I attended a wedding a few weekends ago. Here is what I learned:
1. If you choose a site where the dance floor is in an awkward place, it will make a difference. Very few people watched the first dance, and it made the bride and groom feel separated from the guests who weren’t into dancing.
2. This goes with the end of number one, but make sure you pay attention to all of your guests at some point. Yes, you are the bride (or groom) and they could easily come up to you, but they did come to see you and celebrate your marriage. If you plan on spending the night on the dance floor, make sure you take the time to first visit with your guests who don’t plan on that. Also, everybody has best friends, but there are other guests at your wedding too! Keep that in mind.
3. It’s your first day being married. Enjoy it! Don’t worry about the small stuff! It’s ok to be around your new husband (or wife) during the entire reception. People will understand!
4. Photography is more important than you may realize. Don’t skimp out! That’s all I’ll say for now, as I think my next post will be about this.
5. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a dress, but try not to just “settle” on one. It’s the only wedding dress you will get, and you will regret it for a long time if you don’t get the one you really want. Many brides don’t get the feeling of finding the one, but you know what you love and what you don’t. It doesn’t have to give you an amazing feeling, but it should still make you feel good!
6. If you decide to write your own vows, make sure you actually take the time to do it. You only get one chance, so don’t wait until the last minute and forget to add things you wanted to say! And brides, if your groom isn’t comfortable with writing and reading his own vows it will show. Don’t force him into it. Guests will know if his vows are a modified version of something he found on Google!
7. I’m all for budget-friendly weddings, but you might want to think twice about a Sunday wedding. If you want a certain feel for your wedding that a Sunday can achieve then go for it! However, if you want a dance-all-night “traditional” wedding a Sunday just might not cut it. Guests have to work on Monday and their kids might have school, so they won’t stay as long as they would for a wedding on a Friday or Saturday. That’s just something to consider when choosing what day of the week you want your wedding on!
I hope that some of that advice helps one of you! As always, these are just my observations and obviously not everybody will agree.
My life is finally calming down. I am done with the big move, and I’m about all settled in. When I was packing, I collected all of my wedding stuff from throughout all of the rooms, and I started putting it in a big trash bag so I could move it to the new place. Well, I ended up filling up the whole bag! So, please, make sure you are more organized than me! I finally got a big plastic tub with drawers. I’d show you a picture, but for some reason I can’t get it to post. Anyway, that has helped a lot! I definitely recommend something like that to stay organized.
I better go finish unpacking. I feel like the boxes are reproducing every time I turn around! Good luck planning!