I think everyone reflects on their wedding and thinks of tips to pass on to the next friend who will be getting married. My wedding was only two years ago and it was great! I had a blast and tried my best to live in the moment. Here are my tips and what I learned:
- Split up thank you notes. I don't think this is the job of the bride only. Gifts are for both the bride and groom, and will be used together in their future life. We decided to split our thank you notes so that Todd wrote to his family and friends and I wrote to mine. I think it makes things more personal when it’s coming from the person you know. And it also brings the groom in to make him feel part of everything.
- Plan your photos. I am a pretty laid back person, but when it came to our photos, I knew I had to be prepared. I created a list of all the photos I wanted so we could make sure we got everything. Between all the variations of the family, bridal party and bride/groom shots, there's a lot to keep track of! I wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything. I googled "wedding must-have photos" and used that as a starting point and modified where I wanted.
- Don't add stress. The photographer mentioned traveling to different locations to get some great shots. I knew we would have been able to get some amazing shots, but I also knew this would really stress me out. Even if we kept it to bride and groom shots, it made me nervous to be traveling around town, hoping to get back to the reception site on time. Although I sometimes wish we had done this, I was also so happy to have some down time with my bridal party and family before everything got crazy. In my mind, I avoided unnecessary stress and anxiety, and that made the day calm.
- Make sure you join the celebration. Although you will be concerned with talking to every guest, thanking them for attending, it is also important to enjoy your day. Everyone wants to talk to you, but if what you want is to dance with your friends and new husband, you should make sure you have time for that too! Todd and I had a "let loose" deadline of when we were going to just join the celebration and have fun. We tried our best to talk to everyone, but we also wanted to enjoy the celebration and have fun with everyone who was there.
- Don't be a bridezilla. I know it's "Your Day" (technically your husband’s too) but don't go crazy with requests of your bridal party and family. They are all there and excited to support you, but when requests start to border on ridiculous, they will start to resent you! The last thing you want is an angry bridal party smiling through clenched teeth counting down the minutes until the day is over! Yes, you want your day to be perfect, but this event is about more than one day; it's about your marriage. You and your partner are committing your love for each other and celebrating your decision to be united for the rest of your life in front of all your friends and family. That is really what your wedding day is all about!
No matter what, enjoy the journey! Everyone seems to have an opinion about everything when it comes to a wedding. People will tell you what they did or what they wanted to change, and why their way is right. Their way was right because it was what THEY wanted! It might not be right for you for a variety of reasons, and that's fine. You want a DJ but they say a band is better? You want a sit down dinner but so-and-so said their buffet idea was better. Do what YOU want because it's your wedding! Everyone is working with his or her own budgets and preferences. Each couple has different desires and wants different things. Your guests are there to celebrate your union and you will have fun no matter what! All the guests want is to see the bride and groom having a great time. Seeing everyone dancing and enjoying each other makes for a great wedding celebration!
Katie Kozloff-Banks, Wyomissing, is the owner of Taffy Activewear and Katie K Active. Her closets are full of fun activewear! Her favorite activewear lines, besides her own, include Puma and Reebok. Check out her collection at katiekactive.com.
