors arrive on time because if not on the day, I'd be like are the flowers here. Where are they putting them? Are they putting them where I want them to Howard the tables all set up. Are they putting them in the way that I want them to and I would just be thinking about that the entire time so having somebody there who knows the plan instead of me just puts me out. He's already even just right now because I just wouldn't want to be worrying about that on the day because in reality on the day, I just want to be like soaking in the moment and soaking in the love and having like my bridesmaids around me. My best friends around me and like knowing that I get to see Alex down there. I'm like Mary the my like best friend and lover on that day and just be like so estatic and like not having anxiety about it. And that's another reason why I think we're deciding to not have Lanka there at the venue our dog Lanka so many people have their dogs at their wedding and I think it's so cute and Lanka is such an important part of our life, but there is a huge part of me that will just be so worried about him the whole time like, I know somebody who just had a wedding who their dog like jumped off of something at the wedding and they had to run to the vet during the wedding because it's hard to watch the dog the whole day. We were talking. About maybe having somebody just watch him the whole time but he gets so excited around people and one habit that we're trying to break from him is that he like jumps up on people when he sees them and he's excited about them. So then like thinking about people coming and they're like dresses and heels and then Lanka like tackling them over. I'm just like, oh my goodness. I don't know if like we can handle that. So there's this place in Topanga Canyon where we take him that were like, oh, okay, like he'll still be so close to us, but he won't be like at the actual. Ceremony, maybe he can come later. I don't know but like I just want to be so in the moment and so there with like just Alex and I that I can't imagine like having the stress of like, where is he? Is he good as long as taken care of and that was something that Alex brought up or he was just like I just want you to like have the best day and not feel worried about this or that so that's where we're at on the Lanka thing. And that's where we're at. With a wedding planner one thing that I've found really helpful throughout the process is one flowers surprisingly. I didn't know that this would be the case but flowers are really expensive and this kind of blew my mind in the wedding planning process. I love flowers if you know me and you follow me on Instagram, you know that I just like I've always just had an obsession with flowers. It's just I mean, I think a lot of women are Our that way and I know that you know flowers are these beautiful natural and very like feminine part of like the planet that we live on and I don't know. I don't know why but I've always felt so incredibly connected to flowers. I always have fresh flowers in my house. I grow flowers in my backyard. Like I just when I am walking down the street and I see flowers. I just I am notice every single flower around me all the time. I love them and so flowers to me was like one of the most important parts. Like I just want flowers everywhere. And then as I went into the wedding planning process, I was just like, oh my gosh flowers are so expensive. I was blown away by it. Of course. We're getting married in La which is one of the most expensive cities in the world were just blown away by that. Now what I found really helpful and if you're going to the wedding planning process, it would not hurt to ask if somebody gives you a budget that is just way out of your range and you're just like this is way more than I My can or want to spend on you know, this specific thing. It does not hurt to ask if they have any recommendations on somebody who would be helpful the that they could recommend that's more in their budget what I found so incredibly helpful was that there was this Flores that I absolutely love she's so talented, but she was just way out of my budget but at the end of the email like after she This is how much it will be. But if this is too much out of your range then like these are the people that I recommend that like our can be a little bit lower budget their up-and-coming but I have like trained them and I was just like wow and so I looked through these girls whom were so talented and the coolest thing is that they've been like sort of trained and mentored by this this woman who's just you know, her prices are on point with how busy she is and how much experience she She has and just what she does like. I'm not taking away from the fact that she should be getting that budget just wasn't in budget for me. And so finding someone who has been mentored by her who doesn't have as much experience, but definitely creates floral arrangements that are very beautiful and similar to you know, the girl that's just super busy and super well-known in the industry and you know somebody Can who can charge that much because she's just been doing this for so long and she's earned that that budget so but it's been really cool because I have reached out to the girl that she recommended or one of the girls she recommended and this girl's awesome and I'll share more on the day who she is like all definitely tag her and florals and stuff like that. So if any of you guys are looking for a florist like you can find her and I'll share more about us working together as you know, Everything's kind of confirmed because we're still like talking about different things. I still have to send her the deposit. That's like what I'm doing tomorrow. It's on the top of my list of things to do. So, I don't want to chat until it's like definitely signed on the line of like we're doing it and it's done and done but I can't wait to share that with you guys. And you know, this process is there are so many different feelings and the wedding planning process and as I sit here and chat with you about all of our plans and how we want it and like all these Of the things we're going to do and we're going to have a videographer there and we're going to have photographers and we're going to share it with you guys too. And I want all of those things so that I can have the memories and I want to show my children like this is when your dad and I were like young and this was our wedding and this is what we did and these are the photos of me in my dress like these are all going to be so these are going to be moments that I'm going to look back on and just love and think about and you know, whether it rains on our wedding day or whatever like that. That will all be part of the process and I think about that and I go well if it does like all laugh about it because that is life like life is full of surprises and ups and downs and if we go into situations just thinking like it has to be perfect. It has to be this way. Then we are no doubt going to be live down in some way or another because nothing ever goes exactly how you want it to go. And I think that if you are in the wedding planning process Reason why I wanted to make this episode is because I want to chat about how like it doesn't have