When you get engaged, everyone you meet starts throwing advice at you—solicited or not. But whose advice should you consider? Only you can decide, but it can be helpful to hear from other New Jersey brides who were recently in your shoes.
Here’s some of the best advice they have to give.
You Do You
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“Roll with it. We definitely had our fair share of bumps in the road, but we got through it by trying to keep a smile on our face and stay in the moment.”
“Laugh! We have been told time and time again that we take things too seriously. The mere fact that we laughed during our wedding ceremony speaks volumes.”
“Don’t try to micromanage every detail. Letting our families and bridal party pick their own outfits without any conditions was a huge stress saver. It really does not matter what your family and friends are wearing.”
“Take breaks from social media. Planning a wedding is not a walk in the park and comparing yourself to others doesn’t help. Lean on your support systems and focus on what matters the most.”
“Stop looking at Instagram and TikTok. You are going to drive yourself insane. Our wedding did not follow the current aesthetics at the time, and I am so happy that we went with what we wanted—not what social media was telling us.”
“If you’re a couple with a name like Dan and Dana, you can either play it off or go all in. We went all in and truly branded the event with D&D throughout, even down to our cookie gift for guests designed by the sweetest, Nicole at Jersey Cookie Girl.”
“Consider a wedding crest. It tied everything together.
We included it on our thank you cards on each place setting, thanking the guests for coming, and had it put on canvases, which we displayed over the large fireplaces. It helped us feel like our venue was really custom and looked gorgeous as decor.”
“We loved getting to know our vendors, and it made the big day even better. We felt like we really knew everyone who was part of our special day, and it made it that much more personal.”
“Choose your vendors wisely. Being a vendor myself, I gained such a different perspective as a bride and all of the emotions you go through.
Vendors with the most Instagram followers and likes are not always the best fit for you. The ones we chose were ones we had a genuine connection with.
Our photographer had so many similar designs from her own previous wedding and was bubbly and fun. Our planner was someone I had worked with years ago and just ‘got’ the vision and expectations.
The beyond-talented hair and makeup ladies made everyone feel their absolute best, while chatting and laughing through the morning.
The band…truly cared about our taste and selections.”
“Take some time to regroup the next day or two and take it all in with your friends and family—then go on that honeymoon and enjoy. We went the next day and although we had an amazing time, we were tired!”
“We decided not to do our honeymoon right after our wedding. We wanted to focus on our wedding and enjoy every moment.
We are planning to go to Aruba in the upcoming months, which gives us something to look forward to. By not going on your honeymoon right away, it gives you time to plan a fantastic trip without having the stress of planning a wedding at the same time.”
“We did a date night on every 21st of the month, as our wedding date was October 21, to make time to connect with each other and just be excited for our big day instead of spending an evening stressing about all of the details.”
“Have fun planning together. So many couples rely solely on a wedding planner or let the bride go at it alone. We had so much fun doing all of the planning together, DIY projects, picking our vendors and all the small details.”
“Enjoy the process. Document everything. I journaled and wrote down almost every milestone. Take photos of you doing all these fun planning things with your groom and friends and family. You’ll want to remember it all because it goes by way too fast.”
“Wedding planning is stressful, but it is so worth it when you see it all come together and everyone having fun. Keep your eye on the prize, but it’s OK and perfectly normal to have a couple meltdowns along the way.”
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