13 Brilliant Wedding Planning Tips from Real Couples

Planning & Advice

Planning a wedding can be incredibly stressful between juggling budgets, an endless to-do list and facing one decision after the next. But you’re not alone, most wedding couples have come across and tackled many of the dilemmas and hurdles you’re now facing so today we’re sharing advice, tips and encouragement from our real wedding couples who have been there and have the rings to show for it. Here are some words of wisdom…

The couple: Melissa & Tom

My piece of advice for other couples… Trust the professionals. Know that these guys do weddings all the time so don’t be afraid to ask for their advice on things.

See Melissa & Tom’s Mount Wolseley wedding by Couple Photography

The couple: Lisa & Andrew

My piece of advice for other couples… is to take time out at the different stages in the day to just take it all in and be in the moment. Get nice hangers for your wedding dress and your bridesmaids attire. This was on many of my to-do lists but I just never got around to it. Have a time keeper in the house – the morning ran away on me despite my best intentions! Set up a hashtag for your day so you get all your guests pictures (again this was on my to-do-list but I didn’t get around to it and now I’m chasing people for their pictures).

See Lisa & Andrew’s Barberstown Castle wedding by Couple Photography

The couple: Adrian & Sarah

My piece of advice for other couples… Plan your day around you as a couple… go with what you both would like rather than trying to please anyone else! This is what we did and our day was exactly how we had hoped it would be. Everyone seemed to have a ball too! Would love to do it all again!

See Adrian & Sarah’s MacDoanld Kinsale Wedding by Rose Gowan Photography

The couple: Caroline & Michael

My piece of advice for other couples… to plan your day exactly as you and your husband want it to be. I wouldn’t change a thing about our day and we have such happy memories. It is easy to get caught up in the madness when planning but stay true to what you want as a couple. We are so happy with our photographs and our wedding video. They are the two things that I would advise any couple to spend their money on. You will get back so much from what you invest. When the day is over, it is your photos and video that will remind you of what a wonderful day it was.

See Caroline & Michael’s BrookLodge wedding by Konrad Kubic Photography

The couple: Caroline & Shane

My piece of advice for other couples… Planning a wedding can be difficult and with so many thing to be done, if you receive offers of help, learning to say “yes” to such offers is really a gift you give to yourself as well as to the person who offers. I received help from my bridesmaids with many tasks such as bridesmaid shoes, guest list, table planning to mention but a few. Consider your wedding as a launch party to your married life. I would also advise to have a truly authentic day that reflects you and your partner – choose the food, music, ceremony readings that mean something to you, you will never make all guests happy so why try.

See Shane & Caroline’s Cliff at Lyons wedding by M&M Photography

The couple: Niamh & Jonathan

My piece of advice for other couples… enjoy the whole process, the planning and the lead up. There is no denying that there are stressful moments along the way and the planning and organising can be quite time consuming but it really is such a special and fun time that I probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time. So my advice is to soak every minute up! It is such a wonderful time with lots of excuses for getting together with people for days out to plan things. I really enjoyed all the days out with my mum, mother-in-law, sister and bridesmaids. After that, try to relax and enjoy the day and remember to take some time out for you and your husband during the day to let it all sink in.

See Niamh & Jonathan’s Trump International Doonbeg wedding by Ruth Foran Photography

The couple: Jane & Frank

My piece of advice for other couples… I would cherish every moment on the morning of  your wedding with your mother and bridal party. You chose them for a reason because you wanted them to share this experience with you. Also squeeze your dad’s hand tight as he walks you down the aisle and remember that special moment. Enjoy every moment of the day with your husband and make sure you take some time for just the two of you at some point of the day and have a drink together and take it all in because it will be the quickest day of your life.

See Jane & Frank’s Seafield wedding by Memories Photography by Magda

The couple: Blathnat & Alan

My piece of advice for other couples… Enjoy every second of your initial engagement but get going on plans as early as possible, try and make sure the final month before your wedding is free of any more planning so that you can truly enjoy those magical last few weeks when everyone is so happy for you – soak it all up – it only happens once!

See Blathnat & Alan’s Carton House wedding by Ebony & Pearl Photography

The couple: Jennie & Kevin

My piece of advice for other brides… Everybody told us to make sure we take it all in and get to spend some time together on the day, it goes by so quickly that we really didn’t have much of a chance to just sit and talk to each other, had I known that’s really how it would be, I would have made sure we had that time. I was so nervous about walking down the aisle in the run up to the wedding that some nights I couldn’t sleep! It was awful! When it actually came down to it, I wasn’t nervous at all! The anxiety just leaves you so don’t let the fear ruin your morning or the lead up to the big day! Last but not least – DON’T SWEAT THE LITTLE THINGS! Most of the little details I stressed over weren’t even noticed in the end and honestly probably don’t matter!

See Jennie & Kevin’s Ballymagarvey wedding by Paul Duane Photography

The couple: Louise & Brendan

My piece of advice for other brides… You can’t control everything, least of all the weather. It never stopped raining the entire day of our wedding but the rain cannot stop you from having the most fantastic day surrounded by your friends and family, making memories that will stay with you for a lifetime. So embrace the rain and go with it.

See Louise & Brendan’ s Millhouse wedding by Jialin Long Photography here

The couple: Elizabeth & Nigel

My piece of advice for other couples… Relax and remember what the day is really about, it’s about your love for each other and I think once you keep that in mind it puts everything else in perspective.

See Elizabeth & Nigel’s Kilronan Castle wedding by David Maury Photography

The couple: Karol & Brendan

My piece of advice for other brides… Think of it as the biggest party you’re ever going to throw and you want to enjoy every minute of it, if the hosts are having fun, everybody else will too!

See Karol & Brendan’s Tinakilly House Weddng by Konrad Kubic Photography

The couple: Fiona & Michael

My piece of advice for other couples… Pick your battles, there are some things that you should fight for to have the way you want and there are other things that you should do to keep everyone happy, you’ll know deep down whether it really matters to you. There’s always a compromise to keep everyone happy. Also you won’t necessarily have a moment when you’re picking your dress, I definitely watched too much ‘Say Yes To The Dress’ in advance and had high expectations of how I should feel. I would have enjoyed the dress process more had I trusted my instincts and knew I wasn’t going to cry over a dress or be 100% certain about it. I loved it on the day – as everyone told me I would!

Watch Fiona & Michael’s Rathsallagh House Wedding Video by Limelight Wedding Films