5 Things I Learned As A Photographer Bride

5 Things I Learned As A Photographer Bride

5 Things I Learned As A Photographer Bride

I’ve been struggling with a few different ways to share my experience as a photographer bride. I got married last August and I knew it would be a great story to share with other brides. I made

another post during the process, which talked about my own wedding experience. As someone “on the inside” I had a different perspective on how a wedding should be run. At times, it was a little bit of a hindrance, but I was able to learn a few things I wanted to pass on to other couples.

#1 Prioritize

I think it’s important to know what is most important to you. Before you do anything, sit down and make a list of the different factors that go into wedding planning. With your fiance, figure out what is the most and least important on that list. This should be your rule of thumb for where you can invest and where you can cut. It’s important for your budget and also figuring out what is important to your partner. I found this really helpful during our planning. It allowed me to figure out what to spend the most time on and what didn’t matter as much to me. I could focus on the important things. It’s okay to have different priorities than other people. With the stress of other factors, it’s important to simplify the process for yourself.

#2 Communication

Admittedly, I am someone who checks my email 100 times a day and emails needle at me until I answer them. However, communication is something that always baffles me with people. I understand it’s very important to set boundaries as a business that doesn’t really have a storefront, but I think businesses should really set aside time to answer emails at least once a week, if not daily. Some of the vendors were really on top of it, it wasn’t all bad. It’s also easy as a couple to feel like you’re the center of the universe, I get that. I just feel like I find people to be more credible if they’re fast and clear communicators. Personally, I  just feel more comfortable knowing I can reach someone when I need to, especially with something as big as wedding plans. Communication goes both ways, too. Be clear with people if something doesn’t feel right. If they’re worth your time, they’ll listen.

#3 Timing

It’s important to be realistic about your time. We made a lot of DIY decorations, but we had a year and a half engagement and I started early. Also, we were really good at timing everything out. I having that much time made me eager to do things because we had a few gaps where it was too early to make certain decisions, but I knew I wanted to do SOMETHING wedding related. It was nice, too, because we had such a busy year that things like showers, bachelorette parties, and other celebrations broke up the year pretty evenly. That said, I am of the opinion that there is such a thing as too much time.

For me and my fiance, a year and a half was almost too long. I wouldn’t have liked it to be longer than that. In some situations, it makes sense, but we had our venue picked so early that there was a lot of time of just waiting. On one hand, I know there were decisions that were made that might not have been in a shorter amount of time. On the other, it left the door open for a lot of people to have a lot of opinions (and not all were welcome). Weddings come with opinions, I know that, but more time brought minds to be changed and people to become bolder and it was one cause of stress that I feel like was unnecessary.

Overall, planning out your timing is essential. You can accomplish a lot of what you want to if you have a good plan in place. We were also extremely fortunate to have a supportive group of people offering their help.

#4 Wedding Party

Everyone probably feels this way, but our wedding party left us with such warm and fuzzy feelings. We chose people that were closest to us and were stressed about how many people to include (and who not to include), but ultimately, we had the best group of people. Personally, it strengthened my relationship with each one of my bridesmaids. My girls were really helpful and fun and it made all the difference. This is probably a no-brainer, but I just thought it should be said.

#5 People will understand

A lot of our decisions through the process our made based on how we think our wedding will be perceived. You want to show your guests a good time and have an amazing wedding, but in times of stress know that they will understand. Anyone who goes through a wedding process at different times will go “oh, I know why they did that now.” At some point, you have to leave these ideas behind and just have fun. Choose what will make you the most happy and know that your guests will understand. Newlyweds, especially. Ultimately, everyone will have a good time and notice the good more than a perceived bad. There are more important things to stress out about, eliminate the ones you can.

The most important thing you can do is enjoy your day (which, there will be no end of people telling you this). Try to avoid stress where you can and be in the moment. Share your knowledge with others and encourage happiness. If you’re happy, your guests will share in your happiness.

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