Wedding regrets......

I dont' have many regrets. I loved my wedding day and made sure that we both had a great time.
The only regret I have is I didn't make a photo list. We took SO many pictures but I would have liked a few more outside. It wasn't anything big because I picked my photos for my album and I was very happy.

Only one really. I wish I would've booked another florist Too much of a headache just before and during the wedding.

I have a few regrets - most aren't earth shattering - just little things i wish i had done differently.

1. I wish I had slept more the night before my wedding - I only had 3 hours of sleep.

2. I wish i was more insistent with my florist to make sure that the centerpieces were VERY full and that the BM bouquets were VERY Full. We paid a lot for flowers - and i just feel we didnt get our money's worth.

3. Again flower related - we got a a wreat in the shape of a letter S with all roses - it just looked odd at the weddign - and i wish i had gotten our first initials instead of my new last initial.

4. I wish i had stuck to my guts and told the BMs that their dresses would be strapless. Some of them really didnt want strapless and I did - (i ended up paying for the straps) - but a couple - the ones that didnt want them were complaining that they were slipping off all night.

5. I wish i had told my DJ to play more old slow songs. Also, i told them I wanted them to play Georgia on my mind and they didnt!

6. I wish i had bought more comfortable shoes that were much lower - mine were close to 4 inches. I loved my shoes and they matched my dress to the T but they were NOT meant to dance in all night. Since i knew that i bought white sneakers which i changed into but because of the height differnece i was stepping on my dress all night.

7. I wish we had some more pictures that were just me and my DH. I loved all my pictures- i guess i wanted more - and that goes hand in hand with i wish we had gotten a second photographer.

8. I wish we had gotten a second videographer. My video is Awesome and i love it - there is just ONE thing that irks me a bit - becaue we only had one videographer - during the ceremony (which is 45 minutes long) he did not change sides of taping so you only see the groomsmen NOT the bridesmaids - if it was short it wouldnt be apparent but 45 minutes of looking at 6 guys - it is very noticeable.

9. I wish i had splurged with the cake. We didnt pay extra for the cake but I really wanted the hall to write the words of our first song on the cake and they suggested that we dont the week before our wedding. Since i rather be on teh safe side i told them fine. The cake did taste good - just didnt look exactly how i wanted.

10. I wish i had taken the time to make a signature drink. I wanted till the last minute and couldnt find any pear brandy (we had a perfect pear theme) - it would hav ebeen perfect since our hall had a built in bar - but our maitre'd was SO nice to make the drinks just for me and my DH!

11. I wish i had made it clearer to my hall that i wanted the lights turned off when i entered the room and i just wanted the candle pillars on the table to illuminate the hall.

12 - THIS one is big!! I wish i had spent more time looking into veils. I hated my veil because it really fell into my face- and i wish i had actually looked into getting a silk veil.

Wow, how did I miss this post? Today, being married a little over 4 months I don't regret anything because I'm able to 'let go' of a lot of things and see the big picture...my day was really perfect and I had the most amazing ceremony and reception...but had I found this right after the HM high wound down these are the things I would have changed:

1 - allowing Mom so much time to slack off regarding my dress. The end result, while gorgeous, was the cause of much stress and was rushed at the end causing some button issues...I never cared about my dress because I knew my mom would make it, I wish I had been a little 'Bridezilla' about it though and treated her like a vendor (since I paid for my material and embroidery) instead of like my mom who could make my dress in one day. And she did. But it was stressful for me and I got so tired of people saying 'your wedding is this week and you still have no dress?!'

2 - allowing Mom so much time to slack off regarding the BM dresses. She made 2 beautiful dresses in under a week, but one BM was left dress-less and this caused my husband to go out to Roosevelt Field Mall the morning of our wedding with his aunt, the dress-less BM, and buy her a dress he thought would match. I LOVE that man and this was great because I saw first hand how he would take care of me (and how much of a b!tch his aunt was) but wow mom...talk about dropping the ball.

3 - not wanting my girls to buy their BM dresses and being lax about this. I wanted them to save money and my mom offered to make their dresses. Nevermind that she lives in GA. End result? See #2. I should have coordinated better and asked them to buy dresses.

4 - having my aunt do my flowers. Yes, they were beautiful and what I wanted, plus I saved a fortune...but my bo-k and the BM flowers wilted...the CP's were finished while the CH was happening and my mom and MOH had to help her thus missing a lot (OK all) of the CH...I was not happy. Leason learned from #1-4 though = business and family DON'T mix!

