Weddingbee Blog

This whole wedding-planning thing involves a pretty steep learning curve, as well as a pretty good poker face. (“Ah, yes, $10,000, then. Thank you, we’ll be in touch if we have additional questions…”) I’m sure I’ll come up with a lot more lessons learned in the next year, but here are some biggies almost three months in.

1) Flexibility isn’t actually the end of the world. I never thought I’d say it. But sometimes, letting your vendors do some of the talking and the planning (and, therefore, the worrying) works out pretty well. Telling poor Amy (our florist) about my feelings on manzanita branches vs. curly willow really doesn’t matter. I gave her my vision and she understood. That’s her job.

2) No one will notice if your burgundy napkins don’t match up exactly with your burgundy dresses and burgundy ribbons. A color palette is exactly that: a palette of unifying visuals.

3) Price isn’t everything. Yeah, your estimate has to come fairly close to the number I have in my head before we can do business, but sometimes, you just have to like who you’re dealing with and respect their talent enough. But, um, refer back to the need for a good poker face before throwing that budget out the window.

4) Think long and hard when you say (to yourself or other people), “We need that.” You might decide you do. But you will definitely decide you don’t for some things.

5) No one can explain why chivari chairs are so expensive, other than to say, “everyone wants them.” BFD.

6) Pressure not to screw everything up is immense, and half the time, it comes from me. As a tightly wound sort in general, chillaxing is a challenge that’s always worth it in the end.

7) “Don’t total all your spending at the end,” was recent advice from a married pair. This one sounded impossible, as I pretty much make note of every dollar I spend (yeah, I know, I swear I’m actually a lot of fun). But after watching deposits for food, photos and flowers drain my bank account, I’m more inclined to follow their advice.

What’s a big lesson you’ve learned about wedding planning or yourself throughout this process?