Things I Learnt from Planning our Wedding

Our wedding was the perfect day! Well… apart from losing a diamond out of my engagement ring the morning of the wedding, but hey, no one noticed. Planning a wedding can be fun but also SO stressful. Read about the things I learnt from planning our wedding.

Our Story:

My hubby Aaron and I got engaged on October 18^th 2014 and soon decided on March 28^th 2015 for our wedding. Since we were wanting to get married before living together, we set the date sooner rather than later which left us with just five months to organise our big day. Thankfully, my Pinterest board was already good to go and planning was (somewhat) a breeze. With Aaron being a farmer and not really caring for serviette colours or centerpiece designs (I’m still not sure if he knows what these are), I was free to choose whatever my heart desired! Over the summer while I wasn’t studying I set about doing as much DIY as humanly possible. This included invitations, centerpieces, backdrops, favours, etc. We decided on a rustic theme with four shades of pastel colours. We had a large guest list (160) so decided on our church (City Impact Church Invercargill) as our venue for the ceremony and Wallacetown Community Centre for the reception and dance. Our day was perfect and filled with lots of love and lots of laughs. It was a beautiful Southland day and if we did it all again we would barely change a thing!

My Advice:

Get organised early and sort out EVERY detail. I bought this great planner from Kikki K where I recorded everything. I wrote countless to-do lists, lists for vendors, scheduled the day in blocks of 15 minutes, and wrote specific instructions for every single thing that needed to be set up. This may sound a tad OTT, but it meant the week of the wedding was so relaxing and stress free and every one knew what was happening at any given time.

Think about your guests. Often people will fuss so much about making things pretty that they forget about their guests. A lot of guests will travel a long way and spend quite a bit of money in order to get to your wedding so don’t make their day miserable.

The main consideration for this is your venue! Make sure you have enough room for your guests and that they won’t be too cold or too hot. A country barn may complete your Pinterest dream (and believe me, I considered it) but ultimately is not going to be that practical. Include some fun entertainment for guests too. We had a mini quiz on the back of our programmes, a photo booth with props and a live band. This helped to keep guests busy and not bored.Don’t be afraid to call upon friends. I know we’re all busy people and have things to do but your friends don’t mind helping. Seriously, they don’t. We were lucky enough to have friends and family provide our transport, make our cake, cater for our supper, do the girls’ make up, set up venues and run errands.People actually love to be involved too, even if it’s just little things like getting your Nana to iron the shirts for the groomsmen (thanks Nana!). These people were more than happy to lend a hand and it took the pressure off us.What you think matters probably doesn’t. Custom designed shoes, $150 pedicures, and perfectly matched chair sashes may be a big deal to you at the moment, but come the day after your wedding and you probably won’t care anymore. I had a diamond fall out of my engagement ring the morning of our wedding and at the last minute decided to wear my old earrings from my school ball and how many people noticed? Zero.Spend time preparing for your marriage, not just the wedding. Weddings are a big deal and it’s important to have an unforgettable day but don’t neglect your relationship! A wedding lasts for a day but your marriage will last a lifetime. Take the time to get some pre-marriage counseling or read a book together. We read this book by relationship guru Gary Chapman which brought to light so many things we never considered.Take your honeymoon ASAP. We left for the Gold Coast the very next day I would not have done it any different! It was so good to escape from the real world for ten days and just relax with my new hubby. Splash out on a nice hotel, even if it’s just for one night and splurge on some fun activities. Holidaying will give you something else to put your mind on rather than the post-wedding blues!

Tissues.
Seriously, no one wants snot running out their nose while standing at the alter. Learn from my mistakes people!

Check out my wedding planning ebook!

Other posts in this series:

Little Details from Our Rustic Wedding – Attire

Things I Learnt from Planning our Wedding

Candy Pouch Wedding Favours

My DIY Rustic Wedding Invitations

Thanks to these people!

Vendors:

Church venue: City Impact Church Invercargill

Reception venue: Wallacetown Community Centre

Flowers: All For Love Flowers

Dress and Suits: MervnMilly Winton

Hair: Charlotte Watson at Venom

Make Up: Make Up by Christene

Cake: Kellie Watson Cake Art

Photos: Stephanie Renee Photography