WR: Is there anything you'd go back & change if you could?

Tisharp · February 2011

If you could go back and redo or change something from your wedding day, what would it be?

Tisharp · February 2011

I'd have NOT hired my dirty jeans Dino Vela (pictures below) and would have gone with our original idea for a officiant (pictures below that picture).

We were always going to ask my dad's best friend, Ted, to do it, but his cancer went out of remission about 5 months before the wedding and his family was already doing a lot for us (they provided the RV where the girls got ready) that we didn't want to burden him any further or cause him any stress. But he acted as the officiant for our rehearsal and he did so great and had so much fun with it. Dino just f-ing sucked it up. I hate him a little bit.

PAYNE101510-175-2 by Keith_Tisha, on Flickr

DSC02952 by Keith_Tisha, on Flickr

And just for fun... lmao

Cathy's Camera by Keith_Tisha, on Flickr

StaceB2010 · February 2011

So would have gotten our cake done by a Pro. Instead of a lady who said she could, and then delivered this P.O.S 10 min before the wedding started...No joke she was unloading it as everyone was going to the ceremony spot.

pondering_gal · February 2011

Okay this is going to sound weird...

The date. We choose the date above other things (10-10-10). The church I've always wanted to get married at and went to didn't do weddings on Sundays.
DH early on said he didn't want to get married there because his first wedding was there, as well as her funeral, so it would've been hard.

What's frustrating is that he now says he wishes we would've done it there, even though I backed off when he said he felt very strongly about NOT doing it. He's like, "I didn't know how important it was to you." Ummm..yes you did. We talked about it. I cried about it. Either way....

I was in my head way too much during the wedding/honeymoon. Super early on in our dating he said his honeymoon was the "best two weeks of his life." I couldn't get that out of my head. Blah.

EmDizzle · February 2011

I would have done different entrees with the caterer - I started to say that I wish had another caterer all together, but really, the owner was awesome, she was practically another full coordinator. But the dinner was so blah If I could do it again, I would have done just a simple Italian buffet, with stuff that's hard to screw up like pasta and lasagna (the wedding we went to 2 weeks before ours did this and I actually went up for seconds because it was so good).

I also would have been drinking double jack and cokes since 9 am, I was a stressed out mess all day. Everyone says I looked so calm... I guess I'm one amazing actress. I was a fvcking mess inside. All day. I calmed down during the ceremony, but as soon as we were outside I was a mess again. It wasn't until I chugged my sister double jack and coke during dinner that I finally started to enjoy myself... I really really wish I would have added some booze to breakfast and lunch.

christieep · February 2011

I would have taken my baker a swatch of the exact color I wanted my cake.

I would have paid to have the bar open another hour and have my photog another hour.

I would have had someone else (maybe a student photog) taking tons of pictures to capture stuff he missed.

All that being said, I was a stressed out mess all day too, and would never do it again!

gingern · February 2011

I would never have had my MOH be in the WP. She was horrible the entire engagement and even worse at the wedding. . .such a disappointment.

I would have paid my friend to do the videography---he did it as his gift to us and wasn't able to bring extra cameras to NY because of other weddings the company had booked...so we got some fabulous artsy vignettes, but no footage of the actual ceremony... So sad.

The stupid cake stand was too small and looks ridic in pictures...bakery told me to buy a 14" stand, but the cake showed up something like 18"!!

I think it would have been fun to have had a big band for the reception music.

I was SO dehydrated by the reception---so I definitely would have had water on hand all day long!!

Our food and beverage package was fabulous, so I am happy to report no changes there!!

kjhharris · February 2011

I don't have anything really major, just a few little things:

1. I would have made DH groom himself.

The morning of the wedding he freaked out that his eyebrows needed to be shaped a little and whether he was going to be too shiny/etc. I should have made him address any grooming questions the day before, since it made me stress about my own timeline (I had 50 minutes to drive 10 minutes to the mall, get my french manicure, pedicure, get my ring cleaned, grab lunch, and drive another 20 minutes to my hair appointment).

2. I should have pushed back at the DJ, when he started getting bossy about timelines.

We didn't need a formal timeline (i.e.: slideshow starts at 8:13pm, followed by cake cutting at 8:21, and mother-son dance at precisely 8:27pm), as our reception was a very open format (we had food stations where people could get food all around, no formal seating, etc.). The DJ would interrupt me (mid-conversation with guests) to instruct me I needed to do XYZ (change into my other dress, etc.), which irritated me. And then he played one of the 5 songs on our Do Not Play list.

ead1975 · February 2011

Since I can't go back and change the weather (which, oddly enough I am STILL bitter about 4 1/2 months later - hurricane remnants gave us gusty winds and torrential downpours, killing our shot for an outdoor ceremony or even outdoor photos), the only thing I would do differently would be to give my photographer a list of must-take photos. When I got the disc, I realized that we literally have no formal shots of just us (except for shots with the cake), and there's almost no pictures of my brother-in-law. We have some great shots of us with my brother and his girlfriend, but we weren't able to get some shots with his sister and her husband. I feel badly about that.

