At Chapel Journal, I believe in being quite generous with so-called industry secrets.

When I first began my career in the industry, I was astonished at just how closely guarded information was. How difficult it was, in those days, to find any tangible, much less consistent, information on pricing, on floral technique, on sources. I felt as though I were learning a new language, and in a sense, I was. Ever the autodidact, I learn best by experience, so over the course of many years, through much trial and error, I became a self-taught artist. And I became fluent in the language of weddings: a complex language that embraces so many different services, variables, and concerns, both artistic and practical in nature. 

I believe the problem is, in many ways, the same for newly engaged brides and grooms. You are expected to become poised hosts of the wedding weekend, guiding your guests with authority and grace. And yet you are encountering wedding language, pricing, and etiquette likely for the first time ever. Everything, every aspect of the planning process, is unknown. It can all start to feel daunting. 

Chapel Journal’s Membership Experience, I hope, offers an elegant solution to this problem.

I believe, with all my heart, in the seeming paradoxes of my faith—that the more we give, the more we receive, grace upon grace. I hope to impart, through my membership content, the best and richest information I have gleaned, the choice fruits of nearly ten years of experience in the wedding industry. I hope to compress that decade, and all my trial and error, into content that saves you time and the heartaches I experienced. This content will include everything I wish I had known about weddings, everything I would tell my closest friends or family. 

The Chapel Journal Membership experience is designed to fully inform, equip, and empower readers at every stage of the planning process.

Offered monthly, you can expect information-rich articles and videos that reveal the best source lists for props and décor, full pricing breakdowns for wedding services, demonstrations of floral styles and techniques, and so much more. I aim to be quite transparent about costs and quotes, so you can have a kind of blueprint to guide you as you search for vendors. And through this content, I hope to demystify wedding language, clarify your most pressing planning questions, and act as a faithful and compassionate guide. I may even go behind the curtain to reveal a few wedding stories and the behind-the-scenes aspects of how they came together—we’ll see!

My main concern is that you take away something valuable, tangible, and practical. Rich, inside information you wouldn’t find via your own research or conversations with vendors and friends who have planned weddings before. In the classic, Chapel Journal style, my prayer for this content is that it transcends the creation of a pretty wedding or a successful planning process. I believe in an approach to planning that glorifies God and dignifies other people. My prayer is to equip you with practical information and artistic inspiration, so you are freed from unnecessary stress, fear, and strife. Freed, rather, to focus on the union you are creating, to pray for one another, and to serve your families and others. Freed, above all, to dwell on the more formidable task of creating a marriage—not simply planning a wedding. 

Subscribers will have access to members-only content, published monthly on Substack.

It is the premier Chapel Journal experience: insight-rich, useful, and graceful. May you walk into your wedding season with precision, elegance, and clarity. And may these articles equip you with everything you need to create the most well-structured planning process and most well-designed, God-honoring wedding day. 

with love, McKenzie