Nearly three months after our nuptials, I still occasionally have wedding-mares aka wedding nightmares. Don’t get me wrong, our wedding was beautiful and the most important thing is we’re married.
But there are still a few things I wish I could do differently. Here are my three biggest wedding regrets and what you can learn from them:
Regret #1: Inviting too many people. “YOU get an invitation and YOU get an invitation!” (Oprah voice) Engagement bliss definitely blinded us to the logistics of wedding planning. Even after making some cuts, we still had more than 200 people on our guest list. Too bad our venue only seated 140. Oops.
Fortunately, having a pseudo-destination wedding significantly decreased the number of guests who were actually able to attend. But, boy, was I a nervous mess as we anxiously watched the RSVPs roll in.
What you should do: Save yourself the stress and stick to a reasonable guest list that doesn’t overwhelm your venue. Be realistic about your space (and your budget). Everyone you’ve ever met in life does not need or deserve an invitation.
Regret #2: Not having a receiving line. I love the idea of personally greeting each and every person and was dead set on having a receiving line. But then, everyone talked me out of it saying it’d take too much time and yadda yadda. Regrettably, I did not get a chance to individually thank everyone for attending. My husband and I did a good job of dividing and conquering the room, but I would have felt better if I was able to personally greet everyone after the ceremony.
What you should do: Whether to have a receiving line depends on your personality and the timing of your event. But if it’s important to you, stick to your guns. And your guests will surely appreciate the gesture.
Regret #3: Not having my sister-in-law as a bridesmaid. With my sister as maid of honor and my best friends from college as my bridesmaids, I was already up to six attendants on my side. To make sure both families were involved, Jeff and I asked his sister to read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (you know the one, “Love is patient, love is kind…”), but I wish I’d asked her to stand by my side because family is forever.
What you should do: This depends on your relationship with your future in-laws. If you two are besties, go ahead and extend an invite. Not so close (at least not yet, anyway)? Find another way for her to be involved. Whatever you do, don’t ask her to be a bridesmaid because you feel like you “have” to–no one wants an insincere invitation.
All of that being said, I do not, however, regret doing a first look, hiring a day-of coordinator and splurging for a videographer.
YOUR TURN: What are your biggest wedding regrets? Sound off in the comments!
