5 THINGS I’M GLAD I DID AT MY WEDDING!
I could list a million amazing things about my wedding because, IT WAS MY WEDDING YO! Everyone’s wedding is their best day ever, and that’s why weddings are great! There are so many warnings, “don’ts” “do’s” or “what if’s” revolving around planning a wedding, so take this fun positive spin on advice for planning your big day.
Photo by Lacey Rene Studios
1. A receiving line
I am not the kind of person that would have done well going table to table. I am okay at small talk, but I’m not great. I would have spent 20 minutes at one table and two minutes at another, then felt bad that I didn’t spend enough time at the latter table and went back than never would have made it on the dance floor. Instead, we opted to greet each guest with a receiving line as they left the ceremony location and headed to the reception and it was SO GREAT. Also- I’ll never forget when I leaned over to Wade and said “okay who is that family member I’ve never met them” and he looked at me and said “I have no idea who that is I assumed they were with your family” and we had a moment of “holy $h*t do we have a wedding crasher” just to realize it was one of my cousins boyfriends. Gotta love plus ones!!
2. A first look
If you don’t want to do a first look I will 110% support you. It is your day and you gotta do you! For Wade and me? We were HERE. FOR IT. I’m too anxious of a person and he’s too nervous of a person. There was no doubt we were doing a first look and it was BY FAR my favorite part of the entire day. He had never seen my dress before the first look and, little did he know, he actually picked it out. We were scrolling on Pinterest together one night looking at other wedding related things and a photo of a dress popped up (probably a sponsored post, but hey I’m not mad about it). He stopped, pointed out how much he loved the dress, and moved on. The next week I went dress shopping, found the gown, tried it on and bought it that day. It was the ultimate surprise when he turned around and, come on, look at that smile! I remember how light I felt after the first look. Just seeing Wade and being able to hang out with him the rest of the afternoon made feel so at ease.
Photo by EpagaFOTO
3. A slideshow during the daddy daughter dance
I’m not a good dancer and I can get a little socially awkward, so I was nervous enough for the first dance let alone knowing I had to stay on the floor for a second dance immediately after. I asked my Dad to help me with a project and he totally dug the idea! Together, we made a slideshow of photos throughout my childhood mostly revolving around the two of us. There were baby photos, embarrassing teen photos, and photos that involved other wedding guests which was a hoot. It was a huge hit and I would do it over and over again- not only to get the attention away from two awkward people dancing, but to see the reaction on my friends and family member’s faces when their photo popped up and a memory came back to them was...well…priceless.
Photo by Elizabeth Ladean Photography
4. I chose a venue that had the ceremony and reception location at the same property
If you read my post about the top 5 things I wish I knew before planning my wedding, you’d know that I had moved to Kansas City one month before getting engaged. I didn’t know much about the city yet, but I knew that almost all of my guests would be traveling for the wedding. When we totaled it up, under ten guests didn’t have to fly or drive. That’s nuts!! We were thankful so many friends and family members were willing to make the trip and wanted to make everything once they got into town as easy as possible. We strategically chose a venue that would allow for a ceremony and reception in the same location to alleviate any transition times or additional driving. We secured a room block very close and had an after party that guests could walk to after. Sunday morning brunch was hosted in the hotel and most guests made a weekend out of it heading to the Royals game later that day!
5. We left for our honeymoon on Monday, so we had one day between the wedding and leaving to recoup
Oh man. Please, please, please do this. We had Sunday brunch at the hotel with all guests, did gift opening with wedding party and immediate family then PASSED OUT by 5pm. We were so thankful and our hearts were so full, but we were so exhausted. I could not fathom having to drive to the airport and board a plane just to land in paradise and fall asleep. We packed for our honeymoon before the wedding weekend came and took Sunday to simply relax and revel in the amazing last 48 hours.
Happy planning from Hawthorne House!