So I got married a few weeks ago, and I couldn't be happier! My wedding was full of ups and downs, screaming fits and crying, hopefulness and gratefulness. The first thing I cannot express enough is the sentiment that you find out who your true friends are while planning a wedding, could not be more true! (Especially in my case) Within 2/3 months of officially beginning to plan my wedding and picking my 'maids', the drama began. Unfortunately for me, my "true" friends were mostly out of state, so I was limited on who I could pick without inconveniencing anyone.
I had picked 2 co-workers who I had grown close with, an old friend I used to hang out with, and a high school friend who lived within the state but outside the city. Let's just say that by the time my wedding day arrived, the first 3 women had been replaced. There were some serious personality mismatches happening that showed that these women were never truly my friends to begin with. I do not blame them for the drama that happened, rather I blame myself for not realizing the kind of people they were to begin with.
My first tip is this: Realize who is actually your friend before expecting them to be your friend when you need them. Some people can put on the most serious of facades, but a lie can only be carried on for so long before it gets too heavy for even the most deceitful of persons. Once the drama was over and done with, I was able to get on with planning my beautiful day. I would have loved to have hired a wedding planner or a day of co-ordinator, but it just didn't seem fiscally feasible. Why pay someone to do something that I am completely capable of doing on my own? I've planned a few parties in my day that were all successes, how much harder would this be?
I also gave the girls some decoration! ;)
I had picked 2 co-workers who I had grown close with, an old friend I used to hang out with, and a high school friend who lived within the state but outside the city. Let's just say that by the time my wedding day arrived, the first 3 women had been replaced. There were some serious personality mismatches happening that showed that these women were never truly my friends to begin with. I do not blame them for the drama that happened, rather I blame myself for not realizing the kind of people they were to begin with.
My first tip is this: Realize who is actually your friend before expecting them to be your friend when you need them. Some people can put on the most serious of facades, but a lie can only be carried on for so long before it gets too heavy for even the most deceitful of persons. Once the drama was over and done with, I was able to get on with planning my beautiful day. I would have loved to have hired a wedding planner or a day of co-ordinator, but it just didn't seem fiscally feasible. Why pay someone to do something that I am completely capable of doing on my own? I've planned a few parties in my day that were all successes, how much harder would this be?
Let's just say that planning a wedding (solo dolo), going to school, raising children, having daily migraines, working, and attempting to stay pleasant around my then-fiance was not the most desirable of situations, lol. Once I took a break from school, I was able to manage things a bit better.
After finding what seemed to be a great venue, a florist, bakery, and other small details, I couldn't wait for the day to finally come!
Once I was able to concentrate on my dress, I CONCENTRATED on my dress! I knew that I wanted my dress to be original and as different as I could think of, so I decided to dye it! My mother came down and we picked out the most beautiful dress, we both fell in love!
Once I bought it and took it home, I found the most amazing woman! Marisela was advertised on Etsy for dyeing services, and I knew that she was going to make my dress amazingly Me-Ified... And she did NOT disappoint! I could not believe how insanely incredible the dress came out! Not only did I add the pink ombre..
I also gave the girls some decoration! ;)
The day of my wedding was lots of running! Even though I had clearly scheduled enough time to do everything, I realized that day that for some reason, time didn't stop when I needed it! Perish the thought! Nothing really had to suffer due to unfortunate timing, and everyone lived (because I didn't want to get blood on my dress). All of my planning, insanity, and stress was for good use. I got so many compliments on everything and people even saying they wanted me to plan events for them, lol!
So my list of tips-
- Don't let people persuade you from something you envision, if you know in your heart it will be what you want (you're not a child).
- Never forget it's you and your future husband's day! Nobody else's! Don't let family try to backseat plan YOUR wedding! Never feel that you have to sacrifice to make OTHER people happy. Always remember that nobody else has the right to tell you what to do on YOUR day.
- Explore all of your options! Read reviews! Do your research! The biggest regret of my wedding was the venue and bakery chosen. Even though the cake was beautiful and the venue was beautiful, what I had to deal with was NOT worth it. If I had to do it all over again, I would avoid those businesses like the plague!
- And lastly, have fun! Enjoy it! If you're not having fun planning what should be a fun time, how's that going to work out? Don't allow yourself to get bogged down in all the trends, styles, and latest fads. Do you and what you like because being true to you will never be out of date! Pinterest, wedding forums, wedding sites, etc., are fun, but don't make them you're entire life. A wedding only lasts 1 day, it's your marriage that should be your focus for longterm. Oh and if you're going to plan a wedding with certain colors that are out of season on your wedding date, make sure to do a lot of planning ahead to get the things you'll need! ;)
