Bailee reached out to me for her own wedding and while it wasn't in the budget for them at the time, she absolutely recognized the value of hiring a coordinator. I interviewed Bailee after the fact to see how things went, what she wish she had done differently, and what her favorite parts of her big day were!
What is something surprising that you learned through the wedding planning process?
Something surprising that I learned was that even though I love planning, it can all still be pretty stressful. I had never planned any event before and I don’t think I realized just how much work I had to do the month or so before my wedding. I also think I learned which friends and family members support us.
What was the most stressful part about planning?
I had quite a few stressful parts in regards to my wedding. Looking back, the MOST stressful part of the planning was probably having to listen to everyone else’s opinions and I was so worried about the drama.
What went well on the wedding day? There were quite a few things that went absolutely perfect on my wedding day!
The morning of my wedding, the majority of our family showed up to help set up for the ceremony
At said setting up- I showed up to drop boxes off and they only had
The ceremony started exactly on time (give or take like five minutes)
I was hiding behind the bathroom door and there were guests that had to wait on the side because I was about to walk down- I didn’t care one bit haha
The ceremony was maybe 10-15 minutes long from start to finish and I didn’t trip or faint! (I almost tripped so I call this a win)
My family and point person/coordinator were able to flip the ceremony space in a really short amount of time (they did it in like 30 minutes with a lot of time to spare)
We got married! Signed the marriage license
What didn't go well?
A lot of people were stressing me the hell out the morning of 😂 I didn’t want to be bothered with anything. My hair stylist and makeup artist made me write down things in my phone that I was worried about and then have my sister or someone else answer my phone.
The two hot chocolate machines weren’t warming up- I think my point person called the venue owner and I eventually got refunded. I believe the venue owner did come and look at it and (the tv). We basically just did cookies and milk instead.
There was some drama I found out later but our family hid it from us so we didn’t have to worry about it the day of
We did have a few random people come to our ceremony that weren’t invited to the wedding period. We also had a few no-shows that I was actually hurt by.
I was going to play video and audio of my mom singing, but we ended up doing just audio because the tv wasn’t working. My MIL mentioned that a few people were confused because they were expecting the video of my mom but it worked out.
I was so nervous that I couldn’t eat
Someone stepped on the train of my dress and two button slips broke 😅
My FIL went home early because he was super sick and went to the ER! A lot of people got sick (I think it was some sort of stomach bug).
In what ways could a coordinator have helped you? (What would have been the biggest help?)
I think a lot of my family was super stressed and I was to the point that I didn’t really care as long as nothing super big happened. Those that helped out with the setting up & the decorating were so exhausted the next day. I think that the clean up wasn’t bad at all because literally everyone helped but a coordinator and their team would have been a major help for my vision! I would have been able to tell them exactly what I wanted and they would have done it. It did end up beautiful but there were some things that I felt were miscommunicated. I also think that it would have been a big relief to have a coordinator and team to help just with the timeline and making sure things went okay. I know I was a little stressed about it and so that would’ve relieved a little bit more stress off of me.
Did your fiance get involved in the planning?
Yeah so, Curtis was in charge of quite a few things. We talked about how I would be in charge of planning the wedding more than him and then he was in charge of the honeymoon. That really worked out well for us! I had him write out his priorities which helped us narrow down what our priorities were together. We both figured out the budget. He was in charge of talking to his parents in regards to how they were helping. He wrote his own vows. He was in charge of paying for the marriage license. He did a lot of last minute tasks that I was worried about or forgot.
What is your #1 tip for brides-to-be that are in the middle of planning?
I think something that I didn’t realize until halfway through was that it is a lot easier to have a fiancé on board if you only talk about wedding things on a certain day of the week, every two weeks or something like that. I thrived and was so excited planning the wedding that it ended up being one of the only things that I wanted to talk to him about. I definitely had to do more planning when he was doing other things and scheduled time for just wedding day things. Also, keep prioritizing dates!
What was the hardest part?
I think nailing down our priorities was probably the hardest part. Once we realized what our priorities were, that’s where most of our budget went and we saved or skipped on other parts. That was when we really had to make the tough decisions on if we could actually afford what I really wanted (a coordinator + live wedding painter).
What was the most fun part?
I loved getting dressed up. From doing the beauty treatments to hair and makeup was so much fun. I really love planning and so researching was something that was also super fun for me.
What is the best memory you have from your wedding day?
I think my best memory was either walking down the aisle and realizing that I was actually going to be married to the love of my life in a few moments. I also remember sitting at our head table and looking out at everyone and just feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude, I felt so loved and supported!
Preserve or not to preserve? (Bridal Bouquet)
Yes, I would absolutely preserve your bouquet if you’re thinking about it! I did and I’m really glad I did. It would’ve been added to my list of regrets if I hadn’t. Below are pictures of my bouquet preserved in a hexagon block + ring holder.
Thoughts from a bride AFTER her wedding day! If you're married, did you relate? If you're not married, what will you do differently?
Moral of the story in my opinion? Hire a coordinator and preserve your bouquet, ;)
Happy Planning, Lovers!
Jacqueline
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