We’re back once again with more wedding advice from our AWESOME past-bride clients! Help us give the warmest welcome to Erin and Sophia as they share their best wedding planning tips from the perspective of a bride!
Erin and Tommy – June 2015 – Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards (VA)
1) What aspect/moment of your wedding did you love the most?
During our first look there was a moment when neither of us could speak because we were so overwhelmed by emotion. I love that we had this special, quiet moment alone together. The rest of our day was filled with fun and excitement but not much time with each other!
2) What was the one (or few) things you stressed the most over during planning? (did it end up being a priority on the day-of?)
A big surprise budget issue! Our venue sent us the estimated final bill four weeks before the wedding and it was 30% more than our original estimate! Fortunately, Megan helped us to negotiate with our venue and also came up with some creative ideas that helped us keep the price the same as original estimate and still allowed us to have everything that was important to our day.
3) What area do you wish you had put more money into your budget for/why?
I wish I had hired a videographer. There are so many moments that I helped to plan but never got to see!! I think the additional cost would have been worth it.
4) What did your planner do on the day-of that you didn’t expect or know of until after the day was over?
Honestly I feel like they did EVERYTHING for us the whole day! But after our wedding was over I learned of so many small “dramatic” moments that they completely handled!! For example, our officiant’s Kindle was stolen with our whole ceremony on it – they managed to get back up copies and even print them, all just minutes before the wedding and I was never any wiser, or worried!
Sophia and Jake – April 2015 – Barn at Valhalla
1) What aspect/moment of your wedding did you love the most?
So many things! I loved my first dance with my dad. We hadn’t planned anything and right before he walked me down the aisle he said, “why don’t we do this?”… It turned out really sweet. I loved hanging out with my bridesmaids all morning and relaxing and that our guests laughed at the jokes during my vows. 🙂 I also have to say, I loved the moment when one of the groomsmen’s wives brought me one of everything from the food truck! I still dream about those french toast bites.
2) What was the one (or few) things you stressed the most over during planning? (did it end up being a priority on the day-of?)
I stressed a lot about getting a tent. I was really against it at first because I didn’t want to pay for both a venue and a tent, which can be really expensive! But it ended up working out really well because the reception flowed so much better and we had a lot more room to move around. Thanks to Gina I honestly didn’t have to worry about a single thing the day of the wedding, and neither did my mom, which was worth its weight in gold.
3) What area do you wish you had put more money into your budget for/why?
I think most of our price points were on target for the kind of wedding we wanted to have, but I do wish we’d had some more lighting in the tent and maybe some heat lamps, where everyone was eating. And I wish I’d made a pretty backdrop for the dessert table!
4) What did your planner do on the day-of that you didn’t expect or know of until after the day was over?
First of all, we didn’t know until the day before the wedding that we were going to have to move the entire ceremony indoors. Gina and I hadn’t talked at all about how we would decorate or make a backdrop, and she put together the most beautiful space for us to get married (there were IKEA curtains involved). She also made our seating chart look like a really cool floating painting, and spirited away all our gifts upstairs so they wouldn’t get lost. There are probably a million things she did which I still don’t know, and I am so grateful I got to just relax and enjoy the day with my family and bridesmaids.
Click here to see more from the blog post about their wedding!
