MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
You can use Pinterest and photo’s to inspire you, but your wedding won’t look exactly the same. There are so many different factors at play when you see those images on the internet. Where in the world was it taken? Is it even a real wedding, or a staged shoot? Are those flowers available in SA? So whatever you do, make sure you don’t get upset or stress when things aren’t perfect – you’ll just ruin your day.
TO AVOID WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS, COME PREPARED
You or anyone in your bridal party might need a hook-and-eye closure, so be sure to carry spares, or needle-nose pliers, and a swing kit. Just one lean over into the Gin table and pop! Disaster.
STICK TO YOUR BUDGET
It’s your wedding and it’s all very exciting, but you have a budget for a reason. Don’t set yourself into years of debt, or sell your prized pony. Set a budget for your wedding and download a wedding-planner app on your phone. Stick to it, and you’ll be glad that you did once the confetti has settled.
DON’T LET YOUR SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS GET THE BEST OF YOU
‘I wish I had known how beautiful I looked’. Make sure this is not something you say four months, or years later. Make choices that are your own when it comes to your dress or suit, and on the day, rock it. Don’t worry about the fat roll you think is there, or the laugh lines under your eyes. Enjoy the moment, it goes quicker than you think.
PUT YOUR OWN SPIN ON IT
Listen to your mom, best friends and Aunt Mary. But whatever you do, do it your way.
DON’T GO CHEAP ON CERTAIN THINGS
Food poisoning for all your guests? Not fun. Blow-out or unflattering wedding photographs? You’ll regret that. While everything else lasts for the one day, you’ll have those pictures forever, so you want to get your money’s worth.
DON’T NITPICK ON THE DETAILS
Months of planning crammed into four or five hours, which are so charged with emotions and tears, you might not even notice the small calligraphy initials on the stem of every rose… Don’t stress about every little thing while planning your wedding and on the big day. Such a cliché, but words that couldn’t be more true.