Your wedding day is THE most important day of your life. You’ve been told this over and over again so much that it is ingrained in your system, so naturally the bride-to-be is spending hours upon hours making sure every detail is in place, every T is crossed, and every I is dotted.
If you are anything like me then you wanted to be super involved in the entire process. I did not hire a wedding planner, just a day-of coordinator, so I could plan the flowers and colors and table arrangements to my exact liking. After months of planning it all leads up into one excitement filled, flower laced, blurred day of pure marital bliss, but you can’t help but worry the entire day if the caterer will make it on time or if it will rain and ruin your sparkler exit or if you’ll ever get your hair and makeup done on schedule (the answer is no, you will never have your hair and makeup done on time). Coming from the nitpick queen herself, I have a few tips that helped me keep my cool on my wedding day.
1. Hire a Day-of-Coordinator
Most venues will either require or highly suggest you hire a day-of-coordinator, and for good reason. Your DoC will be your right hand through the entire planning process. We met with ours three times prior to the wedding to go over our vendors, timelines, seating arrangements, and all of the details we had planned and the ones she suggested.
Think about it, this is probably your first time around planning a wedding and everything that goes along with it, but this is your DoC’s job. They have gone through this process a million times and have seen it all and gotten through it all. You need to trust them that they will execute your wedding exactly how you discussed. It’s hard to let go of that control, especially on such an important day, but if you are worrying about every little detail, coordinating vendors, setting tables, and arranging decor all day you’ll never have time to sit back and enjoy the pampering and beauty of your wedding day.
2. Pack and Plan the Small Details Ahead of Time
Just like you don’t take a test without studying the correct material, you certainly don’t want to show up to your wedding day without having the little details with you. I have a list of everything I brought that someone ended up needing throughout the day!
- Rings
- Garter
- Veil
- Wedding Jewelry
- Other Bridal Accessories
- Shoes
- Gifts for the Wedding Party and Parents
- Appropriate Undergarments (you are wearing white by the way)
- Dress/Boob Tape or Appropriate Bra
- Steamer
- Bobby Pins and Safety Pins
- Feminine Products
- Tide-to-Go Pen
- Hair Spray
- Touch-Up Makeup
- Snacks – get ones that don’t crumble or could possible stain
3. Have a Separate Bridal Party Space
The venue we booked for our wedding had a bridal suite just for the girls. My beauty crew met us there and did our hair and makeup, we could bring lunch and champagne to celebrate, played music and danced around, and most importantly everyone knew where they could find me (and make sure the groom did not see me) all day.
That room was a little bridal oasis. We knew where all of our things were all day, we put a table in front of the door during the ceremony so no one went snooping around, and at the end of the night when the shoes came off we had a safe place to keep them!
4. Assign Duties to Your Bridal Party
I wholeheartedly believe in the saying “If you want something done right you have to do it yourself”. It was hard for me to task out things to my bridal party, but that is what your girls are there for! They want to help you and make your day go as smoothly as possible. One of my bridesmaids volunteered to steam my dress, two left to get Starbucks (which the bride gets a free drink on her wedding day FYI!), my mother and sister brought lunch and bubbly and set the food table.
All of my ladies made sure I was well taken care of and it was such a relief knowing I had all morning to write my vows and enjoy the beauty process.
5. Prepare for the Little Mishaps
As perfect as your wedding day is on Pinterest, your wedding day in real life will never be flawless (except you girlfriend, the bride is always flawless!). Something will happen and you just need to embrace it. For us it was our guestbook. We ordered a large piece of artwork that had my husband and I’s home states on it for our guests to sign. The day-of-coordinator was setting the guest table at the entrance and I realized that was the thing I forgot. Luckily my husband and the groomsmen stayed at our house the night before and mother-in-law visited that morning to make sure they arrived on time and she brought it with her!
6. Don’t Sweat it When You Are Behind Schedule
Note I didn’t say if you are behind schedule, I said when. Your planner and photographer will have the day fully planned out to make sure everything you want fits into one day, so it is inevitable that something will be late according to one of your vendor’s timelines.
When our photographer arrived she immediately started taking photos of my dress and the venue and the smaller details, but when it was her time to take my bridal portraits my hair was not finished and my makeup had not been started. She improvised and started filling my slot with pictures of the groom and groomsmen. We ended up only being about 30 minutes behind schedule but in the end we still were able to shoot every single photo that we wanted before the ceremony.
I know the thought of “OMG what if I can’t get that photo in front of the oak tree?!” seems like the end of the world. If you really want that photo and it will put you behind schedule, take it. This is the only time you will be able to take that picture and, let’s be honest, the wedding won’t start without you. Your guests can and will wait an extra 5 minutes so you are fully prepared to walk down the aisle.
7. Breathe and Enjoy The Day
Girl this is your day! You are going to feel your most beautiful on this day and feel more love from your new husband and family and friends than any other day in your life. Enjoy this! It truly does pass in the blink of an eye, especially once you walk down that aisle.
Dress – Anjolique Bridal | Shoes – Steve Madden |Beauty – Adrianne Lugo
Flowers – Designs by Dillon | Venue – Wrightsville Manor
Leave a Reply