Weddingness

I have recently had some friends get engaged and some that are getting married rather soon.  I've had a lot of people ask the same few questions.  What would you do differently?  Would you change anything?  What vendors do you recommend? 

Here are my answers!

What would I do differently:

The main thing that I would change would have been to get a videographer.  One of my friends, Stacia, got married the year before I did and recommended it and I should have listened.   It is rather expensive (usually about $1,500), but it is worth it.  As a bride, you don't think about the stuff you plan for but don't get to see.  You don't see your soon-to-be husband walk your mother down the aisle, or your bridal party walk back down the aisle, or hear the music for guests or parents walking in.  We also had a friend sing at the reception, and John sang as well and I wish that I could have that on video to hear again. 

I also would have made sure that my DVD of my slideshow was tested prior to the reception.  It didn't work and I spent so much time on it.  It was a little heartbreaking for John and I because we know all of those people will never be in the same room again and we tailored the pictures to who was there and worked pretty hard on it.

Another thing I would have changed was that I would have made sure that my haircut prior to the wedding (the one 2-3 months before) was done by my hair dresser.  There was a booking issue and I couldn't get in to see my hair dresser for weeks, so I let someone else cut my hair because I was just getting a trim.  Well she cut WAY too much and I hated my hair.  I was stressed about it before the wedding, but my regular hairdresser (Katie Garrett from Timothy John's in Urbana) was awesome and worked with me until we figured out something that I loved.

Recommended Vendors

1.  Photographers:  Beyond the Well Weddings, they're a young couple that does awesome, classy pictures but are artistic as well.  Definitely reasonable prices, they dress appropriately, and are just overall good people. 
2.  Reception Sites:  Alice Campbell Alumni Center, iHotel, Memorial Stadium
3.  Florists:  Blossom Basket, they were slightly more expensive but have really high quality flowers, a really affordable delivery price, and are easy to work with. 
4.  Cake:  Unfortunately, the lady that did our cake worked at the IGA at Roundbarn, but it closed down and I have no idea where she went.  I know her name was Lori, but that's about it.  She did great, the cake was great.  We went with cupcakes, which end up costing half the price of regular cake. 

Words of Advice

1.  Make sure you have someone in charge of the day.  Stacia was in charge of my day and she was absolutely amazing.  I would have been stressed to the max if she wasn't there.  If people have questions, need to know where to go, or if you need someone to fluff your dress, they are there to do that.
2.  Make sure you go the extra mile for your wedding party.  You picked those people to stand with you for a reason, and they do a lot for you on your wedding day and its important that they feel appreciated and loved.  John and I wrote letters to all of our bridal party and gave that to them with their gifts at the rehearsal dinner.  I think they really appreciated it.  It costs a lot to be in a wedding, so anything you can do as the bride and groom to show them your appreciation will let them know how much you love and care about them.
3.  Have as much done ahead of time so that your bridal party doesn't spend the whole day working and not enjoying the day with you.  If you make them responsible for setting up/taking down a lot of stuff, or transporting things, or other things, they are busy doing that rather than having fun with you and the guests.  So if that means paying extra money to have the florist set stuff up, or the cater put up the centerpieces, do it.  You'll be less stressed and your bridal party will be thankful.
4.  Skip the receiving line.  Those take forever.  Eat first at the reception and then make sure to go around and see everyone while they're eating.
5.  Do as much as you can beforehand to make it so you have the wedding day to enjoy.  It shouldn't be a stressful day with a long check list.
6.  If you do need your bridal party to do a few things, make a list and give a few people specific jobs so that a few people don't get stuck doing everything.  As much as we love groomsmen, they don't always remember to help the mother of the bride bring the gifts to her car, or help get the flowers to the reception site.  Ladies typically remember that stuff and you wouldn't want your ladies that spend $150 on a dress, $50 on hair, and $70 on shoes to get sweaty making 10 trips back and forth to the car with random wedding stuff.  Delegate specific things so everyone does a little something. 
7.  If you're looking at a long engagement, get the big things done right away and forget about it and enjoy your engagement for while.  Book the reception site, church, and get the dress and forget about it.
8.  Decide on a guest list number FIRST, then start making the list.  It's easy to add names, it's difficult to take names off.  So if you tell your groom that he can invite 100 and you can invite 100 (including family and wedding party), it's a lot easier.  If you make the list of names first, it's difficult to take people off without insulting someone or hurting feelings. 
9.  Stay organized with addresses, guest lists, and thank you notes.  I think some people did not get thank you notes from us because I was not as organized as I should have been.  I feel so bad about that.  I should have been better organized with who I sent the notes to, who gave what, etc. 

I hope you found my wedding advice helpful.  I learned a lot from planning a wedding.  I am also extremely happy that I never have to do it again.  It's a lot of work, but it truly is the best day of your life.