Happy Monday Y’all!! Today is part one of a two part series for “Married Mondays”.  After attending many weddings as either a guest or as the photographer AND THEN  being the Bride myself, I’m going to share with y’all some of my “tips” that I’ve learned from my very own experience from planning my own wedding.  I want to share with all of my Brides-To-Be  what we did right when planning for our wedding day and even what went wrong…very wrong.  Hopefully this will help y’all out while planning for your very own wedding day & you can learn from my planning mishaps and wedding mistakes.

DO make and finalize your GUEST LIST early on.  This should be one of the very first things you do, probably even BEFORE you decide on a venue! Make up your guest list after speaking with BOTH sides of the family.  Get lists from your parents and your Groom’s parents and then make a list of your own friends and co-workers who you’d like to attend.  Once you’ve made the guest list DON’T add any one else to it unless absolutely necessary! We went back and forth on our guest list throughout our ENTIRE engagement and when we originally only budgeted for 150 guests, we ended up having to PAY for an additional 50 guests that we kept adding on.  So, pretty much, some BIGGER checks were written for a BIGGER guest count than we had originally planned on. (We kept our guest list as an Excel Spreadsheet which gave the guests’ name, address, RSVP, if they were attending a shower, and a blank spot for any gift if they had brought one.) 

DON’T  underestimate the power of being TOO organized! Yes, your family may look at you weirdly. And YES, your Grandma may wonder why she has received your 10 page Master Wedding Day timeline that is COLOR-CODED as well.  But don’t worry! When your vendors AND your family members who are involved with some of the aspects of the wedding day (like PICTURES!) know EXACTLY where they need to be and what time WAY beforehand, it makes for an easier day.  You don’t have to be repeating the SAME thing over and over to your family members of where to be and when.  Your vendors know exactly what time to be there and where to set up.  And you can relax, hand your Master Schedule off to your Wedding Day Coordinator and just RELAX. It’s YOUR day! Enjoy it and soak up EVERY SECOND. (Trust me, it’ll FLY by!)

Speaking of Wedding Day Coordinator, DO hire one or beg a family friend to be yours! You’ll NEED someone on the day-of to be the “go-to” gal! I asked my long-time family friend, Melissa to coordinate for us.  She was fantastic! She helped get everyone down the aisle, told guests where they needed to be, and even handled every little thing that came up throughout the day…especially when it came to the set up! (Her and my other long-time “Mama-Friend”, Cheryl, helped as well! Those two women…I owe the world to!)  DON’T overlook this very important aspect of your wedding day! Your day NEEDS to be organized AND EXECUTED. Hire or ask someone to do this for you! (Speaking of coordinators, one of my favorites that I’ve worked with was Happily Ever After based in Raleigh, NC.  Working alongside Jessica was awesome!)

DON’T forget about pictures! To me, pictures were the MOST important thing, (besides getting married of course!) for our wedding day.  After it’s all said and done, all that planning, preparation, and anticipation…what’s left of our wedding day is our commitment to one another AND our pictures.  (Ok…and a frozen top tier of our cake!) We absolutely LOVE our images from our wedding day, and although we got TONS of images back that we love…I really wish I would’ve spent EVEN MORE TIME taking pictures! I can’t remember EXACTLY but I’m pretty sure we took about 45 minutes to take pictures.  However, I wish we would’ve spent a little bit more time both BEFORE and AFTER the ceremony. That’s why I always tell my ‘Emma Loo Brides’ to REALLY consider DOing a “First Look”.  A “First Look” will give you a chance to see your Groom BEFORE the ceremony and spend time with JUST HIM. Believe me, Phillip was SO NERVOUS the day of our wedding. Being in front of all those people was a little intimidating, and honestly, I don’t think he would’ve made it if we DIDN’T do the First Look! (Love you Phillip, but goodness, you were shaky!) PLUS, after we saw each other and got to spend a few minutes snuggled up and loving on one another, we then were able to spend a little bit of time BEFORE the ceremony and take pictures.  My only regret from our wedding day photography timeline was that we weren’t able to take a lot of the Bridal Party pictures or Family pictures BEFORE HAND.  I look back and while I LOVE the photos, I wish we could’ve taken more and spent time taking MORE so I could have more moments laughing with my Mom or hugging on my new in-laws, or kissing my Grandpa’s cheek.  We were WAY too worried of getting to the ceremony on time and pressed for time getting to the reception, that if ONLY I would’ve PLANNED OUR DAY AROUND PICTURES, instead of rushing around.  DON’T rush around and DON’T forget to soak up those moments that pass by so quickly.  DO plan your day around your pictures because after all, they’ll be the only thing left after your day…well, besides your Hubs! 😉

