Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

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Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

Hmmm the only thing I was unhappy with was our limo service. They have a good rep and reviews but they were less than ok. So I guess I could have done a little more research there.

Oh I forgot - I never got to see the food at our CT hour. We had plenty to eat and drink in the Bridal Suite but I never actually made it into the part of the room that had the CT display. Once we entered the CT hour we were busy talking.

Also if there is something you really want to do- make sure you set a time limit and do it. I never got to dance with my Godson. Before you know it the night is over.

Overall everything was even better than expected. We had a wonderful day.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

Biggest regret: mine is right up there with Stef's - hiring Spitz & Peck. I heard good things about them before booking and since they were recommended by my hall I booked them without even looking anywhere else. My flowers were just ok and I spent A LOT of money. I should have known when my hall drop them as a house florist before my wedding. Oh well!!! I still got compliments but they were not what I wanted.

Best decision: spending the money on an awesome band - Original Faze 4. Music completely makes the night IMO. Also, the table cameras were a well worth it investment. We got so many great shots.

My advise:
WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES!!!!!! I can't stress this enough. Even though I put on slippers half way into the reception, I wish my shoes had been more comfy so I wasn't so miserable towards the end of taking pictures.
and - Don't sweat the small stuff. There is nothing more upsetting than going to a wedding where the bride looks miserable. Laugh and have a good time.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

I am not sure I can say we had any mistakes. We worked with everything we could have without compromiszing anything that we truely wanted.

If we could do it over, I would have timed our Mass and reception to be further apart. It worked out well in the end, however, we missed a little of our cocktail hour and I am still bothered by that.

The best thing we did... There are too many to list. We didn't let anything bother us the day of. We had everything as we planned it and our happiness showed.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

Regrets:
Ignoring my gut feeling and hiring the photographer who I felt want’s going to do the best job! He was recommended by a good friend and gave us a very good price, but when we saw proofs we were very disappointed. Lesson: if he is considerably cheaper then the rest of the vendors in the field ask yourself WHY! Is it because he doesn’t do as good of a job as the rest of them? Very likely!

Not having enough time to take as many pictures as I wanted before the ceremony! I had so many great ideas, but they went out of my head on the day of, so make a list of every shot you want and give the list to the photographer. We spend so much time taking pics at home that my poor DH and his family had to wait at the hall for me for 1 1/2 hours! I should have started even earlier then we did, although I felt we had plenty of time I started my make –up at 11:15 and the photographer got to the house at 1:00, but everything took much longer then I anticipated!

Not enjoying the day more! I was in a gaze! The whole day just flew by like one second! Especially the reception! But I guess that is everyone’s regret, and there is nothing a bride can do about it! I do remember the ceremony well though!

Our stupid metre d’ mixed up boutonnieres for DH and his best man! We didn’t notice it till we saw the pictures! And he said he has been doing this job for 10 years! Whatever! Lesson: check up on EVERYONE who works at the venue!



Best things:

Loved the ceremony! Loved our rabbi! I was really relaxed and was able to enjoy the whole thing, even though I was extremely nervous right before! I took my time walking down the asle, looking at all pur guests, smile and waving! Word of advice: if possible, have your officiant face you towards the guests during the ceremony! You have no idea how seeing your friends and family relaxes you! Yes, ceremony was my very favorite part!

The last dance that DH and me shared after almost everyone left! Photo and video men were already packing up, but the band kept playing my very favorite and very old song that came out when I was 8 growing up in Russia! We were the only ones on the dance floor! It was very very romantic! I will never forget it! And the dance lessons REALLY paid off!

My father-in- law, who is a professional wedding photographer, was able to make a few pictures during our first dance and the reception! I am so glad because they are by far the best one from the whole wedding! He is such a great artist, my new papa-in-law!

Trusting my instinct and letting the florist do whatever she wanted, instead of controlling her every move, like I was going to! I gave her my basic idea, she made a few suggestions and declined a few of my ides! I am so glad because the flowers were amazing and surprisingly enough exactly what I always wanted! Mila from Sweet Blossom in Brooklyn rules!

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

biggest mistake - allowing my hairdresser to put my headpiece on the top/front of my head, when I really wanted it in the back (and not seen from the front). Still bugs me when I look at pics, but that day I was like, whatever!

being too excited to really pay attention to what pictures where being taken (and which weren't)

best thing? too many: the band, having so much time between ceremony & reception (had some great quality time with BP and didn't miss cocktail hour), dancing the night away with my fabulous husband, going for the gardenias on my cake and cocktail tables - it was all pretty wonderful!

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

I wouldn't say we had a biggest mistake either. I may have hired a different photographer. It's not that we are unhappy with the photos (because the quality is very good), it's just that there are some things that he didn't get (and I feel that I shouldn't have had to remind him) and dealing with him after the wedding has been a complete nightmare. I can't wait to get my album so that I don't have to deal with him again.

Our best thing? There were so many! Our ceremony, my children's choir singing, our band at the reception, the reception place. . . .the look on David's face as I was coming down the aisle. . . . that I will never forget.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

I would say the one of the biggest mistakes were not going to my cocktail hour to saying hello to guest b/c at the reception we ended up goign to all the tables to say hello during the reception and we missed a lot of the dancing and fun.

Another mistake was not paying attention to the pictures the photgrapher was taking at the reception. I forgot to tell him to take pictures of all my tables and take more pictures of the cocktail hour and vienesse hour b/c I missed both.

One of the best things we did was have the reception at Milleridge Cottage. I am still getting rave reviews of the service and fgood and the wedding was a month ago.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

mistakes...

