Hi friends! I’m back with another Lessons Learned post for you all (you can see previous posts here) today! This one is full of some excellent lessons, courtesy of my friend Cris of Kiss My Tulle. Cris had a DIY backyard wedding at her home in Texas, and she has some great advice for you all!
Lesson Learned…
People WANT to help you. I had loads of help bringing both my weddings together. For our impromptu civil ceremony, my family spent a day doing some cute crafty type projects (like a pompom garland and a tree stump cake stand) and the guests participated in a potluck reception. For my “real” wedding, dozens of people hung out at my house the week before and did tons of projects (built a porch on our house, cleared the ceremony site, and did bunches of DIY projects). Everyone wanted to help. In fact, I was running out of things for people to do!
Lesson Learned…
Nothing is guaranteed. I planned our wedding a year and a half out to allow my Alaskan family to make plans and to save up money to pay for the wedding. Well, I spent nearly a year of that time unemployed. Then, a few months after our engagement, my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer and we know he wouldn’t be alive for our “real” wedding. So we had a civil ceremony in Alaska for him and cut back on our expenses so we could afford our other wedding.
Lesson Learned…
A really great photographer will make any wedding look amazing. I splurged and a budgeted for a killer photographer and everyone thought I was crazy. Until our photos came back – then everyone got it. She made our middle-aged selves look incredible and our simple, backyard wedding stunning. People went crazy over the photos and told me repeatedly how smart I was to invest in a fab photographer.
About the author: Kiss My Tulle is a website devoted to providing its readers with do-able DIY projects, down-to-earth advice, and realistic Big Day expectations presented by editor, Cris Stone.
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So are any of you having at-home, backyard weddings? If so, hopefully you can use some of Cris’s lessons learned!
Lauren
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Cris, you’re always so wise! I wish I had read this bit about the photographer when I was planning my own wedding. And, the whole bit about “Nothing is Guaranteed” is susch a scary concept, but I imagine the sooner one can deal with that fact, the easier it is to deal with the curveballs. Thanks so much for sharing!
I ALWAYS love it when couples choose to spend most of their budget with the photographer. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your venue is, or how spectacular the flowers are, or bridesmaids, or groomsmen, the details and of course…the bride and groom, if the photographer is no good…guess what, the images and all the money you spent on those other beautiful things will be worthless because your photography will be, (pardon the expression), crap to look at. Hire a good photographer…the best your budget can afford. Just like Cris, I promise you won’t be sorry.
I ALWAYS love it when couples choose to spend most of their budget with the photographer. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your venue is, or how spectacular the flowers are, or bridesmaids, or groomsmen, the details and of course…the bride and groom, if the photographer is no good…guess what, the images and all the money you spent on those other beautiful things will be worthless because your photography will be, (pardon the expression), crap to look at. Hire a good photographer…the best your budget can afford. Just like Cris, I promise you won’t be sorry.
Thanks for having me, Lauren!
Great tips & I’m so sorry to hear that about your father but what a smart move getting married earlier so he could be there. Having the people you love there is priceless.