What a Wedding Designer Would do Differently for Their Own Wedding

We’re continuing our monthly series of “What We’d Do Differently” for our weddings today with some wise words from Kim, our Event Designer! Read on to learn more about wedding dress shopping, spending time with guests, and one of the most often discussed vendors (in my experience), a wedding videographer!

So many memories come back looking through our wedding pictures—friends and family coming together, the music and dancing… the 100-degree weather while getting our pictures taken! While we couldn’t have planned for the heat, there were a few other things I would have done a little differently looking back:

Hire a Wedding Videographer

Four and a half years later and this is still my biggest regret. It was one of the things we decided to cut after signing a few vendor contracts and getting a better understanding of how much weddings actually cost. I was getting a bit worried about staying in our budget and was overwhelmed looking for other vendors so, I didn’t do much work in researching videographers who might be on the cheaper end or new to the field. I really wish I had. Even a student videographer would have been better than none! It’s the first thing I tell people when they ask if I had any regrets. I love watching other people’s wedding videos and still wish we had one of our own, but our photographs will have to suffice, which is OK because we loved our photographer!

Wedding dress shopping: more of it, and go it alone

I want to preface this by saying I loved my dress and still do. I went to two boutiques with some immediate family members both times and it was not too stressful to have their opinions. Thinking back though, I wish I had gone once more, alone. I think having a third time with just my thoughts and trying some styles I might not have considered before would have been fun. Whenever someone tells me they’re going dress shopping I get so excited for them and think about sneaking back to a salon and pretending I’m getting married again just to try on a few more ;)

Allow More Time To Visit With Wedding Guests

This might be a common one as Katie mentioned the same thing! For some reason we stayed in a back room while cocktail hour happened. Maybe I was worried we’d get off schedule if we went and walked around, who knows, but I think it would have been fine! We didn’t allocate time to do this during dinner either and I feel like we didn’t see half the people we invited. I know the day is crazy but I wish we set aside time for this. Looking back at our reception pictures it would have been nice for the two of us to be in more of them with our guests and not just each other.

Let the Train of my Wedding Dress Down!

OK, this sounds silly and so small but I noticed in a few of our pictures that I was carrying my train around. I wish I had let it go and trail behind me as it was meant to. I think I didn’t want it to get dirty (understandable) but looking back I only got to wear the dress once and should have showed it off more. Something to keep in the back of your mind while you’re getting pictures taken!

Of course none of these things ruined the wedding entirely—I loved every minute of that day. It’s easy to say I should have done this or that when looking back but, in the moment it all felt like the right choice. Hopefully my look back with give some perspective to current couples in the midst of planning. Whatever you decide, though, just make sure it makes you happy!

What a Wedding Planner Would do Differently For Their Own Wedding, Part Deux

We’re continuing our series of “What Would a Wedding Planner Do Differently for Their OWN Wedding” with our very own Rebecca! (if you missed our Part 1, check it out here!). Rebecca has some wonderful advice (and beautiful photos from Jess Latos Photography) - so enjoy and learn!

I think every couple second guesses things about their wedding, or there are things that they would do differently. For wedding planners, though, it's a WHOLE different ballgame! Our whole lives are about nitpicking every single detail, so not only do we do that BEFORE our weddings, but after them too!!

But first, let me tell you a little about my wedding, and some of the MANY, MANY, MANY things about it that I loved. I absolutely ADORED our venue, Capon Springs, an all-inclusive family resort that has been owned and operated by the same family for generations.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!??!?! It was everything we wanted -- within driving distance for (almost) everyone, DELICIOUS food, everyone could stay "on site" and we were allowed to bring our own alcohol (a HUGE deal for me...it was literally my only deal breaker when looking at venues.) Picture the resort from Dirty Dancing, and you have Capon Springs (or, for a more recent reference, the resort in the Catskills from Season 2 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel).

I LOVED all of our vendors. Having been in the wedding industry for over 10 years at that time, I knew a lot of vendors, obviously, although none of them were in West Virginia! Luckily we were able to have our "friendors" travel and stay at the resort and enjoy the weekend! (This included our amazing photographer Jessica Latos, our Florist, Katie Martin, our planners, Anjie and Laura, (this was before I worked for The Plannery!), and our officiant, Amanda Tate. The only "local" vendors we had to find were Hair and Makeup (the AMAZING SAS Studio out of Winchester) and our rental company for chairs.

