Thirteen things I might have done differently

There are lots of weddings (and wedding planning) going on right now.  Four girls at work are getting married this year, and my best friend Jamie is getting married in October.  When I planned my September 2007 wedding I had only been to one wedding in five years, so I had no idea what I was doing at the time! After my wedding last year and hearing my friends’ experiences throughout the process, here are the things that I may have changed, or things I learned.

1)      Invite a few more people.  Bryan and I tried to keep our guest list very small to create an intimate wedding.  Our rule of thumb was that we both needed to know/have met each guest before the wedding.  Except for a few people (~ four) this went well.  Unfortunately in the process my mom cut out a close family friend that should have been invited.

2)      Do a trial hair-do.  I actually did one, which was great because it wasn’t good so I switched salons.  I only did a trial make-up at the new salon, though.  The stylist doing my hair did not like that, and the hair took a LONG time (two hours or something) to do.  I think a trial run would have stream-lined the process.

3)      Take pictures with almost every guest, especially family.  There is a special Aunt on my dad’s side who did the flower centerpieces, and I did not get a picture with her!  There are also a few other people I wish we’d had pictures with. 

4)      Don’t skimp on the photography.  The photography, more than anything else, is what you will be able to look at for years to follow.  Make sure you get what you want.  I liked our photographer, but looking back I would have liked more photojournalism.  He also missed a few moments/shots that I would have really liked to have.

5)      Make sure your videographer knows what she’s doing and knows the best vantage points.  The small church has a balcony that would have been nice spot for the videographer.

6)      Set two alarm clocks!  The whole day started off late (since that’s how I roll) when my alarm did not go off!  We were a little late to the hair appointment.  Looking back I would have set more than one alarm.  And set it extra early.

7)      Allow plenty of time the morning of!  Make sure you allow AMPLE time between hair and makeup and the ceremony.  We chose to do pictures before the ceremony and I wish we’d had more time!  We (the girls) were very rushed while dressing too.

8)      If you do pictures before the ceremony, wear your wedding rings!  I have naked hands in some of our pictures and it looks a little odd. J

9)      Have appetizers at the reception.  Somehow I forgot to do this. 

10)  Don’t choose to have your reception at a relative’s house.  There’s just so much room for error going that route.  We changed our location a month before the actual date, and it was a little messy.

11)  Make sure every guest knows of the changed reception location.  One couple went to the wrong place, so it took them a little while to make it to the right spot.

12)  Have your dad pick the daddy-daughter dance song and go with whatever he chooses.  Fiddler on the Roof (Sunrise, Sunset) wouldn’t have been bad.

13)  Have a slow last dance song.  For some silly reason I chose a fast remake of “Save the Best for Last” as our last song.