I often hear from newlyweds that their one regret on their wedding day was that everything went by too quickly. And I can totally relate! I felt that way myself, and I still find myself wishing I could go back and do it all over again. Since your wedding day is going to be one of the best days of your life, I’d venture a guess that that’s why it goes by so stinkin’ fast! I’ve found there are a few things you can do to make sure your big day doesn’t fly too quickly for you. Read on for my best advice on slowing down time on your wedding day.
Write everything down.
Even if you’ve never been much for journaling, you may find some value in writing about the wedding after the fact. The further you get from the day, the less you’ll remember about it, so try to do this as soon as possible to maximize on the memories. (Journaling throughout the planning process can provide some of the same benefit.) If you’re not one for writing things out in story form, just use bullet points instead!
Be a little selfish.
It’s okay to sneak away from the group here and there to have a little time together. Your wedding day is all about you two, after all. So don’t feel bad if you need to take a couple of minutes to regroup here and there. It can also be really helpful to appoint one or two people to help answer questions and resolve problems as they arise. It’s inevitable that things will come up, so having someone else to help with this will prevent you from having to constantly shift gears between having the best day of your life and being totally responsible for your big day.
Pause to take mental snapshots throughout the day.
You are going to walk away with lots of great photos of your wedding (that’s why you hired us!) But even the best photos can’t compete with the priceless memories you’ll recall from your wedding day years down the road. I talk to people all the time who tell me things like, “I’ll never forget the look on my husband’s face when he saw me in my dress for the first time” or “I can still remember the feeling of dancing with my wife while all of our friends and family circled around us at the end of the night.” Remind each other to stop and take it all in. Even if everything else is a blur, you’ll remember the handful of little ‘snapshots’ you took that day.
Take it easy on the alcohol.
You are already going to feel like you can’t remember everything from your wedding day, so don’t make it tougher by overindulging. If you think it’ll be hard to turn down drinks, ask a few people in your wedding party to help keep you on track. Make sure that you and your partner are on the same page about this beforehand, otherwise it can lead to some tension the day of!
Get video of your day.
There’s a pretty wide range of wedding videography options out there, from having a friend walk around taking video with a GoPro to hiring a videographer to produce a Hollywood-quality, full-length film. When it comes to deciding what you want, you’ll certainly have to take your budget into consideration, but you absolutely should not go without. Being able to look back on video of your big day will help you relive those special moments over and over again, which will be especially helpful when you’re wondering how in the world the day flew by so quickly.
Make photography a priority in your wedding budget.
Here’s my chance to tell you why my work is important. I strive to make my clients’ wedding day as close to perfect as possible. This means that from the first point of contact to the day you receive your photos, my goal is to leave you with all the warm fuzzies that you get when you look at your significant other. I want you to be able to revisit your big day anytime you want, and it’s so much easier to look back fondly if you are in love with the photos you get back. If I do my job right, you’ll be able to relive almost every moment because you can see in front of you the happiness in your eyes and the warmth in your smile. I may not be able to magically stop time for you, but I can help create the illusion of it when you look back at your wedding photos.
So there it is. If you do these things, I think you’ll find yourself much more in control of the pace of your big day–and that will be as close to stopping time as you can get! Have more ideas? Send them to me at hello@tigerlilyphotomn.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming post!
with love, Emily
