I did not have an ounce of fun planning my wedding due to constant conflicts with people, but all of that went away on 9/22. Everything worked out great, even the rain held off just long enough for me to walk down the aisle at my outdoor, farm wedding. So here are some tips/highlights.
1) I did ask my BMs to wear a specific color that they could only get from the Jasmine Bridal line and I am so glad that I did. No other place could even come close to the shade of green i wanted and now everyone tells me how gorgeous the colors were. I also asked them to wear cowboy boots and they all did so and looked amazing. They even bought ones that were much more expensive than I had asked bc they loved them so much.
2) We had a ton of problems with out best man not answering any calls or texts the whole time we were planning. DH was so upset by this, that we just did not know how to feel. The day before the wedding, DH finally listened to me and double checked the phone number. Sure enough, this whole time, he had been trying to reach the guy at his old number because he had deleted the wrong one from his phone when it got changed. We felt so bad that over the past year we had been stressing and it was for nothing!
3) My BMs were not at all friendly to my GMs. This was very awkward, and at times downright uncomfortable. Two days before the wedding, my MOH and one BM basically called me fat, and then acted a little immature at the rehearsal dinner. I love them still very much, but I am not sure I made the right choice with one or two of my BMs. I am not holding it against them, but it did put a damper on things when they behaved like that.
4) My flowers and decor were exactly what i wanted, and really fit the theme and season. I couldn't have been happier with that!
5) When it comes to centerpieces, less is more. We did ours at the last minute due to a lot of technical difficulties in preparing them. By the end of the night, people had taken the mason jars full of flowers off of the bases we made and taken them home. Everything else got thrown out by the reception site. So glad I did not put a ton of effort or money into them!
6) My MIL is a crazy, crazy woman. Luckily, she behaved well but had her phone in her hand at all times, taking pics. This then showed up in all our professional pics. Almost every picture of our ceremony has MIL holding up her phone in the background. I WISH someone had told her to stop. She also spent my entire bridal shower texting and looking up the weather radar. I should have expected her to do the same thing at the wedding but oh well.
7) We made a huge fuss over the GMs outfits, and are also glad we did. They were dressed in a mostly western attire, and when they ushered their respective BM to her spot, they tipped their hats to the girl. Everyone in attendance told us how sweet and respectful that was, and how classy they looked. LOVED IT.
8) Every day that I go on FB, I see stories of some of my guests friending other ones. We had people who had never met leave as new friends. THAT made my day.
If I was to give any bit of advice to future brides, it would be to make your wedding your own, and not what other people tell you it should be. Be firm, not nasty, when dealing with people who are not at all helpful. Choose your wedding party VERY wisely, even if it means making it extremely small. Weddings magnify personalities 100x, so everyone's worst attributes will be very very clear. You will feel like you should have eloped, but it will certainly be worth it.
Feel free to ask any questions you want!