To the Brides

I know your wedding is coming up soon, and I know you’re probably stressed. I know there are details to finalize, vendors to pay, family members to host, friends to entertain, and tasks to complete. Hopefully you have a wedding planner to help you with all of this, but if you don’t, it can get a little crazy. But as a professional wedding vendor, can I give you a quick piece of advice?

Breathe.

Sit back, pour yourself a glass of wine, and just breathe. I’ve said it a thousand times before and I’ll say it a thousand times again: your wedding day is special, but it is not the point. Your marriage is the point. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if the food gets a little cold or if the wind blows your decorations over. It doesn’t matter if your makeup smears or your bridesmaid loses one of her shoes or if all the earth’s water comes pouring down in a rainstorm the likes of which you’ve never seen. Are those situations ideal? Of course not. Is it okay to be a little sad if they happen? You bet. But if and when something goes wrong, look at your fiance and remind yourself that THEY are the point. Your marriage is the point.

I’ve seen more than enough weddings to know that things NEVER go exactly according to plan. Sometimes tiny little things go wrong that are easy to fix, and sometimes it’s great big things that can majorly alter the course of the day. But you know what’s happened every single time, regardless of anything else that was going on? The bride and groom got married, and they left at the end of the night as husband and wife.

I know it’s easy to say these things when they’re not happening to me, but I also know that when my couples have their minds focused on the big thing, and don’t let the little things eat away at them . . . THAT’S when I get the best pictures. No bride wants to look back at her wedding photos and see how tense and worried she looked all day. So if we’re working together, will you do me that one little favor? Will you remember to breathe? Because a photo of a bride and groom deeply in love while the rain falls all around them is forever and always more beautiful than a stressed out couple on a gorgeous, sunny day.