wedding tips
Ah Weddings. Magical, crazy, memorable, stress inducing weddings. If a wedding would resemble an actual living, breathing thing, I’d say it would be a enigmatic two-year old. It needs constant attention, tires you out to the point of exhaustion, totally self-centered and with an inability to make any decision whatsoever. Yet, with the not-so-good comes the surprisingly wonderful tender and sweet moments, spontaneous affections, joyful bodily expressions (mostly through dancing, jumping and clapping hands) and the verbalization of intense feelings. You will never look at a two year old the same way again
If don’t agree with the statement above, you can at least agree that planning an entire wedding and getting married to boot, can be pretty stressful. Never fear though, your all-knowing wedding photography fairy has some insider tips for a stress free wedding day!
SELF CARE
Eat healthy, balanced meals and get enough rest (or try to anyways. You’ll need every ounce of energy you’ve go for the big day. Get away from the hustle and bustle of preparations to go for a run, take a yoga class, read a book or any other decompressing activity. Or if you’re like me, play a lot of Bubbleshooter and hope for the best.
TIMELINE
Yes, I know you don’t like to plan things to the last little detail, but having a wedding timeline (not matter how un-detailed it is) will not only help you get a good overview of your wedding day, but also help your vendors out a lot! For The Netherlands, I really LOVE The Perfect Wedding’s planner. You can just make an account and literally plan your whole wedding using their site. Totally awesome!
You can check out some other planner apps by clicking HERE
KEEP IT TIDY
When you’re getting ready on your wedding day, make sure that the bed and floor are clear of make-up and clutter. It would significantly reduce the tripping hazard for everyone in the room (because, you know, ??? 3000 dress) and give you an overall restful feeling.
HAVE YOUR ACCESSORIES READY
To prevent a mad last minute dash because you can’t find your shoes (or, gasp! the rings!), I would suggest having everything ready in a visible place. From a photography perspective, I always start photographing your accessories first. By having them ready, it shortens the time I’m busy photographing them and lets me get back to capturing the spontaneous moments.
EAT!
This might seem logical (especially if, like me, eating is your favorite thing). Yet on the day itself, food will be the farthest thing from your mind. Try and assign a stern friend or family member (someone who you just know will literally shove something down your throat), to bring you snacks and drinks throughout the day. You’ll thank me for this one.
SCOUT THE SHOOT LOCATION BEFOREHAND
And no I’m not talking about ” that place just down the road by that little stream, you know, with the water and the rocks”. Actually knowing the distance and time it takes to get to your photoshoot location and on to the next location, gets you that much more closer to a stress free wedding day. Biggest wedding tip of all time: Get one big venue like a Het Rijk van de Keizer or Westerliefde to cut out the stress of travelling between locations.
WHAT IF IT RAINS
They say Chuck Norris won Idols with sign language. He can count to infinity, twice. And has a bear skin rug in his living room (not because it’s dead, just because its too afraid to move). Unfortunately, Chuck Norris can’t change the weather and neither can you.
When rain is forecasted for your big day, don’t worry about it! We will discuss closer to the date about a backup location for the photoshoot, or if you have a great venue, we can even use the location (with the up-side being that you will NEVER be late for your ceremony!). See-through umbrellas and rain boots make great added details to photos and besides, no day is perfect. It will be a true representation of amazing and dare I say, stress free wedding day!
DELEGATE, DELEGATE, DELEGATE
You won’t be able to do everything by yourself, no matter how much you are willing to try. By assigning different people to different tasks, you take away the stress of micro managing your wedding day…and end up enjoying it so much more. Here are some task assignments I have found helped a lot:
1. General contact person
Someone who knows everything about the day, including the schedule.
2.The location leader:
Someone who knows the area who can lead guest who are from out of town to the next location.
3. Keepsake wrangler:
Someone to collect little things from your wedding day. For example if you have personalised napkins or programmes, maybe a clean copy of the menu…you probably won’r remember these little things on the day, but they become precious wehn it’s all over.
4. Photo wrangler:
Someone who knows everybody (or in any case, what everybody looks like). From your distant cousins to your college friends, they will help you during family formals to round up all the guests and get that part of the day moving quick and smooth.
REMEMBER WHAT’S IMPORTANT
Yes, you know what I’m about to say: You can’t control everything. Zippers will break, flower girls will cry, and what matters is your love for each other, not the height of the centerpieces. As the bride, you drive the mood. It won’t matter if the storm of the century is sweeping through if you’re all smiles and thrilled to be marrying the love of your life, the guests will have fun, too.
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