The biggest lesson I learned from planning my wedding day

I purposefully have tried to keep my blog on subject (beauty related) and not transform it into a wedding blog when I got engaged. Today however I am doing a wedding post because I have been asked by a lot of people (that are in the process of planning a wedding) what I learned from the whole experience of planning a wedding. I experienced a lot of things, learned from mistakes and discovered some great things - but to keep the post short I thought I would share the biggest lesson I learned. 


My wedding cake and setup - photos taken by Alexandra Graham

When it came time to decide on a date and what we wanted, JP and I didn’t really struggle much with decisions. We are both the type of people that don’t really follow traditions and we both aren’t too concerned by all the formalities that accompany weddings. So we chose to have a very short ceremony (15 minutes long) and the reception was an informal luncheon with no speeches or assigned seating…no formalities to it what so ever. The décor was kept simple because the wedding was set in a beautiful location and photos were done impromptu with guests and not forced on anyone.

Leading up to the wedding we had to deal with a fair share of criticism and comments over our choices. People didn’t understand what we wanted and why we weren’t sticking to a “traditional wedding”. My response to everyone was “This is my wedding, it is what I want”. So this leads me to my advice – if you are paying for your wedding you have every right to do what YOU want to and not what other expect you to do. I understand that one has to “keep the peace” but that should not turn your wedding day into something you don’t want it to be (this is of course entirely different if someone else is paying for things – then you have to negotiate with them on what you want and what they want). 

JP and I are so happy with how our wedding day turned out, it was everything we wanted it to be despite the down pour of rain on the day. The focus of the entire day was on JP and I getting married – the moment we said our “I dos” – not the reception following the ceremony. Everything was simple, fuss free and intimate. To me it felt like a family gathering except I got to walk around in a pretty wedding dress.

I wouldn’t say that my wedding was one of those weddings that would be featured in magazines and end up on people’s Pinterest boards but it was exactly what we wanted. I would happily do the whole thing over again (with JP of course!) exactly how we did it. I am so happy that JP and I stood our ground and planned the day we wanted.

It is your wedding day – plan the day how YOU want it to be, not how others expect it to be.

Big Hugs,
Charlene XXX