I had an idea a few weeks ago to ask my brides from this past year for their best advice for my current brides now that they’ve lived through the wedding planning process and tied the knot. Some of their days went completely according to plan and some had just about everything go wrong that could go wrong (including a total power outage at their reception). But all of them are now married to the loves of their lives, some expecting babies, purchasing houses, celebrating huge milestones in their careers, and most importantly investing in their marriage and their relationships with their friends and family. There’s something incredibly special about hearing these things from someone who has just been through what you’re going through, and I really think that what these ladies have to say is absolute gold. Read on for some amazing advice from 2016 brides to 2017 brides to make sure you have the best day ever!

Blair – “Make sure that you take time to just date during your engagement with no wedding talk! We took every Sunday night to hang out at home, make dinner, watch movies, and PROMISED that we would not have any wedding talk! We stuck to it, and it was the most amazing night of the week!”

Lexi – “My advice is to remember what it is all about… the two of you. Don’t let yourself get so caught up in all the wedding planning and trying to out do the last wedding you went to. Your wedding is about the two of you. Make sure you both participate in the planning but don’t let that take over your life. Remember to talk about things other than just your wedding. Take time to strengthen your relationship before the big day. Remember the reasons why you love him, even though he couldn’t care less about the color of the napkins. Your time as an engaged couple goes by so quickly; be sure to take in every moment. Don’t wish for the wedding day to be here tomorrow- yes, it is so exciting to finally be his wife and he your husband, but you will no longer be his fiancé and he yours and there is something truly special and exciting about that word. So be sure to enjoy this time while it lasts! Finally, I know you have heard it before, your wedding day goes by so fast, you will blink and it will be over. These words are so true. So be sure to take the time to take it all in on your wedding day. Have a special moment with just the two of you and be sure to have your photographer or videographer capture these moments. These are the moments that will bring back those wedding day butterflies each time you look at those pictures or watch your video.”

Sarah – “Leading up to our wedding, we heard from a lot of couples that they felt like they barely saw their new spouse on their wedding day because you get so caught up talking to guests and working the room and before they knew it the day was over. Dan and I really took this to heart and decided we wanted to spend the whole day together, especially our cocktail hour and reception. We implemented a “5 minute rule” and we are so happy we did. If 5 minutes went by where we hadn’t seen each other, we would politely end our current conversation to go find each other. We were together all night and we wouldn’t have had it any other way!  Also I would advise everyone to hire Ashley and BetterThanBridesmaids. Can’t imagine my day without either of them. They’re the best!!”

Maureen – “One, on your wedding day, try not to worry about the details. Be present in the moments with your family and your soon-to-be husband. All the logistics are set and if they aren’t, they don’t matter. What matters today is the love and the promises you are making to each other. Two, remember to take moments throughout the day to take things in — the beautiful setting, your friends and family and to feel the love surrounding you. These will be the moments you may recall months (and maybe years) later. And three, If you hire a great makeup artist, you don’t have to be afraid to cry during your dad’s first look. I teared up all day long and still looked fabulous!”

Meredith – “My husband and I had a long engagement, but now the wedding is over it seems to be a huge blur. Now that my experience is behind me and talking with friends now who will soon be brides themselves, it’s made me reflect back on some things. First, do not stress! Things have their way of falling into place if you just have a little bit of patience. Secondly, mother sometimes knows best! My mom and I had many disagreements along the way, but letting her take some of the responsibility off my shoulders was a HUGE blessing. I was less stressed, and my wedding turned out better than I could have imagined, because I learned to trust her opinion and realized she really does have awesome taste. Lastly, take time to enjoy the moment and your fiancé. My fiancé and I had to tell ourselves to just stop for a moment and take in everything that was going on around us, our friends and family coming together to make our wedding so special!”

Cassie – “Really communicate well with your vendors before the big day and then allow yourself to completely relinquish control to them on the big day (and this is coming from a true control freak!) Trust them. You’ve spent so much time planning for this day; don’t spend the whole day worrying if your plans are coming to fruition. Your vendors have your back and everything will turn out great. Everyone has the same end goal here–for your big day to be the best it can possibly be. So trust that you’ve done your homework in hiring an amazing vendor team and let them do what they do best. You just enjoy the ride!”

Erika – “Trust your instincts. If you don’t like something, say it. If you want to change something, change it. But in the end, don’t sweat the small stuff. People often do not remember the very minute details, therefore, there is no reason to make them into something bigger. Put more time, attention and money into the things that you feel are more important. For not just me and my husband, but for my family the ceremony music, food, and beverage options were extremely important. Thus, we put a great deal of the budget towards those details. Most of all, there is one thing that is especially important and relevant to this blog post. Trust your photographer. They are the professional and they imagine, envision, and see things that many others cannot. Let them guide you. Give them your input, but don’t be extremely choosey. At least in my case, being laid back and exploring Ashley’s decisions or ideas led to amazing engagement and wedding photos. I feel like she was able to capture the true “us.” Live in the moment while going through this journey. I cannot say it enough…don’t sweat the small stuff, it will all turn out amazing in the end no matter what!”

Maggie – “Ask for help! – don’t feel like you have to do everything. Listen to others opinions – sometimes someone might think of something you didn’t. DONT listen to opinions – you don’t always have to listen to what someone tells you. It’s your day! Think of the logistics – the day will go a lot smoother if you think of timing. And lastly… the day is what you make it! Your attitude dictates how much you’ll enjoy the day. Don’t stress. At that point, things are out of your control. Enjoy the moment and let everything else run its course.”

Morgan – “If there is plenty of time in the timeline after the ceremony, I would recommend having some sort of receiving line or release each row yourselves to greet your guests. We didn’t do one and I felt like I spent the first 2 hours of the reception trying to talk to guests and thank them for coming instead of having fun on the dance floor. There are quite a few people that were at the wedding and I never even spoke or saw them and I kind of feel bad about it. Also, do everything Ashley suggests. That should probably be my only advice! Ha!”

Sierra – “When I planned our wedding I picked three things that were most important to me focused on those and let the rest fall into place. My top three were my dress, the intimate guest list, and photography. I actually picked AFP out as our wedding photographer before we even got engaged- haha! For my dress I knew I didn’t want a big box store experience and I’m so happy I shopped at Simply Elegant Bridal. I had a fantastic experience from start to finish and I absolutely loved my dress and the way it made me feel. For the guest list my husband and I are not social butterflies, so having a huge wedding would’ve felt awkward and uncomfortable. We got married with 44 of our closest family members and it was absolutely perfect. I chose the botanical gardens for our June wedding because it needed minimal decor which saved money and stress. The ceremony space and reception were exactly what I had in mind and I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out. Lastly- the number one thing I am most glad we did on our wedding day was the first look. We absolutely got “the shot” but more importantly, it was the best part of the whole day! Not to mention seeing him calmed my nerves tremendously!”

Courtney – “My advice would be to not lose sight of the meaning of the day.  Even if everything that can go wrong does, you know like not having any POWER at your reception (lol), at the end of the day it’s about being married to your best friend. Also, enjoy the planning and preparing stage. Do things together and make sure to have fun with it! it all goes so fast.  And last but certainly not least, invest in your photographer! Anyone can pick up a camera and call themselves a photographer, but they definitely aren’t all alike. And at the end of the day the only thing you have left are your memories and your pictures! And you’re going to want them to be amazing (so you should definitely book with Ashley). “

Karen – “Don’t take yourself too seriously. That’s really the bottom line from my perspective.”

Such great advice ladies!! If you’re married and you had to give a bride advice for her wedding day, what would it be?