Over the last few years in business, I have photographed a little over 150 weddings (crazy, right?!), which has given me a ton of insight when it comes to the wedding planning process. Today I want to share a few of my top tips when it comes to wedding planning and preparing for a stress-free day you’ll love from start to finish! Maybe this information would so be helpful to share with a friend or family member currently planning their own dream wedding. Or maybe this is useful info you’d like to know for the future! Either way, grab a cup of coffee, bookmark this page for reference, or feel free to pass it on to a friend who could use some helpful and handy wedding planning advice!
5 Tips For Having A Stress-Free Wedding Day
Prepare in Advance.
You have been – or will be – planning big details (venue, photographer, DJ) and nitty gritty details (favors, seating chart, readings) for months leading up to the big day. But one thing that is sometimes overlooked until closer to that special day is the biggest factor of all: your timeline! If I didn’t love photography so much, I’d probably want to be a wedding planner because one of my favorite things is to help couples put together a rough timeline to follow on their wedding day and to help them plan logistics like where to go for photos and when. I’ve seen where things run late, and can help guide you with timing for all parts of your day to make sure you’re enjoying every minute, not stressing about the time!
Keep things Tidy.
This is key for the morning if you want beautiful, clutter-free images. Especially if you’re getting ready with a group of people in a small area. Try to keep the bags, hangers, and misc everything to one area AWAY from the windows and natural light as I’ll probably be trying to utilize that area for photos. If everyone does this right from the start of entering the room, it will keep your entire prep area as tidy as possible, which is great for portraits but also great for maintaining a clean space. And a clean, tidy space gives joy, am I right?!
Delegate on the Day Of.
Having a day-of coordinator is amazing, because you can rest-assured everything will get done as it needs to without needing to worry about it yourself. If you’re searching for recommendations in this area, I can’t recommend Ellicottville Events or Social Maven enough. Both of these ladies and their teams are top notch, and I love working them!
BUT if it’s not in your means to have a wedding or day of coordinator, delegating specific tasks to a few other people will be essential. If you’re the type who likes to do things your own way to make sure it’s done (I get you, I’m the same!), entrust these tasks with someone who you know understands exactly what you’re looking for and how you’d do it yourself. My only recommendation is try to limit the delegating of tasks for family and wedding party members who may need to be getting ready themselves or with you for special parts during the day. This ties back in to the planning ahead – if you need to delegate a task you only trust mom with, be sure you’ve planned her enough time for her to get it done and then get where she needs to to get ready herself (without rushing), especially if you want her make it to the ceremony or family portraits, on time!
Take time just the two of you.
I can never stress this one enough with my clients. Your wedding day is going to be a buzz of conversation, laughter, a quickly eaten meal, dancing, so many emotions, and hopefully a bite/slice/plate or two of dessert! You’ll be pulled in one direction to the next and constantly thinking about who you still need to thank for coming. But whatever you do, be sure to take some time to enjoy a little bit of your day together... away from it all. We can even schedule it in to your timeline so you don’t forget! Past clients, Brianna and Gabe, took their time together immediately after the ceremony, by heading off in a direction from the guests, while my second photographer and I began to rally up their family for the portraits that were to follow. Doing this right after the ceremony gave them time to experience those “just married” feelings together with one another, before diving in to a night of celebration with their loved ones. Even just five minutes will center you, and (speaking from experience as a past bride myself) will probably be one of your favorite moments from your entire wedding day.
Focus on what’s important & keep it simple!
As with the planning of any big event or gathering of friends and family, sometimes it’s hard to let go and just live in the moment. This is particularly hard to do if you’re planning a wedding with a lot of moving parts or extra stuff that really is not needed during the day. So before you even begin getting into all the details of planning, ask yourself what is MOST important to you on your wedding day? If the answer is your commitment to one another and celebrating your love with family and friends, then guess what… that’s really all you need. Someone to marry you, a really great band or DJ to play music, food and drinks, chairs to sit on, a place to accommodate your ceremony and celebration, and of course a photographer to document it all. Everything else – from centerpieces, guest books, signage, favors, etc – is just a bonus and I’ve seen some couples go over-the-top on details that truth-be-told, are not even necessary. Focus on what’s important, keep it simple, and on the day of you’ll have so much less stress not needing to worry about all the extra stuff!
Thank you so much for your time, especially if you stuck with me through to the end. I truly hope this helps you as you begin or dive deeper into your wedding planning and may you have the most enjoyable, stress-free day!
