Our Wedding Day
I always wondered if brides, on the night before their wedding, actually sleep at all. Turns out, they do! Well, I did anyway. I woke up feeling rested, excited and calm. Almost all of the people I loved were in one state, the sun was shining and hey — I was getting married!
By 9 a.m. I had JLo pumping from the speakers and I was running around the house in my pink bride bathrobe dancing up a storm. I knew a dance party was crucial to setting a fun tone for the rest of the day so when the beat dropped, so did everything else. “Ten-second dance party!” I yelled and, just like that, everyone stopped, even the flower girl, and got down with their bad selves. Yes! I thought. Today was going to be a great day for dancing.
The best advice I got leading up to the wedding was, “Let the chaos happen around you.” So it was with this tidbit in mind that I made it a point to sit calmly and chat with people while all the moving pieces of the day came together. Getting ready, as you can imagine, was a blast, but taking a moment to reflect on why each person was there, after years of friendship, helping me get ready, really magnified the blessing of it all.
The best word I can think of to describe the day is happy. I was so overwhelmingly happy. Simple as that. It was the happiest day of my life.
Post-wedding tips:
1) I call it the “Day After Christmas” feeling and yes, you should prepare yourself for the feeling that comes over you once all the cake is eaten, the gifts are opened, the dancing is done and your loved ones return home. Choose instead to focus on the best part, the part that lasts forever, your marriage! You’ve done it! Paul and I felt a crazy sense of accomplishment once everything was done. Just getting through the wedding planning process seemed to have brought us closer than I ever thought possible.
2) You’re not done yet! Writing thank you cards is a daunting task! Prepare yourselves for this as well. We divided the guest list and knocked out a few cards every night. It is an impossible task to adequately thank everyone for all they’ve done for you but it is a crucial and important step in wrapping up your big day. Take your time, avoid generics and reflect on what that individual has meant to you.
3) Very few brides talk about it but I’d like to touch upon post-wedding regret. The moment you log onto Pinterest after your big day you’ll be slammed with images from the wedding boards you follow or you may return home to find the most recent issue of Brides staring you in the face. You’ll start ruminating on all of the ideas floating around the wedding world and start critiquing your own big day. Don’t bother! Your day was fabulous. The wedding industry is much like the fashion world, there’s always something new and beautiful happening. I bet if you looked at your own wedding Pinterest board you’d see how well you applied your favorite details. Focusing on details you didn’t include will only take away from the magic of what you did do — so go ahead and pass that Brides off to your newly engaged colleague.
**A note on videographers: Totally, 1,000% worth the investment! Someday our kids will watch our wedding video and get to see for themselves just how magical the day was. Additionally, we were able to share our wedding video with those who couldn’t make it out for the big day. Lastly, years from now Paul and I can look back on the best day of our lives, hear our vows exchanged again and relive all the magic. I would even recommend cutting budget in other places to make room for a videographer, if need be. I can’t tell you how special our video is to us. If you’re in New England, we cannot recommend Waves Media enough!
To see our favorite black and white photos from the big day and to read my vows to Paul, visit AutumnSundays.com.
Kate + Paul – Short from Waves Media on Vimeo.
Bride’s dress: Paloma Blanca // Groom’s tux: BLACK by Vera Wang // Photographer: Zac Wolf Photography // Videographer: Waves Media // SOWA Entertainment, DJ Doug Boucher: //Caterer: Fireside Catering // Cakes: Frederick’s Pastries // Location: LaBelle Winery, Amherst, New Hampshire // Floral arrangements: Celeste’s Flower Barn // Weather: By God, Heavenly