HOW TO HAVE THE BEST WEDDING FOR YOU :

Screw Expectations!

You’ve started planning one of the biggest days of your life.. and let me guess, you’re feeling all of the pressure for it to be a certain way. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be any way that you don’t want it to be! Here are a ton of my tips, tricks, and advice on how to have the best wedding for you. Get rid of the unnecessary stuff and focus on what’s important to you (like having fun!)

Have fun and do what you want!

First of all, if you really want to do whatever you want- an adventurous or destination elopement may be best. But if that just isn’t an option for you or not where your heart is, there are tons of other ways to make the day more about you and less about everyone else.

My number one piece of advice is: Don’t let tradition stress you out or rule your day. Guests won’t care if you did or didn’t do ‘that thing’. This also leads to me advising you to not let anyone boss you around. It’s YOUR (you and your significant other) day, not theirs.

THE GUEST LIST

Oh, the dreaded guest list.. who to invite and who to ‘leave out’?? Invite however many people you feel comfortable with. You want to have fun and not be stressed about having too many people to “keep happy”. I know a lot of stress comes from parents telling you who all you should invite and if they are helping pay a good chunk, it is a lot harder to tell them no. Ultimately, it’s still your wedding day. But keep in mind, the guest list is a huge part of your budget. Less people, less money. More guests, higher budget!

CEREMONY

You may not have a ton of flexibility when it comes to the wedding ceremony, but there are some tweaks you can make! Such as having your ceremony procession as simple as you want or adding in some fun twists. For examples, you don’t have to have every grandparent formally seated as part of the ceremony. Get them escorted to their comfy seat as soon as they arrive. You can also have some fun music as you walk down the aisle. Or have a fun, grand entrance like white smoke bombs at your entry point or an explosion of biodegradable confetti.

If you have doggy fur babies, have your doggies attend! Someone in the procession can walk them down the aisle to sit in the front row with them so they are nearby but not your responsibility as you exchange vows.

For a bit of simple fun that will definitely make an impression, dance back down the aisle as you and your wedding party exits the ceremony!

You also do not have to have a wedding party at all. Less people to worry about on the wedding day!

RECEPTION

As we get into the reception/cocktail hour portion of your wedding day, the one expectation you should NOT forgo is feeding your guests and providing entertainment! As long as your guests are well fed and having fun, it will be a good and memorable day! That is not to say you cannot have a shorter or smaller reception and provide appetizer style food, but you will want to make your guests aware prior to the wedding day so they can eat well before arriving.

Provide games as extra entertainment for you AND your guests! Yard games (like giant jenga and cornhole) are a super fun way to get your guests interacting with each other and having a good time, especially for those who aren’t into dancing. Even if you do not have any and don’t want to invest in some, I’m sure someone you know would let you borrow a set.

Play whatever music you want! A good professional DJ definitely knows what gets the most people out on the dance floor, but what good is that if you don’t like any of the music!? Make sure music you want to dance to will be playing too.

Okay, a HUGE trend the past few years have been Sparkler Exits and Send-Offs! While you do not need a send-off at all, I know it’s a lot of fun for couples but there are also tons of options other than sparkler exits. Maybe you would prefer a smoke show style of exit!? Or something with lots of color? I have tons of ideas for you right HERE!

THINGS YOU MAY NOT NEED (& PEOPLE WOULDN’T EVEN NOTICE)

From personal experience, a combination of my own wedding, attending weddings, and photographing weddings, there are tons of things that seem to be a wedding staple but most guests wouldn’t even notice you were missing!

– Ceremony programs for each guest.. or at all. Honestly most guests won’t pay attention to it nor remember the names.

– Favors. I know favors are fun but a lot of time they also get overlooked by guests and end up in a junk drawer. So, if you are trying to save money on all the little things, or just don’t care to have favors- you don’t need them at all! I don’t even notice when weddings don’t have any.

But also on the note of favors, you can do something super neat and unique!! One wedding I photographed had little jars of apple butter that the bride and groom made together! They also displayed a photo of them during the process, super cute and yummy. Another wedding had a family member make chocolate dipped rice crispies as their favors. Again, YUMMYY (and pretty cost-efficient.)

– Wedding Party announcement into the reception. This one isn’t an object, but it can be less stress by leaving it out. Guests really do not care about how your wedding party enters the reception, what they care about is the Newlyweds!!

– Cake. Not everyone is a cake person, and that’s okay. You do not need cake nor a ‘cake cutting.’ If you still want a cake to cut, opt for a small cake and get dessert for everyone else. We ourselves had a small cake to cut and had an amazing cobbler as dessert. I’ve also been to weddings that did donuts and another that did cheesecakes.

– Elaborate table decor & place settings. You can put whatever you want on the table! Maybe it’s just candles, or maybe it’s little succulents, or a eucalyptus runner. You don’t even need to have it super elaborate, in the end your guests won’t remember how their table was decorated. They’ll remember the food and the fun and YOU.

Again, Have Fun

Seriously! Have fun with whatever you do! Get creative and don’t be afraid to do something unique.. it’ll be even more memorable that way, too! Need some ideas to get your creative juices flowing?? Well I gotcha, just click right HERE.

WHAT OTHER BRIDES HAVE TO SAY

I also went and asked a bunch of other brides and friends to see what they felt was not needed at their wedding, and here were the results!

• Lots of people
• Wedding Programs
• Cake (but still have dessert)
• Favors
• Wedding Party announced into reception
• A receiving line/formal greet to each table
• A Grand Exit/ Send off
• Fancy dinner (but still a full dinner- just more casual)
• Bouquet/Garter Toss
  

Ready to book the perfect photographer for your wedding day!?

“Whenever I have a friend or family member get engaged next, I’m recommending you all the way!”

– Selena

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