So I am going to preface by being a total narcissist and say that my wedding was the best wedding I had ever been to. I cannot believe how well it went off- without a hitch! I had perfect weather and the biggest drama of the day was that I lost my keys for an hour. H found them that day, but not before we played this slapstick comedy where we tried to play detective and retrace our steps from the night before via cellphone because we refused to see each other before the event.
Part of the reason why my wedding went so well is that my guests were genuinely happy and very well-hosted. Thank you TK for teaching me the importance of hosting my guests well and focusing on their comfort. Happy guests = guests who stick around for longer, thus showering you with more love and good energy longer. It's a win/win.
I will break this into 2 parts- the good and what I wish I would have done differently
The Good
- All-inclusive venue with hotel and ceremony and reception site on the same site. This was the best decision I made. My guests spent the whole day golfing or lying by the pool at the resort and an hour before the wedding, wandered upstairs, showered, got ready, and wandered down to the ceremony site. They went straight fro the ceremony to cocktail hour, and reception. My family got to spend time getting to know H's family at the pool and by the end of the weekend, they were planning additional get togethers with both families. How awesome is that? Best part, 2/3rds of the guests spent the night at the hotel, so people were there partying late with us.
- My dress!! I was on this board complaining about how I thought I was going to look fat in my dress and how terrible I felt about my body next to H's. OH MY GOD what was wrong with me? I looked stunning. I see the pictures and I start crying because I never thought that I could possibly look that good in my life. To all bride to be's- stop worrying about your dress. If you loved it at one point when you were trying it on, you will love it a million times more after you see pictures of yourself it on your wedding. You will be so happy that day that your glow will light you up to your most beautiful. Please don't stress like I did.
- Making a Pinterest mood board to workshop what I wanted it to look like and then trusting my vendors to execute it. I am not the kind of person who is good with making things look good. I have ideas in my head, but I can't execute. I brought my Ipad with me to all of the meetings that I had with the florist, hotel staff, hair stylist, makeup artist. I showed them pictures. The day of my wedding, my ceremony and reception site looked a million times better than I ever dreamed. Along the way, I fretted that it wouldn't look like I had pictured it. It looked better.
- Doing little touches, but not too much. I promised myself when I started wedding planning that I would not get too bogged down in the details and I didn't do favors or special centerpieces or anything like that. We did a photobooth, which had a line all night long and flip flops for dancing, which all got used! We had pictures of our parents and grandparents on their wedding days and that was it. I got compliments on every single one.
Things I wished I would have done differently:- This won't be popular- but I wish I would have invited more people. Now granted, we didn't know that H's parents were going to kick in so much to our budget so that we could afford more people, but there are at least 20 people who I am close to that I wish we could've invited. The energy coming from people was so amazing, I just wish there was more of it!
- Worried so much about family drama. My sister-in-laws can be not the nicest people, I have a cousin or 2 who drive me crazy, my dad was not a huge fan of how much money we personally were spending on the wedding. I was worried that all of these things were going to affect our day. They did not. Everyone was so happy and if there was drama, I didn't know about it. I should have trusted people to give me a day where they were solely focused on sending positive vibes our way.
- Gotten more time and pictures with guests, particularly extended family. It was so hard to get around to talk to everyone and sometimes I had to blow off people who wanted pictures, so that H and I could get to every table. I wish that we had an extra half hour of cocktail time to mingle with our guests, but we went from ceremony to pictures, to introductions. Being organized and having a plan of attack to get to every table helped during the reception.
- Opened our gifts in our hotel room at 4 am after the wedding, It seemed like a great idea at the time, but I can't read my drunk writing and I am still confused about which cousins gave us which gifts. Crossing my fingers that we didn't miss anyone on the thank you list. Yeah, don't be stupid like us- wait a day or so and open your gifts when you are of fully functioning mind.
Such an amzing day! I am still glowing almost a week later!
ETA - I should add waiting 2 weeks to take our honeymoon was also a very good idea.If I would have gotten on a plane for Europe the next day, I am not sure if I ever would have recovered and I certainly would not have been able to sightsee the first day. 6 days later I am just feeling normal again. Post-wedding fatigue is like nothing I have ever experienced. I felt the same Monday and Tuesday as I did the week after running my first and only marathon!