Weddingbee boards

I would have nagged DH more with regards to the reception play list. He left it until the night before and didn't have a copy of the songs with him, so just made it up. He sent a groomsman to me asking for the songs but I misunderstood the problem :( I'm the dancer, DH hates it, so there were some very odd choices in there that had me & my girlfriends leaving the dancefloor more than once. He also didn't think about the oldies - I had put a few older songs on there so the parents etc could have a good dance, but he didn't. I still had a great time but this is one thing that was truly preventable and did bother me quite a bit on the night! So yes, an ipod reception can work (I've seen it done very well which is why we did it without considering any other option) - but you need to put the effort in beforehand!

great post!  @contrarymary I can see that happening to us, I should have an energy shot or drink ready, thanks!

Invite only those you love -don't worry about what others think.  People I didn't want to invite in the first place blew my wedding off on the day of.  Don't let anyone push you around (only invite plus 1s if YOU both want to, etc.)  Oh and that dumb b**** who wore a white dress (an ivory vintage wedding dress to be precise-complete with headpiece).

Yes yes yes to the videographer!  Photos are WONDERFUL, but you want to be able to capture the rest of the day, including the sights and sounds a still photo just cannot capture.  That's not my regret because I heeded others' advice and we hired one.  In fact, we just finished watching our wedding video tonight (I think it's adorable that my husband is always the one who brings up watching it!).  I just went to a wedding of a friend of ours, and it was beautiful.  BUT, she spent $4000 on a dress and they had no videographer.  I would have either spent less on the dress OR cut budget from some other area to pay for a videographer.  At the very least, have a friend film it if you really cannot afford a pro, but a pro has the equipment and know-how to get you a quality keepsake.

I also agree with the "invite who you want" advice.  I think that's my biggest regret.  To keep things fair at work, I invited only the people I had worked with the longest, and felt closest to.  There was a newer coworker I got along with REALLY well, but she'd only worked there a couple months, so I didn't invite her.  Now I wish she had been there to celebrate with us!  Especially because since then we've gotten even closer, whereas I've drifted apart from some of those I DID invite.  Also, there is another coworker I didn't invite partially because we hadn't worked together as long but also partially because my husband doesn't care for her.  Really, he would have only had to spend about five minutes total with her, (couple minutes in the receiving line and a couple at the end of the night when was said goodbye to her).  I think she was hurt to not be invited, and I also regret not having her there.

Hehehe...also, our church coordinator was nice, but, as my husband says, she was a bit of a Nazi.  I'm sure she was trying to be helpful and take care of some of the details for us, but, for example, they put our custom-made aisle runner down wrong because she didn't know if it would be long enough.  I could have told her it was long enough had she asked because I ordered it to the church's aisle specifications.  So our design was at the front of the church instead of at the bride's entrance.  I'm sure nobody else noticed, but because it was backwards, we missed out on a picture I REALLY wanted, (the seller had a beautiful picture of a couple laying on their tummies on the aisle runner with their monogram right in front of them).  So don't sweat the small stuff, but if there is something important to you like the aisle runner was to me, it's okay to double-check on the details, or better yet, have someone else double-check for you.

Don't wait until the day before the wedding to pick up your marriage license!!  We were stupid and waited to the last minute, and it was a freaking county furlough day and the courthouse was closed.  Also, CONFIRM things with your vendors!  That way you don't have to throw together a string trio the Thursday before the wedding.

Careful with friendors.  We learned that sometimes they are worth it, but sometimes you wish you had hired a pro.

My husband's sister, who has worked as a pro photographer in the past, took our wedding pics and they did not turn out well.  She must have been in over her head but was scared to admit it.  We only got a handful of good shots and those are the portraits. 

We also asked a friend from my husband's work to serve as our DOC.  She has planned all of the social events at their workplace and had been kind of like a coordinator at other people's weddings.  We met multiple times before the wedding to discuss the day and I had an elaborate write up of instructions of what she was supposed to do. She constantly assured me that she felt comfortable with everything, but again I think she had bitten off more than she could chew.  Everything went okay, but I didn't really get to relax because I had to spend the whole night checking up on her.  And as people were starting to leave she started drinking and by the time we shut down the venue she was drunk.  I had to wrestle her car keys out of her hand in my wedding dress. 

On the other hand, we asked our friend to do video of our ceremony and it turned out great.  But I think it worked out because it was not a huge task.

So in the end, we saved a lot of money, but we ended up with less than great results.

Now that it has gone by and we have returned to regular life and don't talk about it every 5 minutes, it isn't the favors that we forgot to set out, it isn't the cocktail hour food that we missed (because they didn't matter at all!)- I just wish that I had relaxed more and enjoyed the preparations more before hand.  I wish that I had just chilled out and had even more fun!

Great thread. Lately I've been wandering down a nasty road that includes silly ideas like renting hot pink tablecloths, when the white ones included by our venue are perfectly fine.... So photos, videos seem to be coming up the most. Guess that makes sense!