**not having more b/w pictures...I got a lot...but I just wish I had more...

**eating like a pig the week before (I was enjoying myself doing wedding things and hanging out with BMs, etc)...I gained 5 pounds and it was uncomfortable to sit and eat at the wedding...so I didn't eat much

**this isn't a bad one...but I didn't talk to my florist about what the cake flowers should be...I just wish they matched wither the centerpieces or the bo-ks...I don't know what he was thinking...but he did such a great job on everything else...i can't be upset...


best...

**relaxing...I am an extrememly tense person...but the day of the wedding...I was completely relaxed- DH was shocked...

**choosing a hall that had everything under control...They literally thought for me...knew when I wanted a drink...or to dance...or whatever

**having pictures before hand...also since we told family to arrive a little early for pictures...it seemed everyone did...and we started our ceremony earlier and got 20 extra min for our cocktail hour

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

I wasn't upset about this, but my inlaws complained for days. We didn't ask the videographer and photographer to take photos of the family members at the tables and didn't get more shots of our extended families. Both vendors took more pics of people who were on the dance floor and a lot of the older people never got up from their seats. We were thrilled with the way our photos came out and probably would not have included all these extra shots in our album but apparently our parents were disappointed that Aunt so-and-so was not in any pictures.

The best thing I did was to get as much stuff done ahead of time. I was in my first semester of grad school at the time. I did the bulk of my planning over the summer and while I was not as busy with school. The last few weeks, I just had to confirm last minute stuff and relax.

The other good thing I did was give an extremely long list of songs that I did and did want want played to our DJ. I made them nuts, but our DJ was amazing and really did an excellent job reading the crowd. Everyone commented on what a great wedding we had.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

JMS: My husbands mother says the same thing. But for me, I was glad my photographer didnt take photos of people sitting around. I tell my mother in law that if people didnt do anything (like dance or smile at least) to be worthy of a photo, they were excluded :P

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

THis is probably the best and most informative thread I've read on this website! Thanks ladies, and keep them coming!!!

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

My MIL made those comments because she kept comparing our wedding to all the other affairs she had thrown- mainly her 3 sons' bar mitzvahs which were over 20 years ago! 20 years ago, they did take table pictures of people sitting around. Now they don't unless you request it.

If anyone else goes through this, tell your parents or IL's to ASK the photographer ON THAT DAY if they want other pictures. My stepmom did just that and she got special pics of her with my stepsisters and of her and my Dad. My mom also asked for two special table shots and she got them.

IMO, the two table shots we did get were awful. People were not looking at the camera. Some were making funny faces. We didn't put them in our album. That's just my bias. I like candid shots much better.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

Jms: My MIL compares our photos to photos she has seen of really ultra traditional photos. She actually likes the photos of us...but she'll say 'why is this black and white? i bet they could have done it in color!' or 'why did they cut your heads off this shot of you two holding hands? If they stepped back, they could have gotten your whole bodies'. She just doesnt understand that not every shot should be a full lenghth posed potrait!

Im with you..candids are where its at. I actually have some really good table shots but they are pretty much garbage to me along with the rest of the stiff poses.

Which brings me back to one of the original suggestions on the thread - make the wedding for you and your husband, not anyone else. If they dont like, they can get married themselves

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

Thanks for all of you honest opinions girls. This has been very helpful.

I agree - keep em' comin'!

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

Ok the best thing was my florist..Masters he went above and beyond with my flowers....

The Worst was my makeup.. i HATED IT!!!! It was a woman who was friends with the moms best friend( who does not have a daughter) and it was just too much of the wrong colors....oh and I would have had someone else do my BM hair becuae she could not decided how she wanted her hair . I was an hour behind....

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

There are only a couple of things I wished we did differently...

Having a quick receiving line after the ceremony. It would have given us a chance to say hello to everyone. I know that we missed people on DH's side b/c there were a lot of them and they weren't at the tables when we went around to say hi. Then we could have skipped parts of that. That was where we got into inane conversations about traffic with dozens of people - one at a time.

Pictures -

I wished we assigned someone from each side of the family to gather and contain extended families for group shots. We wasted a lot of time trying to get some of these shots.

I wish there were more pics of DH by himself and with his family.

I wish the photographer was more aggressive about not letting other people take pictures behind and next to him. A lot of group pictures have people looking somewhere else.

These are all fairly minor as our day was just wonderful.

One of my favorite things was that my sister had a BBQ the night before the wedding and my mother had a day after brunch. I just LOVED spending more personal time with our friends and family that attended these events. The guests that attended these parties are the people that we are much closer to and it was wonderful to spend extra time with them.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

The biggest mistake I made was our choice of photographers, our pictures were ok, but missing a lot of standard shots, and our photographer was just a TRULY annoying person. I got a bad vibe after I booked with them, but didnt follow my instincts and for what we paid them we should have gotten double what we did. Unfortunatly I booked them before I found this site and didnt do enough research. In the end, the pictures and video are so important, since that is what you have to remember the day!

The best thing was making the effort to do the little things that DID get noticed, also taking dance lesons and making the time to truly enjoy the day with my DH. There were seveal minor things that went wrong, but you have to not let these small things affect your outlook of the day!

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

I think a HUGE theme here is DO NOT chose a photographer based on just price or because your friend liked him/her. Do research, meet the photographer, look at proofs that are in the office. Albums are the 'best' of their work, proofs are all the good/bad and inbetween.
And if you get a 'no so good' gut feeling about a vendor during your planning SWITCH! I switch 2 vendors (limo and band) during our 1.5 year engagment and am glad I did.

Re: Poll: Biggest Mistake???

My biggest mistake was having the ceremony at the church where I grew up - what a total nightmare!!!!