Otherwise, I seriously wouldn't change a thing. We got really lucky, aside from the weather (yup, still bitter). Our food was good, the dance floor was packed all night (well, packed for a small wedding), we got to speak to every single person who came, and everyone had a really good time.

nfp147 · February 2011

I know this might make some people roll their eyes, but I honestly wouldn't change a thing. The weather was perfect, I wasn't too stressed, I was surrounded by my family. And, we did exactly what we wanted, not what anyone else wanted us to have.

schuette2 · February 2011

Would've hired my first choice for photog, and gotten better photos out of the deal. Also would've gone with a different maid of honor, as she didn't do anything to help, caused a ton of drama, and never paid me back for her dress. Needless to say, that relationship is now strained.

jena.n.ross · February 2011

Surprise surprise, but I would have done something different for photography. While I do love a lot of her shots, the aftermath and all the things she missed make me angry.

I would have done a centerpiece trial. My mom and I spent a lot of time figuring out how to get the flowers arranged, and had to go into town to buy vases the day before... I just simply did not have enough time to get everything set up and it stressed me out. I spent most of the day in a stressed out fog, which sucks.

rccola1981 · February 2011

I wouldn't have had an MOH or would have had a different one, my cousin was my MOH and she just wasn't into the wedding at all...I know choosing someone else would have hurt her, but she wasn't very good...

I also would have had the dj play more stuff people would dance to...it seemed like everyone left really early (although we were dead tired by the time we got to the b&b that night...

I would have eaten a lunch and drank some gatorade or something, because I ended up dehydrated and had a horrible headache...to the point that we drove to Sheetz for gatorade, food and pain meds rather than having wedding night relations

Nukke · February 2011

I would have either hired a different florist, or done my own flowers. And.... that's it.

Shawnee11507 · February 2011

-Change the date- I originally wanted to be a 10-10er, which was a 3-day weekend also, but my step-sister said she was going to be getting married that day (conflict for my dad/step-mom, since we are in different states), so when I was booking things I asked several times, are you sure??? And got a yes, so made the date 10-17. Beytoch did NOT get married 10-10 or at all last year. Since Monday was not a holiday, almost everyone (local) left early from our reception.

-Invite more guests- I was worried about having enough room. I bought enough table decor and everything for 20 tables that sat 6, so 120 people. We had invited 160 or 170. At least 20 douches RSVP'd yes and didn't show. Some people went to the ceremony and not reception. Then tons of people left early. Possibly 1/3 of the tables at the reception were empty. DH was kinda upset because there were more local people he would've invited if he knew the others weren't going to show.

-Coordinator- I would not have hired her and save the $300. She really did nothing to help.

-Photographer- should have given them a must-take list or gone with someone else. They were friends of DH's from high school and I think they were too relaxed about it. There is 2 different poses of DH and I and that's it. I like close-up shots and there is zero of us.

-Ask for more help- I did too much myself (because coordinator did nothing) and only my MOH helped. All my BM but one were from out of state and showed up the afternoon before the wedding. We had a hall for our reception, so all the decor had to be done ourselves- or by me and MOH rather. Which led to still rushing around the morning of the wedding and forgetting the seating chart and a couple other things. I felt like the 4 days leading up to the wedding all I did was work, work, work setting up - got married (blink) - then cleaned up for 2 days. I didn't really get to enjoy myself much.

-Limo- DH's good friend just bought a limo to start a business and said he would drive the BMs and I from his brother's house to the ceremony. The frickin air conditioning was broken and I was sweating when I arrived at the ceremony and pissed. Why would he even pick us up like that? It also led to a bunch of other drama- BMs fight that got me involved somehow and I think my cousin is still mad at me (doesn't return any of my messages) and she almost didn't walk down the aisle and is not smiling in any of the photos- and my mom and MOH leaving the reception for over an hour to go pick up the car's from DH's brother's house 1/2 hour away because the limo driver left the reception early. He apparently never planned to drive us from the reception, but didn't tell us that. I wouldn't have gotten in the car then. Same friend was also supposed to sing at the reception and didn't. I think DH is still mad at him and I don't know if they have talked since.

-Appearance- I wanted to lose 30lbs before the wedding and never lost any. I actually put 20lbs on in the two months before the wedding and almost couldn't let my dress out enough. Because of this, I hate all the wedding pictures, even the 2 good ones.

In conclusion, I would have eloped!