to be perfect. You don't even have to do it if you don't want to but if you have decided that you do want to do it then know that having all sorts of different feelings about it ups and downs about how you're feeling one moment being so excited one moment asking yourself why you're doing it another moment thinking about how wonderful it's going to feel being there with your family another feeling of Of thinking this is about you and me and our love and then you know, there's just going to be it's going to be a roller coaster of feelings. I think the most important thing is remembering that like, this is a moment in life. It's going to be fun. It's a big party and it doesn't have to be perfect and you know, it could rain on the day. It could not go as planned and that is part of life. Let it reflect what life is about let it how life Ebbs and flows how life can be unexpected and that unexpected things can happen and just remember that you know, this is not always 100% about you and it's not only about family there is definitely a balance and a combination of things to feel and a combination of things to remember and I hope that this episode can put you at ease somewhat if you are planning a a wedding right now and I hope that this episode can give you some inspiration and can just help you with handling the emotions and knowing that if you are experiencing all different types of emotions, sometimes even feeling shame because you're wondering why you're feeling certain feelings. I just want to be here for you and tell you that you are not alone in the process that people may make you feel like wedding planning process went so easy and perfect and easy for them and then People might tell you that it they understand why it's stressful. But whatever people tell you just know that you're allowed to feel the way that you feel and that your feelings are very valid throughout this process and that you don't have to feel any shame for anything that you are feeling throughout this process. So this is where I'm going to end this conversation. I hope that it gave you guys some tips. I could talk for much longer about this wedding planning process and I will definitely make some videos. As for you guys on my YouTube channel, so just give you guys some more information more tangible detailed stuff, but I just wanted to have a candid chat before then. I'm going to leave you guys with a soul sugar moment that doesn't have anything to do with wedding planning because not everybody might be on that Journey right now and maybe you clicked on this to just hear what it's been like and maybe you're not really planning right now. So my soul sugar moment is going to be about just taking a moment for yourself. Night, whatever that looks like for you or this morning. I don't know exactly when you'll be listening to this episode. But even if it's as simple as a cup of tea or reading a chapter in a book or lighting your pink Himalayan salt crystal or a candle or putting on relaxation music we have been listening to classical Indian relaxing music. Oh my gosh, if you play that you will just go into this like World of just pure relaxation. We have been playing that and just like sitting on the couch with like cozy blankets and just not doing anything and it has been so relaxing. So I challenge you to have a moment like that for yourself or you're doing really nothing and it's kind of the best in the world because we are so stimulated and life. We're constantly on our phones or or talking or were working or we want to even go on a walk. Which can be really relaxing but I feel like a lot of the times we feel like we constantly have to be doing something and that's okay and that's because we're ambitious but I also think there's something to be said by just sitting still and doing nothing sometimes and maybe not even forcing yourself to feel like you need to meditate like I mean just sitting there chilling out and listening to an audiobook if you want or reading a book or sitting back on your couch and staring at the wall, whatever it is. Take that moment for yourself. Safe and just allow yourself to almost like rehabilitate yourself into the moment that you're in and don't think about what you're going to do next In This Moment like really just take that time for yourself whether it be 20 minutes 30 minutes or even an hour do your best to try to take that time today? I challenge you all to do that. I'm going to go do that now as soon as I hit stop recording on this podcast I love you guys to the moon and back so much, and I thank you endlessly for listening, and I think you endlessly and I just love you guys so much and I appreciate so much the continuous support. You have no idea how much it means to me when I read your comment and your reviews on the podcast. So again, I love you guys, and I will see you or talk to you soon in a new episode. Thank you all so much. Tuning in to today's episode. I hope that you enjoyed it while you're waiting for our next episode come chat with us over on the Instagram. It's at Soul sugarcoat. That's at s o UL s uu G Arc o we give you a daily dose of inspiration over there. Also. It is the best place for us to communicate together and I love hearing feedback and advice from you guys over there as well. So definitely, Come on over and let's be friends there.
Carrie (@carrierad) joins us with a solo episode on the podcast this week — where she is going behind the scenes of the wedding planning process and sharing her thoughts and experiences thus far. Her wedding is about six months away and it will be interesting to see how Carrie feels once the special day has come and gone. In this episode, Carrie discusses the emotions that come up when planning a wedding, tips for creative inspiration, and how to properly research and plan a wedding. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Find Carrie Rad on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/CarrieRad/featured Find Carrie Rad on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/carrierad/ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Away Luggage — For $20 off a suitcase, visit awaytravel.com/soulsugar and use promo code 'soulsugar' during checkout! ThirdLove — For 15% off your first order, go to thirdlove.com/soulsugar. I’m your host Carrie Rad! You might know me from my videos on YouTube. I love to chat about all things self care, self love, living our very best lives, and finding our inner magic. Soul Sugar is a community of blooming soul seekers. Like sugar for your soul. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ CONTACT SOUL SUGAR — ➭ If you are a listener, you can get in touch with us here: soulsugarpodcast@gmail.com ➭ If you are a business, you can get in touch with us here: soulsugarco@gmail.com ➭ Follow Soul Sugar on Instagram @soulsugarco https://www.instagram.com/soulsugarco/ FOLLOW CARRIE RAD — ➭ Follow Carrie Rad on Instagram @carrierad https://www.instagram.com/carrierad/ ➭ Follow Carrie Rad on YouTube: Carrie Rad https://www.youtube.com/user/CarrieRad/featured ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Production Manager — Samantha Belgarde https://www.instagram.com/samclementebelgarde/ If you enjoy listening to Soul Sugar Podcast — please rate and review the podcast! 