I did!
From the moment I first started writing about weddings, I’ve spent a countless time daydreaming not only about my own wedding, but also writing about it after.
When all was said and done, I would recap the once-in-a-lifetime-day and shed all the dirty little secrets about wedding planning.
As a newlywed of more than three months now, here’s the scoop.
1. No matter how organized you thought you were, you’ll still be (as nicely as possible) barking orders to everyone.
The truth is something will go wrong during the wedding, whether it’s super small (like a relative forgetting to bring those adorable pictures of your parents’ wedding) or having a full-blown wedding catastrophe (thankfully, there’s no example here). I went into the day remembering that at the end of the day, as long as I married my “bb” (baby, as we shorthand called each other), nothing else mattered.
Even if you’ve prepared everything to the smallest detail – printed out schedules and doled out responsibilities – the morning of your wedding will still be chaos. Embrace it, because let’s face it, when else will you have a whole room of people walking over each other to help make you look your best?
2. Your #squad might not be as helpful as you thought.
Every bride has expectations of how things are going to happen during the wedding. Maybe you’ve told one bridesmaid she’ll be responsible for choraling everyone to stick to the photo schedule, and maybe your guy’s best man happens to forget he’s supposed to look after the wedding rings. In reality, you’ll be doing things on the fly, like catching your wedding guests in the parking lot so they can help carry your train. You might have bridesmaids that do close to nothing you asked, or you might have a rockin’ squad that goes above and beyond.
3. You don’t NEED a professional wedding planner – I’m proof.
I love weddings, but when it came down to planning nitty-gritty details (like a day-of schedule, which, with so many moving pieces, can drive you mad), I wish someone more organized and detail-oriented would just swoop in to save me. At the end of the day things came together. Family and friends had a great time, no one noticed my less-than-perfect calligraphy skills and the little details ceased to matter. Wedding planners are great, and if they’re in your budget, go for it. But trust me, you don’t have to have a wedding planner to have a great wedding.
4. You WILL have “I wish I would have” thoughts post-wedding.
I’ve always hated the word regret and I won’t use that here, but it’s definitely natural to think “I wish I …” after the wedding. I wish my husband and I would have remembered to take a picture holding our parents’ wedding photos (the ones that never made it, if you’ve been following along). I wish we remembered to take a picture of all the immediate family members together, but remember – not everything will go exactly according to plan.
5. The day really goes by in just a flash.
It hardly seems fair that planning a wedding takes months or years (in our case nearly two years) – then, all of a sudden, it’s over. The most common advice I got from people leading up to the wedding was to enjoy every moment because the day goes by so fast. This is literally one of the most true things I’ve ever been told.
Your wedding day will be amazing (remember, don’t sweat the small stuff), and before you know it, you’ll be just like me – recounting the incredible memories.