If you can go back and change something about your wedding

[Minniemouse07]

Dh and I were married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica while on a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise with 20 family and friends along for the ride.

The ceremony was in a botanical garden next to a waterfall. I had the big white dress, dh & 3 groomsmen were in tuxes, and the matron of honor and bridesmaid were in $40 dresses from Macy's.

The only thing I would change is booking the trip w/ the same company that was taking care of the wedding details. They are wedding people NOT travel agents. Thank goodness for cruise message boards otherwise I wouldn't have known I could have them readjust our reservations when the prices lowered or get one person "free" for every eight people booked. Unfortunately I had to fight for EVERYTHING w/ these people and at one point ended up on a 3-way call w/ the cruise line to force her to give us the discounts.

The ceremony was wonderful (although it was REALLY hot/humid) and everyone that attended the wedding/cruise had a great time. My dad pulled me aside the day after the wedding and told me that he had thought we were nuts to want a cruise wedding in the beginning but that it truly was the perfect way for dh and I to get married.

Our post cruise picnic (in a local park w/ 100+ family and friends) was also great and I don't think I would change any of that. We all had a great time and had a low key, casual "party" to celebrate the wedding with those that couldn't come with us on the cruise.

10.5 years and 2 kids later dh and I are planning an anniversary cruise (w/ the kids) next August on DCL. I looked into a vow renewal but it would cost more than our wedding did the first time so we decided to skip it!

 

[kiddo76]

The bridesmaids flowers. I told the florist absolutely no baby's breath and, even though the dresses were purple, I did not want purple flowers. I ended up with something in the flowers that looked like purple baby's breath. And some other purple spikey flower. They were ugly. We ended up ripping out the purple flowers and they didn't look too bad.

My bouquet was beautiful though.

 

[MELSMICE]

I wish we had hired a videographer. Everything goes by so quickly! We taped the ceremony, but it was not very "zoomed" in and is hard to hear.

LOL - I almost forgot about our videographer. My MIL insisted that we use her. She was a real piece of work.

I occasionally run in to her at the mall because she works at The Gap. When I go in the store & see her working I immediately turn around & get out of there as long as she hasn't seen me. If she sees me, forget it. I have to give all the details of what's going on my life as if we're the best of friends.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

1.) If I would have had the big wedding like I did I would have had it in Pittsburgh with Dh's family instead of St Louis with my family.

2.) I would have actually just preferred to elope.

Otherwise everything else was fine.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

Would have invited less people- had DH relatives there and he did not know many of them, and some of the guests we invited we never see anymore. Don't know why I invited them in the first place

I would have had my reception at the 100 year old hotel on the lake. MIL insisted we have a place with air conditioning, so we had it at a golf course banquet room instead.

Would not have traveled for 12 hours the day after the wedding!

 

[horseshowmom]

I asked DH this question when I saw it on here, and he said he would have just made it 30 minutes earlier. He's such a sweetie!

 

[MiniGirl]

Everything and nothing at all.

We changed our wedding plans at the last minute and got married in a hospital where my mom was a patient. I would have prefered that she have been healthy enough to travel to the wedding that we had planned. Not because of the wedding. I just really wished she could have been healthy in general. However, when it became apparent she would not be released, we changed everything just so she could be there. So, I did not have flowers. The photographer was the only one we could find at the last minute, and you'd be safe to assume the photos aren't the best. The reception included whatever food could be organized with a week's notice and after taking care of my mom, and I would've rather not get married in a hospital lobby. However, our entire family was able to attend, so I would not have changed a thing. Both of my parents died less than a year later, and many relatives on both sides of the family still talk about what a wonderful wedding we had.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Me too. DH family was the reason for the wedding. Then complained that they were embarrassed because we didn't invite enough of their friends. We already invited his entire family and in comparison to mine that was huge.

I could have written this. The days leading up to my wedding were so stressful that I landed in the hospital! The day did turn out lovely, but I wish I hadn't allowed so many of MIL's friends there. 80% of the people at my reception were strangers to me.

 

[Mrs. Darcy]

I asked DH this question when I saw it on here, and he said he would have just made it 30 minutes earlier. He's such a sweetie!

