Some brides to be may be feeling nervous already, this is completely normal,  75% of brides I spoke to said they felt a few jitters on the day.

“ Yes, I got really nervous! I seemed to lose the ability to talk but had a massive grin on my face for the whole morning! Think it freaked my sister out as I am usually a chatterbox!”

“I felt nervous the night before, had a little moment. On the actual day I felt quite calm. The night before I had the best night sleep Id had in months, I think because I knew there was nothing else I could do. In fact my sister actually had to wake me up coz I was so comfy!”

“(Nerves) Yes!!! I cried from the moment the bridesmaids left for the church, until I reached the groom at the altar. Not sure if I was as nervous as my dad though!?”

“Yes! My legs were like jelly!”

…” We spent so long planning everything that we worried about all kinds of things before the big day, but none of it actually worried us once the day arrived. Perhaps my best advice then would be not to stress about everything before the big day and enjoy the build-up”

For many wedding-planning couples money is often the deciding factor on a lot of elements of their wedding. Did our brides offer some pearls of wisdom when it comes to the purse strings!?

… it would be to hire a wedding planner. You can tell them how much you want to spend and they do all of the hard work in making your budget work for you. Especially if you’re getting married abroad”

“Shop around”

“Save and pay off what you can prior to wedding day. Ask for best price before buying”

“Reception flowers from a wholesalers can be a big saving if you know someone who can arrange them”

“Don’t feel you have to do everything suggested by magazines or friends – it can soon add up”

“I borrowed a veil from one of my best friends as I only wore it for the ceremony and photos.”

“You can save in almost everything, ask your friends with any talents for help!”

I tend to agree with this comment here

“Never (try to cut costs)…push the boat out”

Its always nice to consider some unusual ideas that may make your wedding stand apart from others. Its good to add a little bit of personality to your day and don’t always follow tradition. For example I am finding more and more couples are opting to have the speeches before the meal, so the boys can actually enjoy the lovely food you have paid for without feeling nervous!

What did our interviewees feel was a little unusual about their big day?

“After meal quizz with prizes”

“the frog theme”

“The gospel choir, my bridesmaid’s fuchsia pink shoes and Willy Wonka chocolate bar favours complete with golden tickets! Those who found a ticket got a bottle of bubbly!”

“We had a sword party when we left the church”

“A ceilidh and a disco for the evening reception”

“I had a horse and carriage instead of a car, which was my surprise for my husband”

“Stand-up bingo to win the choice of charity for a cheque we had written, instead of traditional wedding favours.”

“My hand crafted rose napkins and roses submerged into water which were the table centre pieces”

And a message for any grooms reading this?

“A beautiful gift for your new wife.”

“It’s the most precious day so enjoy it together and talk about it afterwards to recap and remember all the little things that happened, Also surprise her with something”

“Don’t over plan your speech… A more natural approach is far more genuine… My husbands opening line was along the lines that he hadn’t quite finished his speech so the next few minutes could go either way…!!!”

“Help and support your bride to be, planning a wedding is hard”

“Don’t get too drunk!!! Your wife wants to relax and enjoy the day, not worry about what you are saying to her nan!”

“Don’t leave the reception without your wife. I’ve seen some drunk grooms who have to be carried to bed by their friends.”

“The look on your face when you see your bride in her wedding dress for the first time lives with her forever!”

“Watch a few episodes of don’t tell the bride beforehand! Once you see how bridezilla some girls can be, you’ll realise you’re bride to be is actually quite chilled!!”

Hope you have enjoyed this blog entry and part 2 has left you feeling inspired. Thanks to all the brides who took part. Maybe next time I should do something similar but from the guys perspective…the answers may vary from the above just slightly!

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to over 20 brides of 2011 and these lovely ladies were kind enough to let me grill them about the ups and downs of their weddings, in order  to pass on some pearls of ‘wedding planning’ wisdom to you, the brides of tomorrow.

You have probably had friends and family telling you that the day ‘goes so fast’ …I can vouch for that one, it really does! If you are planning your wedding and haven’t done this before then you will probably wonder which parts of the wedding will be the most nerve wracking, which bits you should really savour and what are likely to be the lasting memories of your big day.  You are probably  (like most couples) also wanting some great tips or money saving ideas!

Well you can rest assured that all of these points will be covered. Right now lets take a look at some of the interviewee’s nuptial memories.

Memories of the big day

“The day is such a blur. I loved loads. The morning getting ready with my Mum, Sister and Bridemaids. The car journey with my Dad. Seeing husband for the first time. The speeches, my dress. It was all fab!”