Ok, so the things I would have done differently? They were, in the grand scheme of things, pretty minor.

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

The Ceremony Programs

I loved our programs, but for about a year before the wedding I had been collecting leftover flowers from my weddings as a planner, saving and drying the flower petals. Then I chopped them up into confetti, put them in glassine bags, and attached them to the front of the programs for people to throw.

DUDE! What even was the point?!?!? You totally can't see them in this photo. Which is SO not the photographer's fault! See that ribbon in the right hand corner? That's what we handed out to the kids who kicked off our processional (our wedding parade). I should have just made more of those (they were SO EASY to make!) and had our planners hand them out to the people on the aisles. That picture would have been a lot better. (Also? How freaking cute are these kids?!?)

Photos by Jess Latos Photography

First Look Location

I would have specifically chosen our first look location, or scouted something out with our photographer. It was raining on and off that day, so I TOTALLY understand why she picked the location she did (it was just outside of the cottage where I got ready). But...well, just look...

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

Meh...it's fine. There are just TONS of gorgeous locations at Capon Springs (see...

So I would have been more specific about choosing a location.

Wedding Ceremony Sound

The sound was TOTALLY messed up for our ceremony, but that's not really a planning thing I would have changed -- it was just an unfortunate thing that happened. (Like I said, it was raining on and off all day, and literally at the last minute it stopped, the Capon Staff ran out and wiped down the benches, and we were able to go with our plan A...which I was SO HAPPY about!)

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

But, unfortunately, something happened and I think the speakers were too far from the DJ or something, so you couldn't really hear the music or the officiant if you weren't in the front row. Clearly, 3 1/2 years later, it's still something I think about.

We were planning to do a few large family photos after the ceremony, but it was pretty chilly (see all those people in coats above?!), so I told my planners "Forget it, tell people to just go inside for cocktail hour), and it is something I don't regret AT ALL! The food at our cocktail hour was SO GOOD, and people were pretty happy to be inside in front of the fire place!!!

Wear Your Glasses! (aka be yourself!)

Another thing I don't regret...see any differences between these two pictures?

That's right...GLASSES! I got contacts for the wedding, but I am SO not a contacts wearer. I took them out immediately after the ceremony, and felt a huge sigh of relief. And I've never worn contacts another day in my life! If you're not normally a contacts wearer, don't force yourself just for your wedding! I promise, you'll look beautiful in your glasses!!

Inventory Your Wedding DIY Items

The only thing I regret from the reception is that I didn't use a tool I now use as a planner, which is a personal inventory (something I've learned from Katie Wannen!) We do a personal inventory for all of our couples, which is a spreadsheet that I break down into ceremony, cocktail hour and reception, and for each section I list EVERY SINGLE THING that the couple is bringing, or that needs to be set up, even if someone else is bringing it. I list how it's getting there, where it's going at the wedding, and what's happening to it at the end of the night. If I had done that for the wedding, the one thing that I STILL think about that was missing from the reception, a bar menu that I (ok, more artistically talented friends of mine) worked on REALLY HARD, would have been displayed. (It was like this, but with drinks, not food. The food one is cute too!)

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

This was really just a problem of miscommunication -- I think different people each thought someone else had done it, so it didn't get displayed until I noticed it missing...and by then it was towards the end of the night. It's such a stupid thing to be upset about, but I made up REALLY clever names for our drinks that went with our TV-themed wedding!

("What were they," you ask? Well, there was the "Snake Juice" (Parks and Recreation) (This was 1921 Crema Tequila...I highly recommend it.)

"The Rory" (Gilmore Girls) (A DELICIOUS Grapefruit Moscow Mule)

"There's Always Money in the Banana Stand" (A "sounds weird but is amazing" combo of Banana liqueur and Cream Soda

"The Ron Swanson" (Lagavulin)

Take Care of Your Wedding Guests

Lastly, I regret not just biting the bullet and buying a ton of blankets to set out at the reception. Guys? It was COLD up there. Craig and I went up to the pavilion to greet guests as they arrived (sort of a reverse receiving line, which I highly recommend), but we were freezing -- especially the one of us with a sleeveless dress! Luckily one of my dad's friends had a blanket in his car, and at some point my new mother-in-law went and got me my sweatshirt (and trust me...a red hoodie looks AMAZING with a white lace wedding dress if it's cold enough!) A few of the female guests even changed into jeans or leggings it was so cold! We had three big, warm fireplaces, but if you were sitting far away from them, it was still pretty chilly. I wish I had thought to get some nice warm blankets from Amazon so people could wrap themselves up in them. (Notice I didn't say I wish we had moved our reception inside -- LOOK AT THIS COOL SPOT! I could never have moved it indoors...it would have hurt my soul).

