In Part I Amanda talked about vendors that are still around from her wedding that she loved (it was actually a bit of a traumatizing experience to realize how many don’t exist, it’s only been 10 years! We’re not that old, right?!). Today’s blog post is about the details she is still glad they chose and maybe a few things she wishes they had done differently…
I wanted to start by saying, the big take home message for anyone planning a wedding should be: you’re planning a wedding for this moment in time, so choose what feels like you right now. The friends you have, the food you love, the place that makes you happy. Inevitably your tastes might change with time and you’ll make new best friends, but that’s all ok! Plan something that feels like you as a couple and it will be the right wedding for you. If you read one of our earliest blog posts you know about the best wedding planning advice we received, it really made it easier for us to envision a day that would be ‘us’.
I’m sure it would look different if we were planning it today, but I think the core of it would be the same. Here are 3 of my favorite choices we made and 1 thing I would change if I were planning it today!
Just a bit of drama
There were some things we knew we wanted right away and decided we just weren’t going to compromise on. For Ben, a good DJ was at the top of the list. I wanted a long train and a long veil (and a really nice friend who helped get us this shot). Can you believe the 🙌 emoji didn’t exist back when this photo was taken? It’s basically how I feel about it.
DIY the things you enjoy
Real talk: Ben was in another state while we were engaged and my job had pretty regular hours and not a lot of stress, so I had a lot of time on my hands.
I designed and made all the paper products for our wedding: tri-fold invites (very popular at the time), programs, menus, candy boxes, table numbers… and I still love how they turned out. I also enjoy paper crafts in general, so this was very fitting for me. If there’s something you like to make/do/perform/whatever, add things where it makes sense for you.
Do a little dance
I’m really glad we took dance lessons. I might also be glad that there isn’t any video footage of our first dance so that it can live on perfectly in my mind, but I’m pretty sure (and Isabelle promised me…) that it went well. We didn’t want to do a cheesy or over the top dance, we just wanted to be able to do a simple ballroom dance so we could enjoy it and not feel nervous swaying back and forth for 4 minutes (which is totally ok to do, but, see above, we like just a touch of drama). Bonus: we also learned how to properly dip, which made for lots of great photos.
My only regret…
First of all, looking at this photo, somehow we hadn’t figured out that we need to be on the other side of each other because, bangs. Moving on.
There are a few small things I would probably do differently. I loved my dress! But maybe I would choose a different style now. Loved the flowers! But maybe would go for a wildflower aesthetic. But actually, one thing I really like that become more popular since we got married is the variety in bridesmaid dresses. It just never crossed my mind because it was so standard for everyone to wear the same thing. And even when the trend started, the goal was still to have the colors match. Now I would totally embrace a spectrum of color or maybe even a pattern! But definitely let them pick dresses they liked (or maybe even already owned).
We hope you enjoyed this look back with us and maybe if you’re in the middle of the planning process yourself, feel a little encouraged that it will all be ok :)