Where to begin…….
Good
- The Ceremony!!! It was everything we had hoped for and it was just perfect in every way. We were encouraged to write everything ourselves, and I’m so glad we did. It was so personal, and there wasn’t a dry eye there.
- Food!!! Even though I didn’t get to each much over the 3 days of events, what I did have was amazing!!!! And everyone said it was fantastic, the best they’ve ever had at all of the events. We couldn’t be happier about that.
- Drinks were amazing!!! Proof of the few that had a bit too much (see G/B/U).
- Make-up turned out fantastic for everyone!!! I used her for 3 events, and she was wonderful.
- Hair- it wasn’t what I wanted exactly, but it turned out great, especially considering the weather (see G/B/U). And my hair for our Rehearsal Dinner and TTD was awesome!!!!!
- TTD: we had the most amazing time w/ our photographer. It was cold and rainy, but it didn’t stop us from doing anything. She wants me to write a blog for her about my experience and how I came to the shoot and just went with it. We loved the pictures so much that we decided to make a second album with her. Can’t wait to get started on that in the next couple of weeks. Yay!
- Wedding Day photographer. Everyone loved him and he made everyone feel so at ease. I was hoping for a few more pics of certain things (like details, my family, and dancing at the reception), but over all he was wonderful. Can’t wait to start putting our album together over the next couple of weeks.
- My family and friends who flew to NZ were amazing!!!!! It really made the wedding so very special, and Mike feels that having them there really completed everything.
- The events ran so smoothly. Trying to organize a week of events, plus the numerous meetings the weeks before (even when we were 4hrs away), everything went so dang smoothly (w/ a few minor hiccups). I have to say that our wedding planners were AWESOME!!!!!!!
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Bad
- There were a few things in the schedule that were a little messed up, and pick-up times were wrong, and what not. Not a big deal, as everyone got where they were suppose to, but a little stressful at the time of.
- People canceling who RSVP’d and those showing up who did not RSVP. Totally awesome!!!!!! Most of you ladies know how detailed everything was, including my RSVP lists. This was so not ok. A bunch bailed on golfing and the zoo outing. This wasn’t that big of a deal as we hadn’t paid for them yet, but I did pay for a big bus for everyone that we didn’t need. Oh well. And then there were a few who decided to come to all of the events even though they said they weren’t. Awesome!!!!! Luckily there were some people who didn’t come, so it all evened out in the end. LOL!
- The weather!!!!! I’m not going to put this under ugly, because we had no control over it. Sadly, the weather was terrible the entire time everyone was in NZ. We had some beautiful weather when my parents arrived, and that was great. They were able to see the beauty everywhere we went and really enjoy themselves. Then everyone landed, and the rain decided to come along with them. It rained almost the entire week. The day before the wedding when everyone took the ferry over to the island for the wedding, and it was soooooo rough. A few of us got sea sick pretty bad. But it cleared up beautifully for the afternoon rehearsal and Thanksgiving dinner that night, just extremely windy. So with my skirt on, I pulled a few “Marilyn Monroe’s” that night. LOL! Then the day of the wedding it rained all morning, but then cleared up. Sadly though, it was soooooo windy. My veil was ripped off my head so many times I lost count. They had to knot it all up, and shove it down inside my hair for it to stay. It was terrible, but so worth the trouble for the pictures. And then for our TTD shoot, it rained the whole day (and poured sometimes too). But what can you do about it, right?
- Being sick. I was sick almost the entire trip, not being able to really keep anything down, having a fever, and so much more that I was go into details about. I still did everything, just went to bed really early, and I didn’t get to enjoy most of the food or alcohol. So that wasn’t very fun, especially since I paid for it all.
- Flowers. For me, this was almost the most important aspect of the wedding. I’ve always been obsessed w/ flowers ever since I was little. Well, back in March I met a new florist who ended up doing the flowers for our Welcome Dinner. And I wanted to switch to her to do ALL of our flowers for everything. I was convinced not to by my DH and Planner, and after the other two events, I so wish I had. The flowers did not meet my expectations and I was pretty let down. Everyone said they were beautiful, but they just weren’t what I wanted, especially for what I paid. I should have switched florist when I had.
Ugly
- Mike’s Family!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! Where do I start? His sister asked if she could make a ton of stuff for us for the wedding, and we happily said yes. It’s what she does for a living, so it shouldn’t be a big deal, right? WRONG!!!!!!!! We land in NZ a few weeks before the wedding and nothing is completed. Not the BM dresses, FG dress, RB suits, my veil, the tablecloths, or the guys ties and pocketfolds. Nothing!!!!!!! We needed the tablecloths 5 days after we landed to give them to the planners, along with some of the other things so they could be wrapped as gifts. So even though she had all of the fabric and information she needed for at least 6mo, she was so stressed out that she handed everything off to others. Therefore, we had to pay 3x as much for EVERYTHING!!!!!!! And she had a falling out w/ the lady who did our tablecloths, so no “friend discount” anymore. Awesome!!!!! Then, she starts bad-mouthing us to everyone, including Mike’s family about how we were difficult to work with and such a pain and so demanding. Seriously? We said yes to everything, let you design all of the dresses, and work at your own speed. Obviously we weren’t bitchy enough. So when DH mother found out how much we paid his sister for everything, she was shocked because she had no idea that we had. So bad!!!!!! Then Mike’s sister decides that she doesn’t like not being the center of attention, so she either doesn’t show up to the events, or she comes on her own schedule. So she missed a ton of the functions she said she was going to come to, and the others that she did come to (including the wedding) she was terribly late. It was awful!!!!! And she was rude to most of our friends and family from the States. It was so bad. I mean I can keep going on and on, but I won’t. Mike had a miserable time and he said the only day he enjoyed was our Wedding Day out of all of the events because he said his sister made everything else terrible. He’s not talking to any of his family right now, and it just breaks my heart. All they had to do was be great and nice and supportive for 1 week out of their lives, and they couldn’t even do that.
- At our Welcome Dinner, one of Mike’s friends drank so much that he threw up at the dinner table in a champagne bucket behind the table. Awesome!!! He was put on warning, and he didn’t do it again.
I’m sure I’m missing something, but I think that is good for now. Overall, we did have a wonderful time and not much would be changed. Best of luck ladies with the rest of your planning!!!!!!!!