Wedding Newly marrieds - got advice?

[zoebartlett]

Date: 4/18/2008 10:33:51 AM
Author: Independent Gal
One more thing: I know there are a few other couples on here who have a massive height difference (DH = 6''5'' Indy = 5''2''). It is really hard to get good pictures with that kind of height difference. Ask your photographer beforehand to try to engineer some.

Yep, there are! I''m not sure I wuould have thought of that so thanks for the tip! Congrats Indy!!

 

[KimberlyH]

I''m so glad I:

Decided to pick the things that mattered to me to focus on (great food, beautiful location, a communal dining experience, pleasant background music) and let go of the rest.

Kept DH in mind when picking my dress (alright, he actually chose it, but for brides and grooms who want the suprise, I think it''s important to think about his tastes as well as yours).

Honored our deceased family members who couldn''t be there.

Ate, drank and enjoyed every minute of our reception.

Involved my DH in every step of planning. Even if all he did was tag along (willingly) it was so nice that we were in it together.

Never got "stressed." Even when my MIL had emergency back surgery 3 weeks before the wedding both DH and I managed to keep everything in perspective.

Chose a fun and meaningful song to walk down the aisle, with my dad, to.

Asked my dad to speak, even though he hates public speaking. His toast was so meaningful.

I wish I had:

Hydrated. I ended up with one killer migraine immediately after our reception that kept me up all night and almost made us miss our honeymoon).

Sat next to my MIL. She got settled in at the end of the table, next to her nurse and dear friend and I didn''t take the time to move her. I so wish I had, as I know it was a very important day for her as well, and I feel like I dropped the ball.

Invited my closest friends. We had a very small wedding, and with family alone I had twice as many guests as DH. I thought it wouldn''t bother me that my friends weren''t there, but reflecting back their presence was certainly missed.

 

[Fancy605]

Date: 4/18/2008 12:39:53 PM
Author: SarahLovesJS

Date: 4/18/2008 12:31:11 PM

Author: mimzy

this thread is making me nervous! i''m flaky by nature and i have a feeling that that fact coupled with the fact that something WILL go wrong is making me think that i am going to make the whole thing a disaster!. for the first time i''m freaking out, and i still have 8 more months!

. there is just too much to think about and organize!

Only thing I am more worried about is that''ll it''ll rain at my wedding ahhhhh!! No rain pleaseeee!

You know, I was a little worried about that too, and then it DID rain on my wedding day. It rained all day, and I just decided, "oh well, we''ll just get a little wet on the way to the front of the chucrh and won''t get outdoor pics. Indoor ones will do." But then, miraculously, the rain quit at about 4:45, which was right in time for me to walk from the bridal room to the front of the church (the only way to do it was to go around the outside). And it didn''t start back up again until the second we got under the awning at the reception hall. I was SO grateful for that.

 

[FrekeChild]

Is it weird that I want it to rain on my wedding day?

 

[Independent Gal]

It''s a little weird! Although DH was saying that it would be so beautiful to have a snowstorm on our wedding day. NOT going to happen, but it was a thought!

We did have a fireplace on at our venue. So lovely.

 

[luckystar112]

Hey Indie...

The thread went bye-bye just as I was typing my message, but I just wanted to tell you that I loved your dress for WP2...you totally ROCKED IT!
And I''m so glad you used "formal with flair". Tee-hee...that was my suggestion in the old thread.


End threadjack!

 

[Independent Gal]

Thanks Lucky! I remember now that that was your suggestion. Nice work Missy!

 

[Elmorton]

Re rain: My jeweler has a promo called "Pray for Rain" - if it rains an inch, your ring is free (keep in mind, 1 in rain= 6 in snow, it would have to be a monsoon!), so DH and I kept on saying we'd rather have a ton of rain than have to have our wedding inside because of the heat. A friend of mine had a beautiful rain wedding -her indoor location had a bunch of windows in the front, so you could see the drops coming down...really pretty!

 

[Selkie]

Date: 4/19/2008 5:57:11 PM
Author: luckystar112
Hey Indie...

