These days at Zola, we’ve had so many reasons to celebrate. The latest celebration? A Galentine’s Day bash at our NYC pop-up in honor of our new, expanded Invites + Paper collection (including day-of paper and thank you cards that match all of our suites).

And to top it all off, REAL LIFE Zola Bride Lea Michele helped kick off the Galentine’s festivities with a candid chat about all-things wedding. She and Zola Brand Director and Newlywed-at-Large Jennifer Spector covered everything from growing closer to your family during the planning process, to the unending gift that is a cheese of the month club. Keep reading for highlights of their conversation, then click here to check out Lea’s favorite Zola picks (spoiler: she’s all about our clean, classic invite suites).

Jennifer Spector:  So how did it all begin?  How did you meet your fiancé?

Lea Michele:  So it’s kind of crazy. They always say, it will happen when you least expect it. It will happen when you least expect it! And I met my fiancé at my best friend’s wedding. We were sitting next to each other, and he was a friend of the groom, and I was a friend of the bride.

JS: So once you got engaged, what was the first thing that came to mind for you to plan your wedding?

LM: We tried to really enjoy every moment and take it very slow.  Life in and of itself has been going by in a flash these days. I will say, one of the first things I did once we got a little deeper into the process was create a Zola account. … I’m totally computer un‑savvy and I don’t have a sister helping me in this process. So a lot of it is me doing this myself, but this process with Zola has been so effortless and fun and easy.

JS:  A lot of people feel like planning a wedding is a full‑time job.

LM:  Yeah. It’s hard for me to give other people tasks and to lean on other people.  I’m definitely a perfectionist, but I’ve been trying very hard in this process to delegate, and it is something that people have told me to do.

JS: So switching gears a little bit. What made you choose Zola?  

LM: I wasn’t even sure about making a registry, because we are very fortunate.  We have a home that we love. But it’s important to have those things that are just yours.  We’re both two lives, two full histories coming together. And we really wanted those things that were just ours. So I went on to Zola by myself at home one day, and I created an account.  It took me 20 minutes to pick my background. … Then I just started picking. And the great thing about Zola is that it takes care of everything for you. So you go on, and it’s like, “Let’s start! Kitchen. You’re going to need dishes, knives, forks…” and you just go through everything. And before I knew it, like 24 hours later, I had this amazing registry.  And I showed my fiancé, and he was like, “This is so great. I can’t believe you did that… why do we have five vacuums on here? We don’t need five vacuums.” I also just wanted everything to make a pie. I’ve never made a pie in my life, but I’m going to be making pies soon, you guys.

JS: Any more registry favorites?

LM: Cheese of the Month Club and the Wine of the Month Club. They were one of the first things we put on there and that people got for us.  So every month, we get a different bottle of wine and different kinds of cheese, and we feel so cultured and grown up.  We go to people’s houses, and we’re like, “We brought you this beautiful cheese that we picked out for you.”

JS: So we just launched thank you notes.  What do you think makes a good thank you note?

LM:  I think that this whole part of the registry in general and thank you notes, it’s just another way of creating a great connection with your guests and the people that are coming to your wedding.  So they get to give you a gift that you can have for the rest of your life and say, “Oh, wow, this is from my aunt or my uncle.” And then you get to write them a card back, and it just creates this great cycle of connection that you have with your guests that lead up to the big day.

JS: How would you describe your style both for home and for the wedding?

LM:  I’m very minimal, weirdly.  My wedding planner has said in this process that I have a lot of masculine tendencies.  I go against what might be some of the girlier aesthetics. I just like everything very clean and simple, and the same thing with what I’ve put on my registry.  It’s practical and simple. Everyone’s like, “Please add more stuff to your registry. You only have towels and sheets.” It’s like, I need towels and sheets! And that’s just what it is.

JS: Any #relationshipgoals couples that you’ve been inspired by?

LEA:  We’re both really fortunate that both of our parents are still married.  My parents met when my mom was 14 and my dad was 17 or something like that, and they met in the park in the Bronx.  And they’ve been married ever since. And when I ask my dad, “What’s the key? What is the thing?” My dad always goes, “We’ve got this much time under our belt.  We’re not going to turn back now.”

Check out Lea’s Zola registry and paper picks right here.

The post Lea Michele Talks Planning, Registering, and Becoming a Person Who Bakes Pies appeared first on Unveiled by Zola.