10 Mistakes I Made Planning my own Wedding

First of all I want to say I LOVED my wedding, here is the scene…August 24, 2002 Newport, RI catholic ceremony at St. Lucy’s church with a reception at Bailey’s Beach for 225.  Family and friends, Engraved invitations, a Band AND a DJ, overcast day so no eye squinting, an antique Rolls Royce, an ice cream bar, a tiara and a designer ballgown. What is not to love about that?! But of course we all have the woulda coulda shoulda moments. Now that I am a professional wedding planner, and I actually can think about just wedding planning (I was a visual merchandiser then), did I mention at the time I was planning my wedding for 225 I was building a house and trying to graduate college. Yeah I like to keep the excitement on high at all times J Here are 10 things I would have done different for my own wedding.

1. .     Obsess over if my fiancée would like my dress ~ I had 2 and a half years to plan my wedding. My dress was one of the first things I checked off my list. But of course I searched through every wedding magazine each month thinking Paul may like something better. I made the mistake of cutting 4 dresses out a magazine (mine and 3 others) and asking Paul which one he liked best. Guess what he liked… the chic, plain, form fitting dress. I bought the most princess like 15 layers of tulle dress. He pointed to my dress in the picture and said it was too puffy and he did not like it. Awesome. I cried. For 2 days. He felt bad. Long story short, I kept it, knowing he would love me if I was in a potato sack.
2. .     Traditional shoes ~ I love high fashion. I was a fashion major in college. The only thing I knew about weddings is what Emily Post said and traditional. Yet I am very traditional in my values, I should have worn colored shoes. Yellow to be exact. My “look” is traditional with a twist of preppy and one stand out piece. I wore white shoes…but they did have sparkles on them.
3. .     Reception Dress ~ Again back with the fashion. I love the idea of a reception dress. My grandmother had two dresses for my wedding…I should have too!
4. .     Exit Car ~ The music stopped and Paul and I got into our own car and drove to a hotel. I wish we had left a half hour before the reception was over (in a different outfit of course), had everyone light sparklers and be driven to our hotel.
5. .     Seating Chart ~ I had the bright idea of doing my seating chart the night before my wedding. Chaos. I had house guests, a rehearsal dinner, and did it myself because Paul could careless who sat next to who. Learn from me. Have it done at least two weeks before hand and make adjustments as they come (cancelations etc)
6. .     Welcome Bags ~ I love this idea, I always talk about how much I love Newport and all it’s local offerings. But what do I do…nothing. I only had about 40 out of town guests from the 225, but still, I should have given them a little token of this destination.
7. .     Tuxedos ~ again with the Emily Post, I thought the guys were supposed to wear tuxes. Paul grew up wearing a blue blazer and tie to school and family dinners. This is like second nature to him. I should have skipped the tuxes and had them all wear blazers, with yellow ties to match the shoes I was supposed to wear.
8. .     Honeymoon ~ We went to Rome on our honeymoon….the day after our wedding. Again, crazy. I wish we would have taken a day to regroup, then gotten in that town car for the airport. To be honest, neither one of use remember the flight there we were so tired!
9. .     Photography prints ~ Photography, besides the ceremony details, was the most important thing to me. So I got the best photography package possible, but didn’t get prints because I said “Oh I will order them after the wedding” If I had been forced to pick photos because they were in my “package” I would have a portrait on my wall. I have no big wedding pictures. Nothing. I have printed proofs all around my house. Biggest regret ever. We had our son 1 year from our wedding so then I was in baby mode. (There are huge images of the kids all over the house for that reason)
10.   . Hire a Make Up Artist ~ I don’t wear makeup, so I had the bright idea that I was not going to get my makeup done for my wedding. I had the hair, the tiara, the designer dress, designer shoes…and drugstore makeup. Seriously. 

What would you have done different if you could change something about your big day?