Hi friends! So today let’s have a little chat about a huge topic that tends to get overlooked when it comes to having and hosting a wedding- making sure you get to enjoy your wedding day!

You’ve spent tireless hours planning, fawning, crafting, reveling, and swooning over your wedding and the fact that you get to marry the person of your dreams. But guess what? When your wedding day finally arrives, all of your plans are going to be set in motion, and it’s time for you to sit back and enjoy! Sadly, not everyone gets to do this for one reason or another… but if you adhere to the following things, you WILL get to fully enjoy the entire experience of your wedding day:

1. Hire A Planner.

Duh! At the very least you should enlist the help of a Month-Of planner. This way, you can let your planner finalize and secure all vendors for you in the weeks leading up to your big day so you can relax and enjoy the fun stuff – like bridal showers, your bachelorette party, and the final dress fitting! Your planner should step in and take over communicating with your vendors, making your job as the bride easy. All you have to do is communicate with your planner, and she/he will take care of everything! Finalizing numbers, arrival times, and even making any changes- your planner will take care of it all. This will also eliminate the “so-and-so said this” and “but she told me ….” confusion that can happen in the days leading up to your wedding. It’s so important that you, your planner, and your vendors, are all on the same page- and a planner will ensure this. Case and Point: You change your toasts from before dinner to after your dinner. You’ll need to tell the caterer, venue , DJ, photographer, videographer, planner and the ever-so-important Toast Givers! Wouldn’t it be MUCH easier to pass the information along to your planner and let them pass it along to your other vendors? Yep, we think so too!

2. Limit your activities on the morning of your wedding.

Want to get a morning session of yoga in? Get in your workout? Great. But don’t plan an activity that doesn’t fall within your normal routine. You don’t want to end up sore from a 7 mile hike that you wouldn’t normally do on any other day. Or you don’t want be late for the rest of your day because you decided to go get pedicures on your wedding day. Getting ready on your wedding day will take time, so enjoy it. There is also no need to add any stress of completing tasks before the wedding, so make sure you have all your projects done! Be smart and be reasonable with yourself and make sure you’re not over doing anything.

3. Eat and stay hydrated.

Seems like a no brainer, right? But let me tell you – not eating and drinking water can ruin your wedding day. Once upon a time, I had a bride who did not eat or drink enough water. And on her wedding day she was too weak to even stand for her wedding photos. She took all of her pictures sitting in a chair. So not eating on your wedding day totally not worth it! Plus, staying hydrated will help your skin glow in your pictures. And in case you need me to mention the obvious… staying hydrated will also hopefully prevent you from over-drinking and getting sloppy from too many mimosas in the morning!

4. Turn off your phone.

Seriously. Or at least only answer your planner’s calls. Disconnect. Live in the moment. Your wedding day will pass by so fast- you don’t want to regret spending it on your phone. Plus, if you’ve hired someone to help manage your day, there is no reason you need to be directing people or making calls on what needs to get done. Direct everyone to your planner- vendors of course, but also friends and family- so you can enjoy your wedding day!

5. Trust your vendors.

You spend tireless time researching, vetting, studying, interviewing, and choosing your vendors. So you should definitely feel confident in them by now. You have been working with them side-by-side to plan this big day, so why stop trusting that they will do the best job for you on your wedding day? Give them space (this means not peeking in on how your reception setup is coming along!) and have confidence they’ll handle everything for you. Especially your planner. She is hired  as your liaison and vendor-wrangler. She is there to represent you and will do just that, but you have to trust she’s got it covered! Intervening and not allowing her to do her job creates confusion, chaos, and wastes precious time! You hired your planner (and all your other vendors) for a reason – remember that. Also, if there is a vendor who you feel like isn’t on par, discuss it with your planner and she can handle it for you. The whole goal is to not have to worry about anything, right?

One more tidbit along these lines: when creating your timeline, trust your vendors’ experience and suggestions. They have probably executed a few more weddings that you have and have learned a boat load of stuff along the way. They are not trying to steer you in the wrong direction – they too want your day to be better than you could have ever imagined!

So with all of this said… RELAX! Your wedding day will go smoothly with your team of highly experienced professionals. No need to worry about the linen color or whether it will rain. Remember that some things are out of your control and there is nothing you can do to change that. For the things that are changeable and manageable, you’ve assembled your A List vendor team to take care of it. This day should be a celebration and an exciting time filled with love and happiness! Take in every moment and be happy- it will indeed pass by faster than you could’ve imagined! Now go forth and enjoy your wedding day!