This post on Wedding Tips is the first blog post in the Wedding FAQ series. Keep an eye on the site for more FAQ posts and if you have any suggestions for questions you would like answering you can email me or leave a question on my Facebook page.
Wedding Tip #1 – Eat
This is generally a tip for brides. Remember to eat! Funnily enough, grooms and groomsmen often don’t need this reminder. A wedding day is a long day, for brides it can start early with hair and make up. With all the excitement people forget to eat. It’s really easy to get caught up and forget to have breakfast, then you are getting your hair done and into your dress, having photos with your family and bridesmaids and it’s time to get into the car and head to the ceremony. Then you are straight into photos and before you know it the reception is about to start and it’s only when the waiter walks past with a now sad looking bruschetta that you realise you are ravenous and you may take his arm off if he tries to take the platter away!
Platters are a great idea, platters and friends to nag – I mean remind you lovingly – to eat! Have a platter out on the table that everyone can pick at while you are getting ready and another platter to take with you for after the ceremony so you can snack during the photo session.
Wedding Tip #2 – Drink Water
Stay hydrated. Brides and grooms are likely to forget to drink water. If you are dehydrated, you are more likely to pass out. It doesn’t matter how cool the weather or how long a couple have been together, a wedding ceremony can make people nervous. Nervousness leads to sweating and both lead to thirst.
I will generally make sure that I have a couple of bottles of water hidden under the table cloth of the signing table for the bride and groom so that when they have been pronounced husband and wife and they are sitting down to sign the 3 documents they can have a quick drink of water. By this time the couple is normally a bit more relaxed and they are aware of the dry mouth. This is normally when they realise they have been smiling so much that now their lips are stuck to their teeth. Water really helps!
After the signing the couple goes back and is presented with their certificate, walks back down the aisle (if they are going to) and then family and friends come and congratulate you. Congratulations can last 15 minutes or more and then often you go straight into a group photo so if you don’t grab a drink during the signing of the register you will be waiting quite some time for a drink.
Wedding Tip #3 – There is a difference between a glass of bubbles to toast and a bottle or case
In Australia, to get married you must be able to give valid consent. That means you must know what you are doing and can’t be incapacitated due to alcohol or other drugs. So you have to be sober. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a drink on your wedding day. There is a difference between a glass of bubbles or a beer/scotch or two while you are getting ready and drinking the whole bottle or case.
This isn’t normally something that the bride and groom think is a problem. Where it can be an issue is if the bridal party aren’t aware. Everyone is caught up, someone kept filling his/her glass without them realising and on top of forgetting to eat it can be a bad combination.
It is also important to say that the witnesses need to be sober as well. They need to be aware of what they are witnessing.
It is worth mentioning to the bridal party that they are sharing responsibility for reminding you to eat and making sure you are sober to be married (so no spiking drinks or constant refills so you don’t realise how much you have drunk).
Wedding Tip #4 – Spend the day with the person you are marrying!
A lot of time, energy and money has gone into your big day. It is easy to get caught up with the planning and how you want everything to be and forget the reason you are getting married. You are getting married because you want to spend the rest of your life with the man or woman you love. This day is supposed to be about you two and a celebration of you two. Spend the day (after the ceremony at least) with the person you are marrying.
Wedding Tip #5 – Let everyone else do the worrying
For many people, there have been months or years of planning that has gone into a wedding day. EVERY detail has been thought out and agonised over from the venue to the food to the seating chart. It is really easy to be caught up in those details and spend your wedding checking how everyone else is going, has she had enough to eat, does he need a drink, are they having a good time. Everyone at your wedding is either a grown up (or has a grown up who is responsible for them – and if you have small people it can be a good idea to organise someone else to be responsible for them during the wedding) and can look after themselves and someone else can worry about whether every second person should be getting the fish.
A wedding day goes so quickly, the best piece of advice I was given before my wedding day (and that I have shared with every couple I have met since), is to sit down, relax, have a cup of tea and really notice the day. I’m sure there could be a course it this – mindful marriages. Really the message is; slow down, relax and enjoy the day. Fingers crossed you are only going to do this once. Make sure you make the most of every moment and enjoy it. The day really does go so quickly!
