Wedding Planning Advice From Past Brides: Casey Aleck
Being a bride can be a tricky business! Planning a wedding is something you probably have never done before and something you hopefully won’t do again, so knowing what to expect or what you wish you could have done differently is hard knowledge to come by! That is why I have started a new blog series where past brides can pass on their wedding wisdom to you! This week is bride Casey who got married last September at the BRIK in Fort Worth. Here is what she had to say about planning her big day!
Casey’s top pieces of advice:
Hire a wedding planner
I can not even begin to describe how important a wedding planner is in helping you to not only make your wedding vision come to life, but it also takes a load of stress off of you and your family on the day of the wedding. I did not even know where to begin or how to plan for a wedding and Sarah with Sistered States made the whole process a breeze and so much more enjoyable. On the day of the wedding, I didn’t have to stress about anything and I could enjoy the whole day knowing I was in the best hands!
Find Trustworthy Vendors
I cannot begin to describe how important it is to do your research and to make sure you choose the right vendors for your wedding. We had the most amazing group of vendors, from our photographer, videographer, florists, caterer etc. and they brought our wedding to life. It is also a huge plus if your vendors have had experience at your venue before, and that was a question I would also make sure to ask them.
Make your wedding personal & unique to you
My favorite weddings have been the ones where I felt that the couple really put in thought to make their wedding represent them. For our wedding, we had custom Batman napkins for my husband’s favorite super hero and specialty drinks that represented us (“The Smart Aleck” for our last name and “ Worth The Wait” for the city we fell in love/were getting married in and also for us dating for over seven years!). We also had custom koozies that had a TCU symbol on it since we both went to TCU and we danced down the aisle after saying our “I Do’s” to “Forever” by Chris Brown for the wedding scene on the show The Office, which is our favorite show!
Don’t stress about the little details
At the end of the day, you need to figure out what is worth spending your money on because everything can really start to add up! No one is going to remember that you didn’t have any flowers at your cocktail hour or that you didn’t have programs for your ceremony. Try to remember that the most important thing on your wedding day is marrying your soul mate and being with all of those who love you!
Don’t sweat the small stuff
On the morning of my wedding, I brought my wedding dress into the bridal suite and noticed a huge red wine stain on the edge of my train. I had no idea how it had gotten there and I could feel myself getting really emotional over this stain. But I decided that I was not going to let this ruin my day! My bridesmaids had brought stain remover (which I highly suggest having an emergency kit with you for situations like this) and got most of the stain out. I reminded myself that things could go wrong on the day of the wedding, but at the end of the day it just makes for a funny story! All that matters is that you get to marry the love of your life!
Spend the money on a great band or DJ, YOU WILL NOT REGRET THIS!
It was extremely important to my husband and I to have a really fun reception, so we knew it was essential to find a vendor that met our needs. We immediately connected with our DJ (Jeremiah Brinkley from It’s Your Night Entertainment), he had a huge personality and had a lot of experience and made us feel confident that our reception was going to be a blast. He also was able to do live sets during our cocktail hour and at the reception during dinner (something I would highly encourage a bride to do if they were looking into hiring him). It was like having a band and DJ all in one! Everyone will remember the fun party you have, so this is something important that I would make sure to budget for accordingly because you don’t want to settle on this!
Thought about first looks
My advice would be to do a first look with your father and bridesmaids on the day of the wedding, it was such a special moment that I will cherish forever. And all the photos from these moments are so touching! My husband and I decided to not do a first look like I did with my dad and bridesmaids and I also highly suggest this. It made the moment walking down the aisle to him one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. Lastly, do a first look of your reception space with your husband before everyone comes into the space! You put in so much time into planning and to see it all come together before anyone else gets to see it is amazing. I was so blown away with how everything turned out and that is something I will never forget from out wedding!
Sneak away during dinner for sunset photos
This is one of my favorite memories from our wedding. We went up to the rooftop of our venue at sunset with our photographer and videographer and it was such a special moment for my husband and I. And we got some of our favorite photos from those sunset photos!
Have a late night snack
Our wedding lasted until 11:00pm and we knew we wanted to make sure people had a snack towards the end of the night, it is always such a fun treat for your guests especially when there can be a lot of drinking! We had pizza as our late night snack (one of our favorite foods) and it was a huge hit!
Enjoy Every Minute
I was told so many times how your wedding day goes by so fast and it truly does! I would suggest to every bride to have a moment with your husband during the reception to just take in everything. It was so fun for my husband and I to take a step back from all our wedding guests and just see all of our hard work unfold. It makes for such a wonderful memory!