My wedding day, almost two years ago, was nothing short of magical. It was the perfect ending to a year-long wedding-planning journey. I woke up that morning with such excitement and anticipation. The only worries in my mind were of deciding on a final hair style at the last moment and wondering which shade of maroon to use on my eye lids. It was the perfect day. Every day leading up to the magical event, however, was anything but perfect.
The 11 months spent planning my wedding were a jumbled mix of chaotic, hectic, frenzied, stressful, upsetting, crazy, and emotional. During that time, I was also a full-time student, working full-time and working on renovating a house full-time. It was nothing short of a roller coaster.
I didn't know how I was going to manage to make it to work on time after my last class of the day, let alone meet up our florist, or cake lady, or pick out linens with the planner from the banquet hall, or make it to my final dress fitting, or make sure that my dad and brother were fitted for their tuxes, or come up with the money for everything in between.
Somehow, some way, I managed. Well, I'll give credit to my husband too, because he played a BIG part in how wonderful our wedding day turned out.
It seemed like every person under the sun had wedding advice. Everyone knew of the BEST place to go to for everything. At the end of the day, the best advice my husband and I followed was our own. We focused less on what everyone else wanted us to do, and more on what would make us happy. We did a lot of things to make our families happy, but at the end of the day, our wedding still felt like us.
We used the banquet hall that everyone in my husband's family uses. The facility is breathtaking and was big enough to accommodate our large families. The wedding coordinator there was like a Godsend, because she made it all seem so easy. I found a picture of a wedding cake I loved and she made it a reality. I told her our wedding colors (persimmon and white) and she designed the entire hall with various shades of reddish orange. The tables were decorated with white and persimmon linens, table cloths, and seat covers. We went with a family friend for our flowers. We told her we wanted tropical colored Dahlias, but unfortunately, they were out of season at the time of my wedding, and were ridiculously expensive, so we went with a cheaper, but still as beautiful alternative: roses.
To be honest, the best advice I can give to any bride is this:
Make a budget - what do you have to work with?
Stick with your budget - don't get caught in the moment of wanting bigger and better (insert wedding item).
Be organized - make a list of everything you want to include in your wedding, from the flowers to the band to the honeymoon.
My husband and I figured out what everything would cost and used all of our resources in making sure we could cover everything. I wish we had stuck to our budget more strictly, because, two years later, we're still paying things off that we put on credit cards.
I was probably too organized during my wedding planning. I made a list of everything I wanted (the invitations, our wedding song, the band and DJ, photographer and videographer, the florist, the wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses, the tuxedos, the hairdresser, the cake, the honeymoon). I then figured out the specifics, who we would be hiring to decorate the cake, who would be taking care of the music, who we'd be ordering the dresses and tuxes from, where we wanted to go on our honeymoon.
Once we decided on everything, we met with every person and ironed out the details, made the payments and then made sure to let them know how we wanted everything to be on the day of.
Had we been more "go with the flow" and left things until the last minute (which some things we did), I can only imagine how hectic my wedding day would have been.
I guess that's another bit of advice I'd give to brides: DON'T procrastinate, because it will only stress you out that much more as the wedding day approaches.
And, lastly, on the day of your wedding, try to enjoy it as much as you can and leave the planning and worrying to the people you hired. Something is bound to go wrong, but you just have to go with it and understand that you can't make everything perfect. You want an example? When my husband and I got to the banquet hall, I was the second to exit the limo, after my maid-of-honor. As I was getting out, the wind blew my dress up and touched my lips, leaving a nice, red imprint of my lipstick on my white dress. As I struggled to choke back tears, my MOH sprung into action, and safety pinned a fold on the inside of my dress, so it looked like a natural ruffle. Then, as we were walking into the waiting area of the hall, about to be introduced, someone stepped on the back of my dress, ripping the button that was holding the right side up. Once again, the MOH took action and safety pinned that up too, from the inside out. No one ever knew about my dress mishaps and I quickly forgot about it when we were announced as man and wife.
Some things will go perfectly smoothly, and others will go disastrously wrong, but the most important part of your day is the union of you and your spouse. So, make sure to keep a smile on your face, and try to enjoy your day as much as you can!
