If I Could Do It
All Again
Who has better advice than women who've done the whole wedding
thing? Here's what some nuptial alums have to say about how they
would've changed their big day.
We help you get married, but what happens after that? We decided
to find out from brides how the big day actually went and what they
would change, if anything. Here are the top 10 "would'ves":
- had a smaller wedding
- asked more friends and fewer "should invites"
- planned better
- used a pro whenever possible
- called on friends for more help
- delegated more duties
- asked the caterer more questions
- taken more wedding pictures
- gotten everything in writing
- savored the day more...
About That Guest List
Most brides said their ceremonies went off without the proverbial
hitch, but if they could do it all again, they would have pared their
guest lists and kept a closer watch over the proceedings.
- Ann Marie, a lawyer from New Jersey, crowded some 120 guests
into a Manhattan loft. She would have "had fewer guests or a bigger
space" and circulated among the crowd to talk to more people
- Elissa, a news reporter from Manchester, had a similar complaint.
"We had close to 200 people," says Elissa, describing her September
wedding at a Hotel in Cheshire. "It was huge. We had guests I
didn't know, people my husband didn't know. I wish we would have
invited the people I wanted instead of the people our parents
wanted."
The number, and nature, of the guests seems to make or break a
wedding, according to the brides interviewed. Most brides agreed
that no more than 150 made an ideal gathering.
- Amy, who set her own early fall wedding at her home in Yorkshire,
had it down to a science. "We invited just our friends and immediate
family," she says.
Fit to be Tried
Most brides said they loved the gown they picked, but if they could
do it all over again, they would have been more concerned about comfort
and fit.
- Sharon, a Manchester bride, says she noticed the straps of her
"wide V" gown kept slipping off her shoulders during the fittings,
but the seamstress told her it was only because she wasn't standing
up straight. As a result, "a minor problem became a major one,"
says Sharon. She spent her entire wedding day "fiddling with [her]
dress...and that's the last thing you want to do."
- Amy, who married in stockport, says the fittings on her simple
brocade dress went smoothly enough, but her big mistake was not
trying on the gown when it was finally finished. The day of her
wedding she noticed the hem kept "popping up," and while photographers
were taking her picture, waist up, three friends were down below,
"sewing the bottom of my gown."
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