Wedding planning: Enjoy the process and don’t sweat the small stuff

“My advice would be to enjoy the process. You can get so bogged down with the little details and in the big picture, no one is going to know (if something is wrong), so enjoy it as much as you can.

The night Michael Phelps won his last gold medal at the Olympics in August was when Jarett Landry proposed to Kallie Barras.

“We had talked about it and agreed that we wanted a Spring wedding, but it was a surprise when he actually did it,” Barras said. “We were on vacation with my parents and he actually asked my dad first. It was funny because my dad said, ‘Are you sure?’ When I was younger, he always used to tell me, ‘They may take you, but they’ll bring you right back,’” she said, with a laugh.

Having a career as a fundraiser, Barras said she was used to making plans for events.

“The two big differences are I am signing the checks and I get to choose all my favorite things,” she said. “This is the only time in my life when I can choose what I want.”

Barras admitted that at the beginning it was “very crazy and stressful.

It’s your favorite of everything, so enjoy it.’

Kallie Barras

“I got very overwhelmed quickly, because it is all so personal. It’s not just you and your fiancee, it’s the families involved and taking into consideration what they want.”

One of the most productive things Barras said for her, was that she and Jarett each made their three top priorities and respected each other’s choices.

Their wedding is set for April at Shadows-on-the-Teche in New Iberia.

“There was a lull after the big stuff was done,” Barras said. “Now I am in my second wind. It can be fun. It’s your favorite of everything, so enjoy it.” // Wedding Guide