- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
Don't stress the details! You probably won't notice them the day of the wedding.
Make sure your bustle is secure!!! And leave plenty of time for pre ceremony pictures, if you're doing them...we had 3 hours and it still didn't feel like enough time.
Something I didn't do but wish I had: pretty hangers for my dress and the bridesmaids dresses. This was on my to-do list forever and ended up letting it slide. We still got some fantastic photos of the dresses but I know it would have been a lot easier for our photographers if they hadn't had to shoot around the plastic hangers.
Something I did do and am unbelievably glad I did: DOC!
My best advice is to assume at least five things will go wrong on your wedding day. Then when one happens, you can say to yourself, "There's one out of the way!" instead of, "Yikes, it's a disaster!"
Hire a DOC. DON'T be in charge on your day. You'll enjoy it much more. I didn't have a DOC... I had my mom and aunt being pseudo DOCs/family/coordinators/photographers and though it sounded good at first - I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with them as I wanted to.
You can manage without a DOC, but on the day of let your girls worry about it so you can be stress free! I was running around like crazy the night before, and I finally just let 2 of my girls take over. From there it was easy!
also, allow yourself at least an extra hour more than you need for anything!
And most importantly? Relax!
On the day of, just go with the flow. If something goes wrong, don't let it bother you to the point of ruining your day. We had a few snafu's, but NOTHING that ruined our day, because we/I just went with the flow. :)
@2dBride: I LOVE this way of looking at wedding day bloopers! I'll definitely be trying to keep that in mind next September!
@LittlestBirds: I would have NEVER thought about the hangers! What a great point!
everyone: I'm loving the themes of reducing stress and worry. I'm all for that!
Here are the biggest ones for me:
1. have a day of coordinator! even if it is your MOH. My husband and i spentthe first hour of our reception handing out payments for our vendors...ugh.
2. let your MOH/BM know what their responsibilities are when you ask them. Mine were my sisters and they helped, dont get me wrong, but not to what i was expecting
3. Have a great "clean up/pack up" plan. My family threw away the rest of our cake because they did not have anything to put it in!!!!!!!!!!!
4.make sure your photographer understands your list of must have photos. I just emailed them to mine and never mentioned any of them...she did not take it to seriously. BUT i did end up with amazing photos but I am missing some that i wanted.
Good Luck ladies!
So you know, no one but me noticed any of these things! it did not affect my guests at all :) but these are the things that would have made my day/planning a little easier.
and the most important tip of all:
ENJOY YOUR DAY! Take a second and just look around and realize where you are adn what you are doing. It is an amazing feeling! ;)
The big one for me is that if there's something that you desperately want to do, do it, no matter how much you have to fight for it. I got married over a year ago, and there are things that happened that I would do completely differently (things I wanted to do in the first place that I got guilted into changing), and I still cringe at some wedding photos.
Try not to let what other people say about your wedding, after the fact, get to you. I've heard only bad things about my wedding. I haven't heard a single good thing, and I know it wasn't that bad. However, there are some people who just can't let go of some of the things that happened. I so wish I could have prevented some of it so I could have an overall good view of the day. Of course I don't regret marrying my husband, and that's the most important thing, but there's a part of me that knows that some of the things that happened could have been prevented.
Also, try to keep calm. I know it sounds strange coming from me, but I had nerves all day leading up to the ceremony. Walking down the aisle, I found myself trying to look anywhere except at the people, just because I didn't know what to do with myself. If I had remained calm and looked forward instead, it may not have been so awkward.
Last one I promise, but try to concentrate on the good. My favorite memories of the day are the kiss, the first dance, and me saying 'I love this song!' to almost every song. 
I never do that.
Keep in mind guest comfort. I didn't do this. I worried a lot about matching paper products, and special diy details, and a lot of them were great. But the more I watch shows like 4 weddings and think about my own I think that I should've put greater emphasis on just basic guest comfort: DON'T BE LATE, don't make people stand in the sun, make sure there are no bugs, smells, etc.
I don't think DOC are that important. Just delegating specifically. Don't think that your bridesmaids will just take care of things. Rather give them very specific tasks. Uncle A is in charge of making payments. Friend B is in charge of putting our wedding favors. etc.
Overall make sure you relax, smile and walk slowly for the cameras!
I agree with all the other ladies!! DOC!! She made our day SO much easier! There were things that I know I would have forgot or at least stressed over, but I didn't have to worry about any of them. We hired a wedding coordinator who worked with us for the months leading up to the wedding on things, too. She helped us with a lot of the planning etc. It SAVED us! Made our lives WAY easier! I would totally recommend a coordinator or DOC!
