To the 06'ers from the 05'ers

If you don't see DH before the ceremony, make sure you have a private moment at some point to take everything in together.
Consider taking pics before the ceremony if you don't have a few hours in between the ceremony and reception. You want to enjoy the whole day and not feel rushed or miss out on parts of the reception to take pics. You also don't want to regret not taking the pics you wanted b/c you didn't have enough time.
Relax and enjoy every minute. The day goes by really fast, but try to take a few moments to let everything sink in.
Try not to get separated from DH for too long. People will pull you in all directions trying to get your attention. It's your wedding day and you should enjoy every moment together.

Make a promise with your husband to be with each other at the reception. We did the wrong thing and split up to say hello to everyone and i only saw him when we were taking pics or doing the traditional bride and groom stuff.
Also, if you have any extra money- extend the reception. It goes way to fast. All that time and money and its over in the blink of an eye.
Oh yeah 1 more thing- get a videographer. when all you have is pics, you wish you had a video.
Best of luck to all of you!!!!

We can't thank you all of you '05ers enough for your support and advice.

You guys are awesome!

good luck and congrats 06'ers!

just remember, if things aren't perfect, in the end all that matters is that u marry the man that u love!

Congrats 06 brides! You all must be so excited!

My advice is to:
1. Make sure that all your vendors know what you want so that when you look back you won't be disappointed about anything

2. Live in the moment on your wedding day. It goes by so fast. Cherish every minute.

3. Don't let the opinions of your relatives/friends get you down. Remember it is your day and your FH's, not theirs.

All that I can say is that on the day of your wedding DO NOT STRESS yourself out, remember that you spent over 1 year or so planning everything so things will fall into place. Trust your vendors, if you don't then why did you pick them? Just relax and the whole day will go smoothly. Everyone was amazed how calm I was the morning of my wedding, the only thing I was concentrating on was seeing my DH for the first time at the church and the emotion that would run through us as we started our lives together as one. Once you arrive at your reception hall just enjoy every single minute of it because it will go by so fast. Enjoy the party to the fullest, get up and dance the whole night with your husband and you will see how much fun people will have around you!

Congrats and good luck to the 06' Brides, every single one of you will make a gorgeous bride

great advice, ladies.
a few things that i can think of:

- let your bridal atendant know that you want to see the reception room before they let everyone in there. Ours kept the crowd in the CH room for a few minutes longer so that DH and i could go into the room and have a few moments by ourselves. it was amzing to see how all of our hard work had come together, and to be in there, alone, with DH- to just take it all in (like the calm before the storm).

- don't let ANYTHING get to you on your wedding day! little things will, inevitably, happen. But you worked so hard for this day, that there really is NOTHING that is worth getting upset over. if anything comes up, put it on the backburner, and move on. nothing should take away from the amazingness of that day.

- sit down and eat dinner with your DH! it's your first meal together, and, afterall, you DID pay for it. (this also allowed us another moment to look around and just take it all in)-we got to see everyone laughing and smiling, and it was just an amazing feeling to know that they were all there to celebrate you. (we didnt eat any of our other courses, but we made it a point to do this).

- keep a smile on your face the Whole day (this wont be too hard to do though ). People will be taking pictures of you All day- even when you're not looking.

- choose your battles!! (and take everything with a grain of salt).

- bring comfortable shoes to change into (especially if you're not much of a shoe person). my shoes weren't too bad, but by the time my father/daughter dance was over, they were killing me. i had white flip flops, and they kept me on the dance floor all night.

- don't take things personally. Your wedding is one of the most important days in your life (up to this point), but just because someone can't be there, or isn't showing you the same excitement that you have, doesn't mean that they dont care about you or arent happy for you. One day isn't worth severing relationships that you've had for years.

- if you have to go to the bathroom, pick up the front up your dress and sit facing the back of the toilet. it makes it 100x easier to pee!!! (i also had a BM with me to help with the dress). oh, and dont worry about having to go to the bathroom that much- you'll be sooo preoccupied the whole day, that you wont even realize it (i seriously have a bladder the size of a penny, and i went right before the reception, and that was it for the whole day- and i drank alot, too ).

- Dance!!

and the most important advice i can give- No matter what happens in planning, or on your big day, just remember- At the end of the day, you walk away with your Best friend as your Husband. and really, that's all that matters.

Good luck to all of you! It's going to be an emotional roller coaster, but when you get to that day, you'll realize that every single second was worth it!

Wishing you all Wonderful weddings!

Well, I replied on a previous thread, so I'm copying and pasting below...also, the link at the bottom is from a great thread that was started on Brides Helping Brides earlier last year (as in '05 ) that has advice from all brides to future brides. I think it has unbelievably great advice. Best wishes to you all!

My only advice is this: no matter how much you plan, how much you organize or how many details you have under control the day will not be perfect. Period. There will always be little things (and hopefully that's what they'll be...nothing major shall happen to any of you!) that are unexpected. It's how you choose to deal with them that will define your day. So be graceful, don't dwell and let go. Remember that you will never be able to turn back time. Nothing will give you your day again, so don't get upset over anything. Smile and move on.

Nothing can top the fact that you will marry your best friend...nothing! Not even dress issues, a no show hair person or make-up person, a crappy vendor, a broken nail, a missed station at CH or anything else that may happen. Try to be positive and think that 'everything happens for a reason' and let it go. I can't stress this enough!! I enjoyed every single moment of my day and I left it all in God's hands...whatever happened was supposed to. I wish you all the same...be positive, happy and don't get upset. That's what makes happy memories of your day! There are NO do-overs!

ALREADY MARRIED BRIDES GIVE ADVICE!

May all your weddings be magical and your marriages blessed!

Thank you so much!

This thread is awesome! Thank you all so much!

Congrats 06ers!!!!

Here is my one piece of advice for you~

Don't forget about your honeymoon!!!

We spent an enormous amount of time finessing every detail of our wedding, that we delayed packing for our honeymoon until the night before (the day after our wedding) leaving us exhausted which resulted in poor packing.

You owe it to yourselves to be as prepared for this amazing trip as you were for your wedding day.

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Posted by jennandrob

Congrats 06ers!!!!

Here is my one piece of advice for you~

Don't forget about your honeymoon!!!

We spent an enormous amount of time finessing every detail of our wedding, that we delayed packing for our honeymoon until the night before (the day after our wedding) leaving us exhausted which resulted in poor packing.

You owe it to yourselves to be as prepared for this amazing trip as you were for your wedding day.

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so true!!!! we packed a week before so that we wouldnt have to deal with in, along with everything else that comes up 'last minute'

Definitely plan on changing into comfortable shoes at your reception (slippers) even if you have a low heel.

Try to keep lipstick, lipliner or lipgloss handy at all times for pictures. When I got my proofs back there were a lot of pictures where I didn't have any lipstick on.

Last but not least I can not stress it enough, the day is gone before you know it so just sit back several times throughout the night with your new husband and look around the room, take it all in and enjoy every moment. I promise when you look back on your day it will remain fresh in your mind.

Good luck!