Stylish Events

I can’t believe it – I’m married! My wedding took place this past Saturday – on Halloween – and it turned out to be one of the best nights of my life. I learned a lot, many things went wrong, and I figured out how to let go and delegate. Just a little back story for those of you who don’t know how the week before my wedding went: I was hospitalized exactly one week before my wedding for 5 days. Do you know how much stuff I planned to do in those five days? Well, it either got done by someone else or didn’t get done at all. When I got out of the hospital, three days before my wedding, I had to attempt to relax and get better. I’m so thankful for all of my friends and family who pulled together to make our wedding day come together. On top of being sick, our adopted dog had seven puppies the day before the wedding – we didn’t know she was pregnant when we adopted her. Talk about a wedding present.

I have some advice for brides-to-be after experiencing my own wedding. I hope it helps!

1. On the day of the wedding, enjoy yourself and let everything go. If it didn’t get done, don’t stress about it. You only get one day and you should make the most of it. I had planned on making large rose centerpieces for the cocktail hour, rehearsal dinner menus, signs for the dessert bar, and sugar cookies resembling mini wedding cakes – and none of it got done. However, none of the guests knew and I got tons of compliments on the décor, dessert bar, food, etc.

2. If something goes wrong, let someone else deal with it. We had an amazing day-of wedding coordinator, Liz Stevens of That Wedding, and hiring a day-of coordinator was the best decision we made. Once I got to the chapel, I didn’t have to worry about anything. I got to enjoy the ceremony and reception without stressing out. We also had a great event coordinator at the reception site, Natalie at the Blacksburg Country Club, and she set up the centerpieces, dessert bar, and linens perfectly.

I seriously recommend that every couple get a day-of coordinator if you can. It’s well worth the cost.

3. Do what you want and don’t get caught up in “what you should do.” Let your personalities guide your ceremony and reception. I didn’t have a garter, toss my bouquet, or have a wedding cake. We planned almost every word of our ceremony, so it would match how we felt about each other. We got A LOT of compliments on our ceremony, and the guests were really impressed that we planned every detail. They all thought it resembled us as a couple.

We also had about forty people at our rehearsal dinner which took place at the best burger joint in town. The restaurant shut down for us, so we could have a private party. It was casual, took place at our favorite restaurant, and allowed half of the guests to get to know each other in a fun way before the big day. Some people looked at us funny when we told them about our rehearsal dinner, but it ended up being a complete success.

I got some pressure to take pictures with my husband-to-be before the ceremony, so we could attend the cocktail hour – but we both really wanted to wait to see each other until I was walking down the aisle. I’m glad that we followed our hearts, because that was a magical moment for both of us – and the pictures didn’t take very long after the ceremony. Just do what feels right and you won’t have any regrets.  

4. Take it all in. The wedding day goes by pretty fast, so take in every moment every time you get the chance. I remember sitting at the hair salon getting my hair curled and thinking to myself how lucky I felt to be marrying my guy. When we were waiting to walk down the aisle, I closed my eyes and listened to the music and realized the significance of the moment. When I got to the end of the aisle, I made sure to take a moment to just relax and take it all in. I tried to remain as present as possible during the entire ceremony and just let myself enjoy the reception. Some brides will scare you by saying that the day will fly by and be over before you realize it – but it’s really up to you how present you are during your big day.

And, of course, I will be sharing details from my wedding day with you as soon as I get the pictures from our photographer….so stay tuned!

In: Wedding Planning | tags: wedding advice. | #