Wedding Day Advice

To hire or not to hire a DOC
-I did not hire DOC. Worth it, for me at least; saves me money and the aggravations. Don’t mistake me on this. I planned on hiring a DOC, but people that I have interviewed were so insincere (you can tell it by the way they share their stories.) My MOH- my best friend and my sister are the very person that made my wedding day the best day ever (in my honest opinion.) We have a mutual understanding of how important the day is to me and to everyone. What I did: Since the beginning of my wedding planning we have been bouncing of ideas about budget, decor, music, and other details that I failed to mention and place in my bio. It helps me a great deal on the day of my wedding and how our ideas were made into a reality and kept under budget than I expected with out sacrificing the integrity of the wedding design concept. On the day of my wedding I made an outline of how everything should be. I also leave plenty of leeway for those who was helping me that day to be creative.

Advice: everything will be alright. Thinking outside the box is a much better way to surprise yourself and your guest.
Don't obsess way too much on the details; the guest will not even remember it at all. Pay close attention to what the guests will remember; Invitation design, Food, The taste of the cake not the design, Drink-Bar, Music, Tradition and table to table visit making it personal. My husband and I gave everyone a hug and thank them personally for coming and chat with them for a short while, we both made our guest very special. Small and intimate wedding is the ultimate best experience. We have invited only closest friends and families. Don’t sweat it if some people did not make to the wedding.

Vendors: Be friendly with them and don't demand way to much on their part, trust their experiences from their previous brides. Here is how I dealt with mine: I kept my calls (pestering) to a minimum of 2. I make appointment and meet with them personally to discuss important details and expressing the importance of keeping within the budget and the design and also kept it to a minimum of 3. I did not demand way too much and I carefully listened to what they were saying when I asked their previous experiences from other brides and learned from it. Be flexible and trust their ideas too. Remember they are the professional, they do weddings for living. They are people too. If you get stress they get stress too. Create a rapport with your vendors and they will treat you kindly. Tell them your ideas and plan B if your initial plan is not feasible. Prepare yourself for the worst case scenarios and be ready for it, with a plan, have it in writing if you can. I have it in writing but the details were delegated to my DH.

Also, when interviewing vendors make a list a head of what you think is important to you on your wedding day the generic questionnaire that you get of the internet helps but does not imply to your needs. Treat your vendors as you would like to be treated. Your vendors can sense your personality and they judge how the wedding will be from that initial interview. Tell your vendors of your budget; don’t tell them your entire wedding budget. Give them only the minimum budget you have. See, if they are willing to work with you, at this point, you can sense their personality if they would be fake or sincere, with your second or third meeting. Space out your meetings with your vendors so that you have a better gauge of their personality too. Stay away with the fake ones they will charge you way to much for a poor service.

In dealing with new photographer, give him ideas of the photos you would like and let his creativity soar. I compiled photos of “must take photo” and gave it to my photographer. I discussed with him that I like something similar but with his own creative touch. And make a plan B if the list were not followed. Personally, I opt to plan B because I forgot it too. Same goes with our photographer. I know it will turn out just fine, because we had a similar experience from our e-photo session. It was less stress on him and to us too.

Now, I followed everyone’s advised in regards to dealing with stress. Heck, you got to be kidding me. It did not work for me may be it work with others. Now, wedding is different than work and dealing with children and family. I thought I worked well under pressure but this went all down the drain when it comes to my wedding. I don’t even remember how I dealt with my stress but I remember that chicken nuggets were the only meal I could eat and energy drink with no sugar were the only thing I could drink. I am fortunate that my family let me alone when I was stressing out. They just made sure to ask me if I want chicken nuggets. Then, my DH made his grooms man help doing the favors and loading the wedding stuff. I find that I stayed focused and less stress when I am in charge of people.

Dealing with stress is individual. Find what usual things that calms you down and stay focus to the task at hand. You will find yourself eating less and sleeping less leading to your wedding day. Eat the food you can eat and drink and take sleeping pill. Practice that timeline that you create for the day of the wedding along with your FI/DH 2 to 3 days before the wedding and you’ll find your self less stress and remember everything that is needed for the special day.