Having both of our sets of parents be 4+ hours away, and lets be real; men don't plan weddings, I did most of the wedding planning myself. Calling my mom for advice only made things worse, because her experience was so different than mine and had a different vision than me. She was able to help financially, but not physically. I don't get how other brides plan weddings when their mom is long distance?! But I took the bull by the horns and did it all, and I did it all while remaining Type A about everything. I will say being Type A worked out in my favor, because everything when off without a hitch on our wedding day.
Some of these are solely money saving tips, some of them time saving, and some of them just to simply make yourself and everyone around you happy. 1-6 are things that worked well for us and I'm SO glad I did them. 7-10 are lessons learned and the best I can do now is just pass along the knowledge to others :)
1. Do. Online. RSVPs.
Some of these are solely money saving tips, some of them time saving, and some of them just to simply make yourself and everyone around you happy. 1-6 are things that worked well for us and I'm SO glad I did them. 7-10 are lessons learned and the best I can do now is just pass along the knowledge to others :)
1. Do. Online. RSVPs.
This is a fool proof way to avoid the awkward write in +1s on the response cards. We did ours through theknot.com and it worked really slick. I purchased a personalized domain for $12 so it was easier to share (otherwise it's a long url with dashes). This also saves you $$ on the response cards and extra postage. I put our phone numbers on our website for the less "tech-savvy" people so they could call instead of internet. Seriously I couldn't say this enough. DO. ONLINE. RSVPs.
2. Skip save the dates
We are in the age of internet and texting. Save the dates are NOT essential. Especially if you send your invites out 3 months in advance. Make yourself a website through the Knot or Wedding Wire early on and start sharing the url with those who will be invited. I was lucky to have Adam's family on one large email chain and just shared it there. You can even password protect so the website can't get in the wrong hands. Save the dates are not only more $, but it's hard to know 6 months in advance who exactly you want to invite to your wedding?! How do people do it, I don't know!
3. Do your own makeup
This doesn't work for the ladies who have never done their makeup in their life. But if you do your makeup daily, chances are you can do it for your wedding. You don't want to go too heavy, anyway! Make sure to splurge on a high end foundation (I used a mixture of Dior Diorskin Nude and this airbrush foundation you can buy at Sephora), flirty lashes, and a pretty lip color.
4. Skip over the top vehicles
Limousines and party buses are cool and all, but not really necessary. If you've had anything to drink at your wedding, you shouldn't be driving a getaway car either. Use that time after your ceremony to sneak away with your husband and soak in the moment. SO GLAD WE DID THIS. Our photographer initiated this and I'm really glad.
5. Don't do passed apps, do late night pizzas
We opted out of the fancy bacon wrapped scallops and assorted aged cheeses. All I saw were dollar signs. Instead we had our venue bring out pizza at around 10 PM. Pizza was a hit!
6. Work with your DJ
Talk to your DJs a month a head of time and go over your ideal song list. Go over Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Like, if people seem bored, bring out a fun game (we didn't need to do this :)), if too many young people are on the dance floor, bring out an oldies song. Just have options in place and don't be afraid to tell them exactly how you want things. I loved our DJs and that was seriously the most fun dance party I've been to in a LONG time!!
7. Plan out your "thank you" speech
This is probably the only thing in my entire wedding planning process that I didn't plan. Adam mentioned earlier on that he didn't want to be the one to stand up in front of people. Sure, I didn't mind doing it. I'm normally a "wing it" type of person, but my mind was going a million miles an hour that day and when I grabbed the mic, my mind just kind of went blank. I still spoke well and thanked everyone, but I wish I would've said more.
8. Ask someone to take your gifts to your house the night of
I wasn't that on the ball with this and asked people just a few days before the wedding. No one really committed to it because they didn't know if they'd be able to or if they could stay that late, so the gifts actually ended up being left at the venue over night. Now, nothing happened to them, but it didn't feel good waking up the next morning knowing that they weren't with me.
