During my days as a Wedding Planner I have seen first hand the full spectrum of wedding mornings. From the calm and quiet to the frantic and crazy. I can now also draw on my own experience so let me tell you my story first of all.
My Wedding Morning
I had a rather late night with falling asleep in exhaustion on the floor beside my dress in my parents living room. After I went to bed at around 2am, I woke at 7.20 ran downstairs and shed my first tears of the day with my Mum- I literally couldn't believe it was finally here and the tears I think were of relief that it was upon me. I had waited ten years for this day. A quick shower later and a brew in hand the team of hair and make-up artists arrived at 8am and got straight to work on my hair.
Admittedly, there was a lot going on at my mum's house - by 9am there was Me, my Sister, my Parents, the two hair and make-up people, two bridesmaids. By 10am there were flower deliveries, phone calls from my mum to the Groom checking he is ok (and awake), by 11am there were 2 other bridesmaids and my auntie, plus our photographer. I didn't want anyone to see my dress really so I had to keep them out of the living room!
Despite all these people I did feel calm, the house had a lovely buzz to it and it was just how I always thought it would be. I think if it wasn't like this I would have had too many tears and I didn't want that.
We did have a slight situation shall we say when one of my Bridesmaids dresses split down the side. Luckily there was enough people to fix it but it did have a knock on effect as I was late getting in my dress and then late for church - whooops.
I totally enjoyed my last few hours as well, me; the person who I had always been. I felt like I was going through a transition and although that scared me a little - that I wouldn't be the same as my parents anymore; I was completely ready to become the new me.
So my advice for a stress-free wedding morning...
The Night Before
Try to unwind as much as possible, have a night in watching a movie with a glass of wine, have a nice bath, have a girly sleepover or simply read a good book.
Go to bed at a decent hour. It could go one of two ways you trying to get to sleep, you could be so tired from the build up that you are out like a light OR you could close your eyes and say to yourself "Guess what, I am getting married in the morning" and be awake tormenting yourself all night.
Lay everything out in the night before - this is so that you can find out if you have misplaced something whilst you have time to rectify it.
The Morning
Really think about who and what should arrive when - not only should you have all of these things sorted in advance you really do need to keep things staggered so its not all happening at once. This is where your timeline is very important - everyone should know where they should be and what they should be doing.
There is nothing wrong in being military - no matter how early or late your ceremony is.
Breakfast - it is so important to eat in the morning, no matter how nervous you feel. If you think that you won't get chance to eat or drink anything until your wedding breakfast that is a long long time. Adrenalin will only get you so far!
Look in the mirror and admire yourself - appreciate the hard work that you have put in to today, creating your look and style, look at your gorgeous dress! You have waited for this moment- enjoy it.
Take a few minutes to compose yourself before you leave for the service. These are your final moments as "you" before you embark on one of the biggest moments of your life. Its the start of your happy ever after - take a deep breath and lets get married!
Hopefully you enjoyed today's post and found it useful.
Love
Katie. x