As a wedding photographer, I have seen various situations where newlyweds are under stress because in most cases they are the organizers of their wedding themselves. On the day they should be enjoying themselves they are burdened with various situations whether everything will go according to plan. And finally when you ask them how it all went, they answer: I could hardly wait for it all to end. Well, in order for that not to happen, here are a few tips that you should perhaps be careful about so everything goes as planned. 😊.
My top Wedding planning tips to help you plan a perfect day
Tip nr. 1
If you have a budget, leave it to the professionals to organise your dream day and you come as a guest to your wedding 😊. The best way to enjoy your day to the fullest and let the professionals take care of the details.
Tip nr. 2
Instead of big traditional wedding consider intimate
Ok in Croatia, traditional weddings take up a large percentage, but have you ever thought of doing something just for the two of you? Instead of taking out a loan for a big wedding and inviting a bunch of people you do and don’t really know, consider inviting a few of your closest friends and family. Instead of 300 people you invite max 50 people and it could be an outdoor wedding in nature surrounded by the dearest people around you as oppose to the big wedding halls.
At smaller weddings, the newlyweds have the opportunity to absolutely enjoy each other on that day as well. Because that’s the point of it all, isn’t it?
Tip nr. 3
If you have decided to organize a wedding yourself, it is important to make a good plan and program and include people you can count on so that all parts are covered and you have very little stress. Don’t stress if the cake will be 15 min late or if dinner won’t be served at exactly 8pm but at 8:15pm. Ignore such things on that day. Guests will eat sooner or later 😊 and no one will remember if the meal was delayed by 15 min.
Tip nr. 4
For traditional weddings, my recommendation would be to get rid some “protocols” that simply turn off the atmosphere. The first one would be „eat – dance“ schedule and so on alternately. Maybe consider a buffet that people can take their food when they want and not have specific time when everyone has to eat. In that case, a real party will take place on the dance floor! In my opinion and experience, after 2 rounds of „eating – dancing“ most of them will stay sitting.
Gifting the newlyweds is another way to kill the good atmosphere at the wedding. Try to do it in smoothest way possible. Definitely avoid having your guests line up to give you presents and take pictures with you. Aside from having an energy-free smile in the pictures, standing in line instead of dancing on the podium is definitely not what you want people doing at your wedding.
Tip nr. 5
Are you doing the photoshoot on the wedding day or some other day?
Of course, it would be the easiest way to be doing it on your wedding day because you are all dressed up. Many newlyweds don’t want to repeat dressing up, make-up and hair again for another extra photo shoot. However, additional day of shooting only you as newlyweds brings few good options: choosing the location, the time when you will be photographed, you do not care if guests are waiting for you and you are more relaxed on the day of photographing.
The wedding day photoshoot would best be done before all the ceremonies because you won’t have to worry about it later and you can dedicate yourself to the guests and to have fun. Another good option is to „steal“ 45 mins to do the photoshoot after church ceremony while guest are drinking and waiting for your first dance.
The third option is to not have that session at all, but the photographer simply captures the spontaneous moments of you and your loved ones. It depends on you and the arrangement with the photographer.
And here are a few additional things I see people miss out on their wedding day and some of them could be very important and smart to know. I will share some extra wedding planning tips, based on my experiences:
• Don’t forget to eat! – due to lack of time and nervousness the newlyweds actually eat very little or don’t eat at all but don’t be the ones to make that mistake 😊. When the stomach is full everything is easier.
• Minimise the Stress. We are aware that stress cannot be avoided but choose to be positive all the time even if the meal is late or the wrong cake has arrived (I have personally witnessed this) but remember that is your day and do not let such little things ruin your day
• Advice for the brides – have regular shoes or sneakers as a backup, because even the toughest of you will may not be able to endure all day and all night in high heels. Your feet will be grateful and you will be able to dance all night 😊
• Grooms too! – It would be perfectly fine for the groom to take an extra shirt so that they can change at some point because let’s be realistic, the smell of sweat is not very tempting 😊
• Don’t forget your deodorant – nothing to explain here ☺
