by: Happy Friday! Today is all about wisdom ... Real advice. Real comments. Real brides. Read their words of wisdom and learn from those who know a thing or two about planning a wedding and getting married.
Kristin & Andy's Real MN Wedding
Wedding Day
The day TRULY does just fly by. Don’t be so concerned that everyone else is having a good time and forget about you enjoying it to the fullest!
Planning
Determine your non-negotiables for planning/budgeting and stick to them. For me, it was floor-length table linens--which many people thought was ridiculous. However, I was willing to budge on other aspects of our budget because that formal look was really important to me.
Jared & LeAnn's Elegant Fall Wedding
Wedding Day
Take moments to just stop what you're doing, look around and adsorb everything. The day goes by so quickly.
Eat early in the day as soon as you get up because if you don’t, things get busy and you forget to eat!!
Mark & Cyndi's Real CA Wedding
Wedding Day
Don't sweat the details because on the whole, the day was amazing and I married my best friend!
Stop and look around as much as possible and really take in the feeling of the day, because the details will fade, but that feeling will linger on!
Planning
Have a videographer – no matter how much I tried to stop and look around, it still went by too fast and there are some moments that are just a blur!
Tiffany & Brendan's Beach Destination Wedding
Wedding Day
I am very glad we decided to do a “first look” instead of waiting to do pictures until the cocktail hour. Before the ceremony, my husband and I had our first look and did some portrait shots, and then we did all the bridal party and family shots. This made us able to enjoy the rest of the wedding, and the pictures came out great!
Anna & Valik's Country-Rustic Wedding
Planning
There’s no reason to stress, or spend lots of money. Spend more on your honeymoon. We saved money every chance we could and God blessed us abundantly with a beautiful wedding that we shared with our close friends and relatives. Think about what you’d want, not what others would like because you’ll never impress everyone.
Brittany & Jamie Real MN Wedding
Wedding Day
Don’t stress the small stuff, just sit back and enjoy the fact that you are getting married. Make sure you have points in your day where you can both sit back and reflect on what is happening–and the huge step you are taking together.
Planning
Have someone in charge of your day. We hired a day-of-coordinator and she made sure that everything ran smoothly so we got to enjoy our wedding instead of stressing over details.
Don’t take on too much. We had multiple DIY projects. I loved how personalized our day was, but there was definitely a lot of work and stress before the wedding.
George & Katina's Classic Real Wedding
Planning
Take your time planning. Take your time and enjoy every moment of the day because there are no do-overs!
Michele & Jay's Australian Destination Wedding
Wedding Day
Don’t sweat the small stuff. I heard this from lots of friends including recent brides. I’ve read and seen brides having major meltdowns because the glitter dust on the cake wasn’t shiny enough, or the DJ wasn’t playing the right music or the flowers in the bouquet were not what she ordered… you cannot let these details ruin your joyous day! Details are important for a bride especially one with perfectionist tendencies (like me), but don't let the bridezilla moments get the best of you.
Planning
I wish I would have asked for more help from friends and family for the ‘To Do Before the I Dos’ List. Recruit friends and family for help! Learn to let go of some of the responsibilities, have your friends over for an invitation addressing or a favor making party and watch the movie ‘Bridesmaids’ together!”
Aarti & Saurabh's Hindu Wedding
Planning
When I was deep in planning, super stressed about the littlest thing gone wrong and a serious control freak, I tried to always remember what a fantastic support system I have—my husband and wedding planner were both great in the whole planning process! And, all my friends and family lent a heavy hand.
Enjoy every minute. This kind of goes back to the stress part I suppose, but there were many times when I was so focused on the little details of the party. But in the last month, the excitement really started to set in, and I didn’t want to stress – Then I would take a step back and revel in the fact that I was getting married! And I just wanted to spend the time with friends and family that flew in, and attended our special day.
Abel & Kara's Summer Outdoor Wedding
Wedding Day
Mingle with the guests more. Everything went by so fast that I didn’t get a chance to talk to everyone and I wish that I did.
Don’t sweat the small stuff! There will be things that go wrong and there’s nothing you can do about it, so you might as well make the best of it! Enjoy one of the best days of your life!
Kristen & Kyle's Vineyard Wedding
Wedding Day
RELAX! If you don’t relax, you don’t enjoy your day, and I definitely followed that and had the best day.
Get a wedding planner. They are God’s gift to brides.
Planning
I wish I had taken a list of poses I wanted. There were some key shots that were missed, but it was due to the hustle and bustle.
Larry & Amy Jean's Elegant DC Wedding
Wedding Day
Your attitude is what resonates at the wedding. If you have fun and take things with ease, your guests will also have fun … Don’t stress. Have fun and really cherish the moments!
Planning
Don’t over-sweat every small detail. I spent time burning a music cd for the shuttle, which one shuttle played one song on repeat for the 30 min ride NON stop. The slide-show didn’t work as I had planned. I mapped out details of how the bars would be laid out, in anticipation of drink lines but the last minute rain changed these small details. The day of our wedding, I didn’t care at all but in hindsight, I realized all that time spent on the days prior to the wedding could have been spent catching up on sleep.
The major theme in all of their advice ... DON"T STRESS about the small details. Enjoy your day. While acknowledging that this is probably easier said than done, it is invariable well worth the effort!
What is your favorite bit of advice?