Phillip and I during our “First Look”Phillip and I during our pictures after the ceremony

DON’T over order! When we were ordering our beer Koozies or our sparklers for our sparkler exit, we ordered about 50 less than our guest count.  After our wedding day was all over with, we were left with about 75 koozies and about 100 sparklers! I would say order 150 LESS than your expected guest count.  I ordered our Koozies from here and our sparklers from here. 

DO have a RAIN PLAN! Like everyone who plans a wedding day, especially if it’s outside, DO have a rain plan.  We didn’t start even THINKING about a “Rain Plan” until about 10 days out from our wedding day! Unfortunately the forecast for our wedding night wasn’t looking promising.  We didn’t want to spend all this money and time on these amazing tablescapes, band, and food just to have it rain at 7:00pm and everyone leave our reception! So we rented a tent at the last minute which caused A LOT of stress on both myself AND my Mom (aka-the Wedding Check Writer) If we had looked around for venues that included a rain-backup plan OR had thought of a tent AND BUDGETED for a tent from the get-go, I think we would’ve been in better shape. We rented our tent from this family owned company out of Lancaster, SC.  They were incredible and recommend them again and again!  

DON’T schedule the cake cutting TOO early! From my very own wedding experience (AND from photographing plenty of weddings!) cutting the cake sort of acts as a little cue for SOME of the guests to leave.  Many of the older guests LOVE to stay around for this “sweet” tradition but then leave shortly after.  Don’t schedule your cake cutting TOO early, especially if your guest list includes a lot of older guests.  I’d say the best time to cut the cake is about 45 minutes after dinner has wrapped up, immediately following the toasts, and RIGHT before you plan to open the dance floor and start to party.  (Speaking about the CAKE! If you’re planning on ordering a cake topper, order a cute one that you can use over and over again! If you’re going to spend the money, you might as well, right?! I ordered one for us that says “Best Day Ever” and I’ve reused it on our Birthdays! I’ll continue to use it for special Birthdays as our family grows! I ordered our cake topper from here.) 

DO allow for cushion time throughout your timeline.  Even though it may realistically take you only 5 minutes to button up your dress, allow for 20 minutes.  Or if you think hair and makeup will only take 30 minutes…think again.  Over estimate your timeline! I work with ALL of my ‘Emma Loo Brides’ one-on-one to make sure that we allow for enough time within the timeline.  THINGS DO happen that aren’t in your control on your wedding day, and if we’ve allowed enough time for that, then timing on your wedding day won’t be an issue.

DON’T let your ceremony speed by.  The ceremony is the whole reason why you’re getting married in the very first place.  You’re becoming ONE with your soulmate, and in the eyes of God, you’re entering into a covenant with Him.  DON’T rush it.  Enjoy this moment of Holy Matrimony and a delightful worship experience. Phillip and I decided to take our first communion together as Husband and Wife during our ceremony and then we shared it and served it to our guests.  Being able to serve our most cherished family and friends the body and blood of Christ Jesus during our ceremony was probably one of most favorite memories of our wedding day.   DO give enough time for your ceremony and savor every second of it.  (Don’t worry, the cake and everything can wait…) 😉 An average wedding ceremony takes anywhere from 30-35 minutes.  I always advise to build at least 45 minutes of ceremony time into the wedding day timeline.

So I hope that has helped some of y’all when planning for your very own wedding day! Join me next week for Married Monday and the Do’s and Don’ts for planning for your Honeymoon! Have a great week! 🙂 XO! -Emma Loo