Married couples: is there anything you would have done differently when planning your wedding?

Question

I think the one thing I would have changed was making sure there was music at mine. We got married out in a natural setting, but I wish we had at least had a portable stereo for the music. Also our video camera really didn`t pick up the sound all that well (my brother`s wedding too). I probably would have had a microphone attached to the camera audio or at least had the camera closer to the minister.

If you like my question, give it a star! Then you can find it again easier and see the answers.

Answer 1

I would have hired someone to just oversee the wedding day. There was soo much going on that myself, mother and bridesmaids couldn't all supervise. We forgot to put the flowers on the cake once it arrived....my ring bearer forgot to grab his pillow on the way out (good thing it didn't have the ring on it!!) and the catering manager of the location put out my bridal portrait early so all the work we had done to keep me and my husband apart that day went down the drain when he walked out and saw a 11x14 of me in my gown before the ceremony.

Answer 2

The details really make a huge difference. Think about what would make an event memorable for you. Offer a great meal and drinks. Not having to fork out money for a cash bar really makes the difference for the guests. A great little take home item or memento is always nice. For my wedding I did a nostalgic candy buffet where each guest got to take home a huge bag of candy they hadn't seen since they were kids. I have been married for just over a year and every time I see people who attended the wedding they mention how cool that was. I also did a photo guest book. Each guests had their photo taken during cocktail hour and then it was put directly in to a book and then the got to write a message beside their photo. By the end of the night I had a photo album with a picture of every guests and a personal note from each of them. Make the time while you are getting pictures more fun for your guests by hiring a walk around magician or something else unique.

Answer 3

I think if there was anything I'd have done differently, it would have been to pick a prettier venue - we got married in a local UU church that had a simple and almost informal interior. The ceremony was outdoors in their "back yard", so that was fine, but the reception felt a little too casual to me.

On the other hand, there are a lot of things I'm very glad I *did* do, some of which are a little unconventional, so I'll share those too:

- I'm very glad I chose to not videotape the ceremony. I don't usually have any real desire to watch such things anyway, and a videotape would have captured *everything*, including any and all little things that perhaps I would rather not recall.

- I'm very glad I chose to make photography my primary expenditure. I have never been as happy with "homemade" photo albums as I have with those professionally done, and since this was going to be the primary source of memory-jogging, I wanted something I would be happy to look at. (I also kind of learned from my best friends - they brought in a very talented friend who made the proofs and negatives her gift to the couple, and eight years later they *still* don't have any wedding pictures because they've never sat down and gone through the proofs and picked out any to duplicate. And I would have been every bit as bad!)

- I'm very glad I chose to have a medieval theme to the clothing, since that allowed me to economize greatly (more money for photos!) and avoid the heartbreak of dress shopping (I'm a size 32).

Oh, one thing I would have done differently but that had nothing to do with planning the wedding: I would have made sure everybody was there before we started! One of my friends missed the ceremony because he was delayed in picking up stuff for the reception, and I have yet to forgive myself for it, even if he thinks it's funny.

Answer 4

Not at all!! I'd do it all over again in a New York minute.

When we got engaged, we knew straight away that we were having a big wedding (my MIL's side of the family accounded for 1/3 the guest list alone!) so we made the decision from the get-go that we were having a party. Plain and simple.

We're pretty laid-back people as it is, and we both decided that the marriage was more important than the party. That made planning EASY - after all, a good party has good food/drink, good music and lots of laughter. Once we lined up the reception hall/caterer and DJ, the rest was a cinch, and personalizing our day with our own touches was remarkably easy. There really wasn't anything that was worth getting upset over.

We ended up with a final guest list of OVER 500 (and almost all of them came!) and three years later, people are STILL talking about our wedding: how much fun it was, how much it reflected our personalities, how good the food was, etc.

Yup. I'd do it all over again. No regrets.

Answer 5

Absolutely! I would start by having a few xanex to cut the edge, telling my MIL to stop trying to run everything, telling the decorator to stomp pavement, and insisting that there be NO kids there! A bride should only cry tears of joy at her wedding, not tears of frusteration. Nah, I would have just gotten married beside a waterfall in a park with my best friend conducting the ceremony (she's ordained), and maybe his best friend as a witness. The memories of our wedding day are not pleasant at all. I guess the only thing that matters is that we are extremely happy with our marriage. But our 5 year anniversary and vow renewal is going to be done OUR way!!! This time there WILL be a waterfall.

Answer 6

Most important thing. Make sure you want a marriage and not just a wedding. There is a lot of hard work and give and take that comes with a marriage.
Make it what you want but a lot of things can be done inexpensively and made to look very nice.
Make sure you have someone to direct the wedding a family member or friend. The last thing you want to do is have to worry about a lot of last minute details.
Give your self plenty of time! Do not be rushed on the day of your wedding.

Answer 7

We had a very traditional church wedding and reception for about 200, and everything went extremely well, and it was a wonderful day!
However the 'done differently' part applies to a personal thing - when I got up the morning of the wedding and picked up my glasses to put them on, they broke in two at the nosepiece! I was horrified! Had no backup glasses, hadn't worn my contacts in too long so I couldn't wear them, and there was no place in my small city to get them repaired. I could attach them okay enough to drive, but went through the wedding not being able to see far away! Was fine for the ceremony, but a real pain at the reception!
So, women and men with corrective lenses, have a BACKUP - you never know!!!

Answer 8

if I remember I'll let you know in about 4 weeks. 8 0 ) But so far i cant see myself regreting anything about how I planned our day. (except for maybe no Limos...then again the places are too close together, like 2 min apart, so there would be no real point to it anyway.)

Answer 9

In general, I was happy with my wedding. Sometimes I think what if I would have spent less, granted I didn't spend lots of money anyway, but we all try to second guess what we did or didn't do.

Answer 10

I would have a destination wedding with just very close family and friends.

All the "crap" about having a traditional wedding is over-rated and over-priced.

In my opinion.