Things I Learned from My Wedding

1. Things will go wrong. This is okay, because the biggest thing about the day will probably go right and you'll end up married.
2. Tide to Go pens are a genius invention and I should carry them everywhere with me. This was learned after smrty-pants me walked between two cars getting big black smears on either side of my dress on the way to Union Station. Thankfully Sarah had one of those pens and we got out the biggest stains on the car ride there and Aimee had another at the church that she let me use before the ceremony...miracle workers.
3. When I was planning, I wanted the coolest little booklet programs with ribbon ties and everything. Since we were still trying to find someone to run the sound board at the church a week before the wedding, we didn't have a finalized playlist either. So time ran out and we didn't have any programs at all, and I'm so glad now I just let it go and didn't mess with it at the time.
4. Drink lots of water throughout the day and particularly during the reception, especially if it's warm and the reception is half inside, half outside. I got dehydrated and almost passed out towards the end of the evening.
5. Floor air vents are a godsend for girls in fluffy dresses whose legs feel like they're coated in sweat.
6. Bridesmaids who think to point out the air vents are also gifts from God.
7. Let go. Seriously. The control freak in me was not a big fan of letting other people get involved and take over things, but on the actual wedding day I just wanted it all to get done without me having to worry about it. Plan ahead and delegate and everything will go much smoother.
8. Having the rehearsal dinner with all my out-of-town family invited was one of the best parts of the wedding. Andrew's parents were so amazing to host everyone at their house that evening, and since the wedding day was such a dizzying whirl it was wonderful to get to see everyone and socialize without the time constraints of the actual wedding day.
9. Figure out ways to do things that will mean a lot to you. We got people to bring Archie (our shih tzu) to the church before the formal pictures before the ceremony to take a few shots with us. Those are some of my favorite pictures since he would have been overwhelmed if we'd tried to put him in the wedding but he's like our little fuzzy child with a speech impediment.