1. I had a maid of honor and four bridesmaids. We had to be ready by 12:30 to leave our venue to go take pictures before the ceremony. I never started getting ready until 12:00. If you feel like things aren’t moving fast enough, speak up. It’s your day and you’re the last person to get ready.
2. Stressful things will happen. While we were at another destination taking pictures, my SIL got a call from my MIL asking where our cake topper was. I freaked out but luckily we had out of town friends staying at our apartment and they were able to grab the things we forgot. My sister gave my mom the finger during the ceremony. Didn’t find out about that until later that night. Oh and if you invite teens to your wedding, there’s a chance one or most of them will draw penises in your guest book or on something that goes in your guest book.
3. You can’t please everyone. Do what makes you happy. I obviously danced with my dad for our father daughter dance. But later in the evening the DJ played a song for mothers/sons and fathers/daughters and instead of grabbing my dad to dance, I grabbed my mom’s boyfriend because I expected my sister to grab my dad. Well, my sister was nowhere to be found and so my dad was furious. To the point where he was apparently in the men’s bathroom screaming about how my mom’s boyfriend was *insert swear words here,* I didn’t find out about it until an hour or so later. But eventually my dad got over it and seemed to enjoy himself.
4. EAT, EAT, EAT. It doesn’t matter how stressed you are or whatever. You need to eat. I barely ate the morning of. I maybe had a total of 5 pieces of fruit? Cocktail hour I had two fried raviolis and reception I had ONE bite of ziti. Luckily I only had two drinks and I was okay, but when we were hanging out in the lobby of the hotel I seriously thought I was going to die because of how hungry I was. My sister was the real deal mvp and got me Taco Bell.
5. Stop and take it all in. There may be older relatives there that might not be around much longer or family and friends you don’t get to see often. I didn’t stop. I just wanted to keep having fun. I wish I would’ve paid more attention to my guest’s faces and their enjoyment.
6. Remember tissues. You will cry. It’s okay to cry. As I stopped in front of my pastor and husband, I noticed my sister sobbing. I almost lost it there for a second but remained as cool as a cucumber. Haha. It’s okay to be vulnerable on your wedding day. I haven’t gotten my entire album back yet, but I know for a fact there’s one picture I’m looking forward to seeing. It’s of me hugging my grandma on the dance floor bawling (only because she started crying first).
Good luck to all of the future brides and congrats to everyone that has already gotten married or will be soon ❤️
