The peak of the wedding season may be slowing down but there are still plenty of couples looking forward to forthcoming nuptials and planning weddings in the coming months. So big congratulations to you if you have recently got engaged.
To help you out, here are 10 top wedding day tips (and secrets) for any newly engaged couples on how to enjoy your special day. Don’t just take our word for it – this is advice from married couples that they found invaluable for the day (or in the build up and preparations).
1. Eat the day like eating an elephant.
Its big so eat it slowly and enjoy every bit!
Geraldine, Oxfordshire
2. Choose your team well.
Just the same as if you were putting together a project team at work, the people you choose to have around you at your wedding are crucial. So pick the bridesmaid that will keep you calm when you are stressed, offer advice when needed, and won’t complain when you ask them to make favours the night before the wedding!
Helen, Oxfordshire
3. Have a trial run.
Make sure you have a trial with your hair dresser and make up artist before the big day. It was much better to make decisions about how I wanted to look before the big day. Plus I thoroughly recommend having a full set of fake eyelash extensions if you’ve got the patience to have them all applied one by one. They were so worth the effort as I didn’t need to wear mascara on the day (which also avoided any tears ruining my make up) plus they lasted for most of the honeymoon too, so my eyes still looked great in photos even on make up free days on the beach and by the pool.
Nicola, Oxfordshire
4. Eat a hearty breakfast.
Make sure you eat little and often and remember that breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Not necessarily a mad traditional British cooked breakfast with everything from devilled kidneys to stuffed quail, as this may give you more than butterflies — but just something filling that will keep you going, like porridge. It can be an awfully long time from when you eat in the morning until your ‘wedding breakfast’ in the afternoon, and there’s a lot of demanding stuff to get through in between!
Matt, Cambridgeshire
5. Keep your guests fed and watered.
Wedding photos take a lot longer than you would expect, especially to get those perfect personal shots of you and your partner which you will treasure in the future, so make sure you are keeping your guests fed, watered and entertained during this period so you can relax.
David, Oxfordshire
6. Delegate.
Have great attendants that you know and trust. Then delegate as many tasks on the day as possible to your trusted ushers, best men and bridesmaids. This leaves you free to really enjoy the day rather than worrying about the little things that crop up.
Simon, Oxfordshire
7. Spend time as a couple.
Build in a private moment after the actual wedding, to enjoy and savour a moment just for the two of you. For our wedding, we had the ceremony about 10 miles from the reception venue, we arranged a vintage chauffeur-driven car to take us from the wedding itself to the reception. The ancient Model T Ford we had could only go at about 25 miles an hour at most, so we had a lovely 25-30 minutes alone on the way to the reception, during which we shared a really good bottle of champagne! Looking back, that was one of our favourite moments.
Melanie, Cambridgeshire
8. Utilise friends and family.
I’m thrilled that so many of our friends and family were actively involved in some way or another – either via a specific role we asked them to perform, or by using their skills to provide flowers, cake, makeup, cars…it made it all so personal. Ask around and you may be amazed at the hidden talents your friends have!
Helen, Oxfordshire
9. Build in comfort breaks.
Honestly the best advice I was given was how to tackle going to the toilet as a bride. I had an amazing dress with a lovely long train and I had no idea how I was going to manoeuvre the dress around the toilet. Plus, whilst my bridesmaids were my best friends, there were some tasks I didn’t want to pass on to them on the day. How was I going to be able to do my business without ruining the dress or my dignity? Luckily a sage friend suggested the ‘reverse wee’. What a revelation – instead of sitting with your back to the cistern, you straddle the toilet and face the cistern. Hence the train and your dress do not have to be hoicked up or bunched up around the back of the toilet. Genius!
Nicola, Oxfordshire
10. Don’t rush away.
Whilst the idea of tossing a bouquet into a crowd of well-wishers, stepping into a flash car at the end of your reception and being whisked to the airport to start a fabulous tropical honeymoon sounds beguiling, our advice would be: don’t go away on honeymoon straight after your reception. Spend a relaxed day with a few select friends and family the day after your wedding, and *then* go away. A lot of people feel that the wedding day itself rushes, so this gives you quality time with the people you like most in your life. Anyone who was still around the day after our wedding was invited to a picnic. We didn’t supply any food, people just brought their own stuff, and we all sat around in the countryside and had some proper time with our mates with nice food and drink. It was like a simpler, more intimate version of the wedding day, with none of the stress or calls on your time.
Melanie, Cambridgeshire
Please contact Hanami Dream if you’d like to share any tips or insights from your wedding.
