22 Things I wish someone had told me about planning a wedding

Hindsight is a wonderful and annoying thing. Life, sometimes would be easier and less nerve wrecking, if we always had the benefit of hindsight. And while planning a wedding can be different for every couple, for those interested and willing to heed hindsight, here’s 22 things you’ll be glad you were told {and heeded} once the wedding is over.

1. Ask for help with planning the wedding. Delegate to your wedding party. Do not try and do everything yourself/selves.
2. [If you’ve written your vows] give a copy to someone else to bring to the ceremony for you. Chances are you’ll leave them behind in your excitement to leave for the ceremony.
3. Take your time walking down the aisle, enjoy the moment AND tell your bridesmaids to take their time too… otherwise your music may be cut abruptly short or it will play out leaving you waiting at the top for the ceremony to begin.
4. Have someone bring you both drinks throughout the day and night, otherwise you could be parched! It can be very difficult to ‘make it to the bar’ with everyone stopping you to chat and congratulate you.
5. Limit the speeches ! Give everyone 5-7 minutes to speak and give specific speakers specific people to thank/ things to talk about, so that the start of every speech is not repetitive.
6. Before you set a wedding budget research what actual wedding services cost in the area you’re getting married. Don’t just look at average budgets available through Google searches.
7. The more people you invite the more expensive your wedding with be. Feeding and watering your guests will take up 35% – 50% of your wedding budget.
8. Include a contingency fund in your wedding budget – this will help cover unexpected/ forgotten costs or help you splurge in areas you might want to.
9. Remember there is life after the wedding. Don’t create or escalate arguments that will become irrelevant after the day has passed.
10. Set aside one day/night a week were you’re not allowed talk about the wedding – at all !
11. Vet your vendors. Testimonials [unfortunately] can be questionable. Recommendations are fabulous… but always ensure the people you are choosing meet your expectations and standards.
12. Always see Bands live. I might love them, your friends might rave about them, but you might hate them; the only way to know for sure is to see them live.
13. Compare packages not prices. Every suppliers offers their services differently. Don’t just compare prices; compare actual product, service, quality, experience, hours offered, extras included as standard. Beware of the airline pricing model.
14. Don’t sweat the small stuff. You’ll possibly not even notice it on the day. Remember what the day is all about.
15. Something will go wrong in the lead up to the wedding. BUT pretty much everything is fixable – so keep a level head and move past the problem to the solution.
16. Make a list of the photos you definitely want/ expect to see in your wedding album and give it and discuss it with your photographer. Don’t assume your photographer will take them. It’s too late afterwards to realise you forgot something or someone important.
17. Ask two people, who know both sides of your family and friends well, to help the photographer ’round up’ all the people you’ve written on your ‘must include in a photo list’. Remember your photographer won’t actually know these people and you’ll be too busy having your photo taken to go find them.
18. To try and pee while wearing your wedding dress BEFORE the wedding day. Depending on the shape and size of your wedding dress and how fitted it might be trying to using the facilities could be an exercise in flexibility and manoeuvrability.
19. To practice posing in your wedding dress. Oh that we lived in a world where we get to wear ‘ball gowns’ or evening dresses regularly, but alas we don’t and for some, possibly this is the first or second time to wear such a dress. You won’t be familiar with how it moves, or how you feel or move in it until you wear it and so, it can be a good idea to practice posing in the dress before the day.
20. Find a great wedding dress dry cleaners [before the wedding day] so you can arrange to have your dress cleaned [and preserved] while you’re on honeymoon which avoids any nasty stains setting in.
21. Hire a Wedding Day Coordinator. These are independent [from your venue] who will work with you in the last few weeks and months before the wedding, to ensure everything is done and confirmed and they will be with you on the day, ensuring all goes to plan and to time, so that you get the very best out of the day!
22. Plan a project for after the wedding. It’s a big come down when you return from honeymoon. Having a new focus will help with the slight depression some couples face after all the planning and festivities of the wedding are over.

Author Bio: Bláithín O’ Reilly Murphy is a Wedding Planner & Author based in Dublin, Ireland. Over the last ten years she has worked with couples from all over the world, planning weddings in Ireland and Abroad. Her favourite things to do include shopping for designer handbags, organising a messy drawer and fostering little kittens. You can stalk her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and hire her through The Wedding Expert.