The thread went bye-bye just as I was typing my message, but I just wanted to tell you that I loved your dress for WP2...you totally ROCKED IT!

And I''m so glad you used ''formal with flair''. Tee-hee...that was my suggestion in the old thread.

End threadjack!

OK, so I''m not crazy! I saw the WP2 thread earlier-did Indy take it down?

 

[Elmorton]

Selkie, I think she did - she had some photos of family members and said that she was uncomfortable having those up, but did want to show them off momentarily

 

[HollyS]

Here are the best things we did:

1) Pictures before the ceremony. Those photos are so much better than we expected; absolutely beautiful; and the alone time with your soon-to-be mate is precious. Also, we hired one of the best photographers in our area; happily she is also a good friend and took wonderful pictures, tweaking us just enough to make us look almost ''glamorous''!

2) Seated everyone at small, intimate round tables with people they already knew; no awkward small talk with complete strangers was necessary for anyone.

3) Family photos, especially every generation''s wedding portraits, were on display in silver frames.

4) Personally chose the (Bible) readings that had meaning for us; and had our dearest friends do the readings.

5) Hired a classical guitarist for Processional and Recessional (and pre-ceremony music). We chose a Bach piece that had significant meaning for the Processional and the Recessional was the guitarist''s own composition which he had never played at a weddinig before. Made it special and unique for us.

6) We had such a small wedding (65 invited, 60 attended) that we did not do a receiving line. It only took a few minutes for us to personally greet (and have pictures taken with) nearly everyone in attendance. Oddly enough, I don''t remember my photographer even snapping my picture except in posed shots!

7) Chose to use a small country inn in a town known for its wedding industry. They were perfect, down to the last detail. They did the catering (scrumptious) and the decorating (coordinated with my florist at no cost to me), the cake (OMG yummy!!), the set up and clean up, an on-site planner who handled everything . . . . God bless them.

Had the photographer take candid (only semi-posed) shots of family and friends. As a result, we have some really beautiful photos of our most precious loved ones.

Things I''d have done differently:

Hmmm..... made sure Dad had his regular glasses on for the walk down the aisle. He had some amber-colored sunglasses on his face which I didn''t notice until we got the photo proofs! And I gotta ditto neatfreak: wear the Spanx and the long line bra!! My salon told me my dress was boned so a long-line bra was unnecessary and would be hot. Wear it anyway!! My silicone ''boobie-cups'' were also hot, and not as effective!

 

[surfgirl]

Things I''m glad I/we did:

1. Didn''t invite anyone except the Bride and Groom

2. Splurged on a great photographer

3. Splurged on a really special accommodation for wedding night and mini-moon.

4. Splurged on a great bra & Spanx for underneath the wedding dress.

5. Wore a veil for the ceremony (it''s the only time in my life I''ll ever get to wear a veil, right? And it felt very bridal)

6. Took the time to find the right officiant for us and it made all the difference. She made us feel so special and we were able to write up a beautiful ceremony that was amazing, with her help. You need to click with the person marrying you (IMO).

Things I wish we''d done differently:

Nothing.

 

[icekid]

You know, it''s completely out of character for me- but I was the anti-bridezilla. I''m normally super OCD / type A / perfectionist, you get the idea. But I wanted the wedding to be a good, fun memory. I really didn''t stress until we had DJ issues 3 days pre-wedding. I let my girls pick their dresses. Hubby and little bro chose the tuxes. MIL was obsessed w/ little details like programs, so I let her have at it. The most important thing to me was that everyone we love was there with us and having a good time. In the end, does it matter if the flowers are perfect? Those aren''t the things that I remember most about our day. So my advice- RELAX, enjoy, and just let the day happen.

 

[Elmorton]

Oohhh - I thought of another thing I was surprised by/didn''t expect from the wedding:

I was SO freaked out about having to be on the dance floor all night - it seems like every wedding I go to, the bride is out on the dance floor the entire time, and I''m just not a dance all night girl!

But..I was the first one out on the floor, and with only a few exceptions, I stayed there and had a great time. I couldn''t believe how quickly 3 hours of dancing flew.