Whenever you embark on a huge project, whether it’s a new job, buying a house or planning a wedding, you will always come up against obstacles and come out the other side wishing you knew at the beginning what you know now. To guide you through some of the unforeseen mistakes, we looked at some of the top mistakes real brides made that they would change if they could do it again.
Making Everyone Happy
All the brides we spoke to said the same thing: Don’t attempt to make everyone happy. Whether it’s your mum, his mum, the bridesmaids or the grand-aunt you've only met twice, everyone is going to have their own idea of how things should be and get upset when they are not. You will never be able to make everyone happy, so don’t worry yourself by trying. This is your and your husband-to-be’s day, it is a celebration of your love and the new family you are creating. The important thing is that the two of you are happy with the wedding, not anyone else.
DDIY: Don’t Do It Yourself
As much as we love Pinterest style DIY and crafts, our brides warned of the stress involved with making your own decorations, food or wedding cake. It takes a huge amount of planning and organising, it takes time to make and unless you are very experienced, it’s not going to look as beautiful and professional as in the pictures. Furthermore, guests aren't going to notice most of the things you've done, and won't appreciate how hard you worked to make it rather than buying it. If you want to minimise your stress coming up to the big day, always buy rather than make if you can afford to.
Food, Glorious Food
If you have spent the last three months debating whether you should have soup as a starter, you are going to scoff at the idea that the food isn't important. Our brides mostly found it was less important how fancy or delicious the meal was than that people were fed enough and fed quickly. There is a lot of waiting around as a wedding guest. You’re waiting for the couple to take photos at the church, get to the reception, take more photos, meet their guests… it can be a long time between the ceremony ending and sitting down to eat and those canapes run out fast. Keeping people entertained is the key to a fun day so make sure you don’t leave people hanging around drinking champagne on an empty stomach. It may go against your instincts but when it comes to feeding people you should go for quantity over quality. As long as it’s halfway decent, people will be happy.
The Little Details
As one bride put it, "no one appreciates all the effort that's gone in behind the scenes. Everyone involved is stressed to the hilt and then doesn't enjoy the day.” People might be impressed that the bridesmaid's flowers match the chair covers, but they won't notice if they don’t. At best, they will be impressed for about two seconds and then forget about it. When you ask friends what they like about a wedding, do you really think they are going to gush about what a nice table arrangement you had? People remember the people, the music, and the dancing. The rest is just background.
Images: Stressed Bride: BeautyHeaven.com | Fairy lights: Weddings by Lilly | Beads and Flower Chair Decoration: Weddbook.com | Bright Flower Chair Decoration: WeddingChicks.com | Flowing Fabric Chair Decoration: Style Me Pretty| Silk Ribbon Chair Decoration: LoveItSoMuch.com