9. Ask someone to be your personal attendant
I forgot a couple minor things at home, and we also ran out of votive candles. Everyone at the venue, including family, already had their hands full, so it was a little more chaotic than it should've been to run an errand or two. An extra set of hands solely devoted to this kind of stuff would've been handy.
10. Be efficient when going around the room and talking to everyone
We were essentially right on schedule our whole wedding day. At dinner, we maybe took a little longer to eat our food than we should've. But we also unexpectedly had champagne bottle service and were soaking in the novelty of that. When we started going around the room and talking to everyone, we started with our friends (which in hindsight, I'm glad, because we enjoyed drinks with most of our relatives the night before). We ended up talking to about 5 tables and then we were already being summoned to cut the cake. After cake cutting was first dance time and then we lost our chance to resume talking to everyone. Later on in the night we did get the chance to talk to everyone else, luckily. The only people we missed were those that had to cut out early.
11. love your husband and remember this day is about you two!
2. Skip save the dates
We are in the age of internet and texting. Save the dates are NOT essential. Especially if you send your invites out 3 months in advance. Make yourself a website through the Knot or Wedding Wire early on and start sharing the url with those who will be invited. I was lucky to have Adam's family on one large email chain and just shared it there. You can even password protect so the website can't get in the wrong hands. Save the dates are not only more $, but it's hard to know 6 months in advance who exactly you want to invite to your wedding?! How do people do it, I don't know!
3. Do your own makeup
This doesn't work for the ladies who have never done their makeup in their life. But if you do your makeup daily, chances are you can do it for your wedding. You don't want to go too heavy, anyway! Make sure to splurge on a high end foundation (I used a mixture of Dior Diorskin Nude and this airbrush foundation you can buy at Sephora), flirty lashes, and a pretty lip color.
4. Skip over the top vehicles
5. Don't do passed apps, do late night pizzas
We opted out of the fancy bacon wrapped scallops and assorted aged cheeses. All I saw were dollar signs. Instead we had our venue bring out pizza at around 10 PM. Pizza was a hit!
6. Work with your DJ
Talk to your DJs a month a head of time and go over your ideal song list. Go over Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Like, if people seem bored, bring out a fun game (we didn't need to do this :)), if too many young people are on the dance floor, bring out an oldies song. Just have options in place and don't be afraid to tell them exactly how you want things. I loved our DJs and that was seriously the most fun dance party I've been to in a LONG time!!
7. Plan out your "thank you" speech
This is probably the only thing in my entire wedding planning process that I didn't plan. Adam mentioned earlier on that he didn't want to be the one to stand up in front of people. Sure, I didn't mind doing it. I'm normally a "wing it" type of person, but my mind was going a million miles an hour that day and when I grabbed the mic, my mind just kind of went blank. I still spoke well and thanked everyone, but I wish I would've said more.
8. Ask someone to take your gifts to your house the night of
I wasn't that on the ball with this and asked people just a few days before the wedding. No one really committed to it because they didn't know if they'd be able to or if they could stay that late, so the gifts actually ended up being left at the venue over night. Now, nothing happened to them, but it didn't feel good waking up the next morning knowing that they weren't with me.
9. Ask someone to be your personal attendant
I forgot a couple minor things at home, and we also ran out of votive candles. Everyone at the venue, including family, already had their hands full, so it was a little more chaotic than it should've been to run an errand or two. An extra set of hands solely devoted to this kind of stuff would've been handy.
10. Be efficient when going around the room and talking to everyone
We were essentially right on schedule our whole wedding day. At dinner, we maybe took a little longer to eat our food than we should've. But we also unexpectedly had champagne bottle service and were soaking in the novelty of that. When we started going around the room and talking to everyone, we started with our friends (which in hindsight, I'm glad, because we enjoyed drinks with most of our relatives the night before). We ended up talking to about 5 tables and then we were already being summoned to cut the cake. After cake cutting was first dance time and then we lost our chance to resume talking to everyone. Later on in the night we did get the chance to talk to everyone else, luckily. The only people we missed were those that had to cut out early.
11. love your husband and remember this day is about you two!