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In this post, I’m sharing some tried-and-true advice that will help you navigate the finer details of your wedding day. From staying in the moment to ensuring everyone knows where they need to be, these tips will help you keep things stress-free and fun. After all, your wedding should be about celebrating love, not sweating the small stuff!
Focus on your energy
I'm a big believer that whatever energy you bring to your wedding day is mirrored and amplified by your guests. They truly pick up on your vibe and it is reflected right back to you twofold. Therefore, do what you can to bring the positivity. If you're smiling everyone smiles back at your - right?! Take time to mentally prepare for good vibes on the day whether you go for a short walk, exercise, take a moment outside, a short meditation, a quiet cup of coffee, or a few deep breaths, grounding yourself will help set a positive tone for the day ahead.
Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
You can’t (and shouldn’t) do it all yourself. Assign tasks to trusted friends, family, or your wedding party. Let them handle details like taking things to the venue, setting up wishing wells, or managing the timeline. Even set up team captains for each side of the wedding party - give them the timeline and have them make sure everyone is doing what they should be, when.
Emergency Kit Essentials
Prepare a small emergency kit with items like safety pins, band-aids, stain remover, mints, deodorant and a small sewing kit. You never know when a quick fix might save the day! (BTW I always have one of these so if you need a makeup touch up or quick mend, just ask!)
With all the excitement, it’s easy to forget to eat or drink. Make sure you have water and snacks on hand throughout the day. A quick bite can keep your energy up and prevent hanger come ceremony time or worse waking up at 2am starving.
You’ve chosen your wedding suppliers for a reason—trust them to do their job. Constantly checking in can add unnecessary stress. Instead, focus on enjoying your day.
If the ceremony and/or reception will be outdoors, try to check the ceremony venue at a similar time of day for angle of the sun. Look at options if there will be high winds or blazing sunlight as these can be a mood killer.
If you're wearing a veil, discuss the options of how to manage the veil. For example if it will be over your face will the person escorting you down the aisle lift it back before taking a seat? If outdoors, on a very windy day, will it be a distraction? How will it be managed or are you willing to do the ceremony without it and put it back on for photos?
Practice walking in your wedding shoes around the house and at the rehearsal to get used to them. Even consider a change of shoes for later in the evening or if yours happen to get too muddy/wet.
Okay this one is controversial but hear me out... If you are wearing a white shirt on your wedding day, consider bringing a back up (or having one handy). This especially applies if you're a sweater. Even if you're not, lots of things can happen to a pristine white shirt on a wedding day; makeup smears from aunt Carol, a splash of beer or wine, even an unfortunate saucing. You don't even have to get an expensive one, a plain white shirt will do the trick.
Shoulders back, big smiles and pause, take your time – acknowledge guests and wedding party – there’s no rush!
Some microphones only take sound from the top so avoid muted speeches by starting with the microphone angled towards you and close to your mouth (speaking a little louder than normal when outdoors.) If you find the microphone is powerful, you can ease up but only if your voice is seriously booming through the speakers.
Your photographer will move around the space to get different angles but be sure you don't have your hands or arms in odd positions. The time this is the most important is with ‘The Kiss’ – please figure out where your hands/arms will go. But don't feel like you need to have set poses or anything, your photographer can direct you in your portrait sessions. Just get a feel for what sides you like to stand on when you are side by side and what body language feels comfortable.
If they're a little tight, nerves and excitement can make them even tighter. As the person placing the ring on the other person's hand, don’t force it if it won't go all the way on, just push it as far as it will go, then the person whose hand it is can wiggle it down the rest of the way.
Hold bouquets just below the waist as this will be much more flattering in photos. You want your arms long like a ballerina, not bent like you're doing dumbbell reps. If you find the bouquet gets too heavy, hold it by the stems, blooms facing down, that will give you a longer line - again, don't be a bicep curling champ! If you are a bride, during the ceremony, hold onto your bouquet for as long as possible, passing it off before the legal vows. And don’t forget to ask your bridesmaid or someone to give it back to you before the recessional - aka ceremony end.
If there are going to be children guests, try to let people know ahead of time where a good break out area is, just in case they're little loves are supercharged with too much energy to sit for the entire ceremony.
In the event there are a few tears (of joy) those with suits/pants can put them in their pockets. Those without pockets can probably tuck them into the plumes of their flower bouquet.
If using your own device make sure you have enough downloaded for pre-ceremony (at least half an hour) and signing (about 5 mins) plus post-ceremony. IMPORTANT: processional music should fade out once the couple have taken their places and any dress jooshing has been done. Do not stop a song abruptly or just skip to the next.
Discuss placement and reminder trouble-shoot sound pre-ceremony. The recommendation is to place it as close to the speaker as possible to capture the sound in real-time without echo. All guests should be muted, as the host you should be able to do this on their behalf but ensure this can’t be manually overwritten. A stand or handheld mount is also recommended for minimal shaking. Designate a guest to be your live streaming captain!
Reminder to be careful of devices sitting in full sun for a long time. If possible, bring two. If your device has a passcode – please don’t forget to share with your music person or disable it for the ceremony.
These hints are intended to help you prepare but come the day it's quite likely something might not go exactly as planned, and that’s okay. Embrace the unexpected, sometimes those moments end up being the most memorable. The most important thing is being surrounded by good people, good food, good tunes and having a great time!
x Prue
Photo credit: Glen Nicholls Photography - https://glennichollsphotography.com/