wedding wednesday: 5 and 5

After a little post-wedding processing, [yes, I processed for eight months], I bring you the five things I'd do differently and five things I'd never change about our our wedding day.

1) While I was engaged and working in the Gov's press office, I would spend a lot of my free time thinking about what I wanted to say to my family, bridesmaids, and hostesses at my bridesmaids luncheon after I gave them their gifts. I knew that there would not be another time that I'd have all of those ladies in one place. So, I felt super prepared. And then, come wedding weekend, there were some moments that really stuck out to me earlier in the weekend that I wanted to mention that morning. So I really ended up being a blabbering and blubbering bride. Hopefully they felt loved.

2) I would have someone there telling the photographer what picture ideas I really wanted to make happen. Neither of us remembered in the hustle and bustle of the afternoon. Thankfully D remembered the either side of the door shot!

3) I'd take more time on the DJ or band list. Just...be specific.

4) I'd pack lighter for the wedding day. You should have seen the amount of things Dustin and his groomsmen were trying to get into our getaway car while be pounded with bird seed. I'd suggest duplicates of toiletries so that you can pack most of your goods in your honeymoon bags and leave the others behind.

5) I'd wear my veil with my runaway dress. My sister suggested it while I was changing, but I didn't do it. How cute would of those pictures been?

1) Not setting an alarm. Have your mom or sister or friend wake you up. No one wants to start the best day of their lives with an annoying alarm!

2) I don't regret not doing a first look. Walking down the aisle and seeing D for the first time was the most exciting moment of my life. I highly suggest it.

3) I stopped by our reception location after the bridesmaid lunch while on the way to the church. I got to see it fully decorated - a vision me and my mom and sister had been dreaming up for the last eight months. That in itself was really exciting, and it put my little planning mind at ease. Not to be cheesy (impossible), it was kind of magical. Thanks for sharing that with me, Katie!

4) If we splurged on anything - it was flowers. Flowers are our thing, and I go weak at the knees when I look at photos and see how wonderfully they turned out. Find what aspect of planning is your "thing" and splurge. Even if just a little.

5) Dance. Dance as much as you want. Dance with your friends, with your family, with your pastor and his wife. I have awesome parents who were wonderful hosts. So I just DANCED. Oh - and eat too. Definitely eat!

What would you do different? What would you never change?