There are so many times that I’ve heard the “You’ll want to do this…” or the “You should do this…”. Often, those comments come from the Bride or Groom’s Parents (Mothers), the sisters, the Maid of Honor or the longtime best friend. Asking for advice is great, but when do you get too many opinions, your Special Day or event can end up far from what you want it to be.
Here are some examples of what some of my brides have run into and ways that you can combat them when it comes to your own Special Day…
The common “I know you like that strapless dress, but trust me, you don’t LOVE it. You’ll love this full-length sleeve dress more!” – Many Mothers of the Bride and/or Groom.
So, what do you say to this? How do you get what you want without hurting anyone’s feelings? I had a bride in December that told me the story of her dress shopping after I complimented her on the two looks she had that evening. The first was her ceremony gown… a gorgeous princess style gown with lace all over the bodice and some light beading. She had what looked to be a full-length sleeve dress, but to my surprise, the sleeves came off for the reception! All she had was a shoulder covering with a few buttons that pleased both her Mother’s dream for her daughter and the Bride’s imagined fairy tale look. Sometimes a little compromise and thinking outside of the box works wonders!
“Why would you pick mustard yellow and teal for your wedding colors? That won’t work.”
One of my brides from last summer had two very different colors for her wedding. She chose yield-sign yellow and mint green. Strange colors together, right? Her future sister-in-law thought that the colors would clash and be an overall ugly mix. However, to everyone’s surprise, they worked just fine. The mint green was the main wedding color and the yellow was only used in the bouquets and centerpieces at the wedding as an accent color. The Bride had an end goal in mind and knew what she wanted. She wasn’t out to please anyone but herself and her soon-to-be husband.
“I’ll look bad in this dress, I won’t like it.” – Most Bridesmaids
Most brides go shopping for their bridesmaid dresses with their girls. 98% of the time, the Bride has a vision in mind for what she wants her girls to wear. I had a wedding this last September where every girl in the bridal party liked a different dress and they all couldn’t agree on a color they wanted to wear. Guess what? It’s not their choice. By being a bridesmaid, you’re saying that you’re willing to stand by your girl’s side as she marries the man of her dreams. You wear what she tells you and you help with anything that she needs you to. The easy compromise for this bride, and many others, was to let her girls all pick out different style dresses in one color. It then gives the bridesmaids an option, without forcing them to all wear a kind that they may not enjoy. Afterall, they are paying for the dress, shouldn’t they like it too?
There’s always comments like: “Why is the bar only hosted for an hour?”, “I’m a vegetarian, I can’t eat the meal”, “Why is there not late-night food?”, “The venue is…”, and the list goes on.
The main thing that matters in all of the wedding planning is this…
IT’S YOUR DAY.
It’s the day that you should look back on with a smile and no regrets. It’s the day that you marry the man of your dreams and declare to the world that you want to spend the rest of your lives together. That’s special. It should be about your relationship and the love you share. That’s not something anyone can ever take away from you while wedding planning. Remember to be YOU and it will always be the wedding of your dreams.
Happy Planning!
