7 Helpful Wedding Tips

Walking down the aisle
When walking down the aisle remember-your groom or bride is not on the ground! So many brides and grooms look at the ground while walking down the aisle. Although this is a natural nervous reaction to being stared at by hundreds of people, you must resist the urge to do this and keep your eyes straight ahead and on the love of your life. No one wants glorious pictures of the top of their heads!

Cutting the cake
Cutting into an overly large cake as a couple is not something you do every day (or something you will ever do again) so most people are completely clueless how to handle this moment. Start by facing your guests and photographer/videographer. This seems like common sense but trust me, it’s not. Have your partner stand behind you or next to you and hold the cake cutter together. Cut the BOTTOM layer of cake (again I’ve seen it all) and put the slice on a plate. Stay facing the crowd and slightly turn towards each other to feed each other the cake. If you have a champagne toast proceed the same way, only slightly turning to each other to toast and then facing back out to your guests. Sometimes this is the only time your guests get a clear picture of you at the reception so face out and toast to them for coming out to celebrate your big day.

Speeches
I’ve literally seen speeches kill a wedding reception. If your speeches go too long you lose the attention of your guests and leave very little time for dancing and all the other fun stuff you have planned. Also, don’t plan speeches during that perfect sunset hour as you’ll want to use that for photos. Always work around the sunset at all costs. Give your wedding party a time limit on speeches. I say keep them at 5 minutes or less (because they’ll usually go over anyway.) People tend to ramble so give them guidance or else you’ll have a room full of antsy guests fidgeting and getting up to “use the restroom.” The more speeches you decide to have the less time you should give each person. This isn’t a telethon, it’s your wedding!

Shuttles
If you have shuttles driving your guests to and from the wedding venue remember to save the front seat for the photographer and videographer so they can be first off to quickly set up. Also do your research on shuttle companies as I’ve worked numerous weddings where they either didn’t show or came extremely late causing a nightmare on the couple’s big day.

DJ
NEVER EVER skimp on your DJ. Your DJ will make or break your reception. Over the years I’ve seen DJ’s mess up first dance songs, play terrible mixes causing an empty dance floor, blow already crappy speakers, and ramble like it’s their own wedding reception. Spend the extra money and read the reviews before booking your DJ.

Beach Wedding Hair
You need to know that if you have your wedding on the beach and your hair is down, it WILL blow in your face. All. Day. Long. If you like the extremely wind-blown look then great but otherwise choose a hairstyle that is tightly held back or else you will look like Cousin It on the beach in your wedding photos.

Details
I suggest gathering together all your knick knacks and accessories that you want photos of before the photographer gets there so that you aren’t running around grabbing them while trying to get ready. Here is a suggested list of items to have ready:

Girls
1. Wedding Dress on a nice hanger
2. Bridesmaids Dresses on nice hangers
3. Veil
4. Shoes
5. Jewelry (Wedding rings, Earrings, Necklace and Bracelet)
6. Perfume
7. Purse
8. Invitations

Guys

1. Shoes
2. Socks
3. Pocket Square
4. Bowtie or Tie
5. Watch
6. Cologne
7. Wallet