Ok....now you may not know this, but I'm the wedding coordinator/director for my church. I've been one for almost 9 years now. Also, in 2012 my daughter had a gorgeous outdoor garden wedding and 5 weeks later my son had a beautiful church wedding. So I feel my credentials are pretty good at being wise when it comes to weddings. As I was driving to an outdoor wedding this past weekend, I thought about some things that might help brides when they are trying to make certain decisions about their weddings.
Here goes:
1. If you have your heart set on having an outdoor wedding, be prepared for rain. Don't just think that there is no way that can happen to you, because it can! I even had a bride one time figure her date out by looking at the almanac and finding the Saturday in June that had the least rainy days and it STILL rained on her wedding day. Now y'all I'm not talking just a sprinkle, I'm talking raining cats and dogs!! My heart broke for this girl. So make sure you have another place to have your wedding for plan B. I know for my daughter's wedding, one reason why we chose this particular venue was due to the space available in case of rain. It was right next to the garden and it was a nice pavilion where the landscape was just as pretty. So we knew it would be easy to switch everything over there just in case it rained.
2. If you live in the south and you want to have an outdoor wedding, do it in October. It is the driest month of the year and it is so much cooler! I think that October needs to be the new June for southern weddings.
3. Start your wedding on time. Y'all.....be considerate and remember that your guests don't want to have to sit for a long time to wait on a wedding to begin. I try to always make sure the wedding begins right on time. There may be a 5 minute lapse there, but I just think it is important to start on time!! There was one wedding I directed when a bride didn't arrive at our church until 1 1/2 hours after the wedding was supposed to begin. Her guests, and the officiants were very upset and needless to say so was I. I could not get her to answer her phone and I was getting worried!! She just wasn't ready. That is not cool!! Another wedding that I attended was outside by a lake in July. The bride did not walk down the aisle until 40 minutes after the wedding was to begin. There were coats and ties coming off all around us because of the heat and humidity. That also caused a lot of guests to leave early because they had become so uncomfortable before the event even began.
4. If you are having dinner and dancing, be prepared for 80% of guests to be there. I have never been wrong on this one....therefore, trust me!!
5. Be prepared for invited guests to add other guests to their RSVP. I didn't know that people did this until my daughter's wedding. Oh my goodness!! People will just add names to the response card. I don't think a lot of people truly know how much each of those people cost when it comes to a wedding!! So be ready for that.
6. Don't buy more wedding cake than you truly need. I have seen soooooo much wedding cake wasted at a wedding. If you are having a dinner, people tend to not eat a lot of wedding cake. So only buy enough cake to feed no more than 75% of your guests that you know are coming.
7. If you can't help it and you are SO AFRAID that you will run out of cake then, think about buying small plastic containers for your guests to carry a slice of cake home with them. That way you won't have as much cake left over and people can enjoy it when they get home or on the next day.We had cute cupcake carriers for my daughter's wedding and it was wonderful!
8. On your wedding day, have duct tape. Yes duct tape! Clear duct tape is the best! It can do so much to help last minute needs!! I have even repaired a flower girl's dress at the last minute with duct tape and no one even noticed! Trust me, it looked good and not tacky!
9. During your wedding day, make sure that everyone involved in the ceremony are well hydrated throughout the day. Keep bottled water handy and possibly fruit, crackers and cheese are a good idea, too! A very long time ago, I had a groomsmen who fainted during the ceremony. It was due to not having enough water in his system. So make sure they drink water!!
10. Be prepared that everything won't be perfect!! This day is so important and hopefully will be the only one you'll have, so know that there will be little mishaps that can be laughed about later.
Well I have about 5 more weddings to direct before the end of the year and I'm sure there will be more things I will need to remember to help make the wedding better. But for now, I hope these 10 things will help you on your special day!!
God bless!
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