Now that the proposal is done and you’re engaged, the hard part is done….right??? Ehh…..probably not!!

After all the emotion subsides, the planning starts for real and the question is very often, ‘now what?!!!’ There is no shortage of resources for brides and grooms to consider online, no shortage of forums, pages, groups and so on.

What comes first? The dress? The venue? The band? Who has the time to really do everything?

Remember the episode in Friends where Monica is fighting to get her wedding dress…we hope this really doesn’t happen??? But knowing the sort of things to look out for and what to prioritise when is important.

Monica from friends

We Asked Our Customers

At Sax and the city, we’ve built up some great and long-lasting relationships with brides and grooms and so we thought, who better to turn to ask the question than these ‘experts’ and pose the question, What is the one thing you wish you knew before you started to plan your wedding?

And boy, we got some excellent replies which we want to share with you which we know will really be of help to you as you plan your special wedding day.

The invite list

We have all probably seen very witty and cool invitation cards (court summons anyone??) but how many to invite is a big question!!
Maeve and Ciaran, whose wedding we played in May 2019 wrote,

Wedding Invite list;

‘The guest list, over invite by about a good 25% at least! People who we thought would definitely come didn’t and there were lots of people we would have loved to have come but didn’t have the chance to invite. Don’t assume everyone you invite will be able to make it.’

This was echoed by a number of other couples including Cassie and Niall, whose wedding we played June 2019, Cassie wrote,

‘Over invite as so many people pull out right up to literally the last second. On the day though you don’t think twice about it however the stress of worrying about it beforehand plays a part’

To video or not to video…that is the question!!

Cost is a big factor as you consider what to include and what to cut. The whole videographer/photographer debate is one that most couples have and it is never straight forward.

With the advent of smartphones and ancillaries such as Gimbals (we actually use these ourselves and they are great!!!) or lens attachments, the option to capture high quality video doesn’t have to be expensive but on such a big day, do you take the risk and entrust this job to someone in the family?

Wedding vdeo

Clowie and Stephen, whose wedding we played in October 2019, had some wise words in this area,

‘….get a videographer! That’s my only regret. Everyone has opinions, don’t listen and just do what you both want!’

Take your time and enjoy every part
Probably the most overwhelming response we had when we put the question to couples from previous weddings was to enjoy it and, how things pass so quickly and how things have a way of just slotting into place!

Catherine and John, December 2019 said,

‘How quick the day goes for all the planning and how good Dj Sax & the city were going to be amazing’

Aoife and Derek, from a wedding October 2019 echoed this in saying,

‘I wish we had known how quickly the day would fly past, so much planning, and then poof it’s over!’

Steve and Priscilla from a 2016 wedding said,

‘I wish I know how fast the day would go and try and slow down and savor it more!’

Angela and Derek from a wedding last August said,

‘To take in & enjoy every single minute of the planning & organising of the day (the good & the bad!) as the time goes by so quickly in the run up to the big day!’

On this, Niamh and Billy from a wedding May 2019 wrote,

‘I wish I knew how quickly time goes by in the lead up to the wedding and how it’s important to get the little things like mass booklets done ahead of time. I wasn’t anticipating all the visitors calling to the house on the lead up to the wedding. It was so wonderful catching up but left us up until the small hours looking after the smaller details.’

Sarah and Anthony backed this up when they said,

‘That everything will fall into place enjoy all the planning and preparations it’ll all pay off on the day’

Planning

As the saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved, well in the case of wedding planning, the workload shared means that it’s not just one the shoulders of one person. It brings the couple closer together on a big project and is a real test!

Wedding planning

Alicia and Louise is an example of how well a couple can work in planning their big day. Here’s what they had to say,

‘ We were actually thrilled with our wedding! Glad we planned so far in advance and had 2 days with a more intimate wedding and larger wedding party on the 2nd day. I think planning it together all the way through is most important so you both are totally in it together. It was such a fun, engaging and memorable event in Ballybeg we will never forget!!

Before we go…one more great piece of advice!

Of course there are are a lot more things to consider and look at as you plan your wedding. Everyone is different and special and you will, of course, want to put your own stamp on it.

Wedding Part

There are so many variables and so many unknowns. No two weddings are the same and that’s what makes every wedding so unique and special.

We enjoyed reaching out to some of our previous couples and we didn’t have the capacity to put all responses down on this post but I will leave you with one more piece of advice.

This was from Jason and Sean who had a very cool themed wedding last December. Their advice is simple,

‘Your guests remember the three big things, your venue, the food and the music, so don’t worry too much about the small things. Everything falls into place on the day! Enjoy every moment of the planning and lead up to the wedding, it only happens once!’

We can’t top that as an end to the post!!

Thanks for reading,
Ciaran, Ronan and the entire SATC team