OVERALL RESULTS FOR WHAT MATTERS MOST:


Food and Alcohol
The Venue
Photography
RESULTS FOR WHAT CAUSES THE MOST STRESS:
The Budget
The Seating Arrangements
Worrying that Everything Runs Smoothly



Others responses:
 
"The little details: the ribbon on the programs doesn't reeeally matter that much and neither does the seating chart. It was hard for me to remember that everyone coming to the wedding was there for us and they loved us. It's not high school prom where everyone is being catty in the bathroom. Don't sweat the small stuff!"
 
"The last 5 pounds."
 
"The guest list. We finally decided to keep it really small and the rule was: if we have eaten at your house or you have eaten at ours, you are invited."
 
"Whether to invite a guest or not. In the end, it didn't dramatically change our numbers."
 
"A lot of the more detailed decor elements - no one cared or noticed. : ) "
 
"Photography. I really wanted to make sure we got all the great shots, so we even hired a second photographer. In the end, our original photographer came through in a big way."
 
 "I worried too much about seating charts; everyone is really social at weddings and tend to be out of their seats anyway."
 
"The event flow. I'm a control freak and kept stressing out that the schedule wasn't going off as planned. About two hours of being late, I realized it didn't matter and I was still doing what I was supposed to be doing- marrying the man I love. Going with the flow was hard for my personality but worth it."


"The chairs! Silly, I know, but I didn't want crappy chairs! Nobody commented on the chairs, so they must have been fine!"


"There wasn't one thing in particular, but rather, I remember being so aware of whether everything was going right or not (during the ceremony, was the music timed right, etc.) and I wish I had just ignored that and relaxed more."


"The weather. Our wedding was planned for early August in Idaho, so very, very little chance of rain, but I still worried. The venue was so beautiful and the thought of having to move the ceremony inside was tragic. In hindsight, it would not have been a big deal at all - as long as we got married!"


"Table linens! I stressed for weeks over the color, pattern, texture, and material. I couldn't decide what would look best in the venue, what color napkins to go with them, how they would look at night with dimmed lighting, etc etc etc. In the end, NO ONE noticed the linens! My guests commented on how lovely the centerpieces were, and the custom signage all around the space, and the interactive guest book we had. Moral of the story: linens are NOT worth your stress!"


"The decor. I DIY'd most of our ceremony and reception decor but in the end, while everything looked beautiful, no one remembers what was or was not on the tables."
"Being a perfectionist, I stressed and worried about everything! However, in hindsight, nothing really matter. The day turned out beautifully and I am now married to my best friend!"


"What others would think of my wedding and how it would stack up against their expectations. Between blogs, Pinterest, and other engaged friends, it was easy to lose sight of what was really important to my husband and myself and what wasn't."
"The little details. My father-in-law said it best, "No is one going to remember how the table cards are going to look." And it's true. They remembered the food, the atmosphere, and the day. When it finally came down to the finish line about getting those small details (like table numbers and cocktail straws), I realized there was no point in worrying about it. I had everything else that I really wanted in place and all the rest didn't matter."

RESULTS FOR TOP WAYS TO SAVE:

Favors (be creative)
Flowers (choose flowers in season)
Alcohol (serve beer, wine and/or a signature drink for the first hour).

Others responses:


"Buying invitations from a local vendor was much less expensive than the online stores."


"Had a bakery which did not focus on wedding cakes make the cake. Bought flowers from a kiosk in the mall. They had a blast designing everything and gave me extra for free."


"We were able to buy the alcohol directly from the distributor and save on retail costs. Also, we used flowers that were in season, and mixed in some foliage."


"My family is very large (my grandma had 12 kids!) so we had a formal, day-of ceremony and reception that included only our 40 closest family and friends. The venue we chose had a built-in sound system, so I created a playlist of all the music and we paid a total of maybe $40 for music (just b/c I had to purchase some new tunes!). I spent hours researching photographers and found the best one for our budget. I bought my dress and shoes on sale, but splurged on the sash and headpiece. I saved money on flowers by not decorating the church (which is beautiful in its own right anyway) and by purchasing fake flowers. You couldn't tell unless you were holding them that they were fake, and now I have a precious keepsake to display in our home. A week after our formal ceremony and reception, my parents held a big outdoor picnic reception that we invited our extended family and all of our friends to attend."


"We picked a venue that we thought was stunning enough that we needed very little decor. The venue also allowed us to use any caterer, florist, etc. that we wanted, so we rationalized that by spending more on the venue, we could choose where to cut back. But looking back, I would never spend the amount we did on our venue again."


   "All of the arrangements from my wedding were used in the ceremony and in the reception."


"We negotiated like crazy with the venue, and my mother and I saved money by being our own wedding planners (we are event planners anyways), but had a fellow event planner friend help to keep everything in order on the day of."


"We chose our priorities-an awesome venue, open bar, and amazing photos because that's what people remember the most. We knew we wanted those to stand out so the majority of our budget went to those. The things that were less important to us-favors, accessories, cake, we're what we spent less on because they were as important to us."


RESULTS FOR BEST WEDDING ADVICE

"Take Time for Just the Two of You"

( "Take it all in," "Soak it all up," and "Look around-it goes so fast!")
"Hire a Day-of Coordinator"
"Stay off Pinterest!"
( it can lead to unrealistic expectations and cause more stress and a sense
of feeling overwhelmed than actually helping.)
Others responses:


"Buying invitations from a local vendor was much less expensive than the online stores."


"Had a bakery which did not focus on wedding cakes make the cake. Bought flowers from a kiosk in the mall. They had a blast designing everything and gave me extra for free."


"We were able to buy the alcohol directly from the distributor and save on retail costs. Also, we used flowers that were in season, and mixed in some foliage."


"My family is very large (my grandma had 12 kids!) so we had a formal, day-of ceremony and reception that included only our 40 closest family and friends. The venue we chose had a built-in sound system, so I created a playlist of all the music and we paid a total of maybe $40 for music (just b/c I had to purchase some new tunes!). I spent hours researching photographers and found the best one for our budget. I bought my dress and shoes on sale, but splurged on the sash and headpiece. I saved money on flowers by not decorating the church (which is beautiful in its own right anyway) and by purchasing fake flowers. You couldn't tell unless you were holding them that they were fake, and now I have a precious keepsake to display in our home. A week after our formal ceremony and reception, my parents held a big outdoor picnic reception that we invited our extended family and all of our friends to attend."


"We picked a venue that we thought was stunning enough that we needed very little decor. The venue also allowed us to use any caterer, florist, etc. that we wanted, so we rationalized that by spending more on the venue, we could choose where to cut back. But looking back, I would never spend the amount we did on our venue again."


   "All of the arrangements from my wedding were used in the ceremony and in the reception."


"We negotiated like crazy with the venue, and my mother and I saved money by being our own wedding planners (we are event planners anyways), but had a fellow event planner friend help to keep everything in order on the day of."


"We chose our priorities-an awesome venue, open bar, and amazing photos because that's what people remember the most. We knew we wanted those to stand out so the majority of our budget went to those. The things that were less important to us-favors, accessories, cake, we're what we spent less on because they were as important to us."


SURVEY RESULTS BASED ON The Everygirl's Wedding Survey Results and Advice #theeverygirl

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