Real Brides (and Grooms!) Confess Their Biggest Wedding Planning Mistakes

Every bride has something she'd do over—if she could. Here, some hard-won wisdom from the recently married.

When you're planning a wedding, you try to think of everything. You go over the details until you’re absolutely sure you’ve covered all your bases. You even work on developing a relaxed attitude toward those inevitable minor glitches — the kind that will make warm, funny stories later on. But then there are the things that even the most well-organized bride and groom get wrong and would change if they could. Their true confessions — and hard-won wisdom — may help you avoid making some bridal blunders of your own. 

Money Doesn't Buy Happiness
“If I could do it over, I wouldn’t assume that a vendor who charges top dollar is necessarily the best choice. My high-priced florist and band were awful: The band didn’t sing the songs on our list, and the florist, who was said to be a ‘celebrity floral designer,’ skipped meetings and showed up two hours late for setup. Meanwhile, the wedding coordinator and makeup guy I found on craigslist.com were fabulous—and they charged very reasonable rates.” —Michelle, New York, NY

ballroom wedding
Photo Credit: Javier Gomez Studio

Don't Overdo the Dieting
“I’d been dieting like a crazy person for three months, and then I was so nervous and excited that I barely ate anything the four days before the wedding. When I put on my dress, it hung on me like drapery— even though I’d had a final fitting just a week before. In the photos, the dress actually shows a gap in the back. I was mortified when I saw them!" —Loryn, Westport, CT

Don't Expect a Cakewalk 
“My cake didn’t have the icing that I ordered, and it was too small to feed all my guests. My mistake was that I didn’t ask for references from the baker. I just didn’t think the cake was such a big deal, and I trusted that he would produce what we had discussed. My advice is to get references and call them. I didn’t find out until it was too late that a lot of people had been unhappy with this baker’s work.” —Lindy, Johnstown, PA 

wedding cake monogram
Photo Credit: Long's Photography

Get Wedding Photos to Friends and Family—Pronto
“I had a few prints of my wedding pictures made for us and our parents. I got as far as having friends and family mark the prints they wanted, but I didn’t follow through. I’d also wanted to make a scrapbook, but that fell by the wayside. Now I wish I had that scrapbook! My advice is to order reprints a few days after you get your pictures back, and make your scrapbook, pronto. Otherwise, you never will.” —Mandie, Morristown, NJ  

Give 'Em a Schedule 
“I should have had an itinerary written up for the bridal party, listing the exact times when certain key things, like toasts, dances and cake-cutting, would happen. Because I didn’t do that and was just winging it, my brother was nowhere to be found during the bridal-party couple dance. Everyone went looking for him, but he’d gone outside to smoke and he missed it.” —Mandie

bridesmaids and groomsmen
Photo courtesy of Bliss Events

Next: Makeup Mishaps, Paying Attention to the Details, and More ►

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The rule of the social makeup (for different events) also applies for brides. However, the most important rule is to know how to respect the style of each. According to experts in bridal makeup, if she never makeup cannot opt for a very exaggerated or overdone on her wedding day makeup as it will look very different and uncomfortable. Another basic rule is to have an emergency kit makeup during the religious ceremony and the wedding party. Make sure you have a small bag all the basics such as base, eyeliner, lipstick and concealed if you want to run any tears makeup face of the bride.