Wedding planning advice from One of My Brides

Wedding planning advice

Words of Wedding Advice from One of My Brides

Olive and Rory Esler got married on December 29th, 2013, and they had a beautiful wedding day in Markree Castle in Ballisodare, Co Sligo.
As one of my brides, I asked Olive to share some of her wedding planning advice with you. I hope you find some of her tips and tricks of benefit.

Wedding planning can become incredibly overwhelming very quickly. All of a sudden, you are hit with 100 questions that you may never have thought about! When? Where? Colour schemes? Invites? What flowers? Wedding Photographer or two wedding photographers?  How many bridesmaids? Videographer? Do I need a Photobooth? ? Flower girls? Unplugged Wedding? 

HOW TO SELECT THE PERFECT WEDDING DRESS???!!!

My advice: Take a breath, open a bottle of champagne, and ENJOY the excitement of taking it one step at a time. You don’t need to decide everything at once. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to decide what makes sense to you as a couple. What type of day do you want, and how can you stamp your identity onto it?
There are four areas that I think are the most important to look at:
The Venue.
The Photographer.
The Food.
The Band.

My husband and I are from Connacht, so we quickly decided to look for a wedding venue in one of the five counties. We wanted something a little different, so we were very impressed when we walked through the doors of Markree Castle in Ballisodare, Co Sligo.  The reception area has a huge open fire and a beautiful staircase with a stained-glass window, and the dining room looks like something out of Downton Abbey. It was perfect! It felt like we would be having an elegant house party in a castle, which was exactly what happened on the day!

Everyone says the same thing when they talk about their wedding day. The day went so fast! I couldn’t agree more. That’s why, for me, capturing our magical moments throughout the day was so important. The wedding photographs are all you have when the big day is over. I wanted our wedding photographs to capture our wedding day’s emotion, fun and WOW moments. Daniel from DKPHOTO exceeded our expectations.

Take your time finding your wedding photographer. Ensure you can see he or she is talented at capturing photographs you would be excited about if they were yours. Look through an album. It’s easy for a photographer to have ten amazing photographs from 10 couples. But what did the wedding album look like?

You can see their full wedding stories by DKPHOTO

Áine & Steve from Dkphoto on Vimeo.

Claire & Daniel from Dkphoto on Vimeo.

Talk to your wedding photographer and tell them what you want. As they get to know you and your personality, an experienced wedding photographer will understand what you seek. Don’t stress yourself out micro-managing with photograph lists. Your wedding photographer should know what wedding photographs need to be taken. It’s your job to enjoy the moments.

Weigh up the costs and the quality of the work. If one wedding photographer is more expensive, but his or her work has the WOW factor, I would advise you to revisit the budget. Do you need the sweets trolley?! For me, having amazing wedding photographs after our wedding day was far more important than having favours on the tables or confetti for the guests to throw, and all those little extras add up.

The Irish wedding guest is obsessed with the food. Over the years, I have found that guests forget the details that brides put so much work and effort into. They remember if the food was good and if the wine was flowing.

It’s a long day, and people are hungry by the time the dinner bell rings. Nothing is worse than being asked to listen to 60 minutes of speeches when your tummy is rumbling – or plan to have speeches after a meal or short speeches before a meal.

We asked the castle staff to top up the wine a little, but often. Although the perception was that the glasses were constantly topped up with wine, our guests were still only served half a bottle per person.

Getting the party started is important and depends on your wedding band. It would be best if you had a versatile, energetic band that knows how to work the crowd. An experienced wedding band won’t need a set list of songs from you, and they should be willing to allow you to see them in action at another event or a showcase. That’s so important!

Be careful of your timing. If the dinner runs long or your photo session gets delayed, some wedding bands allow that to eat into their time. You are spending a lot on entertainment, so check their start and wrap times and flexibility if things run a little late. Wedding Timeline Tips

Above all else, enjoy your day. Allow yourself to take in each moment as it happens. Enjoy the excitement and try to relax. You have hired the best people to ensure that your day runs smoothly, and they are there to ensure that everything is taken care of.

Your only job on your wedding day is to smile and enjoy the wedding celebrations.

You can see more advices on Bride Guide Wedding Blog

This comprehensive list of tips and advice will guarantee that you will choose the right wedding photographer  : 

How to choose the perfect wedding photographer for your perfect wedding day

The average price for a wedding photographer

Wedding planning advice by DKPHOTO and Olive :)