Breathe! Things are going to go wrong! But, a) hardly anyone will notice and b) it won't matter. When you are planning a big event (like a wedding : )), things will go wrong, that's just the way it goes. I remember the 3 days before my wedding feeling SO overwhelmed by things that went wrong. I finally broke into tears and said to my sister "Is this supposed to be a sign or something?". She was already married, so she understood and just said... "Think about how many things you are planning and how much room there is for something to go wrong. If nothing went wrong during all of this, that would be weird." When I thought about it, I realized how true this was. From then on, I decided... if something goes wrong, it's ok! : )
I know your wedding is almost a year away, so this seems odd to start now... but start making a checklist of everything you need and what you need to bring where. Check the list regularly and add to it anything you may have forgot. There were things that I didn't think of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd time I made my list. Keep lists with DETAILS. Things like, who is going to get my makeup bag from the church/area of wedding to the car. Who is going to take the gifts home. Etc., Etc. This is stuff you DO NOT want to worry about on your wedding day.
Don't stress about people who didn't show up. It will happen, and it will be ok! :)
Have a list to give your photographer on pictures that you want. Your photography and videography are the things you will have FOREVER. Make sure to get the shots you want.
One piece of advice that someone gave us that I LOVED was this. Don't leave eachothers side all day/night long. Stay together from the moment you get together till the end of the night. That way, when you look back at your memories, they are together, and none will be seperate. I'm so glad we did this. When my husband says, "Remember when so and so did such and such", I can say "YEP! : )".
Finally, don't worry and ENJOY your day! If things go wrong, it's ok. If you forget something, it's ok. If someone doesn't show up, it's ok. In the end you will be married to the man of your dreams, and everything will be more than ok! : )
If your reception is outdoors, plan on it being cold and/or rainy and then be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't.
Make a list of every single photo you absolutely have to have. You can assume the photographer will find these obvious, but you will not have time to point out the special people you want a photo with or the detail shots that you are looking forward to seeing. If parents are helping, give them a little input there too.
Make sure bridal party members know when to be where for photos.
Dance! If you dance from the start, your guests will dance, but if you sit, they'll be less likely to get out there.
I second the set up/tear down plan. You need a clear list of what's yours and what not to take (the tablecloths belonged to our venue and I didn't want them packed up on accident). But if you don't tell your family that the cake serving set is yours, they might leave it. You also need to provide boxes or something to pack the stuff into. Better to do this than let them throw your delicate cake topper, vases, etc in random boxes.
Turn your phone over to someone else and relax, it's your wedding day and something is bound to go wrong, but less goes wrong and it's less serious if you are just enjoying yourself.
I had a small afternoon wedding (55 people, from noon-4), so I didn't need a DOC, but I did put my MOH in charge of things. I used a theater play as an example. I am the director and leading lady. I can direct as much as I want before hand, but once the curtain goes up, I have to hand the reigns over to the Stage Manger. So my MOH was in charge of the big picture. My other BM was the 'Prop Assitant'. Her job was all the details- is my lipstick smeared, are people blocking us from getting to our table, etc. My Man of Honor was the MC. It worked out great!
Also, ask the florist to do a $30-$50 sample arrangement a few weeks before the wedding. I wish we had!! My flowers were the wrong color. Apparently 'hot pink' in northern virginia actually looks very purple. I'm so pissed at my florist (don't use Karin's florist of Vienna). But that was the only problem we had, so i was very lucky!
If you are having a short reception, you may need to do the cake cutting between courses.
Don't worry about anyone except your groom until after the ceremony. You focus on him and look for him when you walk down the aisle.
Afterwards, make sure to greet everyone at the reception. Not necessarily a receiving line, but make a point to go to every table. People remember that most about our wedding, I constantly get positive feedback about that.
Seriously, honestly do NOT worry if something goes wrong. Throw your hands up in the air and go with the flow. It's your wedding day, all that matters at that point is that you get married. YOu don't want to remember how stressed you were, you want to remember how much fun you had and the interesting things that happened.
1. Look up the posts on Bridal Emergency kit. Pack every item. It saved my dress, and made a lot of other people's lives easier, too!
2. One Day of Coordinator, even just a friend you can trust, is something I wish I had. Everyone had things to do, but there wasn't really one specific person to whom peope could turn and say "Hey...where's this supposed to go?"
3. Schedule yourself extra time to get things done on your wedding day...and then tack on a few more minutes on top of that. Things fall behind schedule, I don't care how well you've planned it. It happens. Giving yourself extra extra time will make a more calm bride!
Finally, for brides who are doing a morning/afternoon wedding...Have your ceremony and reception, then slip off with your husband to a private dinner all your own at your favorite restaurant. 3 Months later and that's still one of my favorite parts of our special day. =-)
During the reception, stop and look around. It will go by too fast if you don't.
