15 "Bad" Wedding Mistakes Most People Make, And 15 Good Tips That'll Save You Time And Money
Over the years, we've written up wedding tips here, here, and here, and wedding mistakes here and here. So we thought it'd be helpful if we combined all the best responses into one big post for you!
MTV
So here are 15 common mistakes and 15 awesome tips to help you plan the perfect wedding:
1.Bad mistake: "The guest list. I would have whittled it down to who we wanted, not inviting some distant cousins, etc. to make our parents happy. I've been married six years, and there are some guests who I haven't seen since the wedding. Have who YOU want there — screw everyone else's opinions and requests."
"I had quite a small wedding (50-ish guests), but I wish it had been even smaller. I felt obligated to invite family members I hardly knew and ones I don't really get on with. I wish it had just been the two of us and immediate family only."
NBC
2.Good tip: "Make a separate email address specifically for all your wedding stuff. You can break it down into folders, and once it's all over, you don't have to deal with the millions of emails from all those wedding websites you accidentally subscribed to!"
3.Bad mistake: "I used to work as a bridal consultant, and the one mistake I would constantly see brides make is to buy their dress a size too small with delusions that they were going to lose weight before the big day. I can’t tell you how many ended up coming back and having to find a last-minute replacement because the dress they bought didn’t fit."
"I would tell them, 'No one will see the size tag, and you can always alter the dress to make it smaller, but you can’t alter to make it bigger.' But some brides just couldn’t get past that size number."
"I was a bridal consultant for four years and absolutely loved it. I learned a key lesson: Do NOT buy a dress that is too small for you. You will probably not lose weight, and you DO NOT NEED TO! Find a dress that makes you feel awesome."
TLC
4.Good tip: "I cut cocktail hour. After the ceremony, we did a receiving line that led right to the start of dinner. Saved me close to $30 per head and had way more time for partying on the dance floor! Got all the photos done prior to the ceremony. Saved time and money!"
Searchlight Pictures
5.Bad mistake: "I let a close family friend be the photographer because she said she would do it for free (even though she had no experience). The photos aren’t horrible, but I definitely hate looking at them. I also let a friend do my hair, and it was...not great. TLDR: Splurge on actual professionals for your wedding — I promise it’s worth it."
6.Good tip: "My friend got married on a Monday. She saved $1,200 on the venue just by NOT getting married on the weekend. It was still an elaborate wedding, and at least 100 people were there. The day didn't make much of a difference to any of the guests. When it's your close friend or family member who means enough to you, you show up regardless of the day."
NBC
7.Bad mistake: "I overspent in every category by just a little, and it made me way over budget in the end. Looking back, I could have simplified decorations, chosen a cheaper meal, used plain linens, etc. Those things end up being so unimportant!"
"A wedding is just a day. Don’t go into debt for a party; you will regret it, and it will put you and your partner under a lot of stress."
8.Good tip: "On the day of the wedding, give your phone to someone else to act as your secretary. People will call you on your wedding day with silly questions, and you won't have the time or the patience to deal with that."
9.Bad mistake: "I wouldn’t try to please everyone. Someone is always going to feel disgruntled or not recognize the effort. So just do it for you! I got married in a Catholic church thinking it would make my family upset if I didn’t (I’m not religious). The priest was awful, and throughout the ceremony kept talking about infidelity and telling the photographer off (my best friend) because HE tripped over his words. Totally unromantic!"
"A few months after, my grandma said she didn’t care where I got married...so we shouldn’t have fitted our plans around what we thought people wanted."
BBC
10.Good tip: "I hand-wrote all my invitations, which I bought at Target. It's cheaper than having them printed and more personal."
11.Bad mistake: "If you choose to have your wedding catered, and you have a tasting menu to choose your menu for your wedding day, take pictures of what you had at the tasting. What we were served on the day came nowhere near what we had at the tasting. Because we didn't have that proof, trying to get some money back was near impossible."
12.Good tip: "Start getting ready verrrry early so you have plenty of time to relax, eat, and enjoy time with your wedding party as well. The number-one complaint I always hear as a wedding planner is how fast the day went and the missed time with loved ones. People never budget enough downtime to remember and truly enjoy the day."
IFC Films
13.Bad mistake: "Maybe I’m silly for cutting this corner and everyone is going to say 'duh,' but I would recommend that everyone spend the extra money on a makeup and hair trial. I hired someone based on photos of their past work, and while my hair and makeup looked professional, it didn’t look anything like the photos we’d discussed via email and reviewed that morning."
"Having my hair and makeup done had already felt like an indulgence, so I was trying to be cost-conscious by skipping the trials, but I just ended up spending a lot of money on an end result I wasn’t in love with.
I also wish I’d scheduled the trial to coincide with another wedding-related event like the bachelorette party or wedding shower, so it wouldn’t be a waste of makeup!"
14.Good tip: "My biggest tip is to know what is actually important to you before you start to plan. It’s so easy to get swept up in the wedding magazines, the Pinterest boards, and the fairy-tale wedding stories! And when you do, you can end up spending time and money on stuff that you realize after the fact didn’t matter to you at all. What you care about is likely to be different for each couple."
