Wedding Blog

I had so much help in planning my wedding, but to tell you the truth, you have no idea how your day is going to turn out. Sure, a few minor details were missed. And of course, I would change some things, in retrospect. But I know there were more than a few things that I did right. This is where talking to other brides, and going to other weddings really helped.

1. I scheduled in buffer time throughout the entire day.
Starting the Friday before my wedding, the traffic was unbelievable. I was late to everything, and everything took much longer than expected. So it was a good thing that I had put in about 30 minutes of buffer time in between everything. I scheduled hair from 9am to 12pm, even though I thought we’d be done by 11am. We were done at 11:30. Makeup was scheduled from 12 to 2pm, but because we ended hair early, we had enough time for the makeup for me and my bridesmaids.

2. I didn’t travel in packs.
I think I had the idea that I would be with my bridesmaids all day. We’d all do our hair together, then all go for makeup, then all go to dress, etc. However, I decided the week of the wedding that I would have 1 bridesmaid finish her hair at the salon and then go to the hotel for makeup early. Either way, we got 2 bridesmaids’ makeup done before noon. Then the rest of us got ready while the last bridesmaid was getting her makeup done.

3. I picked great vendors.
I know this is sometimes hard to tell unless you’ve tried their service, but I went mostly on my gut instinct. Did I screw up on the DJ? Yes, but otherwise, every single vendor was amazing. I picked my photographer because he had done the videography for my MOH’s wedding the prior year. Plus, he is now friends with my MOH so I trusted him. I picked my officiant because I had seen him marry another couple on one of the video samples that I saw. I visited many, many venues and spoke with even more places before seeing Twenty-Four Fifth. I loved the space, and the coordinator was extremely professional. You gotta love that! Based on her recommendation, I picked a florist. If I ever ran into a rude customer service agent at any vendor, I wrote them off very quickly and moved onto the next vendor.

4. I put great bridal party members/friends in charge.
I cannot tell you how important this is. I asked Mrs. Bee to coordinate my rehearsal because I didn’t want to do it myself. I’m sure the venue would have helped, but Mrs. Bee knew me and my family. She did an absolutely amazing job, and took on even more than she should have because she’s my friend. She was there to help out starting at noon. The Best Man was so reliable. My MOH and bridesmaids were amazing. The reason I mention this is, your MOH and Best Man are probably your closest friends or relatives. However, they may not the most reliable people in the world. If they are not, then hand off some of the major responsibilities to someone you know and trust. As much as it bothers me to say this, some people are not trustworthy, no matter how great of a friend they have been in the past. It’s a hard decision, but I think it really makes a difference in your day.

5. I was not afraid to call, re-call, check and double check with my vendors.
I started getting back in touch with my vendors about 4 to 6 weeks before the wedding. Any time I had a question, I would shoot an email. In the last month of emails, I always reminded them about the little things they promised to do - such as remembering to say “you may kiss the bride,” or that the cake should be white, or that they promised a discount. Do not be afraid to do this! You don’t have to be mean or whiny or feel like a nag - just be incredibly professional and remember that you and the vendors have a business relationship. Yes, it’s your wedding and it’s personal, but for them, it is business. Treat it like a business relationship, and they will respond to it.

6. I was not afraid to call, re-call, check and double check my guest list.
Yes, I called my guests who had not responded by October 1st (6 weeks before the wedding). I called them on the phone and asked if they planned on attending. Then if I had any doubts about their answers, I called again two weeks later. I kept calling until I had a definite yes/no from everyone. The only two people who did not show up (out of 90) were one of my mom’s friends (which my mom didn’t tell me about) and one of my friend’s dates. That’s a mere 2% of the final guest list who did not show. I say that’s pretty darn good.

7. I didn’t freak out too much during the wedding day.
At least I don’t think I did. I was really worried about being a bridezilla. Pretty much throughout the whole planning process, I kept my cool. But your emotions are running high, your stress level is high, and it’s easy to let your emotions take over. I know, because I let it happen once on my wedding day. Other than that one incident, I really tried to keep my cool. Like when Mrs. Bee said no one had seen the officiant, I didn’t freak out that much. Instead, my first thought was “we have a judge on the guest list; if it comes down to it, he can marry us.”

8. I had fun!!!!
I kept my thoughts on what I had to do next, in order for me to relax and have fun. I didn’t think about everything I had to do that day, but only on what I had to do next. For example, my heart starting beating like crazy when the bridal party started to walk down the aisle. But my thought was, let’s just get to the end of the aisle. Then once I got there, all I could think about was, “when do I say my vows?” After that, all I wanted to do was get to the kissing part (which is probably why Mrs. Bee says I shared a long kiss with the husband - but no tongue!!) Then I just wanted to finish my first dance! After that, it was all easy!

Every single person I’ve talked to said that they had so much fun at my wedding. Parents and family on both sides were impressed by how great the wedding was. For all you brides planning and agonizing over details, please remember that at the end of the day, if something minor goes wrong, you’ll be the only one to notice it. Everyone else will just remember the vows, food, drinks and the dancing!