Now having gone through the entire wedding process and
having one of the best days of my life, I can give my helpful tips and thoughts!
1.
Do not have super high perfection expatiations for the planning process. I am an over organized, over planned type of
person. Knowing that, I went into the wedding planning process thinking NOTHING
could go wrong –I was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! I loved the planning process but having to
work through all the little “hick-ups” that came along was disappointing. No matter how organized you are, you cannot
plan for others to be as organized (i.e.: vendors, shop owners, etc.). I had
all my hick-ups before the big day and every time one happened I just kept telling
myself “it is happening now because the big day will go smoothly” which it
did!!! BUT here are some tips to help make sure your vendors are on top of
their game…
a.
FIRST THINGS FIRST! Once engaged, figure out how
big and who you could not have your big day without! Then once that has been
decided give a max number to each party (bride, groom, brides’ parents, grooms’
parents) that way everyone is equal. Now when planning an over the top wedding this
should not be a problem, but when wanting a more personal wedding and having a smaller
church and reception venue, the issues of who not to invite comes up on every
side.
b.
Give yourself at least a year to plan the big
event! We personally did not have a hard time finding a venue for the reception
but I have close friends and family who are, and are over a year away and
cannot find a thing…EEEEEE !
c.
After ordering items call that next week to make
sure they ordered it correctly – extra items you added, correct color of
dresses, correct sizes, etc. This may seem excessive but believe me when you go
to pick up the Groom’s ring 5 months after ordering it and they have not even order
it yet, because they wrote your number down wrong and had been trying to call
you for an issue they came across, you don’t want the freak out I had-- with
my migraine!
d.
Pick vendors you have only heard great things
about and once meeting them you have full confidence in them. Once meeting my
wedding guru, Bruce Roy, who did our flowers, catering, and cakes, I knew he
would do an amazing job and all I would have to do is show up and everything
would be perfect – which it was! Now once meeting with the store owner who
ordered the bridesmaid dresses – she seemed a bit scattered minded So I did
call her to check on things often; and she still ended up getting a few things
wrong.
e.
LAST …Do not freak out over things—small or big!
Just keep calm and figure out how to fix it quickly. I had one freak out, but in
my defense, it was just because a few “hick-ups” happened the same day and to top
it off I had a migraine. At least that is what I am going to blame it on! ;) ;)
I have to say I do over-react most times
when things do not go my way but with this process I surprised myself in
staying quite calm and somewhat laughing it off from time to time. I do believe
the phrase by the end we used was “Can’t win for losing”
Now how I stayed organized was this…
1.
Get a wedding notebook to keep everything in.
Such as, contracts, business cards, bridesmaid dresses, groomsmen tuxes, notes,
ideas. Etc.
2.
Find a check list online for wedding planning with
timeline and tweak it for what you want.
3.
Set up a calendar schedule for when to do things and order items
by.
4.
Pinterest is a great reference for ideas but you
must stop looking once it’s only a few months away!
5.
Start a Facebook group for the wedding that way
everyone gets the same info. Also I started a group message with just the girls
because they have and do more during the wedding process than guys do.
6.
Plan out how you want your day to go. Figure out
what is important to you for the big day and how you want it to flow. Then talk
with your photographer. My photography Ashley Victoria Photography was amazing
to work with!! She took all the things I wanted to incorporate and then gave me
a minute to minute timeline for the entire day including the photos of who,
when, and what time!!
7.
Plan out your rehearsal the same way and/or talk
with you planner on how you want it to look like at the church before you get
there so it can go smoothly and quickly!
8.
Once it gets closer and closer, it will get a
bit more stressful and just remember to keep calm and make sure all the small
things get finished early and not to wait until the last minute. If you think of things the week before the
wedding just don’t do it. If you’re just then thinking of it, I promise you it
will not matter after it is all said and done!
Example: My mother and I had planned out
months in advanced what we wanted to put on the entry table at the church,
which included a burlap runner with a smaller lace runner placed over it. The day of rehearsal my mother decided she
wanted to thread a navy blue ribbon through the lace--yes it looked nice, but
that is definitely one thing we did not need to be dealing with the day of the
rehearsal!!! Believe me when I say the week of your wedding may seem like it is
going by so slowly when you’re waiting for you big day; but once it is Thursday
during wedding week you cannot believe the week flew by so fast! It is now just
a blur and don’t even know what I did the week of the wedding!
9. Add little things that makes the big day reflect you and him! Eric and I had funny childhood pictures on the bathroom door at the rehearsal dinner. Then at the wedding we had pictures of ourselves and couple pictures on the tables. We also had a framed timeline of our relationship, a reminder about staying around until our send-off at 10, and personalized mints to go with our Wounded Warrior cards.
10. Have the time of your life!!!
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