Jess Latos Photography

Beware the Wedding Vendors who Overpromise

Photo by Jess Latos Photography (an example of a vendor who promises and delivers!)

Every once in a while I write a post that goes out not only to our potential clients and those engaged folks, but also to my fellow wedding vendors. This is one of those posts, and is a bit of a cautionary tale about vendors who overpromise.

I recently assisted in a wedding in which the clients had very expensive taste, but - frankly - didn’t want to spend the money that accompanies those tastes :) That’s fine, and it happens a lot. But my job as a planner, and every wedding vendor’s job, is to help clients understand what can and can’t be done for X amount of dollars, and then provide alternatives or options. There’s a real danger in “yes”ing your clients (or, if you’re planning a wedding, in having vendors that seem to be too good to be true - are promising a lot, for not a lot of money). If vendors overpromise and underdeliver - the clients are going to be disappointed. That’s not anything anyone wants on their wedding day.

In this specific case, there were multiple vendors who had said they could do X, Y and Z, but actually had never done it before (!) and frankly, couldn’t deliver. One vendor not only failed to do what they said they could do, but actually created a dangerous situation (that I had to insist be taken down). Another vendor simply verbally embellished certain aspects, but it wasn’t in the budget to really follow through on what they’d claimed they’d be able to provide.

So I urge vendors not to “yes” your clients, thinking it’s better to get the sale than to have the tough conversation and have them walk away. It’s not. Having a disappointed and angry bride or groom is way worse than being honest and upfront about what you can and can’t do. And clients - appreciate the vendors who are honest with you. And trust them :) If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Instead, work on either shifting your priorities and budget (move some funds from one area over to another), or shift your expectations and see if some other creative ideas and different options might create a similar result for less money. Because the last thing anyone wants - both the clients and the vendors - is to have anyone be disappointed, frustrated, or even angry on their wedding day.

Linda and Chris Carnegie Institution for Science DC Wedding

Photo by Margaret Wroblewski

Yes, we worked another Carnegie Institution for Science wedding. And yes, I loved it just as much as I always do! This really is one of our favorite venues and Linda and Chris’s wedding was no exception. They got married in late August this past summer, and it was such a lovely day! They didn’t want to see each other prior to the ceremony, so they had some family photos done separately and then we made sure we hid Linda (and her stunning-as-all-get-out dress) away in the upstairs library. After a beautiful ceremony officiated by a friend, they took some more photos outdoors (the weather was great!) while guests enjoyed the cocktail hour and photo booth inside. After a delicious meal by Main Event Catering, some toasts and the cake cutting, we got to my favorite part: a surprise Linda had arranged (with my help) for her groom after their first dance. She had Old Line Garrison - an awesome organization that brilliantly brings together Star Wars costume enthusiasts with charity - surprise Chris with stormtroopers crashing the dance floor! Old Line Garrison was so wonderful to work with - they’re an entirely volunteer-based organization that will show up to events and weddings as Star Wars characters out of their sheer love of dressing up, and for a donation to a charity. SUCH a cool idea - and Chris LOVED it (as you’ll see from the photos, by Margaret Wroblewski, below.

Some other favorite details include the glow sticks they handed out for an end of the night photo (which always makes the dance party more fun!), and the fact that they actually rented fake flowers for their centerpieces (from Wedding Flowers for Rent). I NEVER would have known - the flowers were really exceptionally lovely and it was a cost-efficient option I’d never seen done before and was frankly surprised at how beautiful they looked!

Congrats again to you both!