5 - hiring a miserable woman to do my hair and not going on more hair and make-up trials. I was very relaxed about my wedding...did it all alone, paid for it completely with my DH's help...did not want to 'bother' or be a 'Bridezilla' plus I was on a budget. Yeah...I should have thought this one through. Did not need stress from b!tchy people the morning of my wedding.

6 - not having a 'must take photo' list. I love my pictures, they're awesome and truly captured my day. But some crucial shots were missed...there are no pics with my family (parents, siblings, stepmom, etc.) since they didn't go to the church or the park and I was too busy dancing during the reception. I mean, there are pics of me and my siblings separately, bu tno family portrait. Also, no pics (close-ups) of the CP's, full length of our first dance, no CH pics...again, we were behind schedule and I never asked...had I asked I would have received. A list would have helped.

7 - leaving so many things for the last minute. Did I really need to be up for 48 hours prior to the wedding? Why was I at JFK and then checking my dad and family into a hotel the night before my wedding? This caused my manicure to get messed up BTW. Yeah, I should have made a schedule and done a lot more things earlier. Place cards 2 days before S UCK!

All in all...not much to complain about. Like I wrote in m ridiculously long review, I am thankful that everything happened prior to my wedding. Because once I stepped foot in that church it was pure bliss...and I could not ask for more.

You live you learn...thank you Heather for starting this...I hope it helps future brides.

A few unfortunately...
Starting with the week I got to NY for the wedding- I wish I had insisted on kicking my brother and his wife out of my childhood room with the ONLY comfortable bed in my parents house because its the only one my SIL could get any sleep in. Guess what- I DIDN'T GET ANY SLEEP all week! So by the rehersal dinner I was like an exhausted 5 year old who lost it during the speeches when my DH didn't thank me for all I done for the wedding like he said he was going to do.
I didn't give my speech as a result and ended up going home and crying myself to sleep on the night before my wedding. I am not good when I don't sleep and as a result I was really pissed that my brother didn't just didn't say to his demanding wife- hey, she's the bride- let her have the comfy room. I should have been more assertive.

My photographer- I wish I had avoided the hype and interviewed some more people. My pictures are ok but not what I thought they would be. I am still regretting not going with a different photographer since I really think their quality is beginning to suffer since they have added new people.

I wish I had brought my veil to the hair trial or at least put it on early like my hairdresser wanted. It was really hot so we got ready late(no airconditiong in the main rooms at my parents). I never saw how the veil looked over my face until I saw the pictures- it looked hideous and hid my face completely. It really ruined it for my DH since he really didn't 'see' me walk down the aisle.

Other than that everything was perfect and I have to admit- these are really minor things. I have tons of pictures from our table camera's and friends that more than make up for the ones our photographer missed, and the day was the best one of our lives. My biggest regret is that we can't do it again.

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Posted by Sweetd

Wow, this is an old post.

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Its only like 3 months ago

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Posted by hbradio

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Posted by Sweetd

Wow, this is an old post.

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Its only like 3 months ago

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3 months is fine in my book. It's the posts that are over a year old that seem 'out of date'

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Posted by suven

3 months is fine in my book. It's the posts that are over a year old that seem 'out of date'

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Actually, even those are cool and I like them. They may be oldies...but the new girls can always add to it. LOVE the 03 'dress', 'pics with dad', 'best pic' threads.

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Posted by SomethingBlu

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Posted by suven

3 months is fine in my book. It's the posts that are over a year old that seem 'out of date'

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Actually, even those are cool and I like them. They may be oldies...but the new girls can always add to it. LOVE the 03 'dress', 'pics with dad', 'best pic' threads.

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ahah, that's true too!

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Posted by suven

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Posted by hbradio

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Posted by Sweetd

Wow, this is an old post.

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Its only like 3 months ago

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3 months is fine in my book. It's the posts that are over a year old that seem 'out of date'

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I thought it was old, just my opinion. I didn't say it wasn't good. It is still good in my book. When it comes down to it, who really cares anyway?

I love the old threads that I can participate in.
And hbradio must feel like an old married lady if this post is considered old.

Regardless, if they are new or old, why does it matter? They are good posts. Lets discuss the matter at hand, our weddings.

I want to add to this post but I didn't do my review yet mostly based on some regrets and I have to figure out how to post pics. Anyway here goes.

