If I could do it all again...

I got married a few years ago... more than five, less than ten :), and sometimes I have brides ask me what I would do differently if I could do it all over again. Well, now that I am in the "Wedding Business" I (pretend to) know so much more, so I would change quite a few things, but also keep some things the same.

I would go to Vegas... Okay, maybe not, but sometimes when you are planning a wedding that seems far easier!

I would postpone the wedding a bit to be able to afford a "better" wedding... Unlike other Utah weddings, my husband and I pretty much paid for our own wedding, rather than our parents paying for it. We bought a house a few months before we got married, so that pretty much depleted the wedding fund.

I would use FRESH flowers instead of silk... Don't get me wrong, my flowers were beautiful and I loved them, but I, like many other brides, wanted to "save" my flowers! Well, lets just say they have been sitting in my cedar chest since right after my wedding. Fresh flowers are so beautiful, I would definately suggest going fresh if you can! Look into flower preservation if you want to save them.

I would use a Caterer... I chose a location that I could do my own food, because I wanted to save money. That was the dumbest thing I could have done. It was a pain to organize family members to pick up the food, set it up, serve it, etc. etc.

I would hire a different Photographer... At the time we got married, photography was more of a hobby for my husband. My pictures were not bad, but the engagements and bridals were very posed and the wedding day pictures were pretty boring. I wish I had more pictures with emotion and showing the true us, not the "posed" us.

The Dress... I loved my dress, I got it from The Bridal Corner, and they were wonderful to work with. I might choose a different dress, but that's normal, how many shirts do you have from five years ago that you still wear??

The Cake... I had a friend of the family do my cake for very little money. Let's just say you get what you pay for. It was okay, nothing fancy, but if I could do it again I would definitely do something a little different. Probably a simple fondant cake with fresh flowers.

The "Officiant"... We had a family friend perform our ceremony, and I wouldn't change anything with that. I think it is important to meet with the person performing your ceremony before the actual wedding day. By meeting with our officiant we were able to discuss what we wanted included in the ceremony and didn't have any surprises.

Invite less people... I would have preferred a more intimate wedding that included a sit-down meal. We had a 3 hour reception which was way too long, and most of the people that came were friends of our parents and not friends of ours.

Okay, so maybe I would change quite a few things... but we learn from our mistakes and we also change our preferences as we get older. One suggestion I would make is to go for quality and not quantity in your wedding. For example, invite fewer guests which will allow you to choose a better menu. Budget according to your priorities, maybe a harpist is important to you, but favors for the guests are not. Only you can decide what is important for your wedding day, don't let the details stress you out (too much). Your wedding is supposed to be the happiest day of your life!