“Being in A&E on the morning of the wedding day with gastroenteritis – at least it enabled me to fit into my dress!”

“Being just the two of us and our two witnesses”

“Mine and my husband’s dance. Just looking into his eyes”

“Seeing the look on my husband’s face as I walked down the isle, and feeling like the luckiest girl alive.”

“Walking down the aisle to a gospel choir singing ‘All you need is Love’ and the big hug and kiss my husband and I gave each other once we were pronounced man and wife!”

“Seeing my two daughters running around with the biggest smiles ever, due to wearing beautiful bridesmaids dresses.”

“Having photos taken outside in the gardens after the ceremony while sipping champagne and chatting to friends and family.”

“Since it we had such a small ceremony I wasn’t planning on having a bouquet of flowers, but my husband surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of white roses!”

“Walking down the aisle as a married couple with everyone cheering! My niece also read a Maori blessing and seeing that it was the first time I had seen her and my brother in 5 years if was a real tear jerker!”

General feedback from many of the ladies interviewed recommended spending just a small part of the day away from your the guests, one said;

“The day goes by so fast! One of my friends took me aside and told me just to take a minute to look around at everyone and take everything in! I’m so glad I did as I remember watching everyone having so much fun and seeing my husband’s beaming smile!”

This time together as newly weds, even just ten minutes, is precious. This could be a walk round the venue grounds, the ride in the car from church to reception or even the time away from the crowds whilst you have your couple portraits taken. I always recommend moving away from guests to do just a few couple shots, this way the bride and groom aren’t self-conscious and distracted by onlookers and it also allows for some quiet time for them both (I often back away myself and use a long lens for some distance shots)

One interviewee said:

“Take a few moments with your husband away from the spotlight… One of my favourite photos is of us away from the crowds! Also enjoy your evening do we spent the whole night dancing and didn’t worry about speaking to everyone… I think people understand this!”

I also got some ‘top tips’ for those in the process of planning their wedding, these are straight from the interviews themselves, popular recommendations included; keep calm, stick to what you and your partner want not everyone else and to relax and enjoy the day!

Brides top tips

“No heels sensible shoes a must”

“Hire a wedding planner! It was the best investment I made for the wedding. Saved me tons of stress and from turning into a bridezilla!”

…”its normal to get stressed but remember to put it in perspective. It is your day but other people will have an opinion and I think it is important to include them. Don’t let them take over but the more you fight the more stress you have. Give jobs so everyone is involved”

“Enjoy and don’t plan too hard! It all works out in the end. If something small goes wrong don’t let it bother you, others may not notice! Enjoy the day as it goes by very quickly.”

“Enjoy every single minute of it, you’ve planned this day for so long, what’s the point in ruining it by getting stressed.”

“Always plan the day for you and your husband-to-be – don’t try to just please everybody else and wear comfy shoes!!!”

A few lessons the interviewees said they had learnt included not ordering their cake well in advance, worrying too much about guests numbers to their ‘day do’ and quite a few said they would have less formal groups photographs taken. On that note I always advise my clients that groups shots take approximately 3 minutes per photograph so this time can soon add up so is worth considering when compiling that ‘must have’ list for your photographer.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog entry, in the next part I will give you some money saving tips from our interviewees, advice for the groom and some unusual features and ideas from other people’s weddings. Who knows they may just inspire you!

PS) Choose comfy shoes!

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1)   Go outside where possible or at least closer to a large source of natural light (for example a window) The light will be more even and stronger. The best weather for shooting any outdoor portrait is a slightly overcast day as the clouds soften and diffuse the light without causing hard shadows from the direct sun.

2)   Think about your background, try to position your dog away from any background distractions and of course avoid placing a dog with dark fur on a dark background. When outdoors grass will work well as a backdrop, or even a hedgerow or flowerbed

3)   Dark coloured animals are notoriously tricky to photograph, as it is easy to lose details such as the eyes in amongst the shadows. Try to overexpose your photograph a little bit.

4)   Avoid using your cameras flash where possible. Flash can create unusual reflections in the eyes, natural lighting is a lot more effective.

5)   Treats! Sounds obvious but have some treats at hand to get your dog to look towards you whilst you are shooting them (even better get someone on hand to get the dogs attention – leaving you to concentrate on your shot)

6)   A ball, squeaky toy or a doing a high pitched whistle can be great to get the dogs attention, not only that but it often means the dog will bring his ears forward which looks a lot better

7)   As well as normal full length pictures try some close in shots focusing in on the eyes or nose or even paws.