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Would Do/Wouldn’t Do
Would Do
- Destination Wedding: it was amazing, and I will be forever closer to those who traveled to celebrate with us.
- Hire a Wedding Planner right away!!!!!! She was amazing, and I know that things would not have gone as well if we didn’t hire her. She made everything run so smoothly through all of our events (even our TTD), and I would recommend to anyone to get a planner for a DW.
- Take a planning trip. It was the best thing ever, and we were able to meet all of our vendors face to face to make sure everything would be just right.
- Get to your wedding location early (more than a couple of days in advance). It was so nice and relaxing to have 2wks before the wedding to just enjoy our guests and family. It was wonderful!!!
- Honeymoon at a different location than the wedding. It was great to have a change of scenery.
- Spend as much time w/ your guests as you can. It is just so special that they have joined you for your special celebration, it’s worth spending extra time w/ them. The memories we all have will last a lifetime.
- Make a “shutterfly” or “snapfish” account for all of your guests. This was one of the best ideas I got from the DW ladies. It’s been awesome!!!!!
- Try to get as much done early on in the planning process as you possibly can. Things will go by so quickly in the end, and you may run out of time for some of your projects and “wants”.
- Make a website. Our guests loved ours, and it was a great way to spread information through all of the guests. And hopefully it helps to filter a lot of questions.
- Make a “picture list” for your photographer. We didn’t thinking that it wouldn’t be a big deal as he was voted (third time) the best wedding photographer in NZ. However, their photography is a bit different then ours here in the States, and I feel like we missed a ton of photos that we wanted. I think there are less than 5 good pictures of my mom, and we only have 1 good family picture, and there aren’t any “close-up” pics of me and Mike that I even like and would put in our album. Thank goodness our TTD photos were awesome, so we’re making an album w/ her as well.
- Remember to take a picture w/ your KK. We forgot on the wedding day even though I had it out on the table. So I packed in the bag for our TTD shoot, and we were so rushed, I didn’t even look in the bag until we were finished, and we never got the picture. I’m so upset about that!!!!!!!! Sorry ladies.
- Fight for what YOU want. Our venue didn’t want to budge on a few things (like bar placement, etc) because they’ve never done so in the past, and it’s always worked out fine. While, I fought for what I wanted, and I love that our picture from our photographer that I knew we’d have doesn’t have an ugly bar and umbrella in it. LOL!
- Get a videographer or have someone video for you. We weren’t going to do this, and we were convinced about 2mo before to do it. We got our teaser, and I can’t wait. It was awesome, and he was awesome!!!!!!
- Write your entire ceremony yourself, including your vows. It takes some extra time, but it is soooooooo worth it.
- TTD (trash the dress) Shoot!!!!!!!! This was absolutely amazing and we had such a fantastic time. These pictures are better than those taken on the wedding day. It was a blast!!! And don’t be afraid to have fun in your dress, it will make for better pictures.
Wouldn’t Do
- Listen to others advice when you have a gut feeling about changing a vendor. I wanted to switch florists back in March, and I really wish I had. Grrrrrrr.
- Jump into buying a wedding dress on the first day of looking (or the second). Take your time and enjoy the process. I wanted my mom to speak up more as well, and she didn’t. In the end, I did love my dress, just not on me.
- Have a huge bridal party. I said from the beginning I didn’t want a huge bridal party. I only wanted my sister, and his best friend, that’s it. It somehow turned into a party of 13 (including us). Was not happy about that.
- Get Sick!!!!!! LOL! I know this is out of your control, but take something before you get on the plane. I was so sick for 3wks, and it was terrible. I hardly ate anything, and I was feeling miserable at all of our events. It wasn’t very fun.
- I wouldn’t rely on family and friends too much. We did, and it almost ruined a ton of things (see G/B/U).
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