Today we're chatting with Jill Matthews - the blogger babe behind @suttonandgrove and @jillmatthews! I was first drawn to Jill's page because of her focus on conscious fashion. I love eco-friendly clothes, but never know what brands to shop! Then after finding her page, I became even more interested when I saw her and her husband, @lukematthews have a blog together called Sutton and Grove. Husband-wife duos are always so impressive...I mean, how many couples could really blog together? They showcase such a beautiful way of living, so I was thrilled when we got to chat about her own wedding experience!
Enjoy!
What was the hardest part of planning your wedding?
I did my weddings as cost effective as possible, so that meant a lot of DIY. We spent quite a bit of time researching and creating alternative decoration ideas, venue options and catering. We ended up having a beautiful outdoor wedding and reception with a friend who made all our food from scratch but it definitely was hard putting all the pieces together.
What was the best part of being engaged?
Engagement was fun mainly because it meant we could start planning our wedding. We were only engaged for four months and put together our wedding together that quickly as well. It made things a little stressful but I was ready to be married so I was happy to do it all.
What shifted for you since getting married?
I think the understanding of compromise. We often think compromise is all about giving up who we are and essentially cutting parts of ourselves and passions out so as to work and live together. I would say though that healthy compromise comes with allowing your spouse to be who they are and you being you and finding a way to be cool with each other doing so. This means that maybe you can’t have EVERYTHING as organized the way you would have done things before, etc but you find a way to work together and be okay with it. That has really helped us in our marriage and was something that had to be worked through for a few years.
What would you tell other brides-to-be right now?
Be confident in your love choice of your soon to be spouse, and find a way to remember and document that confidence, because that feeling and confidence you have now will be your insurance when things ever get tough in coming years. For me, whenever things are tough and I start to get upset I remember back to my reasons for why I chose Luke and that responsibility of that confidence that I had and it always make me grounded and assured in my choice to still be with him.
What was the biggest surprise you had while planning your wedding?
There wasn’t actually any surprises during my wedding planning because we did our wedding in my parents back yard (for the reception) and the ceremony in the park next to their house and everything else as far as decorations and details I did myself with my helpers so I had a really good handle on things. The only thing I would say that was a surprise was that it got colder than expected on the day of the wedding and the guests didn’t all plan to bring sweaters/jackets (but that was on them)!
How have your perceptions on marriage shifted since being married?
I think I’ve realized that it’s a lot more of a companionship than a sexy, exciting, romantic relationship that movies make it out to be. Not that there isn’t aspects of sexiness and romance but I think that at the very core of marriage, we are each others witnesses to life. We get to walk through life with someone next to us, every day who sees us more than anyone else will and that is something so special despite all the sexiness, hardship and adventure.
Anything else you would like to share?
My sister got married a couple weeks ago and I shared a quote at the end of my speech that I feel sums up marriage quite well. It’s a quote from the end of the movie Forces of Nature by a bishop from the 16th century and it says;
"Marriage has less beauty but more safety, than the single life; it is full of sorrows, and full of joys; it lies under more burdens, but it is supported by all the strengths of love and those burdens are delightful.”
