Weddings are an entire world unto themselves. For a young guy or gal getting married for the first time it’s easy to be overwhelmed with all the information and advice you receive from articles, forums, family members, co-workers and that nice, if-a-little-too-over-familiar guy who delivers your Chinese on a Friday night.
Don’t sweat the small stuff; Stay true to yourselves; Don’t eat your mother-in-law; these are things you will hear over and over again and they are all stellar pieces of advice in general, but our input is, if you want to know what to do about the niggley stuff, the best people to ask are the ones who’ve niggled themselves.
Main Image by Amy French, Rubistyle Photography
Presenting: 25 of our shiniest pearls of wisdom from ladies who have made it up the aisle, and back again in one piece…
Advice on: Dress Shopping
1. “Bring a pair of heels with you so you can get an idea of what it will look like with high shoes. Wear a dress so that you can just whip it off then on again easily – no fiddling with jeans, tops etc” –Mrs Spud, Wollie
2. “I went to three (dress appointments) in a day…any more than that and I think they tend to blend in to one.Wear nude underwear, and strapless bra, not a thong as that can be embarrassing if the woman has to pin you in to the dress. Bring tissues and a bottle of water as it can be so sweaty and hot in the dress shops especially with the weight of the dresses. Try on lots of shapes as well – I ended up going for something a million miles from what I would have thought.” -Queen30, Wollie
3. “I wouldn’t book too many for one day – you will get really tired and confused! Definitely bring someone with you. My mum came to my 3 places and sketched each dress -that helped so much!” -Heidibridi12, Wollie
4. “Lose all the weight you want in the months before your wedding, but after your last dress fitting you need to maintain whatever weight you’re at. Nothing is worse than picking up your dress the day before your wedding and realising you’ve lost a whole dress size.” –Rachel Sandall
Advice on: Invites
5. “If you are paying for the day, decide in advance what the guest list rules are. For us we had a 100 limit, 50 for me and 50 for him. He consulted his parents and got all kinds of hassle from his dad, I didn’t and it was a breeze. Parents were allowed to invite people to the afters but that was it. If you start asking who parents want to ask, you may open a can of worms.” –Lux, Wollie
6. “Make sure you put numbers or names on the back of your RSVP’s. I’ve received 18 back so far and 4 of them the people never put their name on them, just that they are going. But I was able to track who owned the RSVP by checking the corresponding list.” –Urban Fairy, Wollie
Advice on: The Wedding Day
7. “Make sure you allow plenty of time to get ready. I decided to go last with my hair and make-up because I thought it would take the longest. Get yourself ready first, it’s easy to get a touch up before you leave.” –Aine Ryan
8. “Keep a close eye on the time the morning of the wedding, because it absolutely flies by! We got lost in chat over lunch. I was unintentionally 35 minutes late. I practically tumbled out of the car and two minutes later I was walking down the aisle.” –Miriam Levey
9. “Bring comfy shoes for dancing later in the night when all the formalities are done with.” –Jen 0808, Wollie
10. “At the back of the church before you walk up to meet your H2B take a deep breath then walk slow & enjoy every single step’” –Handbag Addict, Wollie
11. “Take five or ten minutes with your new husband at some stage in the day. It’s a hectic day and it’s easy to get swept away with it all. Make sure your stop for a minute and enjoy it.” –Jennifer Langan
12. “Get up early on the day, refuse to take any calls or speak to anyone about last minute details (leave that to the boys) and enjoy your girls. It will make the day seem a lot longer.” -Aoife Bennett
13. “Take a few minutes with you groom during the meal and look around at your guests –you will be amazed at what your see!” –Alison Kirwan
14. “Make sure you delegate tasks for during the day, I had a beautiful guest book but it didn’t get signed by most of my guests. I was really looking forward to reading it so was very sad not to have it.” -Ciara Lynch
15. “Decide on how much time you want to spend on traditional photos. I had heard from a few brides that they regretted spending nearly two hours on their photos and missing their drinks reception. We agreed with our photographer that these photos would take just 45 minutes.” –Deirdre Grogan
16. “Dont rip your cards open, keep a track of each and every gift which leaves it easier for the thank you cards.” -Joker
Advice on: Planning
17. “Come up with your own way of doing things and make your day exactly the way you want it. DIY is a great way to personalise your day and save some money in the process!” –Aoife Conway
18. “Don’t scrimp on the important areas. We, like most couples, were on a very tight budget but that doesn’t mean you can’t splash out on the important things. I made-sure we had the best make-up artist do the whole wedding party would feel great, an excellent band to ensure people would have a super time, and the perfect photographer to capture the day…” –Hazel Cassidy
19. “Get a videographer! We weren’t going to get one but I am so glad we did. I have watched the video at least five times and it’s so amazing to look back on the things that I missed or had already forgotten. Those memories and images are priceless.” –Katie Hughes
20. “Your wedding doesn’t have to be what Aunt Betty down the road wants or expects it to be, so don’t listen to ANYBODY except yourselves.” –Kate Curtin {See Kate’s Real Wedding Here!}
21. “Stock up on Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) in the run up to the wedding. I lived on the stuff – it really helped to take the edge off any nerves and stress!” –Amanda Dalton {See Amanda’s Real Wedding Here!}
Advice on: Speeches
22. “I left my decision (whether to make a speech) right up until it was actually time for the speeches. As they were starting, I said to the Best Man ‘yup I’m gonna speak’. I made a joke that went down quite well at the beginning of my speech saying "I just want to say doesn’t Peter just look absolutely beautiful today" it got a few laughs.” –PetersGirl, Wollie
23. “Whatever you decide to do (to have the speeches before or after the meal)- and you do whichever you prefer yourself – do make sure your hotel knows what you’re doing and are in agreement. We were at one wedding where the bride and groom had it all planned out as they had a lot of speakers and had planned long and hard how best to do it, but they never communicated any of this to the hotel. The hotel, naturally, had the meal all ready to go and couldn’t hold the dinner without ruining it. So make sure if it’s before or after dinner that your hotel knows what you’re planning!” –K
Advice on: Getting Married Abroad
24. “I advise bride who are getting married abroad to remove all wedding paraphernalia from your groom’s suitcase as soon as you get a chance. I didn’t see our guestbook until we arrived back in Cork!” –Tara Sherry
25. "If you’re getting married abroad, we would totally recommend using the services of a wedding planner. Organising a wedding abroad can take lots of time and reasearch…With their contacts in every area, they negotiated great deals from all suppliers and also got great rates for ouselves and our guests in hotels." -Marguerite Ryan
