What I learned...

I thought it would be helpful for future brides to have all my tips and things I learned in one post, while it's still fresh in my mind. 

Get professional hair and makeup. Even if your friend is great at hair and your little sister is great at doing her own makeup, it makes so much sense to hire a professional. This was one of the key factors in feeling like a pretty bride, having my hair and makeup done to a T. I've actually seen brides on blogs where it looks like they just put on a wedding dress and called it a day. I get the natural look thing, I do. But to be photographed you need more makeup than normal. 

Hire help. I was so happy that I had Enjoy Events there to help and didn't have to delegate tasks out to friends and family. They are guests and they should be there for everything and not running around behind the scenes. Everyone will be more relaxed knowing there are a couple go-to gals running the show. This is especially important if your wedding is at a private residence.

Have more cash on hand than you think. We had everyone's tip money ready to go...so we thought. There were so many key players within the main vendors we had forgot about. Bartenders, second shooters, caterer coordinators, you get the idea. I had to send checks in the mail after the honeymoon and it would have been easier to hand them cash.

You make your own rules. Don't listen to people voicing the 'wedding' norms when you want something different. We had one of Jon's groomsmen be our officiant. I can't tell you how many people said "but....isn't he a groomsmen? Where will he stand? How will he go down the aisle....errrr" Yeah, how did that work out? :) Another thing, I made the entire wedding playlist (except the dance part of the night). The DJ didn't like this so much, "no other bride has ever done this..." and kept suggesting their own playlists and classical music for when guests arrive, etc. Well, I stuck to my guns and we got so many compliments on the music.

You have to let things go. Especially hard for fellow type A personalities. The most important thing to me that I kept playing over in my head was me walking down the aisle. And the music that went with it. I decided on Canon in D and listened to it for weeks before the wedding. Fast forward to showtime....its not the same version nor the part of the song I imagined. YEAH. But you know what, everyone's waiting for me so there was only one thing I could do! And everything was still perfect.

{flowers, the next day}

Enjoy your flowers. If you are a flower person and your honeymoon is right after the wedding, you don't get to enjoy those hundreds of flowers you spent more than hundreds on. For me, this was a huge bummer. It's not like I would change when we went on our honeymoon, but it's just something to think about. We ended up giving them to family and neighbors.

Have your bridesmaids wear different dresses. It just looks better, trust me.

Do a 'First Look'. Oh man, this was one of the best parts of the day. There was so much excitement and emotion it was incredible. Jon was waiting at the end of this little bridge and I walked a few steps short of him and told him to turn around. Tears were flowing! And I was able to be in the moment with just Jon and not have that moment with him in front of everyone. Don't get me wrong, it was still amazing walking down the aisle and seeing him, but I was much more relaxed and soaking everything all in.

Have a real guestbook. I know there are so many cute and creative options for the guestbook these days and maybe you should have those too. But my vote goes to traditional guestBOOK because people will write long, beautiful, meaningful messages if there is space! Sometimes those other options you will just get a "Congrats! Love, Aunt Pam" or whatever. Reading the guestbook brought me to tears. Page after page of the happiest sentiments means the world to me.

Have kids at your wedding. Before I was even engaged I was in the "kids don't belong at weddings" camp. Ask anyone of my friends. Then someone named Landon came onto the scene and everything changed. ;) But really, we didn't have tons of kids there, just the ones related to us. (And baby Joaquin!) And it was so fun watching them run around and play with their cousins. They were constantly on the dance floor and just brought a happy and relaxed feel to things. I think more people will also come if they can bring their kids but as far as staying longer, that's still a toss up.

Never forget what it's all about, obviously. :)