Well ladies, although everyone told me it would, I absolutely can't believe how quickly our 11/16 wedding day came and went!
The wedding was GORGEOUS and the most incredible and special day - most of our vendors did an amazing job. We had some issues with our venue, and actually have a meeting with the GM tomorrow to deal with those, but despite them being annoying "blips" on my radar, our guests were none the wiser.
Quite honestly, the wedding letdown has been kinda tough. I actually broke down the day after the wedding crying and said, "I want my wedding back!" (Drama City, Population: OjitosVerdes) I really loved every bit of the planning and while I feel much better now and am loving life with my new husband, the post-wedding low was surprisingly strong. Although I have lots o'pointers/advice I'll probably post on Wedding Recap, the one I really want to leave here for those with upcoming weddings is to manage your expectations. I know it's been repeated a million times to the point of being cliche and I thought I "got it", but it really is only one day, despite being a huge Cultural Big Deal. In hindsight, I would have spend way less time planning - I literally spend between one and three hours EVERY DAY over the last 9 months on the wedding, and when you're micromanaging every detail, you're absolutely setting yourself up for disappointment on your big day, and a huge low afterwards.
I'd also say, no matter WHAT is happening, unless it's something like your groom running off, FORCE yourself to detach from the planning process during your wedding. My ceremony was amazing - breathtaking for me, really, and I didn't notice anything but Fi and me - but once I got to the reception I let myself start tallying all the little things that were going wrong, and it affected how I experienced the rest of the night. A week later, I realize that none of those little things really mattered. I was able to enjoy the reception and had a blast, but wish I hadn't wasted a second of precious emotional energy on the things that didn't go according to My Perfect Vision.
We're dying to see our professional pics, but in the meantime, here are some that have come in from our guests.
Best of luck to you with upcoming November weddings, and I can't wait to see your pictures and hear your recaps!