Wedding season is right around the corner, which means that wedding planning season is also in full swing. While it’s way too easy to get caught up in the excitement of planning for your upcoming nuptials, it’s important to not lose sight of the big picture. Between wrangling your guests, the coordinators, and any other minor hiccups that may pop up, it can be far too easy to get overwhelmed with wedding planning. With that said, here are a few things that nobody ever tells you leading up to your big day!
The planning involved
Oh gosh, the planning involved. You may think that weddings are as simple as sending out a few cards, picking out the most beautiful dress, and arranging a few flowers at tables, but nope. Every wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event and requires a myriad of different procedures and planning to get through. For example, does this venue expect (or require!) donations to host your wedding? Does anyone on the guestlist have special dietary requirements? You need to account for all these details — and about a thousand more random things that will inevitably come up — before you even get to your big day.
Terrifying mishaps
Even after the planning is done, and you are getting ready for the smoothest wedding ever, be ready for more last-second changes. Heck, sometimes these changes can occur even during the ceremony itself. Be prepared for lost guests wandering around, people not even on the guestlist claiming seats for themselves (yup), hunting down the ring bearers, then hunting down the rings themselves, someone accidentally stomping on your train and leaving a big footprint on it, and someone forgetting to bring you your “something borrowed”…
Murphy’s Law applies here, friends. Everything that can go wrong? It will go wrong. It is better to have a backup plan for every terrible circumstance, and not have to invoke any of them, than to be caught flat-footed during the main event. Speaking of flat feet: you should also bring a backup pair of dancing shoes, as your feet will definitely start to hurt after a day of cramming them in those cute high heels! Flip-flops may not sound classy, but they’re downright comfortable at the end of the day.
Happily until tomorrow after
You’ve got the music picked out, a backup playlist on your phone in case the band doesn’t show, you’ve got all your maids to coordinate their dresses with yours, and somebody remembered to order corsages for the groomsmen. You’ve said your vows, you’ve thrown the flowers, and the groom has swept you off your feet and carried you away.
You know what, though? Enjoy your celebration, because first thing in the morning, you’ll need to get back to work. What, you thought the organization for the wedding was over after the wedding was? Nope, think again! Expect to spend the morning sending out cards thanking each and every one of your guests for attending, chasing down and paying the event specialists you inevitably had to call in at the last moment, and of course probably the biggest thing? Answering invitations from couples who attended and now want you to reciprocate at their wedding!
Sure, when you look at it like that, planning a wedding can almost seem like too much stress to make it worth it. However, don’t let the extremely minor negative things sully your wedding day. The most important thing to remember is, your wedding day is going to be one of the happiest days of your life. As long as you go in with an open mind, plan for all of the hiccups, and learn to roll with any mistakes, at the end of the day? You’re marrying your best friend, and that’s really what truly matters!