The 11 months spent planning my wedding were a jumbled mix of chaotic, hectic, frenzied, stressful, upsetting, crazy, and emotional. During that time, I was also a full-time student, working full-time and working on renovating a house full-time. It was nothing short of a roller coaster.
I didn't know how I was going to manage to make it to work on time after my last class of the day, let alone meet up our florist, or cake lady, or pick out linens with the planner from the banquet hall, or make it to my final dress fitting, or make sure that my dad and brother were fitted for their tuxes, or come up with the money for everything in between.
Somehow, some way, I managed. Well, I'll give credit to my husband too, because he played a BIG part in how wonderful our wedding day turned out.
It seemed like every person under the sun had wedding advice. Everyone knew of the BEST place to go to for everything. At the end of the day, the best advice my husband and I followed was our own. We focused less on what everyone else wanted us to do, and more on what would make us happy. We did a lot of things to make our families happy, but at the end of the day, our wedding still felt like us.
We used the banquet hall that everyone in my husband's family uses. The facility is breathtaking and was big enough to accommodate our large families. The wedding coordinator there was like a Godsend, because she made it all seem so easy. I found a picture of a wedding cake I loved and she made it a reality. I told her our wedding colors (persimmon and white) and she designed the entire hall with various shades of reddish orange. The tables were decorated with white and persimmon linens, table cloths, and seat covers. We went with a family friend for our flowers. We told her we wanted tropical colored Dahlias, but unfortunately, they were out of season at the time of my wedding, and were ridiculously expensive, so we went with a cheaper, but still as beautiful alternative: roses.
To be honest, the best advice I can give to any bride is this:
Make a budget - what do you have to work with?
Stick with your budget - don't get caught in the moment of wanting bigger and better (insert wedding item).
Be organized - make a list of everything you want to include in your wedding, from the flowers to the band to the honeymoon.
My husband and I figured out what everything would cost and used all of our resources in making sure we could cover everything. I wish we had stuck to our budget more strictly, because, two years later, we're still paying things off that we put on credit cards.
I was probably too organized during my wedding planning. I made a list of everything I wanted (the invitations, our wedding song, the band and DJ, photographer and videographer, the florist, the wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses, the tuxedos, the hairdresser, the cake, the honeymoon). I then figured out the specifics, who we would be hiring to decorate the cake, who would be taking care of the music, who we'd be ordering the dresses and tuxes from, where we wanted to go on our honeymoon.
Once we decided on everything, we met with every person and ironed out the details, made the payments and then made sure to let them know how we wanted everything to be on the day of.
Had we been more "go with the flow" and left things until the last minute (which some things we did), I can only imagine how hectic my wedding day would have been.
I guess that's another bit of advice I'd give to brides: DON'T procrastinate, because it will only stress you out that much more as the wedding day approaches.
And, lastly, on the day of your wedding, try to enjoy it as much as you can and leave the planning and worrying to the people you hired. Something is bound to go wrong, but you just have to go with it and understand that you can't make everything perfect. You want an example? When my husband and I got to the banquet hall, I was the second to exit the limo, after my maid-of-honor. As I was getting out, the wind blew my dress up and touched my lips, leaving a nice, red imprint of my lipstick on my white dress. As I struggled to choke back tears, my MOH sprung into action, and safety pinned a fold on the inside of my dress, so it looked like a natural ruffle. Then, as we were walking into the waiting area of the hall, about to be introduced, someone stepped on the back of my dress, ripping the button that was holding the right side up. Once again, the MOH took action and safety pinned that up too, from the inside out. No one ever knew about my dress mishaps and I quickly forgot about it when we were announced as man and wife.
Some things will go perfectly smoothly, and others will go disastrously wrong, but the most important part of your day is the union of you and your spouse. So, make sure to keep a smile on your face, and try to enjoy your day as much as you can!
About the Author:
Finessa Bedoun is an upbeat and professional writer that will help create the best possible wedding you could ever imagine. If you are looking for guidance on wedding announcements for a tight budget and more stop by Sample Wedding Announcements for the best advice on making your special day the best it can be.
