Hey ladies, Now that I’ve had a bit of time to reflect, I thought I’d share some hard-earned wisdom from my own DW. First, I should say, I really loved my wedding – I wouldn’t have changed any of the big decisions I made, even in retrospect. HOWEVER, there are several small details I would have approached differently (or at least considered more thoroughly). With that in mind, here are my tips for enjoying your own DW. 1.NEVER FORGET YOU’RE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. While you may have studied every detail of the island/town/whatever in which you plan to wed, your guests have not. Therefore, they will need hand-holding. (And deserve it – they’ve traveled a long way to be with you.) Be prepared to either act as a travel agent or hire one to be on call. In retrospect, DH and I almost wish we had done the latter – we had more than one late-night, I-got-off-the-bus-in-the-wrong-town crisis. Both were after 1 a.m. 2.ASSUME NOTHING. The wedding industry is FAR more developed in the US than in the rest of world. Plus, there’s a fairly predictable template most weddings in the US follow. This is not the case almost anywhere else – no matter how many weddings your venue hosts. If you and your groom want to feed each other a bite of cake after you cut it (not a world-wide tradition), please share this information with the reception staff. Same goes for bouquet tosses, father-daughter dances, or anything else you may believe to be standard fare. 3.IF SOMETHING IS DONE A CERTAIN WAY, DON’T TRY TO CHANGE IT. I know we all want to customize our weddings and make them personal. That can work well for flowers and favors, but not for local custom. Here’s a simple fact: Your vendors will do the best possible job if it’s the job they’re most familiar with doing. For example, in Italy, dancing happens after dinner at weddings. I wanted dancing in between courses. Only after the hotel manager, head waiter and sommelier teamed up to convince me that this would be a monumental disaster did I finally give in, and say OK: We dance after dinner. Did I believe it was impossible to dance in between courses? Of course not. Did I believe it would screw up the rhythm of the kitchen and fluster the waitstaff to the point of tears? Absolutely. And who wants to piss off the cooks? (Not me.) 4.PAY ATTENTION TO THE TRANSITIONS – ESPECIALLY MUSICAL ONES. Despite the fact that we had a timeline, there were still a couple of awkward transitions. For example, there was a pause of a few minutes between when the band ended and when the DJ began. No big deal – and it was rectified quickly, but I’m sure at least a couple of guests were wondering if the party was over for a minute there. Think about when the atmosphere is likely to shift or change at your reception, and discuss it with the appropriate staff to make sure it goes off smoothly. 5.THE MUST-TAKE PHOTO LIST IS REALLY IMPORTANT. While I spent months obsessing over every detail of this event, the one thing I forgot to do was give the photographer a must-take list. Now, he took 650 shots, but do I have a photo of me, DH and my grandmother? No. Will I spend an exorbitant sum to have her Photoshopped in to a photo of me and DH so she doesn’t cry for the next month? Yes. 6.KEEP YOUR BUSTLE SIMPLE; IF NOT, PRACTICE BUSTLING UNTIL YOUR MOH CAN SO IT BLINDFOLDED AND WITH ONE HAND TIED BEHIND HER BACK. Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but you get the point. MOH and I spent 30 minute of my cocktail hour getting the bustle to work, bless her heart. In the end, we realized a string in the underskirt was missing. Luckily, the over-skirt bustle was perfect, so we could safely pin the underskirt up with safety pins. Which brings me to my next point. . . 7.DON’T PACK YOUR EMERGENCY BAG LIGHTLY. I used practically everything in it – band-aids, chalk to cover up stains, safety pins for the underbustle – you name it. The emergency bag was my something borrowed, and I intend to pass it on to the next lucky gal I know to get married – she’s sure to use it, too. 8.STOP, BREATHE, ENJOY. The whole thing really does go by in a flash. Take several moments to soak it all in!