A wedding is a blissful occasion—you’re surrounded by friends and family who traveled from near and far to see you marry your one true love (oh, and it’s a perfectly good reason to eat oodles of cupcakes)! Although July has gifted Hitch Studio a break from summer weddings, we just couldn’t stay away! So, we asked brides what they would have done differently on their wedding day to make it even more perfect. Engaged brides, use this advice to spark some great ideas for you upcoming weddings too!
I wish I would have done more research on photographers to ensure that we chose one that would be creative with our wedding party for more candid pictures.
Megan, married 11 years
“I would have not had a dance floor and DJ at our destination wedding. Even though we had a large group (60 people), our relatives and friends just weren’t into dancing. Since we were at a beautiful resort, we could have just had a gathering at one of the bars.”
Stacy Aesoph, married 2 ½ years
“I wish we would’ve done a receiving line after the ceremony. We had an hors d’oeuvres reception and we figured since it wasn’t a formal sit-down dinner we would have time to see everyone at the reception but with so many people, we missed some guests. I was so overjoyed to be surrounded by SO many people we both love and I would’ve liked the chance to see each person and thank them for spending our day with us.”
Natalie Page, married 1 year
“After the mother/son and father/daughter dances, Greg and I wish we would have designated a special song to dance with each other’s parents (bride dance with groom’s father and groom dance with bride’s mother). During the planning process, we got caught up organizing everything else that this wasn’t even something we had thought of. Since we are so blessed to share a strong bond with our parents, that sentimental dance would have been a memory we each would have cherished for many years.”
Brittany Olson, married one month
“I wish I would have gone with my original dessert idea and had my grandmother bake caramel rolls. I don’t particularly love desserts and although the Spice Cake we served our guests was delicious, Gramma Betty’s caramel rolls would have been way more meaningful! In the end, I let people talk me out of the idea; I should have gone with my instincts! I guess I’ll just have to have Gramma bake them for our anniversary parties!”
Kristina Lankow, married 4 years
My sister/maid of honor was in charge of bustling my dress between the ceremony and reception. We tested the french bustle out at a fitting a few months before the big day but forgot how to do it by the actual wedding. She tried her best but it looked… unique.
Kirsten, married 5 years
I wish I would have had thread on hand to repair a broken clasp on my dress. I broke the hook 15 minutes before the dance.
Gina, married 1.75 years
Three things come to mind…at the time I got married I was working at a bridal salon, although my gown didn’t have a TON of sparkle…it had some. I wish I would have kept my gown style a bit more “timeless”…often with wedding gowns, less is more! Have your hair and make- up professionally done. The third thing is, even though it was not in my control, the bride and groom were “stolen” after the ceremony…for WAY too long. I think this is a tradition that needs to go away. The newlyweds should be at the reception as soon as possible (after necessary post wedding photos) but not to be whisked away in a limo for bar hopping (which I had no interest in doing anyway)!
Reone Ullom, married for 25 years
If I could do something differently at my wedding I would have had some activities at the reception (other than dancing). I feel like the crowd cut down a lot after dinner (and that’s probably normal to an extent), but maybe if I had come up with some other activities they would have hung out a bit longer. I did think about doing it before the wedding but it dropped off the list as I prioritized the more important things.
Sydney, married 1 month
We wish we would have set some of the gift money away in a special account to be used for anniversary gifts / getaways for the years to come. We wish we would have hired a videographer to record interviews with our parents, wedding party, friends and family. It would be so special to look back on the messages and love sent from the people who celebrated the day with us. And, who doesn’t want a good laugh in 20 years about our clothes and hair styles “back then”?!
The Frolek’s, married 6 years
“One thing I’m glad we did was hire a professional videographer. We usually watch our wedding video every anniversary and our daughter loves watching it. I wish I had hired a wedding planner to help me navigate through vendors with our budget & overwhelming task of wedding planning. Also knowing that as a bride you want to look beautiful and find the perfect dress. I ended up finding a pretty dress within my budget after many store searches & going back to the same store numerous times; however, with knowing how much time I put into that and wedding coordination & scanning registry items, I regret not putting more time into planning more for our marriage & communication/expectations for the future between my husband of now 12 years. With careers and two kids, understanding and communication is so important when dealing with everyday stress.”
Brittney Ryba, married 12 years
Bride- and groom-to-be’s, we hope this gave you some insight as to what you should consider when planning your big day! Remember, Hitch Studio‘s in-house wedding specialist, Renee Halgerson, can help you with any wedding planning and/or decorating needs or you can purchase the Wedding Day Designer to help you plan your perfect day!