How This Woman Planned Her Wedding In ONLY 5 Days

The opposite of bridezilla

Posted on

28 March 2017

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image credit: Emily Hardman and Rob Reading

It is no secret that the wedding industry is a billion dollar industry. An average couple is engaged for a period of 15 months and most couples take over 6 months to plan their wedding.

Emily Hardman and Rob Reading are not your average couple. The couple got engaged on New Year's Eve last year and were married in 5 days. Why the rush? As Emily explained in an article she wrote for The New York Times, because of their conflicting work schedules it was a “get married in a week or in a year,” situation and because they “already knew we wanted to spend eternity together" they chose the former plan. At this point, the duo had been friends for four years and a couple for one.

While most couples spend ridiculous amounts of money on weddings, this couple only spent $4,500. They had no flowers or frills. They focused on the marriage, not the wedding.

Here's an entire timeline of Emily and Rob's 5-day engagement.

December 31, 2016: The Proposal & Day 1

The couple was hiking on a Thursday in Sedona Verde Valley, Arizona when Rob popped the question with a $8 ring he had bought from Walmart earlier. Of course, Emily agreed. She then called her wedding planner and told her that they had 5 days to plan the wedding.

"Excuse me? You’re getting married in five days, and you’re just calling me now?”, was her (shocked) wedding planner's response. Emily then explained the situation to her planner (she also disclosed that she was NOT pregnant). The planner then asked her about the flowers and Emily said there would be no flowers necessary as the room was beautiful enough (Blasphemy in the Pinterest world!). Since Rob was wearing a navy suit and a pink tie - those were the colours of the wedding.

Emily's second call was to her parents and third call to the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Tuesday morning slot they wanted was available.

image credit: Emily Hardman and Rob Reading

January 1, 2017: Day 2

The duo created the invite pictured below and texted it to all the guests. Emily hired a hair and makeup artist, photographer and MC on this day too. The entire wedding was planned in 26 hours flat!

The bride didn't forget to have fun as an impromptu bachelorette party was held the same day.

image credit: Brittney Miller/Stolen Moments Photography

January 2, 2017: Day 3

Emily bought a $10 lace top which she was to match with a skirt. She flew to Salt Lake City on the same day and completed pending plans on the plane.

image credit: Brittney Miller/Stolen Moments Photography

January 3, 2017: Day 4

Time for hair and makeup trials! Also, 2 days away from the wedding and Emily still didn't have a wedding dress. How she did not pass out of panic is beyond us.

image credit: Brittney Miller/Stolen Moments Photography

January 4, 2017: Day 5

One day before the wedding the banquet hall was confirmed. Emily's mother came to her rescue and stitched a skirt to match the lace top she bought earlier. This is giving us all the feels.

image credit: Brittney Miller/Stolen Moments Photography

January 5, 2017: D-Day!

The day of the wedding finally arrived and everything went smoothly, without a hitch. Even though guests were only given a 5-day notice, surprisingly, there were only a few people who did not show up. Of her wedding day, Emily said, "People said that it couldn’t have been more lovely if we had had a year to plan it. No one noticed that we didn’t have flowers."

And yes, the bride wore the $8 Walmart ring.