About a week before her wedding, one of the brides I’ve worked with responded to my email with this:
WOW! I needed to hear this, Courtney! “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful” is now my wedding mantra (Nothing like setting a mantra 15 days out, LOL) but hey, I needed the reminder and I think with Wedding day chaos around the corner it was perfect timing!
Raise your hand if you’re a recovering perfectionist…
If we’re being honest, I’m not! ~gasp~ BUT I do have some perfectionist tendencies that come out when I don’t chill out…
Which is where The Nester’s “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful” comes in nicely.
In this blog, part 1 of a 3 part series, I’m chatting all about how we can OVERCOME perfection and live by the idea that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful when planning a wedding..
Planning
Planning can be the bane of our existence or the love of your life — whichever you choose though, it can be quite stressful.
There’s SO STINKING MUCH that goes into planning a wedding.
Budget? Photography? Videography? Flowers? Dresses? Tuxes? Venues? Live Wedding Painters? And that doesn’t even cover HALF of the things most people have for a wedding and with their wedding.
Well, my friend, I’m here to free you from the struggle of having the “perfect” plans. Because if you’ve heard the old adage the best laid plans…
Well, here are some perfectly planned but unforeseen occurrences I’ve seen:
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The cake melts because it’s so hot outside
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The door for the “special” bride and groom entrance is LOCKED*
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The cake falls
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The bride’s dress gets stepped on and ripped*
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The groom forgets his hair gel and the Oklahoma wind isn’t forgiving…*
*happened on my wedding day
So , YES — you want your day to be perfect. You should be absolutely serious about every single detail. This is one of THE most important days of your life, for goodness sakes.
What I’m saying is don’t let the fear of what other people think, the fear of not doing it right, the fear of “not enough” make you attempt perfection because honestly? It just won’t happen.
And spoiler alert — your wedding day will be PERFECT either way, not because of the venue or the photographer or the flowers, but because of who you’re marrying.
Rehearsing
My rehearsal dinner was BEAUTIFUL. Good food, good people. It was lovely. And to be honest, I don’t know the details of the rehearsal because I didn’t plan it!
But let’s back up before the rehearsal dinner and talk about the REHEARSAL.
People will be late (human nature at it’s finest y’all). Brides — it’s not about you it’s about them. Seriously. It has NOTHING to do with you so let it go (sung like Elsa in Frozen).
You know the phrase “Prepare for the worst, expect the best”? Use that to your advantage, friend.
Anyway, the bottom line with the rehearsal is that THAT’S WHY THERE’S A REHEARSAL — so everyone knows what they’re doing the day of the wedding.
(if only they went over all the words you say beforehand too! Definitely don’t want a Ross moment…)
Wedding
Ahh the wedding day. As I’m writing this I’m picturing the scene from Father of the Bride where George walks in and Annie says she’s ready to get married, and shows him her special bridal Sidekicks.
Even ANNIE BANKS had problems on her wedding day. Franck and Howard shoveled snow (for free) for crying out loud, the tulips had to be defrosted, and the swans spent the morning in a lukewarm bath. And George? When asked “Who gives this woman to this man?” If you remember what he said, he said “I do.” which never ceases to make me laugh.
Julia Roberts RAN AWAY (Runaway Bride).
Amanda Seifried found her dad (kind of) (Mama Mia!).
And so many more!
I’m not saying this to make you fearful of your wedding day — quite the opposite. My point in all of this is that (say it with me) IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT TO BE BEAUTIFUL.
Your wedding day will be a dream, a fairytale, a moment unlike any other. You’re serious about your wedding day, and I get that. I’m serious about capturing your wedding day timelessly. When you give up trying to make it PERFECT, and enjoy the process, enjoy the moments, and enjoy the CELEBRATION. Try not to worry too much about all the other details. If you need some vendor recs, I GOT YOU.
LET’S MAKE YOUR DAY AS EASY ON YOU AS POSSIBLE.
So, how to overcome perfection on your wedding day? ENJOY. Don’t overthink it, just ENJOY.
And if you’re picking up what I’m putting down, let me paint your wedding for you.
I’m as serious about your wedding as you are, and I want you to know it can be beautiful without making your head spin. Friend, in my heart of hearts I believe IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT TO BE BEAUTIFUL, but it does have to last forever to be a timeless heirloom.
Don’t miss the chance to touch and hold your wedding in your hand with a beautiful artifact hand painted with love and care.
Let’s get in touch and start planning the heirloom of your dreams.
