Unsolicited Advice for Brides to Be: Part One

Coming fresh off planning a wedding and better yet, getting married, I thought it might be prudent to write down a few of the nuggets I uncovered during my journey. I know a gal or two who are getting ready for their own weddings (I'm looking at you Sarah!) so I thought I'd share what I've come to know.

I read a lot of articles before I walked down the aisle, hoping to prepare myself for what was to come. Some of it helped, some of it didn't, and there was still a lot that caught me off-guard.

Reading my tips won't help you avoid mishaps any more than anything else, but perhaps it might offer some auxiliary guidance! I learned a little about planning the big day and some about experiencing it as well. I've narrowed it down to four thoughts, and I'll share the first two today.

1. If it's a detail no one will notice, don't spend any emotional energy on it. 

I think this was the biggest lesson I learned during the planning process. There are a lot of details to be decided and each one offers opportunity for frustration- if you let it. 

I implemented this rule when we were printing our invitation envelopes. Knowing that we couldn't afford professional calligraphy and not wanting to burden any of my friends with nice penmanship, I considered handwriting the address myself. Then, realizing that was an absolutely insane idea, I opted to download a pretty font and print them from our home printer.

For the life of me, I couldn't get the addresses to align in the center of the envelope. I changed the page size, I printed from a pdf, I changed the font size- all useless attempts. When I called for back up and even Brett couldn't figure it out, we decided, in so many words: "Screw It." These envelopes are literally going in the trash.

And so our mantra was born: if no one will notice, we aren't allowed to worry about it. Remember that no one else is in on the planning process (except those you chose to involve) so they won't know that you really, really wanted brown gravy, but your caterer only offered white. They'll never know they had any other choice.

2. Don't underestimate your ability to forget. 

Even if you are a list maker, a reminder-setter, a Grade A organizational all-star, you'll forget something  on your wedding day and you'll forget something big. If it's important and you want it to happen on your big day, tell someone else. If it's not important, don't worry about it. You'll forget about that too, but no one else will notice anyway. This goes back to number 1.

I really wanted to stop as my dad was walking me down the aisle and give a big hug to my godfather. Knowing that I would already be a bundle of wild nerves, I made sure to tell my dad, our officiant, our usher, and the entire wedding party. I think just telling other people made me remember it.

However, I did end up forgetting our checkbook at the hotel, fabric markers for our guest quilt, forks for our cake- these things had to be brought to us later. We also completely forgot about the marriage license until our officiant had already left the reception! Our witnesses remembered to sign it only right as we were leaving the farm.

I would suggest not letting these things bug you, but there's hardly a chance in the world that they will. You'll probably be so over the moon seeing all your friends and family at once and trying your hardest to hug each and every one of them, that you won't remember what you forgot until a week after your wedding. Then it won't even matter. (Unless it's your marriage license. That matters. Deal with that.)

Back tomorrow with more wedding tip goodness!