Hello, Hello, Hello everyone! We hope you are having a fabulous week. We are so extremely excited to announce our new awesome segment that we are starting on our blog, called The Twenty-Something of the Month. The more we networked with people and listened to their stories of what other twenty-somethings go through and experience on the day to day aspects of their lives we realized how important it is to hear different stories and perspectives of other twenty year olds lives that you can connect with in a new way. Every month we will ask an inspiring, fun, and interesting individual to write a blog post and share their knowledge with our readers on a wide range of topics. For our first segment, we wanted to reach readers who are currently going through such an exciting journey during this time period, which is getting married! We were so fortunate and had a blast meeting with Shannon at her venue where she discussed the different aspects of her wedding and we had a fabulous photoshoot (you can see those pictures under our portfolio tab)! We Hope you all enjoy this new segment as much as we do and we would like to send a huge thank you to Shannon for taking the time to connect with you all and for being amazing! Lets jump into our Twenty-Something of the month. 

Hey OnBrand-ers! My name is Shannon Lal-Musones, and I am currently 23 and in the middle of planning my dream wedding. (Yes, I’m Brandon’s older cousin, but no, I didn’t get this spotlight because of nepotism - I’m just really cool.) When you’re getting married in your twenties (or really any age, in general), you hear a WHOLE LOT of opinions. You’re also stuck in this weird place of wanting the wedding of your dreams, but not wanting to go in debt over it. In this blog, I’ll walk you through my thoughts on getting married in your twenties, how to deal with the unwarranted opinions of others, the planning process, and some of my own thoughts on different aspects of the wedding.

To start off, I wanted to give you a little background on my relationship with my loving partner and best friend, Nathan. Nathan and I have known each other since we were in the first grade. We became friends in the 7th grade, and he asked me to be his girlfriend in the 8th. We have gone through high school and college together, never leaving each other’s side. Last November, we got legally married at the local courthouse during the week of our 9th anniversary. Our actual wedding celebration will be this year during the week of our 10th anniversary. 

As we’ve been going through our early twenties, we’ve heard it all: “Why haven’t you guys gotten married yet?”, “You guys shouldn’t get married so young”, and my favorite: “You can’t enjoy life after you’re married.” All of these are questions and thoughts that can pop up at any point of your life simply because others tend to dump on you what their experiences and opinions are without you even asking for it. Through it all, you just have to remember that you are the only one living your life, so live it how you want. This goes for anything, but especially when you are considering getting married. As long as you and the person you are choosing to marry want to be together, then no one else’s opinions matter. 

On the flip side, you DO NOT have to get married in your twenties or ever, really. Getting married should be something you and your partner both decide is best, not what your family, friends, or social media determine. You have no expiration date on milestones or events in your life, so don’t let others make you feel that this is something you have to do at any point of your life. Life is too short to live it for others.

Now for the fun stuff: the planning process! There’s some major things you need to consider when planning your wedding: How much are we spending? What aesthetic or vibe are we going for? Big party or intimate event? And the list goes on. When Nathan and I began planning our wedding, we knew we didn’t want it to cost a fortune. Yes, we want a decent-sized, beautiful, night-to-remember, but we wanted the wedding to be a reflection of us and our relationship. While it has ultimately cost us more than we originally thought, we still have managed to keep the entire spending to what a basic car would cost. However, when you plan your wedding, you can go as tight or as wild as you want with your budget. It’s your big day, and it should be everything you dreamed of and more.

First things first, know your vibe, color scheme, theme, and formality level. Everything else will come easy after that. The first thing we looked and paid for was our venue. Our venue has really determined every other aspect of our wedding. I personally think the venue should be first on your list when planning your wedding since it shapes your aesthetic, dress style, decor, and so much more. Luckily for us, the venue also covered the food, drinks, open bar, set-up and clean-up, and wedding coordinator. If the venue you fall in love with doesn’t offer these things, I would suggest tailoring these to your budget and figure out what fits your vision and needs. Also, a wedding coordinator (especially a day-of coordinator) or a wedding planner should be something to consider no matter how big or small your event is. 

Next, we booked our photographer and videographer. We talked to so many professionals and ultimately picked the ones that shared or understood our vision and could provide the best quality in every aspect of their roles. I then went dress hunting. Watching Say Yes to the Dress had definitely prepared me for the process and showed me what I wanted and didn’t want in a dress (shout out Kleinfeld!). There were so many other minor - but not minor - aspects of our planning process that we had to consider as well. We had to figure out the DJ, what Nathan is wearing, the wedding party, what the wedding party is wearing, decor, invitations, and list the goes on. 

Overall, wedding planning is crazy, a little stressful, but so much fun when you get to make everything your own. I would highly suggest buying a wedding planner book or finding a free template online to help give you an idea of what needs to be done and when it should happen. I probably have like 3 wedding planning guides. 

Finally, I’m gonna share some of my thoughts on some pretty controversial wedding topics and aspects. We are choosing to not have kids at our wedding. Frankly, kids are an extra avoidable cost and they usually can’t fully enjoy the event. Plus, parents can’t fully enjoy themselves because they have to take care of the kids. We also are choosing not to do the garter toss. We don’t want to go through the weirdness of Nathan reaching towards my nether regions in front of my family and throwing something that was in a very intimate area to the men in our family. Favors are also something we are choosing to forego since guests usually don’t care about it too much and it’s another avoidable expense. We are definitely planning on doing a first look before the ceremony because we want that moment to be special and private (but don’t worry Nathan will still cry when I walk down the aisle because he’s obsessed with me). Lastly, we have decided to mix up our wedding party. Nathan has a Best Man and a Best Woman, while I have a Maid of Honor and Man of Honor. We didn’t want gender to determine who was or was not in our line-ups. Just to clarify, these are just my opinions and you can totally include or not include these things in your wedding. Again, this is your big day - do what you want!

Planning our wedding has been so much fun even during the crazy, stressful moments. We make mistakes, we underestimate the costs of things, and we get an earful from family and friends on what we should and should not do. We take everything with a grain of salt and make sure to enjoy this while we can. Nathan and I will get married once in our lives (trust me, I know), and we want to do everything right the first time. Weddings are meant to be fun and one of the best memories of your life. Get married, don’t get married, but enjoy your twenties no matter what.

Sincerely

Shannon