Looking back on her wedding day, a bride is likely to agree it was the best day of her life and most everything went as she had planned. On the other hand, there are bound to be some things she looks back on with a little bit of regret. Some of these regrets couldn’t have been avoided – such as rude guests, weather, or failing to choose the people for your wedding party who end up being closest to you.
But some regrets come from oversights that could have been avoided with a little foresight and planning. To help future brides from running into the same snafus, I gathered the top wedding regrets of 18 married friends, and these three emerged as the most popular.
“I wish I’d gotten a videographer.”
Some brides think they will be fine just having still photographs of their wedding day. Some rely on the amateur video of a family member or friend in the crowd. These brides tend to regret their decision not to hire a videographer for the day. Yes, the cost of a videographer might seem out of your budget, but consider the cost of not hiring one. You will be so busy and overwhelmed on your wedding day, you will probably have trouble remembering all the details without capturing it on film. One bride wrote to me, “I was so emotional it’s like a blur of a memory-just snippets. I don’t even remember the songs my quartet played for the processional!”
If you can’t find any wiggle room in the budget, consider hiring a friend. For my wedding, a friend agreed to videotape the entire ceremony and most of the reception as his gift to us. He put together a beautiful DVD, and watching that video with my husband was an unforgettable experience. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to relive your wedding day.
“I wish I’d planned my photographs better.”
Wedding photographers are generally experienced and talented, but that doesn’t mean they know exactly what you’re looking for in your wedding pictures. Several brides mentioned that they should have spent more time discussing their preferences with the photographer. One was upset that she and her husband didn’t get to have pictures taken with specific groups of guests, such as high school and college friends. My mother-in-law regretted that the photo session after her evening wedding ceremony had taken two hours, making the newlyweds quite late for their reception. Another bride wished she and her husband had shown the photographers examples of different poses and backgrounds they liked.
Make sure you and your fiancé spend enough time discussing exactly how you’d like your wedding pictures to look and how you need your schedule to run. Carefully choose your photo shoot locations and provide your photographer with a list of must-have group shots and poses. Get creative and personalize your day. Remember-while you can trust your photographers to make your pictures look beautiful, you can’t count on them to read your mind.
“I wish I’d eaten more of our wedding cake.”
This is a classic bridal complaint. I had fortunately heard it enough times before my wedding that I knew to grab a piece of cake after dinner… and then taste the other two flavors later in the night… but other brides were not so lucky. Three complained that the only taste they got of their cake was when they cut and fed it to one another. I can only hope they remembered to save the top layer for their first anniversary.
One way to ensure you get a piece of cake is to cut it early in the evening, before dinner even starts. My husband and I cut the cake right after we made our entrance, allowing guests to then grab a slice for dessert immediately after they finished eating. Since we were the first people to eat dinner, we had time to taste some cake before we started the other festivities. You’re the bride-have your beautiful, delicious cake, and eat it, too!
Ultimately, your wedding day will be amazing because you’ll be marrying the love of your life! But if you learn from these brides’ mistakes, you might have a little less to worry about at your wedding and a little less to regret in retrospect.
More wedding advice from this author:
Six Guidelines for Cutting Your Wedding Guest List
How to Survive Your Fiancé’s Bachelor Party Night
Entertaining Wedding Guests Between the Ceremony and Reception
