Planning a wedding is no small task, so it’s unsurprising everyone has opinions about how you should plan one. Whether it’s your mother, a well-meaning friend, or a traditional relative, everyone will have tidbits of advice to offer as you prepare for the big day.
Some wedding advice is great, and you’ll find it very helpful as you work through your wedding planning checklist. Other “advice” may not be so helpful. Some tips, like these five, are actually better ignored.
1. You Don’t Need Professional Help Planning Your Wedding
Perhaps your aunt or your mother planned their wedding alone. Or maybe this advice comes from a particularly organized or crafty friend who had a low-key wedding. At any rate, they’ve told you not to bother consulting with a wedding planner.
Unfortunately, this advice leads many couples to try to do everything on their own. While self-planned weddings can go off without a hitch, the weeks and months leading up to the event are often some of the most stressful the couple ever experience.
A wedding planner isn’t for everyone, but they can help more than you think. If you feel overwhelmed, the wedding planner can step in. Their expertise will guide you to the right decisions and still make your big day a reflection of you.
2. You Should Skip Formal Seating Assignments
This piece of advice can come from almost anyone. Maybe it’s your free-spirited friend. It might even be an aunt or a cousin who’s attended many weddings and has seen the awkwardness of formal seating assignments too often.
Not having assignments can be even more problematic, however, as people who know each other well will form groups. Others will feel left out in the cold. Formal seating arrangements might leave a guest feeling awkward but that can be preferable to them feeling excluded.
3. Make Your Wedding BYOB
Unless you’re having a dry wedding, your guests will expect some sort of bar service. Some couples have tried to implement a “BYOB” rule instead, asking guests to supply their own alcohol.
This is because a bar service, especially an open bar, can become quite expensive. If you can’t afford an open bar all night, however, a better plan is to have an open cocktail hour or two. Then switch to a cash bar later in the night.
This plan trumps the “BYOB” method almost every time. Some of your guests will bring too much alcohol, while others won’t bring enough. The cash bar ensures everyone has access to alcohol if they want it.
4. Don’t Think about Rain While Planning Your Wedding
Whoever gave you this advice was well-meaning, but it’s impractical not to think about what will happen if it rains during your wedding. Where will you take photographs? If the ceremony is outside, can you move indoors? If the ceremony and wedding reception are all outdoors, rain can put a serious damper on the big day.
Having a rain plan is a must for any wedding with an outdoor component. Preparing a tent doesn’t mean you’re being “negative.” You’re just being practical and planning wisely.
5. Make Everything DIY
Your crafting friend is back, telling you about how much money you can save by adopting a “can do” attitude and DIY-ing almost anything for your wedding. You’ve scoured Pinterest boards and you’re ready to try your hand at some of the cute décor ideas you’ve seen. How hard can it be, right?
DIY is a great idea for some people, but not for others. Crafting can also become quite expensive and time-consuming. In some cases, letting someone else look after your wedding favours, invitations, and centrepieces can save you both time and money.
There’s plenty of bad wedding planning advice out there. Thankfully, you can safely ignore advice like this and plan a successful wedding.
