Wedding days are some of the most unique experiences that a couple can go through together! With so many beautiful new brides stuck in the excitement that comes with planning for a beautiful celebration of their marriage, things can get confusing fast. With all the fuss over wedding traditions, it can be difficult to decide what’s right for you on your wedding. The two of you will eventually learn which details you find important to celebrate for your own big day and which you don’t mind breaking tradition for. After all, you have to be able to sit down and decide which choices are extremely important to you and not be afraid to stand up for what you want. Hopefully, this list can better guide you to deciding which details may be deal breakers for your own wedding day!

I want to preface this post by saying that my own wedding day was 100% exactly what I had hoped and envisioned for the start of my marriage! I will never forget all the glorious memories my husband and I made that day. If I had not had the experiences that I did, I would not have been able to educate future brides the way that I can. That said, this post is simply meant to educate and encourage beautiful brides to consider some items that I simply overlooked. As a wedding photographer, I have also found that wedding days tend to run more smoothly when these three points are implemented and taken seriously.

So without further ado, here are three Wedding Day Would-Haves that I would have done for my own wedding day!

1. I wish I had sat down for dinner.

This one is super ironic because the fact that Hunter and I didn’t have a formal dinner actually led to one of my favorite memories from my wedding night! It is true that we did not eat and by the end of the night we were absolutely famished. I can not think of another time in my entire life that I was as utterly exhausted than on my wedding night.

 

I had previously opted to have our caterer send us off with two to go plates, easy fix right? Wrong! Our sweet caterer accidentally forgot to pack us with some silverware so we ended up eating delicious shrimp and grits with our hands! Gross but delectable. After that, we were still starving so we ordered a large pepperoni Hungry Howie’s pizza and devoured the entire thing! Let me tell you that if someone says you won’t be hungry the night of your wedding, they are LYING!

 

Even though Hunter and I look back fondly of our strange wedding night meal, I still highly encourage my brides to take 10 – 15 minutes after the ceremony but before the introduction to simply chow down together just the two of you. Some brides opt to have a table out in front with their guests, which I think that’s a great alternative as well. The main reason I encourage the private meal is so that your aren’t flooded with the many “Congratulations!” kisses from guests quite yet. Of course your guests don’t mean anything by it, but at that moment all you really want to do is eat, not visit. So this way, you can refuel on your own with your new spouse before you brave the storm of all your sweet loving guests.

 

2. I wish I would have had a Father-Daughter First Look

Professionalism and compassion are my two main goals to present myself with on a wedding day. However, when a beautiful bride and her loving father share a special hug and some tears, I lose it every single time. I love ceremonies and first looks with future husbands don’t get me wrong, but these moments brides spend with their fathers are so special for me to not only capture but to watch as well.

 

If there was one “regret” I guess you could say that I have, that would definitely be it. I’m so thankful I at least got to spend a little bit of time with my dad waiting to walk down the aisle with me as well as our first dance. I would have absolutely loved to have been able to spend 5 to 10 minutes with just he and I though laughing or reading some scripture.

 

This is another moment I would deeply encourage all future brides to consider if you think you may have time in your wedding day. I’ve seen it time and time again how absolutely precious these moments are for brides to have on their wedding day. Of course you can absolutely have first looks with your mom or parents together if that suits you! There just isn’t anything quite like a Daddy seeing his baby all grow up. It’s one of my favorite moments on a wedding day.

3. Quality Over Quantity

Oh boy. This one hurts a little bit to talk about, I’m not going to lie. When it comes to the number of guests present for your wedding day, I encourage you to be ruthless. I can think of at least 40 people that haven’t spoken to Hunter nor I since our wedding day which was a year and a half ago. Not only is this kind of hurtful, but it makes me wish I would have kept the number a bit smaller so that only the people who genuinely cared about us would have been a part of it. I also would have saved a little money by caring less about other people’s feelings and more about my own and how I would feel.

 

The other thing to think about is that you just simply don’t have enough time to say hello to every single person. You can try your very best but you may miss out on dancing with your best friends or other special reception moments. The smaller the number, the less time you have to spend with “thank you’s” and the more time you’ll have truly enjoying yourself. After all, by keeping a number smaller you know that the people there will truly understand and want you to be able to enjoy your wedding day, even if that means they might not get that couple minutes of small talk.

 

One a separate note if your venue has the ability, I would absolutely encourage you to have your pup as a guest! My only other “regret” is not having our babies around with us on our wedding day. Not only are the pictures of dogs on wedding days absolutely adorable, but I think its great to have the things that are most important to you reflected on your big day. I know that it may be a hassle for some, but I’m sure my thirteen year old brother–in–law would not have minded watching our pooches for us post ceremony rather than having to socialize the way most young teenage boys love to do. Odds are there is someone in your family who would rather play with dogs at a party anyway…are you raising your hand? Because I definitely am!

 

 

 

 

All in all the single most important detail to remember is that your wedding day is truly about the love you both have for one another. Nothing else in the world matters as much as that! I hope that these three tips have got you thinking about different aspects of you wedding day you simply may not have thought of. It’s so easy to get swept up in all the major details, that sometimes the simpler things are forgotten. No matter what your day will be as beautiful as the love you share, don’t forget it!