everAFTER magazine

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I wish someone had told me! Our couples share their advice

When planning your wedding, there are things that are nice to know, and there are things you need to know— some advice so essential any couple who's lucky enough to hear it thinks, "I'm so glad someone told me that!" Here’s a few pieces of advice our couples share that you may just wish someone had told you!

Anna & Owen

Photo Jessie Dains

“We envisioned exactly how we wanted the day to feel and then aimed to create that vibe. I think a great wedding has two important aspects. First of all there’s the styling and the food and drink service. However that alone is not enough. You also need to add warmth and a sense of yourselves to make it unique. For example we had fun reception entry music, trivia cards for the guests and tables named after special places.”

“Another great tip we learnt was that people mingle wherever you put the bar. Our bar was situated next to the dance floor so everyone was always together, whether they were dancing or grabbing a drink.”


Elisha & Michael

“Planning a wedding can be a whirlwind. While it can sometimes feel all-consuming and exhausting, the actual day is over in the blink of an eye.  Appreciate the planning time as it’s so exciting and you’ll look back on that time later and yearn to experience it all over again.”

Sarah & Lance

Photo Ben Yew

“I think a wedding can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. At times Lance and I found it difficult to manage our family’s expectations and their ideas about how our wedding should be but on the day we were so excited, all the planning had been worth it. We paused and really savoured the moment of a sweet and amazing day. It was incredibly special because at the end of the evening Lance announced our pregnancy to our guests.”

Amelia & William

Photo Blossom Daisy Creative

“Choose vendors that you get along really well with. You spend a large chunk of the day with them and if you get along it makes such a difference. Our celebrant Sally was really joyful and friendly and made us feel really relaxed on the day. Similarly, Cass, our photographer was just a delight and went above and beyond to help us. We will never forget all the vendors who helped make the day so amazing and special for us to experience.”

Sarah & Mitch

“Go with an open mind that things can change even at the last minute. Also important if you are having a destination wedding, to arrive at least two to three days before the wedding. So important to have a little downtime to relax.”

Annie & Andrew

Photo Lost in Love Photography

“The best piece of advice would be to hire an on the day co-ordinator.  When you have 100 or more guests attending a brunch, potentially at your own home, stress levels during preparation can become pretty high! Delegating all the set up tasks to a trusted vendor will save you so much stress in the lead up and on the day itself.  We hired a drinks caravan to serve our guests and at the end of the day the only thing we needed to clean up were the empty boxes.  I’d probably still be cleaning up now if we hadn’t!  Invest in the larger things that will take your attention away from your guests on the day, our wedding weekend was just as much a celebration for us as it was our parents and we didn’t want to have any unnecessary pressure placed on them by the way of organising set up or pack down.”