The Best Wedding Planning Advice You Ever Got

Mawwiage….Mawwiage is what bwings us togethew today 🙂

Kidding aside, of course, the ultimate goal after your gorgeous wedding is to be married and spend your life together. But the wedding day is part of the marriage and part of the forever together as you will be married to your wedding photos forever.  And now you have to do all the wedding planning to make sure it’s the best and most memorable day for you both.  That is no easy task, it’s basically a second job.  So let me share a little insight and advice with you.

I was just looking at my prom pictures and seeing all the things I loved about my photos (how young I looked, how happy I was, how much I loved my dress). I was also looking at all of the things I wish I had done differently (corny prom backdrop, hair choices and the pre and post after parties). Now imagine your prom photos, times a hundred and basically that is how important it is to do your wedding day right.  Live it for the momentous day that it is, soak it all in and capture it the way you want to remember it for the rest of your life.

I have some advice for my brides and grooms that are planning their wedding days and, of course, since it is there first and hopefully only time, doing it right the first time. Here is the best wedding planning advice you need to know to make your wedding day amazing and memorable without the stress: (continue below for the advice!)

Wedding Planning Advice For The Happy Couple!

1. Hire a planner – I cannot stress this one enough. Planners are more than just a wealth of knowledge. They triple check that all of your ducks are in a row, all your boxes for each important detail are checked. They have vetted your vendors and made sure they are just as dedicated to the day as you are. Planners have contingency plans, they coordinate the setup and clean up and behind the scenes dirty work that needs to be done but no one wants to do. Things like making sure there are enough bathrooms to accommodate 200 people. You don’t want to be thinking about that on your wedding day. You want the memories, not the hassles.

2. Start 3 totes and label them – Getting Ready, Ceremony and Reception. Do this a month before the wedding. Start putting items in to those totes as you get them. Put them in as soon as possible so that you aren’t doing it the day before the wedding or forgetting important items to bring.

3. Don’t Jump the Gun – I know it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement as soon as you get engaged. Everyone wants to set a date, reserve your venue, etc. And you definitely shouldn’t wait too long but trust me and look at a few options, I’d say at least 5, before you book things. I’ve met many a bride who got hung up on a date or venue and fell to the pressure of booking quickly and then had buyer’s remorse. Not to mention a lot of trouble with the rest of the planning because the date was so popular that all the other people they wanted to hire were booked. Go ahead and take a few weeks to really consider your options and a place that you BOTH really love.

4. Write it down – Tattoo it on your hand –It’s OUR wedding day. I don’t know why but when people get married, all of a sudden there are a lot of opinions and agendas. Regardless of who pays, who is delegated a task, or who is coming to the wedding, this is still YOUR day and you want to be happy about the day. And more than happy, over the moon blown away thrilled. So set those boundaries early so there are no issues later.

5. Pinterest is not a real wedding day – Don’t get me wrong, Pinterest has great ideas and inspiration. Wedding blogs are the same. However, those are someone else’s perfect day or catchy trends that may fizzle out in a year or two. While some ideas are fun, if they aren’t authentically you, don’t put a lot of effort into being different or one of a kind so that your wedding gets on a wedding blog. Focus on what makes you happy, what’s important for you to remember in 30 years and things you will still love 30 years from now.

6. Let it go – There are some things you just have to let go, hand it over to someone else or realize that it won’t make or break your wedding day. What you really don’t want to remember is the headaches, the things that went wrong or what you should have done. You want to remember actual happy memories, people that you love and how your partner looked at you with such affection.

7. Write your own vows – This one is really more for sentimental value than to keep you sane. These handwritten words about how you both came to love each other so, and your dreams for the future, and to have that piece of paper to look back on fondly or even to remind you in hard times is really important. Trust me.

Do you have any wedding planning advice that I didn’t mention? Tell me about it in the comments below!

If you’re planning a wedding and interested in having me photograph it, contact me right away!