1) I wish I had invited many friends instead of the family members you are obligated to invite that you never hear from. Many of them RSVP’d yes and never showed. Big regret because we had about 14 no shows and those could have been given to others. Not to mention we had to pay for that.
2) I wish I had worn my veil towards the back of my hair during the reception. In most of pics you can’t see my hair.
3) I wished I had reapplied my lipstick. There were so many of you ladies who mentioned that in your reviews and I made a mental note of that and still forgot.
4) I wish I would have trusted my gut instincts for points 5,6, 7, and 8 Instead of letting others talk me out of it.
5) I should have bought a better strapless bra. My mother talked me out of it. In the first few fitting my bra was perfect but then I lost a couple of pounds after my dress was let out, which I realized in some pics caused my dress to look like it not well fitted.
6) I am not very happy about my proofs and although I heard good things about my photographers and my casual pictures came out great, I would have picked someone else. I made a detailed list and that didn’t help much.
7) I wanted to go to one other company that most LIW brides have given good reviews to. I researched two other companies for trumpeters and wanted to go with the 3rd that I have heard good reviews about. My husband talked me out it because the price was good with the company we chose. We were not pleased by the company we choose at all. I have since found out that the 3rd company charged around the same price as the company I went with so I really wished I had followed my gut.
8) Although everyone thought the DJ was great, I wish I did not pick a family friend for our DJ. He was very arrogant and tried to tell us what to do rather than what we wanted. Thank goodness we had an older crowd at our wedding and they loved the music. It could have gone quite the opposite way.
9) I wish I had taken more time to pick two of my bridesmaids. The girls that I really believed were my friends are not and right now I am not friends with one of them.

With all of these regrets, you would think my wedding was not great, but I have to say despite these things, it was a blessing that no one noticed thse minor flaws and to this day people are still telling us that we had one of the best weddings they have been to in a long time. That to me is truly a blessing.

My mother always says “Every disappointment is a blessing” (although sometimes that is not always what I want to hear) and I can tell you that I have learned so much is the last year ½ of planning that even those regrets, although I am still really upset about some of them has taught me so much. Nothing in life is perfect. Ladies trust your instincts when making decisions and ask a lot of questions that way if things do not turn out they way you want it, at least you know you did your best.

Sorry so long…

I would have gotten a better photog. I would have spent more time telling them what I wanted.

I would have insisted that the CH would be the only time I was willing to take pics, and after that, I was going to enjoy my wedding

I would have written instructions on the table cameras.

I would have spent more time going over, with the band, the songs they would play.

I would have gotten more make up trials

I would have placed the guestbook in a more prominent place, so people would know it was there, and have them SIGN it.

I would have told someone to see if any flowers were in the church from services before, and get rid of them!

I would have held my flowers lower so they didnt cover up my dress

I would have reapplied my lipstick more.

I would have spent less time talking to people I dont even know and more time dancing.

I would have held an afterparty to keep the day going

I would have stayed in a hotel the night before and gotten ready there the next morning instead of staying at my apartment. I came home to a huge mess the afternoon after the wedding and I was too tired and did not feel like cleaning up.

I would have had the rehearsal dinner at a resturant after the rehearsal instead of at my house before the church. Because the dinner was a BBQ it was at 3:30 and alot of people could not make it due to work schedules (being Thursday and all.) I also would have made the rehearsal for 7:30 instead of 6:30.

I would have extended my reception by another hour.

I would not have asked my 2 SIL's to be in my BP. They wanted all the glitz and glamour but none of the responsibilities or financial duties that came along with the title.

I would have chosen more of a photojournalist/artist as a photographer. I have not seen my proofs yet so I can not honestly say but I feel as though we took way to many posed shots when I explicitly asked for a PJ approach on several occasions.

I would have hired a videographer, as much as I did not want the lights and cameras in my face, and said I would have some one take a home video with my VC - no one did so I am basically SOL.


That is pretty much it, The rest of my day was PERFECT!!! Including the weather!!

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Posted by hbradio

I would have had someone pass my guestbook around so that everyone could have signed it. Not even half the guests did! What a waste.

I would have put tags on the table cameras. They were a last minute addition and I couldnt be bothered to write instructions. I thought everyone would just know what to do....



And while my proofs are awesome I 'forgot' to take a professional picture (or even an amateur one) with my 2 cousins I mentioned above (they even joked the other day and said lets all put our dresses on and take a picture!) as well as some guests that I am very close to. Too much on my mind at the time I guess!

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i wish i told people or put a tag on the table cameras to use the flash. oh well.

i also wish more people signed the guest book and i wish i was more anal about pictures. oh well.

other than that, i'm happy with the results.
i just regret that i wasn't given a bach. party. not to sound greedy, but i didn't get that last bash and i wish my friends thought more about that.