Since I got so much helpful advice from previous brides, especially the July 2010 knotties, I felt that I had to return the favor and give the July 2012 brides some advice that made my life a lot easier!
Rule #1: The Knot is your new best friend, join your local board and your monthly board and get to know the girls on each, they can give you advice, you can give them advice, it will make planning your dream day so much easier. And you'll become great friends with these girls that you'll want to keep talking to even after you wedding day has past.
Pre Wedding Advice:
When it comes to DIY projects, start them as early as you can. As soon as you've confirmed your ceremony and reception times and locations start making your invitations. It will feel so good to have these things out of the way in the last month or so before the wedding when you have all of the little last ends to tie up to not have to worry about all of your DIY projects.
Make a to do list of absolutely everything you have to do for your wedding, from things to decide, to things to buy, to things to book, absolutely everything. It will seem scary and intimidating at first to see how many things need to be done, but it will help you prioritize which things to do first and stay organized. And as you get each item done, check it off, you will feel accomplished!
Make a list of must take photos for your photographer, and also give the same list to family members on eah side of the family so they can help you coordinate everyone the day of the wedding. This way you get all the shots you want on your big day and eliminate worrying about it when the big day comes. Also do the same with must take shots for your videographer too.
Speaking of videographers, definitely splurge on it, sure photographs are great but nothing beats hearing you and your new husband saying your vows, watching your dad and your maid of honor and your husbands best man give speeches talking about old times and watching you and your new husband take your first dance as husband and wife. If you can find room in your budget for videography, most definitely do it, you wont regret it.
When it comes to photography, definitely do an engagement session, not only will it make great pictures to feature in your save the dates but also it will give you a chance to know your photographer and his or her style and give your photographer a chance to know what you and your fiance really want from your wedding photos.
With all vendors, get EVERYTHING in writing, from what time everyone will arrive, how long it will take them to set up, what their rate covers, etc. Remember you can never be to detailed, and if they are difficult about it, remember you are paying them!
And most importantly, smile and remember you are doing all of this to make the day you marry the man of your dreams perfect. And even if some little things go wrong, which they are bound to, at the end of the day you are still married to the man you love!
Day of Wedding Advice:
Try to get a good nights sleep the night before. I know its hard with worrying and nerves but try. I think I maybe got 3 hours of sleep the night before, I was basically running on pure adrenaline the entire day, but when we sat down in the limo at the end of the night, I felt it!
Eat something the morning of the wedding, my stomach was super upset due to nerves, but I forced myself to eat breakfast, fruit, a blueberry muffin, and a mimosa!
Take a pain reliever before you get your hair done in the morning, it will make it way less painful when they are pulling your hair in a million different directions. If you try to take it afterward it takes a while to kick in.
If you can, definitely have your photographer get getting ready pictures of you and your ladies and your husband and his guys. We had everyone from the moms, to my aunts, to our flower girls and of course me and my two maids at my parents house that morning all getting ready together, it helped keep me calm having all them there. And the dads, my uncle, our ring bearer and hubby and his two men were all at our house getting ready together. I cant wait to see the photos and video both our photographer and videographer captured.
No matter how nervous you are the morning of, please know that as soon as you see your groom all your nerves will magically melt away!
Build in extra time, we got done with family photos early, which gave us time to stop for food and beverages before we headed to the park for bridal party photos, and thankfully extra time to stop back by the house after bridal party pictures to get me new shoes.
On that note, no matter how comfortable your shoes are now, they will not be after the day of the wedding, I literally walked around the park we had our pictures taken at in the middle of July barefoot because my shoes rubbed blisters on both of my big toes. Thank goodness we had time to run by our house before the reception to pick up my white flip flops.
Realize now that there will be little hiccups the day of, also realize that you will probably be the only one that notices. There were a few little things that went wrong on our big day, like scraping up against the garage door track at my parents house as we were leaving to head to the ceremony and getting grease all down the side of my dress and having to scrub it off while we drove, to our DJ thinking he was performing our ceremony when we already had an officiant, to there not being champagne ready on the head table at the reception for the toasts (they finally brought it to us during the best man's speech, we jokingly toasted with the salt and pepper shakers until then) to the DJ misreading the clock on her laptop and announcing the last dance for guests half an hour early, but nothing was going to ruin the day for us. I went in with the mind set that if little things went wrong I was just going to keep smiling and brush them off, and thats what I did!
Take time during the day to just step back and take everything in. Pause for a moment before walking down the aisle to look at everyone who is there for you two, and then when you do walk down the aisle remember to smile and look at no one but your soon to be husband. Take time at the reception while everyone is dancing and talking to look around and see how happy everyone is for you. The day will fly by, so enjoy every single second of it, because you'll get in the limo to leave the reception and you and your hubby will say to each other "Is it really 10:00 already?" just like we did!
Don't worry about wedding night lingerie. If your dress is like mine, you'll need your hubby to help you get out of it, and once you're out of it, you're not gonna want to get dressed again and he's not going to want to let go of you! Save all the sexy numbers for the honeymoon!
Post wedding advice:
If you are changing your name, do the SS office first, and get their first thing in the morning, we got there as soon as they opened and were in and out in 20 minutes. When you go to the DMV, the key is to just be patient, to change your name on your drivers license and your car title, you will probably need to go to two different people, just be patient and try to keep a positive attitude, when you are getting frustrated just think of your wedding or your honeymoon it made me smile when I was ready to scream at the woman running the drivers license line.