I love his answer!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Checking out this thread and hoping that I won't be returning next year (see my sig)!

This is my 2nd wedding (my fiance's first, though), and we're really trying to do it our way. Thankfully, we're on the same page so far. And our parents seem to all be okay with what we want, although my mother has already made a comment about our desired processional music (a hard rock, albeit slow tempo version of Canon in D - it's very "us").

I guess the only thing that's an issue at the moment is my shoe choice. I cannot wear fancy heeled shoes, for physical reasons. Now, I absolutely love Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star hi-tops, and I found a pair in metallic silver. I say, if I leave my dress long, nobody will notice. My mother says no way; wear "nice" shoes for the ceremony and we'll get a pair of slippers or something for the reception. And now, I will await the flames for wanting to wear hi-top sneakers for my wedding...

My all time favorite piece of music--I would love to hear this rendition. Is it available anywhere or is it something you are having someone do?

 

[ohiomom28]

I don't know yet...I will tell you in 4 months.

But I am loving reading things that you all regret! Makes me think about some things!

 

[Katieinwonderland]

Oh, I thought of another one!

We had this amazing three tier cake with different fillings - the first had white chocolate buttercream, the second had Baileys creme and the third had raspberry mousse. We also had a grooms cake for DH that had some hideous peanut butter filling. That was the cake that got served to our guests! Most people were too polite to say anything and just didn't eat it - except for MIL who marched up to our table and asked what on earth was wrong with our cake!!! They finally cut up our cake and served it, but most people were up and dancing by then and didn't eat it.

One more thing...I kept the cake topper like you're supposed to and kept it in the freezer - it would have been great if I would have remembered it was in there when we threw the freezer away one month before our first wedding anniversary!

 

[crz4mm2]

Professional Photographer would have been hired.

 

[Pooh67_68]

Would have eloped just dh and me. My mother had me stressed and she still does to this day. (and my parents didn't pay for the wedding, dh and i did.)

Should have found a photographer, family member said he would take the pictures then he used old film. So we have few pictures.

 

[AprilRenee]

I LOVED my wedding. Every now and then I think about it and just think about how wonderful the whole day was. I had college friends who drove 10 hours from the summer theater that they were working at just to be there for a few hours. It meant SO much to me.

The only thing I would have changed would be to have hired a different DJ. He was kinda batty and played out of date music.

But everything else was perfect and wonderful. Especially my cake, I tear up every time I look at pictures just because it was EXACTLY what I have always imagined. It required the florist and the baker to work together and I was worried that it wouldn't work out but it did and it was FANTASTIC!!!

My husband and I do joke and plan for "the next time we get married." We'd do it TOTALLY different...but only cause we've already done the big WEDDING wedding. Next time (maybe 25th anniversary) we'll do an outdoor ceremony with only close family and all invites will go out by EMAIL!!!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We would have had a small ceremony 6 months earlier so my grandmother could have been there. On her death bed she said she was sad she was going to miss seeing me get married. Still makes me cry 19 yrs later.

 

[shelly3girls]

I would have ordered more pictures outside of my wedding album. Since my wedding I have lost 3 of my 4 grandparents and my father. The only formal picture I have of my dad is in the album. I really wish I had a nice 8x10 of the two of us.

 

[stm61]

I would make sure my father-in-law got new glasses before the ceremony! We actually had 2 weddings- 1 in the town we lived in, with friends and a JP, 1 on the family farm with his father officiating. Everyone was in position and we all discovered that the preacher could not see the words on the paper he was reading from. It was so bad his youngest daughter marched up there to read it for him (2nd thing I'd change- not invite his sister lol). I never said anything during the entire ceremony, I swear my husband married himself because he repeated vows twice My favorite part was at the end, when father-in-law looked up and said "well if this ain't a hillbilly wedding I don't know what is!" Thank God we'd already been married by the JP because I doubt the 2nd ceremony was legal!

 

[ZachnElli]

A way better photographer, photos last forever! And more flowers, I went cheap because I was young and was afraid I was disappointing my mom.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

My all time favorite piece of music--I would love to hear this rendition. Is it available anywhere or is it something you are having someone do?

It's on Rhapsody.com - "Christmas Canon Rock" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. There is a singer, but the music is Canon in D.