Well, June is apparently bride month on TV. Especially the Style Network.
So I've pretty much watched every episode of Whose Wedding is it Anyways ever created. As I'm someone who generally thinks of the Big Day as that Tuesday in November, it was quite informative. And I learned some valuable lessons for planning my own wedding.
- If anyone uses the words "princess," "diva," or "bling" in my presence, I will shoot first and ask questions later.
- I don't care who considers this a tradition, there is no way my fiance is sticking his hands up my dress in front of 180 people
- Color coordinated tie backs make me gag.
- The "theme" of my wedding will be "I'm getting married"
- Fondant. Yecch.
On the slightly less misanthropic side of things, here are some other details I gleaned:
- Every girl looks beautiful when she pops out in her wedding dress, and her mother will cry.
- The tasting is clearly the most fun part of the entire planning process, if only because it will be the only thing my fiance gets excited about.
- Lighting is KEY. Apparently. Everyone tells me this.
- Mani-pedi is a necessity so at least I'll be forced to make time in my schedule before the Big Day.
- Wait a second, people give you gifts? Awesome.
For those of you who've done this before (or several times before, I don't judge!) let me in on a key secret to a successful wedding plan. Besides first getting lithotripsy and hoarding the Vicodin.
P.S. Also totally excited by niche beauty market like this Bridal Palette from Bobbi Brown....
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10 comments:
Blathering advice from the former wedding planner:
1.) Ceiling height of your venue makes a HUGE difference--the difference between feeling like you're overdressed at a dinner or feeling like you're attending a grand event.
2.) Your guests will have exactly as much fun as you do--stressed bride = not fun wedding.
3.) Focus on the details early on, because come three weeks before, you'll be all done with the caring. And don't worry about them at all the day of--getting down the aisle looking hot and having fun should be your two sole concerns on the big day.
4.) If you register for crap, crap you shall, in fact, receive.
5.) Get the best invites you can afford, as that is the only clue your guests have about the event (and upon which they will base their gift giving. Cynical, yes, but it is about the loot, isn't it?).
I'm getting married on Sept. 8. A fellow DC'er - but getting married in Wisconsin. I got my invitations at Papyrus - they were fantastic and had a ton of options.
There are some things to spend money on, and photography is one of them! If you have a great photographer, that makes a huge difference. The photos will last - whereas the DJ/band is only there for the night.
That's my two cents!
Cap Hill Barbie, I have such a girl crush on you!
Here's my advice: read Rebecca Mead's book One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding. It makes me glad I eloped and didn't cave to the wedding industrial complex. Wedding planners and bridal shop harpies can suck on it, as far as I'm concerned.
I think you said it best: the theme of your wedding should be "getting married." Of course we obsessed about details, but in the end, it was about the committment we made...and that made the wedding.
OK, that, and the wedding soundtrack we made - did our own music on the computer - we still have all the songs we played on playlists, and H had a Grand Old Time scooting in and out playing DJ. Made it one heck of a party - which is what we wanted.
We are so on the same page about weddings. We're getting married in November. My advice is don't rule out anything. Stay open to other ideas. I've surprised myself with what I'm picking out but I love it and it is going to be great.
Use the location as your decoration. Our recetion is in a recently restored Art Deco hotel/ballroom and it is absolutely gorgeous. So, our decorations are linens and floral centerpieces and that is it.
The only "must do" that truly is a must? Saying I do. The rest--dare I say? is cake.
Congratulations and have fun.
Plan ahead what your last meal before the ceremony will be--you will not be eating at the reception, no matter how much you try to, and champagne is not the best dinner!
1)Your wedding ceremony is about you and your fiance, the reception is really for the guests. (People seem to forget that "reception" is the reception of the guests.)
Make them the focus of the reception and remember that they are there to party, not to observe every emotional family moment over the course of hours. I am thinking of the endless dances...."and now, the bride will dance with her 3rd cousin, twice removed...."
2)Cut the cake as soon as the last person has food. People think drawing it out will keep people there longer, but really, they just get annoyed at being held hostage by the cake.
3)Relax and enjoy. Not everything will go perfectly, but that doesn't mean the day was not perfect.
My husband and I got married July of 1998. My advice: when the picture taking happens, make damn sure you have plenty of shots of you and your new husband! We got so many pics of family, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc and only like 2 of just us!
also, like someone else said, EAT before the wedding. My husband and I didn't get to eat anything at the wedding because of all the "photo ops" and so one the way to our honeymoon, we stopped at the Burger King Drive- Thru and got "dinner". . .at 11pm!
Also enjoy the day. Don't let little stuff put you in a panic.
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