Rule #1: The Knot is your new best friend, join your local board and your monthly board and get to know the girls on each, they can give you advice, you can give them advice, it will make planning your dream day so much easier. And you'll become great friends with these girls that you'll want to keep talking to even after you wedding day has past.
Pre Wedding Advice:
When it comes to DIY projects, start them as early as you can. As soon as you've confirmed your ceremony and reception times and locations start making your invitations. It will feel so good to have these things out of the way in the last month or so before the wedding when you have all of the little last ends to tie up to not have to worry about all of your DIY projects.
Make a to do list of absolutely everything you have to do for your wedding, from things to decide, to things to buy, to things to book, absolutely everything. It will seem scary and intimidating at first to see how many things need to be done, but it will help you prioritize which things to do first and stay organized. And as you get each item done, check it off, you will feel accomplished!
Make a list of must take photos for your photographer, and also give the same list to family members on eah side of the family so they can help you coordinate everyone the day of the wedding. This way you get all the shots you want on your big day and eliminate worrying about it when the big day comes. Also do the same with must take shots for your videographer too.
Speaking of videographers, definitely splurge on it, sure photographs are great but nothing beats hearing you and your new husband saying your vows, watching your dad and your maid of honor and your husbands best man give speeches talking about old times and watching you and your new husband take your first dance as husband and wife. If you can find room in your budget for videography, most definitely do it, you wont regret it.
When it comes to photography, definitely do an engagement session, not only will it make great pictures to feature in your save the dates but also it will give you a chance to know your photographer and his or her style and give your photographer a chance to know what you and your fiance really want from your wedding photos.
With all vendors, get EVERYTHING in writing, from what time everyone will arrive, how long it will take them to set up, what their rate covers, etc. Remember you can never be to detailed, and if they are difficult about it, remember you are paying them!
And most importantly, smile and remember you are doing all of this to make the day you marry the man of your dreams perfect. And even if some little things go wrong, which they are bound to, at the end of the day you are still married to the man you love!
Day of Wedding Advice:
Try to get a good nights sleep the night before. I know its hard with worrying and nerves but try. I think I maybe got 3 hours of sleep the night before, I was basically running on pure adrenaline the entire day, but when we sat down in the limo at the end of the night, I felt it!
Eat something the morning of the wedding, my stomach was super upset due to nerves, but I forced myself to eat breakfast, fruit, a blueberry muffin, and a mimosa!
Take a pain reliever before you get your hair done in the morning, it will make it way less painful when they are pulling your hair in a million different directions. If you try to take it afterward it takes a while to kick in.
If you can, definitely have your photographer get getting ready pictures of you and your ladies and your husband and his guys. We had everyone from the moms, to my aunts, to our flower girls and of course me and my two maids at my parents house that morning all getting ready together, it helped keep me calm having all them there. And the dads, my uncle, our ring bearer and hubby and his two men were all at our house getting ready together. I cant wait to see the photos and video both our photographer and videographer captured.
No matter how nervous you are the morning of, please know that as soon as you see your groom all your nerves will magically melt away!
Build in extra time, we got done with family photos early, which gave us time to stop for food and beverages before we headed to the park for bridal party photos, and thankfully extra time to stop back by the house after bridal party pictures to get me new shoes.
On that note, no matter how comfortable your shoes are now, they will not be after the day of the wedding, I literally walked around the park we had our pictures taken at in the middle of July barefoot because my shoes rubbed blisters on both of my big toes. Thank goodness we had time to run by our house before the reception to pick up my white flip flops.
Realize now that there will be little hiccups the day of, also realize that you will probably be the only one that notices. There were a few little things that went wrong on our big day, like scraping up against the garage door track at my parents house as we were leaving to head to the ceremony and getting grease all down the side of my dress and having to scrub it off while we drove, to our DJ thinking he was performing our ceremony when we already had an officiant, to there not being champagne ready on the head table at the reception for the toasts (they finally brought it to us during the best man's speech, we jokingly toasted with the salt and pepper shakers until then) to the DJ misreading the clock on her laptop and announcing the last dance for guests half an hour early, but nothing was going to ruin the day for us. I went in with the mind set that if little things went wrong I was just going to keep smiling and brush them off, and thats what I did!
Take time during the day to just step back and take everything in. Pause for a moment before walking down the aisle to look at everyone who is there for you two, and then when you do walk down the aisle remember to smile and look at no one but your soon to be husband. Take time at the reception while everyone is dancing and talking to look around and see how happy everyone is for you. The day will fly by, so enjoy every single second of it, because you'll get in the limo to leave the reception and you and your hubby will say to each other "Is it really 10:00 already?" just like we did!
Don't worry about wedding night lingerie. If your dress is like mine, you'll need your hubby to help you get out of it, and once you're out of it, you're not gonna want to get dressed again and he's not going to want to let go of you! Save all the sexy numbers for the honeymoon!
Post wedding advice:
If you are changing your name, do the SS office first, and get their first thing in the morning, we got there as soon as they opened and were in and out in 20 minutes. When you go to the DMV, the key is to just be patient, to change your name on your drivers license and your car title, you will probably need to go to two different people, just be patient and try to keep a positive attitude, when you are getting frustrated just think of your wedding or your honeymoon it made me smile when I was ready to scream at the woman running the drivers license line.