If you're in the wedding planning phase of your life, congratulations! If you're here because you're a bit like me and just want to have info in your memory library for 'whenever the time comes' then hello my like-minded friend! :)
It's been nearly 3 years since I got married, but the memory of my wedding day is still so fresh in my mind. As cliche as it sounds, it really was the best day of my life. Everywhere I looked people were having fun. No one really cared about eating dinner, though the food was soo good and to this day, people walk up to us and tell us it's the best wedding they've been to.
Having said that, looking back, there are certainly a few things I'd do over:
1. The dress
If I could go back in time, I would definitely try on a bunch of dresses. I settled on the design for my dress pretty quickly and although my dress was beautiful, in hindsight, I wish I'd been to a few boutiques and tried on a few dresses to know exactly what I wanted. Even if you think you've found the perfect dress, I'd still recommend trying on a few more because that'll just make you love your dress even more. Plus, it can be a ton of fun too - these days don't come around too often!
2. The return policy
Make sure everything you buy has a return policy. While you may love it now, once the pieces start coming together, there's a chance that the shades may clash, or you simply find something you love more. I ordered a lot of my stuff from Chinese websites and was stuck with things I really didn't end up liking or using
3. The Fitting
Try carrying your entire ensemble to the fitting. The shoes, the jewellery, the veil the whole shebang. It may sound excessive, but when you're buying things here and there, seeing it all together helps you make sure you've got the right things. Another moment those return policies come in handy :)
4. The budget
If you're in the wedding planning phase, you know money flies out the window faster than a running tap dispenses water. When looking at your wedding budget, here's an approach I recommend:
Figure out what you can spend comfortably
Then calculate your living expenses - if you're starting out at new accommodation, think about what you'll need to set up your living space including rent, deposits and all the finer details about setting up a home
Now set aside a budget for your honeymoon - yes! I actually recommend doing this before setting your wedding budget because firstly, you're probably going to be exhausted and need the break, and secondly, it's the best time for you and your beau to get away and decompress from all the wedding planning and begin to embrace your new lives together. Once you're home, reality sets in and you'll see why you needed that break in the first place!
Consider flight tickets or transportation costs if you're having a destination wedding.
What's leftover is your wedding budget! While this may or may not look dire by this point, read my next point for some encouragement.
5. Have faith
Being a planner and organiser, I like to know what I am going to spend and how I am going to come up with that money. One of the things I wish I'd done better is having a bit more faith in God's provision. Looking at the numbers, instead of believing for it, I tried to work and earn the money myself. My efforts were in vain and I just ended up exhausted and overworked. My recommendation is, look at what you realistically need, and put that number before God as a couple. Be realistic, but also full of faith, because God loves marriage and he loves to bless them. God came through more than we expected for us and we got everything we'd wanted and much more. However, had I had more faith, I may have made some decisions better - places I skimped out on because of fear of lack.
6. Talk about after the wedding
For months leading up to the wedding, as hard as we tried, most of our conversations were centred around our wedding, family and 'to do lists'. As a result, after the wedding, there was a certain disconnect that shouldn't have been there. The reason is that this one day took up our entire conversation for so long that we barely spoke about anything else. We recovered within minutes, but we realised that we hadn't talked about life after the wedding as much as we had about the actual day itself.
There you have it! My top 6 do over items from my wedding day! I hope this helps you some day too :)
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