Linda and Chris’s Vendors:

Coordinator: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: The Carnegie Institution for Science

Caterer: Main Event Catering

Photographer: Margaret Wroblewski

DJ/Photobooth/Uplighting: DJ Dan Goldman

Cake: Fluffy Thoughts

Hair/Make-up: Les Bourgeois Artistry

Personal florals: Flor de Casa Designs

Centerpieces: Rented! Wedding Flowers for Rent

Kaylan and Kyle Longview Gallery Washington DC Wedding

Photo by Sloane Dakota Photo

I love nothing more than a couple that knows exactly what they want. Kaylan and Kyle kept true to their visions throughout the planning process. Their style and tastes were interwoven in every single solitary detail - from the bar menu to calligraphy work, to the sprigs of rosemary at each place setting, all thought out so meticulously, and so them. It is no surprise with Kyle being part prominent figure in the DC food and beverage industry that their dinner menu (provided by Spilled Milk) was one of the finest I have seen thus far at a wedding. The main attractions being Pancetta-Wrapped Quail Roulade and a Mustard-Glazed Rockfish, YUM! Cocktails were served out of a specially crafted Jockey Box, CO2 Tank with regulator… ummmm yeah, I had to look that one up! :) And let’s not forget the extremely enormous bottle of Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose that Kyle surprised Kaylan with, a 3L Jeroboam to be specific. It was literally bigger than my head. This wedding was the epitome of intimate wining and dining among beloved family and friends- an absolutely incredible night of love and laughter in Washington, DC. Congrats again, Kaylan and Kyle!

Kaylan and Kyle’s Vendors:

Coordinator: Tarra Morgan, The Plannery

Venue: Longview Gallery

Caterer: Spilled Milk

Photography: Sloane Dakota Photo

DJ: Kelton Higgins

Florist: Sill Life

Cake: Fluffy Thoughts

Hair/Make-up: Alison Harper

What a wedding planner would do differently for their own wedding

Photo by Kat Bryant Photography

We’re starting a new series here over the next few months where all the members of the The Plannery team will take a look back at their own weddings and discuss what they’d do differently! We thought it’d be a fun way to not only peek inside the mind of a planner and see what lessons we’ve learned, but also just get to know us a bit better! Enjoy the first in this series… featuring (gulp!) me!

I’m going to be celebrating my 9 year wedding anniversary shortly, and we’re already looking ahead to our tenth next year (more on that later!). Reflecting back on my wedding is interesting, because it was a different time and there were different trends. The overarching theme back in 2009/2010 was that the wedding industry was out to get us, and so, much like rebelling teenagers who wanted to take down “the man,” there was a sense that everything had to be “different.” And frankly, like a lot of teenagers, we went a little too far in the other direction.

Some traditions are traditions for good reason

Trying to take a different route and not have the wedding feel super stuffy and traditional, we opted for a cocktail-style feel. Because we wanted the wedding to feel more informal and more like a cocktail party we didn’t do assigned seating and didn’t technically have seating for everyone. I regret that. I think it’s not kind to guests and I think that since we ended up feeding everyone real food (in a buffet), we should have given them a place to sit and relax. Lesson learned. Some traditions are meant to be kept.

Way too much DIY

The other trend that was somewhat of a middle finger to the wedding industry back then was that DIY was THE thing to do. And so we DIY’d SO. MUCH. And let me tell you. It was not worth it. It was not worth the time, the energy and the stress. My biggest regret was that I asked my Mom to DIY our flowers, both simple centerpieces and bouquets. She killed it and did a great job, BTW - but I think it really stressed her out and made the day less fun for her. Similarly, we relied on a ton of friends and family to help set up some DIY decor as well, and I just wish I’d allowed them to relax and have fun that morning, rather than set up the venue. If I could go back, I’d hire a florist and throw money at the problem. We wouldn’t have gone into debt because of it, and it would have brought more joy and less stress.

Ambien

Ok, I’m sort of kidding. But… sort of not. If I could go back I wouldn’t sleep in a hotel room the night before in order to somehow make the next day more “special.” I was used to sleeping with my now-husband. Instead, I was alone in an unfamiliar, cold hotel room and I got… 2 hours of sleep. So while not everyone will suffer with these exact sleep problems of mine (!), I do recommend you think about what will feel most comfortable and make you relax prior to the wedding day - and do that!

Take time for your guests

Again, I think back then the more formal, traditional weddings felt super stuffy and prim and proper. So I went too far in the other direction and didn’t have any kind of receiving line and didn’t officially visit with all of my guests. I really regret that. Looking back, it felt selfish, and though I know time is super limited for the couple on their wedding day, and there’s no way you’re going to get to talk to everyone, I would have put in much more effort to do so.

