I've noticed something about wedding magazines, they may claim to be there as a resource but I don't really see that as being true. I was so excited to pick up my first wedding magazine but that excitement soon fizzled after I saw how they veiled all sorts of expensive exrtras in "wedding must haves". Not fooling this bride wedding magazines! I flipped a few more pages only to see a segment called "bridal nightmares" in which three full pages were filled with actual nightmares from real brides. Now I know some brides might like to hear that others have scary worries too...but not me. Those horror stories gave me anxiety. So I closed the magazine and haven't looked back. I will get my research done on the good ole www thankyouverymuch!
Ok so now I have some questions for you friends.
-What are some things that you loved about your wedding?
-What are some things that if given the chance to do over you would have done differently?
-If you aren't married what are some things that you saw at weddings that you liked?
11 comments:
I always go on The Knot and look at their inspiration boards..they give me so many good ideas.
I hear ya Sarah. We are getting married in January, and had some major decisions out of the way a month into the engagement!
I find a lot of helpful inspiration in wedding blogs. I feel like some of the wedding mags are just giant photo shoots with unrealistic weddings.
Sooooooooooo thrilled for you!! So thrilled. :)
Having seen a few weddings in the last few years by photographing them, here are a few thoughts ...
A) Personalize. Make your wedding yours. I don't care if the personalization costs $1 or $10,000 it's what makes the wedding. Personalize in the details and it will make your wedding feel that much more special. (As if it won't already!!)
B) Know that stress is going to happen, it's part of the experience. Enjoy every second. It will only come once.
C) I know I'm biased, but photographs are really one of the only things you will take away. Make sure you've booked someone you absolutely and completely are in love with because they'll capture these memories for you for forever.
I wish that I had an actual wedding instead of the eloping thing we did. I wanted more of the people I loved around me.
-What are some things that you loved about your wedding?
I liked almost everything about my wedding. We didn't spend a ton so it was more simple but that is perfectly "us." We had a good time and that's what was important to me.
-What are some things that if given the chance to do over you would have done differently?
The few things that I wasn't perfectly happy with were VERY minor. I wasn't really thrilled about my hair but it didn't really bother me much. Everyone else liked it. Also, there was an issue with my cake not being finished but luckily, my mom took care of that before I even knew what was going on.
Don't worry about that horror stories. I had so much anxiety before my wedding day that I was miserable and you know what? Stuff did happen that wasn't as planned but who cares? I was so glad the planning was done and we were finally getting married that nothing could have bothered me. I bet you will feel the same way. Do your planning but just remember that on the day of the wedding, when you see you future hubby waiting for you at the altar, everything else will fall away.
hey i'm a regular reader of your blog but i get it in google reader so i don't comment much. great news, congrats!!! :) love the ring! and the reason i crawled out of the woodwork was this - the one thing i wish i'd done differently at my wedding is: i wish i hadn't been so stressed out. i don't know if you watch sex and the city, but when charlotte is getting married the second time, carrie says to her that she's missing it, missing her wedding by stressing out, and that's so true! so if you can, think of it as a party with your friends and family, and try and have a good time! :) all the best!
I have been married a very long time, but I can say that the thing I remember the most about my wedding is the people who meant something to us, and the funny unexpected moments. The rest of it is actually pretty forgettable. You want to look nice, because it will be a day you are photographed more than any other, but you want to kill the stress. Think about who you are and how you entertain, and what you love. And then don't spend more than you can afford on it, and make sure that what you do spend is actually important. You will be shocked to find out how fabulous an inexpensive dress looks on a glowing bride - it's almost impossible to tell the difference between a $50,000 one and a $100 dollar one. My sister in law had an amazing white dress that was just a long beautiful dress, and she wore lavendar heels with it (her fave color). My neighbor bought her dress for $6 at Goodwill, took it in had it cleaned and it was stunning. My sister wore cowboy boots and a white cowboy hat with a small veil attached with a dress from Sears - she looked amazing and it was so her! It doesn't have to be perfect - but it should be you!
I bought a few wedding mags when we first got engaged and grew quickly bored of them, they are for people who have a lot of money and like fancy-pants weddings, which is not me.
My favorite things about our wedding was doing most things ourselves (our with the help of family and friends), and totally customizing everything to be exactly what we wanted. Normal wedding shenanigans that people do that nobody cares about, didn't have to do it! I loved scouring the internet for ideas and actually making them happen. I loved all our little DIY projects and all the fun things we did like have craft beers from our local brewery; our favors, our cupcakes, doing our entire music. It was so fun! :)
On that note, I love when people think out of the box and realize that their wedding doesn't have to be this cookie cutter thing. I'm helping a friend plan right now and they have giving guests mini individual pies instead of doing cake; and having a milk and cookie bar...stuff like that..people will always remember it and love that you did something so different. Plus, it's usually cheap :)
Pinterest wasn't really popular when I was planning and now I see how AWESOME it would be to use that!
I loved that our wedding didn't involve anything that we HAD to do. We made our ceremony and reception very personal to us, and cut any extras that were the norm when it comes to wedding planning, that had no meaning to us. People commented on how personal and great it all was, and no one missed the things you *have* to have. I wore purple shoes, Dave and the groomsmen wore regular black suits with black shirts, the girls dresses weren't the same shade of purple, and it was awesome. Do what YOU want to do. Not what magazines dictate.
I wouldn't have really done a lot differently. Maybe would have given our DJ a little more direction, and same for our photographer, but that's maybe it.
We didn't do favors (we had a photobooth so the picture was the favor, technically), but I love favors that have a use. Like a donation to a charity, a frame, something that you can use again, not just another candle or chocolate or something.
I agree with those that say make it personal. But, after 7 years and having just made a photo book with wedding pictures, here are a few things I suggest:
- Make sure you and your photographer are on the same page. I came away with hundreds of pictures of the same people, same poses, same everything. I only have one official picture of my husband and I. ONE.
- Make sure you listen to other people's suggestions (because you might actually like them) but if you don't like, don't do it. I ended up in a wedding dress that did not make me feel like a bride, nor did it make me feel special.
- Only make your hubby-to-be be involved if he wants to. It's really not worth the fight to decide on colors together if he really doesn't care. I let my hubby pick out the tux and that was about it, but I wish I had gotten his input on more because he wanted to be involved.
- Don't spend a bunch of money you don't have and then think about all that you could have done with it after the wedding. No matter how you slice it, this is still only one day and the fact that you are making one of the most important decisions of your life should always outshine the desire to make sure everyone else will be happy.
I could go on, but I'll stop. Congratulations!!!
oh man i'd say the biggest tip i'd give here that i loved was that we had a say in every single person that was invited. yeah our parents invited friends but it wasn't random friends of theirs we'd never met, every single person that came knew us and we knew them and to me that was awesome.
also, i loved that we didn't use traditional wedding music AT ALL. our bridal party walked to a song by G. Love & Tristan Prettyman and I walked down the aisle to the All You Need is Love version from Love Actually :)
anyhoo congrats again and woo weddingness!
Post a Comment