Five Things To Avoid If you Want Your Wedding To Be A Success
So you are getting married, congratulations! I imagine you want your wedding to be spectacular. After all there is a good chance you only get married once. Most brides want their guests to leave thinking their wedding was the best wedding ever.
This blog is all about the things you need to avoid when planning your wedding if you want it to be spectacular. Many blogs will talk about what you should do however it’s equally important to understand what you should avoid. I promise you this is a blog that wedding suppliers throughout the UK will not want you to read.
1.) Don’t forget about the entertainment!
You are probably not surprised that a company that supplies entertainment is telling you that wedding entertainment is important. However it’s something that a lot of brides and grooms overlook and then regret.
Bridal Magazine conducted a survey recently. They surveyed 5000 brides and ask them what they most regretted about their wedding. 78% of brides said looking back at their wedding they wished they had spent more money on the entertainment. The reason is simple. Guests do not remember the colour of the chair covers or whether there are fizzy cola bottles on the sweet stand. They remember the memories and experiences that are created throughout the night and into the evening. The entertainment is a huge part to play with that.
Think back to every wedding you have been to. What you probably remember is the entertainment above and beyond everything else. The point is don’t dismiss the entertainment as unimportant. It’s arguably one of the most important things to organise for your wedding. To see what entertainment we have to offer at your wedding, CLICK HERE.
2.) Don’t go overboard
There’s an old expression “less is more”. I have seen so many brides and grooms go overboard with their wedding. They try to book everything and the whole thing ends up feeling like a circus. Obviously you want your wedding to be memorable but you want it to be memorable for all the right reasons not the wrong ones.
I know in an earlier point I told you to consider entertainment and don’t dismiss it. However you don’t want to overdo it. I went to a wedding recently that had every type of entertainment you can imagine. Karaoke, an illusion show, 3 bands, fireworks, 2 singers, an
Impressionist, a comedian, 6 lookalikes, jugglers, 6 fire performers, 8 magicians and more besides. It was overkill and it took away from the most important thing about the wedding - the bride and groom. Make your wedding more about you and less about trying to please other people. CLICK HERE to see 5 ways to book wedding entertainment without going broke.
3.) Don’t wing it at speech time
One of the most nerve racking parts of the wedding for most grooms is the part where they have to make a speech. They have to stand up in front of their friends and family and reliever an entertaining speech that professes their undying love to their other half. These days people expect speeches to be funny, moving and entertaining. Also most people that deliver these speeches at weddings aren’t professional speakers. The whole thing is very nerve racking.
I have seen some grooms make speeches and absolutely knock it out the park and end up with a standing ovation. I have also seen speeches where it was obvious the groom wanted the ground to open and swallow him up. I’m guessing that at your wedding you want people to be blown away by your speech? If that’s the case you can’t wing it.
I have seen many people deliver speeches at weddings that were either poorly prepared or the person in question flat out blagged it. Every single time without fail the speech went badly. So the question is how can you avoid this?
The key is to prepare beforehand. Firstly I would have a professional scriptwriter put together your script for you. Secondly I would consider attending a class on public speaking. You can even attend classes now that specialise in public speaking at Weddings. Now this may seem like an unnecessary expense. However consider how much you do pay at weddings. Delivering a good speech is something your guests will talk about for months. Likewise delivering a bad speech will be talked about for months as well for all the wrong reasons. Spending a little money on getting this part of your wedding correct is worth it’s weight in gold!
4.) Don’t get too drunk
I have seen brides and grooms get absolutely plastered at their weddings. I have seen both brides and grooms literally unconscious part way through the evening. I have even seen a groom drunk half way through the wedding breakfast even before he has made his speech.
Now don’t get me wrong it’s your big day and if you want to get drunk there is nobody that can stop you. However what you are doing at a wedding is making memories and it’s hard to remember what happened if you spend the entire wedding drunk. A few years ago we got booked to perform a big illusion show during a wedding reception (which is a popular option for brides and grooms). Before the wedding they were telling me how excited they were to watch the show. By the time we performed they had both passed out and gone to bed. A few days later they emailed to say thank you and that the feedback from the guests was great and it was a real shame they missed our performance.
The bottom line is if there is one day you really shouldn’t get drunk it’s your wedding day. You’ll want to look back for the rest of you life and remember this day and it’s hard to do that when you can’t remember anything about what happened!
5.) Please yourself not other people
I referenced a statistic earlier from Bridal Magazine, there was another interesting statistic. 82% of brides said looking back at their wedding they wished they had made more wedding decisions themselves. This is a common problem with weddings. Brides and grooms start making decisions based on what close friends and family think they should do. These are always well meaning individuals, however their idea of a perfect wedding is rarely the same as the happy couple.
I have met brides and grooms who didn’t even want to get married in the venue they had chosen. However they booked that venue for a “peaceful life” and didn’t want to rock the boat. Is this something you can relate to? Are you making decisions about your wedding based on what other people want.
When I got married my wife’s family were trying to decide everything for us. The problem is what they wanted wasn’t what we wanted. So we booked a holiday to Las Vegas and got married over there. We never told anyone and in fact the first time
they found out about it was when we emailed everyone giving them a link they could log into to watch the wedding as it streamed live. We then had a party when we got back.
Now this is an extreme example but it was a solution that made myself and my wife happy. We took control of our wedding and did what we wanted to instead of our wedding plans being dictated to us by others. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to do what makes you happy. Your friends and family will understand.
So there you have it. Five things you should avoid if you want your wedding to be awesome. Whatever you choose to do (or not do) the most important thing is to enjoy the process. It may be stressful at the time but you’ll look back after your wedding and wish you could plan it all over again!
