Feeling confident the day of your wedding will make the day so much more special. You are excited, in love, and ready to marry the person next to you. Why be distracted by any mishaps or guests?

I absolutely love planning weddings! Not to secretly, I have always wanted to be a wedding planner. I had so many ideas for ours, but you can never do them all at one event. That is what made it so hard for me to plan our wedding day. There are a million little details and I had to be very careful when deciding which to choose based on the theme I wanted most. A Vintage Parisian Garden Wedding theme was at least the most consistent idea I have always wanted. After that, everything started to fall into place.
Being a perfectionist, I knew my biggest challenge was going to be letting go the day of. I was so surprised in myself that I was as calm as I was. Knowing that I was going to marry Cody was all that mattered form the moment I woke up until we went back to our hotel together.
What helped with getting me to this stress free place was identifying what was going to stress me out the most. I did everything I could to prepare for those details, and then the day of let it all go.
The Days Attire

Dress
When it came to finding my dream dress, I spent endless hours searching online. My pinterest account was exploding with dresses.
To help narrow it down, it is important to identify exactly what style you are wanting most. Every dress has their own style and you want it to speak for you. That can be modern, old world, colorful, sparkly, or simple. There are no rules!
Decide on what your key elements are and find a dress to match. Long sleeves, low back, and high neckline were my musts. That is when I came across the Ersa Atelier wedding dress line carried at Chernaya Bridal House. As soon as I put on that dress my mom and I knew it was the one for me.
Alterations were so important. Once you have that perfect dress, you want to make sure it is flattering for you. There are so any ways a dress can be altered and the only way to get it to look the way you want is to have multiple fittings.
Because I was living out of state, I went a month before. But I recommend doing a follow-up as close to the wedding day as possible. You may notice something new or different on a future appointment that you weren’t paying attention to before. Also, be sure to have the exact shoes you are planning to wear so that you feel confident in standing, walking and dancing.
Hair and Makeup
I did so many hair and makeup trials with various stylists. What I learned from this process is that stylists have their own personal flare. This is great because you have so many options! Make sure you test this out ahead of time because you want to be confident the day of that you will look exactly how you want.
Venue

When choosing a venue, think about what it is that is most important to you. Is it location, size, vendor options, appearance? Do you want it to be indoors or outdoors, a massive ballroom or an intimate tent? If you pick a venue that you are happy with, your décor decisions will be so much easier and it will feel like your special day when walking in.
Guests
Choosing a guest list can be so exciting and stressful. You start to think about every single person in your life. While you may want them all there, this isn’t always practical. Weddings are expensive, and those who care about you will understand if they aren’t included.
You will get so many opinions from various people, parents especially. Sit down and have a conversation before you start making your list. Discuss the finances and the numbers you are aiming for. There will be compromises. Remember though, this day is about you and your partner. You want to both feel surrounded by the love of your family and friends.
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen
The same goes for choosing your wedding party. Decide ahead of time if you want it to be large of small. It is okay to not have everyone in your bridal crew. Who is going to make you feel most at peace the day of you wedding? Cody and I chose to just have our siblings as formal bridesmaids/groomsmen. This made the day go much calmer or us. We then asked a limited number of friends to arrive early to take photos with us.
Wedding Planner
Having a wedding planner or day of coordinator can really help reduce stress. While my mom and I were in control of every decision being made before hand, I didn’t want to have to think about the setup or general events the day of. I needed to hand over the control and just focus on myself. This was a big reason I was able to let go.
When the day arrived I told myself, "I will not look for what is wrong, I will not try to fix anything, I will only focus on marrying the person that I love." It is so valuable to let go of control and expectations and focus on the purpose of the day. It will make you feel so much better.
A few days after the wedding I had a followup with our planner. She asked me if there was anything that didn't go as planned or I would have changed. I shared a few of the things, one being how I had communicated to the florist that I wanted my bouquet to be a waterfall style but it wasn't the day of. She asked why I didn't say anything. I explained that actively chose in the moment to not say anything because I would have been more focused on the error and time it was taking to fix it, delaying our photos, than on the beautiful bouquet it was despite the wrong design. She of course wished I had said something because she would have fixed it, but it wasn't important to me and I still don't regret my decision.
Make it Special
Your wedding is such a magical day. Find a way to make it different and meaningful. Do something that acknowledges this day. That can be popping the bubbles, writing a note to yourself or your spouse to be, having a little dance party in the morning before you get dressed, or taking a bath. Our special moment was playing the recording on my grandfather (BDE) singing at my parents' wedding. Only a handful of people knew, to help make it happen. I still cry thinking about how beautiful that moment was.
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
You can find more posts about weddings here.
xoxo,
Shana Bryn
Photography by: Domino Arts
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