The infamous first-look

My now-husband was adamant that we not see each other before the wedding. I wish I’d pushed back a bit harder because we barely attended our cocktail hour (hence the above, not being able to see many guests), and I think it would have made the day less hectic. If you can convince your partner to do a first look - do it!

All that being said, we recently - on a random weekend - happened upon our wedding video and I had a super strange surreal moment where my two daughters were suddenly quietly watching our wedding take place. It was lovely to hear my husband and I reference our future children in our ceremony, while those children watched in the present moment! It helped me realize that your wedding is just a moment in time. Looking back, while the wedding still feels special, what actually defines our marriage are all the other years and moments, good and bad, that followed. So I loved listening to our closest friends and family sing the songs and play the instruments we asked them to play. I loved watching us dance to now-quite-dated pop music. I still stand by our choice to not have a wedding cake and just eat brownies instead. I love that people still tell us it was one of the most fun weddings they’d ever been to. And I love that it led to the life I’m now living.

Abby and Scott's Carnegie Institution for Science Wedding

Photo by Sam Hurd

I really love December weddings. And I especially love December weddings at Carnegie Institution for Science, a venue so gorgeous, you don’t care if it’s cold outside! Abby and Scott got married this past December. After a first-look and some photos both at the hotel and the venue, they signed the ketubah and then were off to get married. They opted for an in-the-round ceremony which beautifully highlights the Carnegie’s rotunda. After cocktails they had a lovely dinner by Design Cuisine - I adored all of Abby’s choices for linens and design. She brought in some great green colors that accented the season, but also didn’t go to far into the wintery route and brought in some lovely blues as well! Enjoy these romantic and stunning photos by Sam Hurd, and enjoy dreaming of that cozy, cold weather that will be here before we know it!

Abby and Scott’s Vendors:

Venue: Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC

Coordinator: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Caterer: Design Cuisine

Photographer: Sam Hurd

Music: DJ Mark Maskell

Florist: Highway to Hill

Make-up: Alison Harper & Co

How do you want to feel on your wedding day?

Photo by Shandi Wallace

I recently talked on my InstaStories about exercise, and how tangentially that related back to wedding planning (check my ramblings out here in my highlights, if you want the original source material!). Basically, I was thinking about how I, as a typical type-A person, suffer from anxiety and I’ve recently been using exercise to help manage my mental health, keeping me feeling good and happy.

I was then thinking about all you poor couples out there - brides and grooms who are so often marketed to about how you’re going to LOOK on your day. How to lose the weight for your wedding, fit into the dress, all that bullshit (including this recent NY Times article that sent me into a rage spiral). And not only that, but what items you’re going to have at your wedding that can be photographed and then blogged about. What the centerpieces will look like. What the venue looks like. Looks, looks, looks, looks, looks.

Which brought me back to feelings (cue “feelings…”). At The Plannery, as much as we care about how things look and that your florist or event designer is doing what they should and everything looks as you want it to look, what we actually care about, and what I consider my JOB - is that you feel good. Our main priority is how you feel, NOT how you look. If you’re feeling calm, relaxed, stress-free, able to have fun and in the moment then I have done my job.

Photo by Go Kate Shoot

And so though how you feel is what I believe sets us apart as wedding planners, that’s really hard to Instagram. I don’t have a lot of pretty pictures to show you what feeling good on your wedding day looks like (though I certainly can try, and sometimes the awesome photographers I’ve worked with capture just that!). But I’ll just ask you to step away for a moment from the social media, the wedding magazines and blogs, the mood boards (though we do love ourselves some mood boards), and think about this question that very few people ask you: how do you want to feel on your wedding day?

And then hire people who will make the process of planning a wedding, and your actual wedding day, feel really damn good.

Photo by Shandi Wallace

Hire the best and trust your wedding vendors

Photo by Sam Hurd

I recently write a blog post in which I discussed how important communication is to a stress-free wedding. I had one of my favorite wedding friendors reach out and say that the real key to a stress free wedding is “hire the best and trust your vendors.”

I loved it. Especially as a planner, and therefore someone who guides couples in that decision-making process. So I thought I’d dive into this topic a bit, cause it’s a good one - and one that a lot of wedding vendors don’t often talk about, but should.

