Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE My Wedding Day
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Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE My Wedding Day 〰️
We’ve held hundreds of weddings at our venues and we’ve discovered several things that every bride should know before her wedding day.
Most brides think they are very well versed on wedding planning, but in hindsight, most spend too much time on minor details like the color of their linens and the perfect shoes for their flower girls and not enough thought was given to the following items. Our gift to you today, is some insight into those things most wish they’d known, so that your wedding can be as stress-free and perfect as possible!
Get A Day Of Coordinator
The #1 lesson our budget-conscious brides have shared with us is that they wish they’d hired or assigned someone to help with the day-of duties.
The very best wedding venues will have staff on hand to assist with the facilities but they aren’t going to tell your bridal party when to start walking down the aisle or what the guests should be doing while you’re getting pictures taken. And then there is the coordination of your vendors, if your florist leaves, who will keep the flowers well-kept and watered and who will prune the floral arrangements? Or what about tipping the vendors? You may be off on your honeymoon night already when the evening is wrapping up.
To help combat this problem, we now provide the very best and most affordable Day of Coordination service available; Naples Wedding Planners. We know the ins and outs of our venues better than anyone else so when we manage your wedding, it goes as smoothly as possible. Avoid the stress of trying to do everything yourself by allowing our team of specialists to help make your wedding day dreams come true!
DON’T Skip Open House Nights
Open house nights are your most important wedding venue meetings and should be considered a necessity.
At the White Rose and Naples Wedding Barn, we will be there to go through all of the details of your wedding day, from your centerpiece choices, ceremony decor, and table arrangements, to your vendor list and any special requirements or requests. Bring a written list of questions and concerns so that you don’t forget anything. And also, don’t forget to bring your same-day helper to this final tour so that you two are on the exact same page on what you want to happen on your big day!
Come visit the venues and pick out décor:
Write Out Your Day Of Schedule
Write or type up a Day of Schedule and give it to every member of your wedding party as well as your Day of Vendors on or before the rehearsal. You can also summarize your Day of Schedule for guests on your wedding website. Rarely does any event unfold exactly as designed but when everyone has your Day-of Schedule, at least everyone will be on the same page with how it’s supposed to go and that will create a much smoother experience.
Hire a Sitter
If you are opting to include children in your wedding, consider hiring a babysitting service for the night or designate an attendee to be responsible for sitting the kiddos. Everyone attending the wedding deserves the chance to relax and enjoy themselves, and what better way to guarantee toddlers don’t run past your cake cutting or interrupt your first dance, than by having designated help keep them occupied?
There are also a lot of really neat and trendy ideas on Pinterest for fun “Kid Table” setups and games that your sitters can utilize to keep all of the children at the wedding happy and entertained.
De-Stress The Week Prior
Schedule your to do list to end one week prior to your wedding. It is so much more rewarding of an experience when you’re not running around with your head cut off making last minute preparations while your favorite friends and family are in town. You’ve spent the last year or so spending all of your spare time planning every detail of your wedding, reward yourself by actually relaxing and enjoying yourself the days leading to your big day. Schedule a spa day a few days prior to relax and get primped with your favorite girlfriends.
Choose Your Vendors Wisely
While you may only need a few day-of vendors (if you have your wedding at an inclusive venue like The White Rose or Naples Wedding Barn), Vendor selection is still very important. You probably haven’t hired a bunch of people or companies in your life to do work for you, so you may not have a whole lot of experience with it. It can be deceptively challenging to get this right. An incredible cake baker who is very disorganized may create the most wonderful cake for you, but get the design completely wrong. A DJ may be epic with crowds but bad with pronouncing names and butcher the best man’s name. The caterer may prepare incredibly tasty food but be habitually late. Then there is the issue of hiring Vendors who have never provided their services at your venue and no matter how good they are, they have a learning curve on your big day! Thanks to having interacted with most of the wedding vendors in Florida, we now know, that the vendors on our list are truly the best in the business. You can’t go wrong hiring from a Venue’s preferred vendors list. You can view ours here
Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff
Finally, when it comes to one of the most important days of your life, it can often be forgotten and sounds cliché, but is so true; don’t sweat the small stuff. Nothing in life will ever be perfect, but the important thing is that you are marrying the love of your life surrounded by the people you love (and maybe a few distant relatives you’ve never met but your MIL insisted on inviting). Do your very best to not sweat the small stuff that may not go as planned.
If it rains, grab a clear umbrella to create romantic wedding photos that will capture memories to last a lifetime. If the DJ plays the wrong song, dance your butt off, and play the right song next! Enjoy every single moment because in the blink of an eye, you’ll be reminiscing about all of the cherished times you had with your favorite people, marrying your very best friend.