5 General Tips for Brides + Our Wedding Video! | 2 Year Anniversary
Good Morning! Today J and I are celebrating TWO years of marriage! Where the heck has the time gone! I remember this day like it was yesterday. A year's worth of planning for the most perfect celebration and the most magical day of my life was already two stinking years ago! This is pure proof that life goes by so fast when you are having fun. Your wedding day is amazing, but I promise you, the day after and all the days after that are the best days of your life. Yes, there are obstacles (can you say sneaking in your shopping bags while your husband is mowing the lawn??) hehe I'm kidding, kind of :) As a way to relive the best day of my life I'm going to be sharing 5 general tips for all of you brides to be! These are very general- I could dive into a whole series of an actual timeline of day off, planning, showers etc if that is something you all would want to see, but in the mean time- these general tips are 5 that I am soo happy I did!
Feel free to scroll all the way to the bottom if you're interested in watching our wedding video! It is by far one of my FAVORITE things to look back on and it's like we're reliving the moment again.
- Hire a wedding planner! Alright, I ALMOST did not do this one because my mom has literally planned and coordinated like 5 or 6 weddings, however hiring an actual wedding planner will be the smartest thing you ever did. We generally planned and created everything ourselves, but our wedding planner was able to coordinate all of the little things that we frankly were not going to have the time to do closer to the wedding or definitely the day of. If you want to still play a part in the creative and planning side of it, just tell your planner that right off the bat and they will completely understand. They are there to help you with anything you ask of them. For instance something so small as my mom and my MOH learned to bustle my dress at my final fitting, but when that time came, my mom was already greeting guests and my MOH was already at the champagne ice luge! HAHA I'm joking, she was helping me bustle my dress, but my coordinator has done a million and hooked it up in no time! Little things like that make having someone like a wedding planner SOOO worth it.
- Take it all in. I remember so many people telling me ah its going to be a blur, you wont eat, you won't really remember much, but that's ok. I was like heck no it's not!!! So from the moment my bridesmaids and I left my parents house to head to the church to get ready I remember soaking every last detail in. I made a commitment to take snapshots in my mind and a deep breath so I could truly remember these memories and it worked! Every so often I would take a step back and think to myself: look around, take it in, this is our wedding. I honestly had maybe once glass of champagne the whole night because I was just having so much fun visiting with our guests, dancing with Justin and our friends and admiring the beauty of our ceremony and reception. (another tip: If you are having a sit down dinner, have the caterer bring you and your groom the main dish first while everyone else is eating the starters etc.. you'll be able to get a little in your belly and have time to visit each table while the guests are finishing their meal!)
3. Hire a band! This is one we teetered around a little, but having a band was a great decision! Everyone is more likely to get up and dance with some live music!
4 Take a peek! This was suggested by a friend, best idea ever! After our pictures while everyone was still in the courtyard enjoying cocktail hour, Justin and I were able to go into our reception before our guests came in. We were able to look at the area as a whole and it was such a special moment for the two of us alone- no photographers, no coordinators, just the two of us looking at the beautiful reception we had at our wedding.
5. Do what makes you happy. I know it may be very tempting to ask everybody opinions about everything, don't do it. Have one or two other people who truly know you (mom, sisters, fiance) and those are the only people I would ask opinions from. Not saying that other opinions are bad, but you know what you want- especially in a dress and other's may not have that same eye or taste in style and that's ok, but you don't want to be second guessing every decision you were (once) super excited about! You know what you want the wedding to be like in a whole and if you give little bits here and there, other's might not "get it" So do what you want, this is your wedding and any way you slice it, it will be beautiful because two people are confessing their love for a lifetime.
(6!) Extra tip! HAVE FUN! Weddings can be stressful, yes. The planning up to it and the day off can seem like it will be very exhausting, but just go with it. I was curious with myself how I would be on my wedding day (I'm a very particular person and usually like when things go perfect) and I remember getting my hair and makeup done and some of my bridesmaids saying "ok don't freak out, but it's pouring outside" (our wedding was inside, but I wanted our pictures outdoor) and I remember looking at them and say ehh it's ok, I'm sure it'll pass...they were like ummmm...ok.... haha at that point I knew I couldn't control the things that were in God's hands and you know what? It ended up being a BEAUTIFUL summer night and I was so stress free the entire day. I knew God had me in his arms the whole day and I am extremely grateful for that.
Alright, well that's all for today, folks! Hope you enjoyed this post and a little glimpse into our personal life and the best day so far! Feel free to watch our AMAZING video below! I appreciate you all for stopping by today!! PS we were helping my parents move and paint furniture all weekend so I'm sorry yesterday's post didn't get up! I've got a super cute outfit from the Nordstrom sale that will be going up tomorrow and in the mean time, check out Saturday's post with the SOFTEST and cutest shirt- I can't wait to wear it all Fall!
https://vimeo.com/113537011