My wedding day won’t go that fast... Will it?

I’ve been planning weddings throughout the East/South East of England for many years now and the one thing I stress to my couples is that the day is going to fly by faster than your guests heading to the free bar!

Do you know the first thing they say to me after the wedding day? ‘Wow, we really didn’t think it would go as fast as you said it would’

Let me give you an example… you plan a holiday (well, not exactly right now with Covid going on but you get where I’m going?) you spend months and months preparing; diets, clothes, skin care, beauty prepping, shopping, to-do lists, organising, the list goes on. Then BAM! You’re back home with nothing more than dodgy tan lines and a million selfies to show for your time away, oh and maybe a cheesy souvenir or two!

The exact same thing will happen on your wedding day and I’ll tell you why… you will literally forget to savor the day. But… there is a solution! Ta-dah!

Check out my top tips!

1) Don’t go into autopilot - I’m confident you have someone looking after you be that a Wedding Planner or a Wedding Coordinator. LET THEM TAKE THE STRESS AWAY, after all, we know weddings more than anyone else so leave it to the experts, we’ve got your back, I promise.

2) Prepare your build up - by this I mean make sure that the night before, you get organised. Don’t just say ‘Ah me and the girls/guys are just going to chill, have a bite to eat and chat’. Make sure you plan a healthy dinner, get an early night (set your bed time) and drink lots of water. I’d even go as far to say meditate or fall asleep listening to some hypnosis. Trust me, it works!

3) Have a good breakfast - as with the night before you do NOT want to be feeling sluggish on your wedding day, the last thing you want is for your dress or trousers to feel tight or your skin to feel all puffy. It’s not going to help. Have a continental breakfast but something filling that will keep you going until your canapes. Oats are a slow release energy source and are great for breakfast!

4) Get your timeline right - again, if you have a planner on board, they will have checked your timeline but, you want to make sure you know where you stand on the day… what time is your photographer getting there? What time will your make-up start? What time do you need to be ready by? What time will you give your Bridesmaids/Groomsmen their gifts? You will feel much better prepared and more likely to be able to savor the day if you know what’s going on

5) Have a ‘safe word’ - something I do is giving my Brides and Grooms a safe word. If I hear them use this word when talking to me, I’ll know they are finding it overwhelming and I whisk them off to a different room or I ask everyone to leave. This just gives them time to regather thoughts, have a chat in private with me or simply take a breather away from the hustle and bustle of the morning

6) Don’t sweat the small stuff - I promise you that the things you are stressing about, you will not even think about on your wedding day. However, if you are naturally anxious, be prepared and have a thorough to-do list for your planner so that nothing gets missed off. I regularly get given a list of ‘The card box needs to face 40’ south and 5 inches away from the signing book with the ballpoint pen facing diagonally next to it precisely half way down the book’ (maybe I’m slightly exaggerating)

7) Communicate with your photographer - you will probably spend as much time with your photographer/videographer as you do your new hubby/wifey. It is integral that you tell them how you are feeling. If you feel like there’s too many photos going on (and believe me, it can feel that way) be open and honest with them, they are there for you and will be able to support how you are feeling by coming up with an alternative suggestion

8) Jont git zoo drank - exactly. I love seeing everyone having fun but there’s drunk and then there’s druuuuuuuuuunk! Pace yourself or before you know it, the night will be gone and you’ll be left remembering nothing, nadda, zilch (apart from potentially falling off the table to Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer). Are you really spending all that money for a lash up?

9) Have no regrets - Make sure that you are 100% confident with your suppliers and that you don’t spend the whole day thinking ‘I really don’t like my make-up’ or ‘what the heck is that cake, that’s not what I ordered’. Get all your ducks in a row and don’t settle. Your suppliers are pulling your vision together so it’s (in my opinion) the most important part of the planning

10) Take time out - I always schedule time out for my couples, at various points in the day I allow them to spend some time alone together. It’s really important for you to see the fruits of your labour and just take a little drink together, savor the moment!

So there you have it, my vital tips to ensuring you can savor the day all gathered from my years of wedding planning experience! You’re welcome!

Good luck savoring your big day and for more useful tips, check out my other blogs or head over to my Instagram page.

Contact Hayley