11 Tips for a Smooth Wedding Day

After months and months (and sometimes years) of planning, all you want is to marry your best friend and have a fun, smooth wedding day. After 9 years of photographing weddings, I’ve learned a thing or two on the job. The only things you should be worrying about on your wedding day are getting married and having fun, so here are my favorite tips for a smooth wedding day!

11 Tips for a Smooth Wedding Day

1. Eat. Eat. Eat.

It’s going to be a long day. Eat breakfast. Eat lunch. Eat dinner. Pack snacks. Thank me later.

2. Drink water

Stay hydrated. Peeing in a wedding dress sucks, but getting dehydrated sucks more.

3. Pad your timeline

Build extra time into your wedding day timeline to make sure that even if things run behind your ceremony can still start on time and dinner is served on time.

4. Add in some alone time

Even if it’s just 5-10 minutes, you’ll be thankful to have a few minutes together alone as newlyweds. This is also a great time to get some super intimate, candid photos of the two of you sneaking off together away from your reception!

5. Make sure parents/wedding party are dressed for getting ready photos

If a parent or member of your wedding party is helping you get dressed/put on your details, make sure they’re already dressed.

6. Make sure you have a towel/paper towels to dry off bouquets

Florals are most often delivered in water, so keep towels handy to dry off the stems and avoid dripping on your dresses. Also, be sure to have your bouquets and boutonnieres delivered in time for photos.

7. Keep all of your details together while getting ready

This will make it easier for your photographer to begin shooting right away and will help the getting-ready portion of the day go much more smoothly. These details may include your rings, other jewelry, hair pieces, flowers, shoes, socks, cuff links, invitations, and any other unique items that have special meaning to you.

8. Share your timeline

Make sure everyone knows where they need to be and when. This includes vendors, wedding party, and family. If you’re planning a first look or photos before the ceremony, be sure that everyone who is in photos knows what time they need to there (or even earlier if they’re at all like my family). If photos are after the ceremony, make sure those VIPs know that they need to stay, too!

9. Delegate

Make sure you and your planner/coordinator are on the same page with everything so that you aren’t putting out fires or having to set things up. If you don’t have a coordinator, ask a trusted family member or friend who isn’t in the wedding party to handle things for you.

10. Ditch your phone

Hand off the phones to someone in your wedding party. People will be blowing up your phone, let someone else communicate for you and deal with it if there’s an emergency. Also, keep phones out of pockets, they’ll be visible in your photos. Yes, even if your dress has pockets (use those for snacks!).

11. Breathe

Trust in your team of vendors, and everything will be amazing. Just focus on saying those vows and partying your asses off!

I hope these 11 tips for a smooth wedding day help you plan, relax, and enjoy getting married!

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