15.Bad mistake: "Onsite wedding planner here! The biggest mistake I see couples make is stressing over the littlest details like the seating assignments. I always tell my couples that this is their day, and if Uncle Bob and Cousin Linda are too immature to sit next to each other for ONE HOUR for dinner service, they shouldn’t get the invite. Everyone should be able to enjoy what you have planned for them without complaints."
New Line Cinema
16.Good tip: "Save all of your contracts, spreadsheets, timelines, and to-do lists on a place like Dropbox so you can access it from anywhere because vendors will absolutely call when you’re away from your computer."
17.Bad mistake: "Wedding photographer here! One of the mistakes I see people *almost* make is not leaving time, or enough time, throughout your wedding day to take newlywed portraits. While it is important to spend time with your guests and enjoy your wedding, the photos of you and your love are the ones you will most likely print and display in your home, put in your album, make prints of for family, etc."
"Every time I have a couple ask to skip these portraits, I always talk them into doing them. Every time, they tell me afterwards that they are so happy we took them!
Also, when you go to hire your photographer, make sure you like the style of their photos. If someone has a lot of posed photos in their portfolio, they may not capture a lot of candids. If they feature dark tones and shadows, they aren’t going to deliver light and airy photos. Figure out what aesthetic you like and go from there, or you may end up with photos in a style you don’t like."
18.Good tip: "I work in a bridal gown salon. DO NOT WAIT TO SHOP FOR YOUR DRESS! Our dresses take 9 months to a year to order and get altered. When I see brides come in with wedding dates under four months, I just pray they find a sample we are selling that fits close enough to them. WEDDING GOWNS ARE (usually) NOT OFF THE RACK!"
19.Bad mistake: "I’m an event coordinator and catering manager, and I’d say the biggest mistake I see couples make in wedding planning is serving excessive desserts. Most weddings I work, I am boxing up fancy cake leftovers, and I don’t see how all of it could get eaten, let alone all the additional desserts and trendy sweet party favors or candy buffets offered to guests."
"Unless your guest list is more than 50% children, you’re wasting your money; you’re overestimating the amount of sweets grown adults will consume!"
20.Good tip: "Cut the champagne toast. It’s a massive waste of money. Instead, have everyone refill what they were already drinking before the toasts happen. That way you don’t have a ton of half-full glasses of champagne everywhere. Most people don’t finish it because it’s not their drink of choice anyway."
Zola
21.Bad mistake: "I'm a wedding coordinator, and some couples think DIY’ing everything will save money when, in fact, it can be even more expensive! After buying the materials, labor, transport, set up and tear down, it can sometimes wind up costing so much more."
"You can definitely DIY certain elements like table numbers or place cards, but look into renting larger decor items like archways."
22.Good tip: "Don't use the word 'wedding' when looking online for specific items, as people bump their prices up as soon as the word is mentioned. If you have a color or theme in mind for decorations, use that instead. For example: Search for red party favors instead of wedding party favors."
23.Bad mistake: "I would’ve taken the money we spent on those expensive little details and put it towards a videographer. The pictures are great, but I will always regret not having video of our first dance."
Sony Pictures
24.Good tip: "Make sure to keep very accurate records of any gifts you receive so your thank-you cards are as accurate as possible. Also, be prepared for relatives you barely know to get very upset if they don’t get their thank-you cards. People don't seem to believe stuff gets lost in the mail all the time."
25.Bad mistake: "Some of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen at weddings are brides getting their hair and makeup done last (instead of being the first one) and hiring only one hair/makeup artist for the whole wedding party, causing the whole wedding to be behind schedule."
"I’ve seen so many brides arriving late and having to forgo a lot of family pictures because the church has another wedding right after theirs."
26.Good tip: "I borrowed and traded to save money on my wedding. As a photographer, I was able to trade my services for vintage decor items at an antique store, flowers from a florist, discounts on rentals, and more. Think about what talents you have and how you can use them to trade or get discounts!"
27.Bad mistake: "Not having a 'no cellphones' sign. And along with that, not having the officiant making it known before the ceremony starts. No matter how many signs you add, if someone doesn’t say from the start that guests should not use their phones, you will have a ceremony and reception full of phones. It looks awful and feels so disconnected."
28.Good tip: "Dab your pits right before you walk down the aisle. You. Will. Sweat."
29.Bad mistake: "Spending tens of thousands of dollars on decorations and then skimping on food. Feed your guests! Appetizer-only receptions gave me the sweats because they would never order enough food."
30.Good tip: "Just because something is tradition doesn't mean you have to do it. Don't like cake? Don't have one. Think the whole garter thing is weird? Don't bother. Think flowers are overrated or overpriced? No one will care if you don't have them."
"Everyone and their grandma’s friend’s dog will have advice. Everyone will strangely want different things for YOUR wedding. Don’t let other people stress you out. Focus on having the wedding you and your partner want in a budget you can afford, and you will be happy."
ABC
Have any other wedding tips to share? Or any wedding mistakes you made that you regret? LMK in the comments below!
Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
