I could write for days about great moments and decisions made for our wedding day, but these six stand out to Ryan and I (and my mom) as particularly defining choices. If you have questions, comment on this post below or message me on Instagram and I’m happy to elaborate on any of these points. I will share more about the wedding in future posts, but this one we felt should be most helpful for any future brides in planning mode right now! 🙂
1. Having a Limited Wedding Party
The roomie and I have a ton of people in our lives that we love so much—we are so blessed in that way. However, that made the idea of choosing bridesmaids and groomsmen more difficult than magical. I always knew I wanted my siblings to be my main people on my wedding day and Ryan agreed that he 100% wanted his brother to stand up next to him. We decided to have my sister as our sole bridesmaid/Maid of Honor, Ryan’s brother as our sole groomsman/Best Man, and my brother as our officiant. This made sure our siblings were valued and got to spend the bulk of the weekend with us—especially the intimate, emotional moments—and we included our friends in other ways.
Three special married couples to us did readings during our sweet ceremony, a bestie did my hair and another did my makeup, one brought over mimosa supplies and breakfast goodies while we got ready, a bestie of Ryan’s came and got ready with him the morning of the wedding, and many of our closest friends and family were invited to our rehearsal dinner/wedding weekend kickoff dinner.
2. Investing in Florals
Weddings are so, so expensive, but as a wedding vendor I know that fresh, beautiful florals make all the difference when it comes to décor. You can DIY all you want and collect faux tealights and sweet knickknacks, but if you pay a talented florist to work their magic, your event will look pulled together instinctively. We had lower and higher arrangements that allowed guests to either talk over them or talk through them. If the arrangements or pieces you put in the middle of your tables are too bulky or tall, it prevents guests from getting to socialize. Keep this in mind as you hire your florist and talk through your vision, future brides.
3. Prioritizing Talented Vendors
This one is a given, but is something I come across all the time as a vendor. Through the wedding videography business I own with my sister, we hear how so many brides think as we work with and for them. They are budget-conscious (as they should be) and have specific ideas. The second I got engaged, I had a list of vendors to contact that I knew I could fully trust to execute the wedding of our absolute dreams. That being said, trust was the key, so we relied on first-hand experience and then recommendations from close friends, for the most part. Bear in mind, you’ll spend a bunch of time on the day you get married with some of these people, so these are heavy choices.
You have to invest in talent if you’d like beautiful photos, floral arrangements, video, and an incredible dance party. We chose a venue that would speak for itself with minimal décor needed, a photographer that is so experienced there was no question, a florist I fell in love with for both talent and personality, a caterer we’d taste-tested and loved, and a band that we had heard incredible reviews of. Every choice was thoughtful and every choice was strategically made to invest in the parts of the day that make an event special.
4. Renting Chairs
For me, most decisions are last-minute, but this was the biggest decision I made in a hurry. I was having visions of my wedding day feeling like a conference room using the venue’s stylish black chairs (if you haven’t yet been a bride or been engaged, the wedding nightmares are so real), so I ended up renting pretty Chiavari white chairs that were used for the ceremony and then at the reception. This made SUCH a difference. I had at least three people asking about the chairs the second I got home from my honeymoon. Moral of the story—if one decision is eating at you and feels right in your gut, make room in the budget.
5. Having Our Ceremony and Reception in One Place
Because we got married in January in Iowa (the tundra, currently), we wanted our wedding to be easy for out-of-town guests and guests fighting the weather to get to and enjoy our day. Our wedding also started at 5 p.m. and we wanted to make the most of our time with our guests. This was easiest for us to do by customizing our ceremony and keeping everything in one place. Not every venue can make this work, but we were lucky ours could flip the main room and we REALLY wanted to be present at our own happy hour. This was such a smart decision for us and our guests, we felt. If we’d gotten married in the summer, we may have made different decisions or even extended the wedding day—but this was absolutely the right choice for the wedding day we designed.
6. Hiring a Live Band
I was set on this, but if you hire the right DJ that can be just as effective. Ryan and I were committed to our guests being so drawn to the dance floor that it didn’t even seem like a question. We recently attended a wedding with a live band that felt so energetic, celebratory, and alive that we knew we wanted our guests to feel the same way. My only note here would be to make sure you hire the right band or DJ for your crowd—whatever that may be.
Everything stated above is totally our opinion of what made our vision of our ideal wedding day the best it could be, but keep in mind that every wedding is so different (which I love). There will certainly be more wedding posts to come, but I’d love to hear what your best choices were for your own weddings! Comment below. 🙂
All photos included in this post were taken by the wonderful Justin Salem Meyer.