these are the things that i learned during our wedding:
1) take time to relax before your wedding day - God really forced this upon my husband and myself because we had a packed schedule during the 5 days leading up to the wedding. i was playing with our GSD wednesday night when he accidentally bit me on my arm and side so instead of playing tour guide on thursday, my husband and myself (together with my wonderful best friend who arranged everything at the hospital - she used to work there as a nurse) went to the hospital so i could get my anti-tetanus and anti-rabies shots. afterwards, my husband and me had 2 hour massages. this really helped to make everything clear for us - that the most important thing is getting married with God's blessing and celebrating our union with family and friends.
2) keep calm - everybody will take their cue from the couple. how everyone else feels largely depends on how the couple feels and how everyone reacts will depend on how the couple reacts to situations. there will be hiccups and there will be things that will not go your way and the best thing to do is to stay calm and think your next steps through. we were really tested by the dog bite! hahaha! it happened during nighttime and everyone had already gone to sleep. we decided to tell our families about the incident in the morning and we'll just head out to the hospital first thing to get the shots. it was happy providence that my best friend called me early the next day and she quickly arranged for the treatment
my mama and papa were stressed out about it at first but we calmly told them our plan of action and they soon followed our cue.
3) plan early - in my line of work, planning is key and it's the same for the wedding. we informed everyone of our wedding date a full year ahead so that they can make travel and annual leave arrangements already. we also started booking our major suppliers like the coordinator, photographer, videographer, venue, and church very early to make sure that we get the people and places we want to get. planning also helped lessen the load in the days leading up to the wedding - it helped us to actually spend time with family and friends and with each other.
4) seek help - your family and friends are all very willing to help, you only need to ask. i'm a diy bride and i'm also a control-freak! hahaha! my husband and myself did all our wedding decorations ourselves but we did leave the actual execution on the day of the wedding to our coordinator. however, there were still setting up to do even if all the elements were already in place. this was where our families stepped up to help. for 2 consecutive nights, our families helped in unpacking the decorations, fluffing tissue paper pompoms, hot-gluing backdrops, repacking decorations, and delivering them to the church, venue, and coordinator. it was a team effort and we couldn't have done it without everybody's help.
5) take care of your guests - your guests are there out of love for you so treat them well. my husband and i made the conscious decision to go around the tables for photographs instead of asking guests to come up to us so that we can chat with everyone who celebrated with us. about one-third of our guests came from very far away, some from across the globe, to celebrate with us, so we really wanted each of them to feel welcome and loved. we also arranged tours for guests coming in from out of town. one guest lost her luggage and we also personally followed-up with the airline company to get her luggage back. we also did a pre-wedding dinner the night before the wedding so that we can have more time with guests who are coming in from out of town. it also was a great opportunity for our different sets of friends and our families to get to know each other better ahead of the wedding day.
6) take time to eat at your own reception - we didn't have a couple's table so we ate with our families and it helped to ground us and we were able to actually eat at our own wedding reception. it helped to keep us energized throughout the night. we were also able to actually eat some of the desserts at the dessert buffet
tips for brides:
1) pamper yourself - get massages or go to a spa. it really helps to put you in a good mood ahead of the wedding day.
2) put on a facial mask on the morning of your wedding - i used my beauty diary royal jelly facial mask after i showered and it really helped to refresh my skin in preparation for the make up. i also shared the experience with my mama and we had fun doing it together.
3) drink lots of water throughout the day - really hydrate yourself to keep up your energy.
4) eat well - i ate a good breakfast and lunch on our wedding day and i was energetic all throughout.
5) listen to your husband when he says that you need to change your 3-inch high heels later in the day - my husband literally forced me to buy another pair of more comfortable shoes to use during the reception 2 days before the wedding because he knew i won't last in my chosen wedding shoes. yes, i have broken them in and my feet are comfortable in them but they did get uncomfortable 4 hours in so my husband was right and i still thank him for it. also, i have a new pair of sparkly wedges! yay!
this is very long but i think there are still some stuff i'm missing. i'll post them as soon as i remember them
happy wedding preps, everyone!
