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By Ciara Daykin
As I celebrate 5 years of being married I look back at my own wedding planning and 5 years later I can tell you from my point of view as a bride what I’m glad I did and what I wish I had done.
My own wedding was my inspiration to begin my wedding planning business which has grown significantly over the years and helped many couples have their dream day. What I learned from my own wedding I have passed on to the couples who’s weddings I help plan and now I want to pass on this wedding wisdom to you.
What I Would Do Again…
1) Marry Simon- I have to be a little bit cheesy in this article because afterall it’s my 5 year wedding anniversary as I write this. But I wouldn’t change the man if I had to do it all over again.
2) Write Our Own Vows- Simon and I spent quite a bit of time writing our own vows for our wedding. It was so worth it. It’s the part of our wedding that I cherish the most. We actually spent a lot of time designing our entire ceremony with our priest. Cool thing, that same priest is going to baptize our new son Declan in a couple of weeks.
3) Plan It Together- We planned our wedding together. It wasn’t me locked up in a room planning by myself. Simon was very involved and therefore our wedding was a reflection of both of our personalities and that made it a lot of fun.
4) Prolong the Party- We planned a wedding weekend in Banff and all our friends and family made it a vacation. We went rafting, sightseeing, and generally partied all over Banff. It was an absolute blast.
What I Would Change…
1) I’ve Become a Fan of Flowers- I went the cheap route and didn’t do my due diligence when it came to choosing my florist. Oh the wonderful florists I know now that I wish could have design my wedding flowers! My wedding flowers died during the pictures and when my bridesmaids asked if they could throw away their bouquets I said, “sure but take them down to the river and take the photographer with you.” And that’s where we got the most amazing picture… lemonade out of lemons!
2) A Pro Videographer- I have to say I love my wedding video but my husband laughs and says it was the IKEA of wedding videos… we had to put it together ourselves. Our friends videotaped the day but I ended up doing the video editing myself. I love watching it on our anniversary or if I’m super mad at Simon (hey- it makes you remember why you love him!) and if I had to do it over again I would put some of the budget towards a pro videographer.
3) I Would Eat- One of the biggest pieces of advice I give to my brides is you have to eat during the day. I look back at my photos and I remember being starving! I wish I’d eaten something as you can really see how exhausted I am in my wedding photos which makes me really upset. I perk up again in the photos at the reception but by then it was too late.
Ciara’s Bridal Advice
The biggest thing I would do again is have my team help with the day. Although we were in the very early stages, Firefly was there as the wedding coordinator making sure that everything I had planned came to life. I didn’t have to set up, tear down or deal with the nitty gritty on my wedding day and I will forever be thankful for that.
