Top 5 best and not-so-great ideas

Would do again:

1) Choose top 3 areas you want to spend the majority of your money on. We chose venue, food, and photography. We ended up booking our top choice for all three (venue and food were connected!)

2) Out of towners brunch: Sunday morning we invited all the out of town guests (and his parents, who are local) to join us for a brunch. It was nice to see them again because the wedding was busy!

3) Photos with all the guests: After the ceremony we took photos with all our guests, divided into groups of how we knew them. We will then be sending them with the thank you cards

4) Centrepieces as favours so we didn't have to take as many home with us (not everyone takes favours!)

5) Shoe game! I really wanted to play this game and it was so much fun! And entertaining. And slightly embarrassing!

Would do differently:

1) Hair and make-up at the getting ready location: I would've spent a bit more to have someone come for both hair and makeup. I got my hair done at the salon and makeup at the getting ready location. Would've been a bit more relaxed if it was all at one place

2) Wouldn't have bought lights for the paper lanterns. Our venue ended up being open (there are those foldaway walls, and they ended up opening one of the walls and leaving it open) so the lights in the paper lanterns weren't noticeable because it was bright from outside

3) Didn't get a picture of my train and veil spread out. My train was plain, but I still wish I had gotten one of it completely laid open

View quoted message Wow, thank you Vinod. I’ve been stalking your answers to other questions 😂 you’re very helpful! I was wondering about negociating packages... thanks for your top fives!

Top Best 5:

1. Family shots beforehand while getting ready to get the whole family portrait.

2. Organizing bags to have all items together for set up wedding & reception.

3. Welcoming guests with welcome bags and information package handed out personally.

4. Rent centerpieces/floral balls/money box/backdrops over purchasing.

5. Online shopping over retail to save money and money back for non received/late items resulting in half the money saved than spent.

Not To Do 5:

1. Invite guests that you haven't spoken to over 1 year time.

2. Do not spend more than needed and even tips towards vendors cause their services are paid for in the start to end.

3. Make big purchases without knowing refunds are given back.

4. Make family drama bigger than it is (look at the positive side)

5. Feel under pressure or overwhelmed during the process.

Hope these tips in general notes help as I had my family and husband giving grief at times both sides feeling torn whom is going to break me first. End result was they both understood my point of view and I took it everything with a grain of salt.

Best thing also to keep in mind is bargain to see what package is available and pricing. Ask about reducing price for things you don't need the services on some things.

View quoted message Seconding the please share the playlists if you can!!!

View quoted message

This is a super rad list! I wouldn't even be mad if you decided to share your spotify playlists someday...

I definitely am leaning towards open wine and beer bar. We'll be getting hitched in the Okanagan, so it's totally do-able!

View quoted message Thanks so much Maegan! We have a 75 people guest list so I’m not to worried about being able to greet everyone. Thanks for your reply!

Top 5 to do again:
1) first look. This was my favorite part of the whole day. I wasnt expecting to get super emotional and i totally did.

2) write your own vows and keep them secret until the wedding. This was my other favorite part of the day. Listening to my husband (who is NOT mushy or sentimental) say the most beautiful things. I cried so hard and so did most of the guests.

3) open bar with just wine (5 types- 3 red and 2 white) and craft beer (4 different beers on tap) . People loved it and avoided the 'messiness' of people who get hammered on hard liquor quickly.

4) make your own music playlists. Spotify is great! We had a cocktail hour and dinner list and a dance list. We got SO MANY compliments on the music and people wanted a copy of the playlist. AND IT WAS FREE!

5) Invite kids. I was unsure of this before the wedding but we had so many out of town guests that wouldnt have been able to come if they couldnt bring their kids. IT WENT SO WELL! We had probably 15 kids (ages 3 weeks to 12 years) at the wedding and there wasnt a single issue other than that they made everyone else look bad on the dance floor haha. It was so much fun to have them all there

6) No seating plan! We reserved 4 tables for immidiate family and 2 for the wedding party. Then we made sure there was extra tables and settings if people didnt fill every spot. And we let people seat themselves. It worked really well- we had no complaints. And it saved me the biggest headache ever!

Top things to do differently:

1) dont stress about small details before the wedding. Honestly, nobody cares and or notices thing that give you such a headache while planning.

2) Have a smaller guest list. We had 140 guests at the wedding. We honestly barely had time to say hi to everyone and i wish i had been able to spend more time with people i dont get to see often.

3) Budget more time for photos. I felt like our photos were super rushed. We had planned for 2.5 hours before the ceremony to get all wedding party photos and bride/groom photos done while walking some park trails. We eneded up being a half hour late to arrive and it felt rushed with just. 2 hours. I havent recieved my pictures yet but i feel like i didnt get all the ones with my bridesmaids that i wanted.