1. DOC, DOC, DOC. Crucial. Our caterer was late and they were responsible for setting up the ceremony chairs. Our guests arrived before they did to a ceremony site sans chairs and she popped into action to fix the problem while I was taking photos. So worth the $$$$$.
2. Bring a copy of your invitation so the photog can take cool photos of it. I didn't do this and really regret it because we didn't have any nice invitation photos to put in our album
2a. Make a list of DIY touches that you'd like the photog to capture. I stupidly didn't tell her that we had brewed the beer, and made the runners, etc etc and so she didn't take the cool shots I would have loved to put in our album.
3. Don't get too separated from your new spouse at the reception. I barely spent any time with him because I was so busy taking photos and catching up with friends and family! Make sure you enjoy it all together.
Go to apracticalwedding.com and consciousweddings.com and read every word.
That is all.
i agree with others about dividing up tasks. If you don't tell people what to do, they won't know. you can technically do without a DOC if you do this. We assigned every person a task: Best man had envelopes to pay our vendors, Dad took care of the money box, MOH ran the tea ceremony, etc.
Lastly, whatever happens, happens. don't worry, fuss and stress about it. just enjoy the day for what it is, as it's gonna pass by quickly.
This is so helpful and is putting me much more at ease. Thank you! All of you!
From my wedding experience:
-breath, relax, and enjoy the day. About 2 days before the wedding I just reached a zen point... It was kind of strange but allowed me to enjoy all the festivities more.
-Put together a general timeline and pad it with more time that you think you will need. Also put in time for relaxing so that you can just hang out with family and friends or you have time to take care of last minute tasks.
-Delegate day of responsibilities. I didn't have any bridesmaids but had my brother as the 'man of honor'. I did however delegate day of coordination to a close friend who took care of a lot of last minute crisis.
-Make a list of people for family photos with a general timeline and assign someone to 'herd the cats'.
-Take more than one day before heading off to your honeymoon. We only had one day and I kind of wish we would have had another.
Like everyone else says, a Day of Coordinator. Also a personal assistant to help the Coordinator as well, especially if you have a venue where people are spread out, on different floors, far apart, etc. Your Coordinator can't be in two places at once.
Have fun, relax, laugh and if you have to do a little de-stressing and calming exercises, do it. Don't sweat the small stuff, try to enjoy being in the moment.
Go with the flow as much as you can because fighting the current will only stress you out more. You're the queen for the day, sure, but even the queen can't stop major disasters and such.
Eat. Seriously, your body will thank you. And drink lots of water.
Don't drink - alcohol that is, it's just a bad bad bad idea. One of my bridesmaids had the worst hangover the following morning. Do you want that right after your wedding night?
And lastly for the marriage part...
And that's what I've learned and I've only been married 3 weeks :)
1. have fun. try to be in the moment. I looked around the church during our ceremony, it was so moving to see everyone we love all in one place.
2. eat. make sure your bridesmaids, caterer etc get a plate of food for you. you probably won't eat dinner
3. have a list of the pictures you really want. Our wedding day was really hot and after a little bit we decided we didn't want to do any more formals. There are few we didn't get and I now regret that
4. if you aren't having a videographer, see if a friend can record the ceremony. we had a few friends record the ceremony and some of the reception and we are sooo happy we have video footage of our day
5. take a few moments with just your husband. at the beginning of the cocktail hour we snuck away, without the photographers to just check in and realize we were married!!
6. If you are getting married during the summer consider getting a short dress to change into. It was 95 degrees on my wedding day and I wish I had a lighter dress to change into for the dancing. In every picture I'm holding up my dress because I was so hot!
7. keep a notebook by your bed in the weeks before the wedding to write down all of the things you think of as you are falling asleep!
Above all enjoy your day. I loved my wedding but I was very stressed. I wish I had just let go the day off and fully enjoyed every minute.
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| ellisrobertson | 23 |
| MsPanda | 14 |
| aduarte3201 | 14 |
| pengoala | 11 |
| ShellVee | 10 |
| ladyartichoke | 10 |
| ndreighton | 10 |
| fishbone | 10 |
| londonchick | 9 |
| likelimeade | 8 |
Sorry, there are no users yet.
Hey Bees,
I always find it useful to hear from people who have already been down the aisle. So to any of you bees who have already had your wedding... what would be your one best piece of advice for those of us still planning our big day?
It could be something you wish you would/wouldn't have done, something a loved one said to you that really helped you enjoy your day more, anything!
You gals have a wealth of knowledge! Thanks so much in advance for sharing your tips and advice to help us make our special day even better!