Having a good wedding vendor team is essential to eliminating stress on your wedding day. Why? Because if you truly trust your gut in the hiring process, and find vendors that “get” you and ones that you feel confident in, then your work is done. You as the couple getting married get to lean back, relax, and let them do their thing. By letting go and trusting (which I realize, is not always easy), you also let go of the stress and worry on your wedding day.

So when choosing a wedding vendor I urge all of my clients to move past the numbers (though I always stay within their budget!) and really look at the person. Do you not only like their work, but them? Did you choose them just cause they were randomly recommended or did you really read reviews about them, and those reviews spoke to you in some way? Did you feel at ease and comfortable when you spoke or met with them? Or did some red flags get raised, but you pushed those away cause you just wanted a decision to be made so you could move on?

Photo by Jessica Crews

Wedding vendors have all dealt with couples that hired them and then didn’t trust them. And let me tell you - that’s not easy from our end, either. So I urge you all to take your time and listen to your gut when hiring wedding vendors. Better yet, hire a planner that you trust who will then recommend vendors that are a good fit :)

And it’s actually quite interesting that for this huge day, this day when you’re marrying your person, your partner who you will commit to and vow to trust, that you also need to apply that to the other relationships. Though they’re not romantic ones, they are important ones. So hire the best and then trust them to do their best so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your wedding!

5 Wedding Traditions Worth Breaking

As you already know, I’m not a fan of the “have to”’s and “should”’s that often surround weddings. Yes, sometimes certain traditions or ways of doing things are there for a reason - cause they make the most sense or are the easiest way to do something! That being said, there are a couple of wedding traditions I’m all about breaking - so here are my top 5 that I think are heading the way of the dinosaurs:

Who walks down the aisle?

Photo by Susan Hornyak

I hold this one near and dear to my heart because I made a fairly non-traditional choice when it came to my own wedding processional. More and more I’m seeing lots of couples kick the tradition of the bride’s father walking her down the aisle to the curb - and I’m loving it. Jewish weddings already get it right (and have for years) by having both parents escort both parts of the couple down the aisle. I’ve seen the bride and groom walk down together. I’ve seen brides process in on their own (cue Destiny Child’s “Independent Women” now please). Recently, two grooms had us create TWO aisles and they both processed in together with the ring bearers/flower girls, to meet in the center (love love love that). I personally chose to have my Mom walk me in because I was close to both my Dad and Step-father and didn’t feel right choosing between the two. Either way, it’s a personal choice and every couple deserves to feel they can be creative if they need to be! Do what’s best for you and your family - both past and future!

RSVP Cards

Photo by Love Life Images

Embrace technology! Throw those physical RSVP cards of yore directly into the trash. As I mentioned on a previous post, wedding websites now allow you to collect RSVPs online. Do it. It saves you money, time and you won’t find yourself scratching tiny numbers in pencil on the back of your RSVP cards wondering why you ever decided to plan a wedding in the first place. Yes, some older folks get confused by the internets, but it’s still worth going this route and just picking up the phone for those few who can’t handle the online option.

The White Dress

Photo by Leo Druker

A lot of brides still love the white dress, and I get it. I wore one. But this tradition is changing and I’m LOVING it. Weddings are a celebration - why not wear color? Or best of all, why not wear pants? A jumpsuit? Have outfit and costume changes? The possibilities nowadays are endless and so many more options are available to both brides and grooms. Go for it and don something new for your special day - you’ll still feel special, I promise.

The Champagne Toast

Photo by Darling Photographers

Very few couples have traditional champagne toasts anymore. Once again, save the money (yay!) and just have folks toast with the drinks that are in their hands. I can’t tell you how much champagne I see dumped out of untouched glasses at the end of the night. Not having special flutes and a “special” champagne toast won’t make those moments or the words spoken any less meaningful. So ditch this tradition and focus on the words rather than the (sparkling) wine.

The special dances

Photo by Ayesha Ahmad

Listen, I love me a first dance. And I also love me some parents dances. But don’t be afraid to either ditch them or approach them with some fun and creativity. Super shy? Don’t have a first dance. Don’t feel like taking the dances so seriously? Mix it up and play with it - one of my favorites was a couple of mine from last year who not only did a first dance to Adam Sandler’s Grow Old With You, but then went into a first dance mash-up including Indian and western line dancing. It was hilarious, them, and perfect.