5 Important Lessons I Learned From Planning Our Wedding
Take the average girl and add in her dream man.
Then he proposes…eek!
Now make her a wedding planner.
Now don’t forget all the emotions, her childhood wedding dreams, the families’ wants and needs, the budget, making everyone happy, all of the compromises…
You see how it gets out of hand?
When you make the average girl her own wedding planner (and she’s not a professional one), it’s a wonder more brides don’t become bridezillas.
Planning a wedding is so easy.
No one ever
Here are 5 important lessons I learned planning our wedding. I truly hope they help you for your big day!
1. Be prepared to be overwhelmed.
The wedding industry is a colossal one.
It’s all gorgeous. It’s expensive. And it’s overwhelming.
When we were on a (true) destination wedding kick, I had spreadsheets for days, and I still could not handle the sheer amount of options that were being thrown at me.
So start by narrowing it down. Find a wedding planner or destination wedding planner if you need to to help you trim the fat.
With the wonderful world we live in these days…full of Pinterest boards and viral wedding videos, it’s only natural that you want an Instagram-worthy wedding.
The reality? It is overwhelming. Take a deep breath and don’t let the planning process swallow you whole.
2. Figure out what matters most to you.
After being a bridesmaid more times than I can count – and as incredible as that has been – it’s given me a unique perspective on planning my own big day.
If I’d gotten engaged years ago, I worry I might have been more of a bridezilla, going crazy over every little detail. But things are much different now. Not only have I gained perspective in what matters most; but my fiancé and I have that perspective together. (I also know what’s the most valuable in planning thanks to all my girlfriends who have gotten married!)
We talked about doing everything from eloping to a destination wedding to a huge shindig. We ended up landing somewhere in the middle, but we first figured out what was important to each of us: what our lines in the sand were.
For my fiancé, it was important to have as much of his family be able to go as possible. For me, I wanted to be as true to who are as a couple as possible…and photo document the whole thing!
3. Location, location, location.
Just as in real estate, you can change a lot about a venue (depending on your decorations, floral, catering, and even the music), but you simply cannot change the location.
Think long and hard about where you want to get married and what that means for your guests (and for you!)
Do you have a special place in mind that you’ve always wanted to get married? Or somewhere special for you and your fiancé?
Location is one of the best places to start.
4. Don’t forget to include your man.
As the bride, society has pre-determined we “care” more about our big day than our special someone’s.
Not always the case, ladies!
Sure, we may care more about the exact flowers used in our bouquets or the table settings or who sits next to who at dinner, but don’t forget that it’s your man’s big day too.
While he may not need to be involved in every intimate detail, don’t forget that it takes two to make a marriage.
And speaking of…
5. Your wedding is about getting married.
This isn’t so much something I learned during my wedding planning process, but something that was very much solidified.
I’ve been pretty surprised in myself about how (overall) chill I’ve been about this process and that’s partially due to the fact that I care about one thing and one thing only: that I will be married to this wonderful man of mine.
Say it with me: the purpose of your wedding is to get married, not to have a wedding.
Thanks to our culture and a little girl’s dreams – or maybe the perfect mixture of both – we’ve glorified weddings to be something bigger than they are. A wedding a party to celebrate the love (and marriage) of two people.
Don’t ever forget what it’s truly all about!
What about you? What have you learned from planning your wedding (whether that’s now or years ago)?