Wedding Regrets, What We’d Do Differently

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March 17, 2019

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When you fall in love, the world feels new. It's as if everything is happening for the first time. That's why we love photographing weddings. Each wedding has us falling in love over and over again—it reminds us that there is wonder and mystery in this shared life we all build together. The most aspirational thing to us is rekindling that initial spark of falling in love. We want to give you that experience with your wedding photos, perfectly captured and forever remembered. It's here, in our journal, we celebrate your love story so all can enjoy it.

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A wedding regret sounds like a strong emotion.  Don’t get us wrong, we absolutely loved our wedding and honestly wouldn’t change much about it.  But when we look back on our wedding day, there are just a few things we would have done differently.  As a married couple, and not necessarily as wedding photographers, we wanted to share our experience with you.  Our hope is that you will learn from our wedding regrets so they won’t be your own.

Slow down the coming down the aisle moment.

This one comes directly from Leidy.  Her advice to all you brides?  “Walk slow.”

You have been waiting your entire life for this big moment.  You are standing there with your escort, maybe your dad.  The music starts to play, that’s your cue.  Everyone is standing, waiting to see you, the beautiful bride.  Your heart won’t stop pounding in your chest.  You feel light headed.  You aren’t sure if you are going to faint or run.  Next thing you know you are moving but you can’t feel your legs.  Before you know it you are at the altar.  What just happened?

The coming own the aisle moment is one of the BIGGEST moments of your entire wedding day.  And if we were to sit with a stopwatch and actually time the event it would last maybe 15-20 seconds?  And there is so much going on during that moment, it is easy for it to slip by.

Our advice to prevent this moment from being a wedding regret?  Just walk slow.  You will get to the altar.  Take a few cleansing breaths before you begin.  Quite your mind so you can take it all in and remember this moment in as much detail as possible.  Look to your escort, remember how he or she looks in that moment.  Look around at your wedding ceremony venue.  Remember those details.  Listen to the wedding processional song that is playing.  Take it all in.  Now….start walking…slowly. (As a side note, if you are unsure what a wedding processional is, read our post here: Popular Wedding Terms)

Wedding Regrets, What We'd Do Differently | Luxury Michigan Wedding Photographers

Savor that dance with mom or dad.

Maybe you are already a parent.  Maybe not.  But one day you will likely have children and watch them grow and have children of their own.  Somewhere along the way, they will get married too.  And when they do, you will get the chance to dance with them on their wedding day.  The love and emotions you will feel in that moment will be overwhelming.  You will feel this mixture of pride that you raised such a responsible adult.  And you will feel a small sense of loss because your baby is now all grown up.  Starting the next chapter in their life.  And you made it possible for them.

This is how your parents will feel on your wedding day.  The dance with mom or dad will mean more to them then you will ever know.  Parenting is funny like that, you don’t realize how important those moments mean to mom and dad until you become one.  Likely mom and dad sacrificed a lot of time and energy to make your wedding day possible.  The dance with them is their moment.  Don’t rush it.  Pick out the song that is most meaningful to you both.  Savor it.  Tell them how much you appreciate and love them during their dance.  We promise you won’t regret doing this.  Your words will melt hearts and will be better than any other form of thank you.

Celebrate both parents.

Not everyone will have the opportunity to do this.  Life is a wild and unpredictable ride and sometimes both of our parents cannot be at the wedding.  But on your wedding day, if you are one of the lucky few who have both parents with you, celebrate BOTH them.  Now, of course, there will be the daddy-daughter dance and the mother-son dance.  But often the mother-of-the-bride and the father-of-the-groom play less of an interactive role.  So take time out on your wedding day to do something special for these two parents.

Some brides are having both parents walk down the aisle with her.  Some grooms are including their dad in the bridal party as a groomsman.  Or consider having a mother-daughter dance or have the groom give his father a quick speech.  There are so many ways to celebrate both your parents the decision truly lies with you.  Regardless of how you do it, no matter how small, it will be incredibly meaningful to that parent.

Write “Thank You” cards.

It just…slipped away from us!  They say it takes a village to raise a child.  But we felt like it took a village to plan our wedding day!  We had so much support from friends and family.  So many amazing vendors collaborated by donating their time and services.  None of it would have been possible without the love from every person!

After our wedding day, we flew off into the horizon on our two-week honeymoon in Paris (no regrets there).  But we didn’t allow for much time when we got back.  Transitioning from the whirlwind of a wedding and honeymooning back to our work lives.  The start of “Thank You” cards and the box of stamps stayed upstairs.  In the closet.  Prepared with good intentions but woefully neglected.  We still haven’t had the chance to properly thank everyone even though we couldn’t be any more grateful.

Don’t stress…too much.

Lastly, don’t overly stress about your wedding day.  We know it is hard to say that in the moment.  There is so much planning that goes into it and you want your guests to enjoy it.  Don’t worry, they absolutely will.  The food will arrive on time and the cake will be artfully decorated.  And if something goes awry, laugh it off and it won’t be a wedding regret.  It won’t be the accident itself that you regret but how you handled that moment.  We promise you that in a year when you look back on that moment, you will smile at the ridiculousness of that moment.

For Leidy, this would probably be the flowers that she knocked over while coming down the aisle.  It was her coming down the aisle moment!  The one she had been waiting for her whole life.  And as she walked down her poofy wedding knocked down every flower pot she passed by.  But did she get flustered?  Nope, she just laughed and kept going.  We still laugh about this today.

So relax, enjoy the day!  Just laugh and keep going.  It will go by so fast.  Slow down when you can and smile because you are finally getting married!

Wedding Regrets, What We'd Do Differently | Luxury Michigan Wedding Photographers

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