We all need advice when it comes to planning a wedding. There are so many things to think about and do… So, we have pulled together pieces of advice from our couples we have interviewed in our real wedding blogs.

Coming from lots of different couples from all walks of life, you will be sure to seek some advice from this compilation. The most popular advice “Do it for you and no one else. It is your day and you need to ensure you enjoy every moment of it.”

If you haven’t hired a wedding planner, at the very least, get a reliable friend to be the go to person on the day, and of course use your wedding planner book. Give your friend’s contact details to all the vendors involved on the day. And of course – don’t take it too seriously. Enjoy the day even if things go wrong!

– A Creative Modern Chinese-Australian Wedding at Vieille Branche

Things will go wrong. Don’t panic, focus on solutions not problems.

Surround yourself with people you love and trust that will not concern you with trivial admin questions on your wedding day. DELEGATE – Choosing the right bridal party, MCs and ushers will help you with this! If at the end of the day you and your fiancé are married and you have had fun it is a successful day! Remember that a wedding should be fun and planning it should be fun. Don’t take yourself too seriously and don’t worry too much about getting your dress grubby. I know we will get some great photos we will cherish forever as I was happy getting into the sand and grass and sticks (and cow poo) in my dress. Have a bridal party kit with you at all times during the day in case of headache, hair or dress malfunction, make up crisis, blister etc. It is a long day so some makeup wipes and deodorant may just be the difference.     Put about $2000 in your budget for incidentals – you would be surprised what you end up needing to buy!

Weddings are an emotional time for everyone – be aware of each other’s feelings. Try not to get too fixated on certain things you think you want or need for your wedding day, the more flexible you are the less stressed you will be!

– A Waiorongomai Farm Heritage Wedding

Enjoy the day or in our case days it goes by so fast! We decided on a videographer at the last second and it was worth every penny! Oh and don’t worry about the weather! Two weddings, two days of torrential rain!

– An Elegant Urban (Second) Wedding

Stick to the kind of wedding you feel completely comfortable with! After all it is your special day and you want to have an amazing one. P.S If you decide to throw your bouquet make sure you have lots of room for the girls! We had a bit of an unfortunate bouquet brawl (accident) that resulted in one of my bridesmaids having to have surgery on her wrist the week after the wedding, she did get the bouquet though so I suppose it was all worth it!

– An Intimate Rustic Matamata Farm Wedding

Don’t sweat the small stuff, keeping numbers down makes it so much more enjoyable and having a wedding planners was the best decision EVER!!     

– Bohemian Bali Beach Wedding

Do it for you and no one else. It is your day and you need to ensure you enjoy every moment of it. The idea of marriage is being a team, for us it is sharing food with the other human, sitting in the car for 10 minutes contemplating which café to go to, being the ultimate team at concerts together, seeing the world, putting on your old track pants and watching a Sunday film. It’s all about appreciating life’s little beauties as well as the big accomplishments as they all shape you as a couple.

– Bohemian Rustic Whangateau Wedding

Enjoy every moment of being engaged as it fly’s by so quickly and is such a special and exciting time in your lives. Also try not to stress! This is a hard one and something I struggled to do while organising our Wedding from England but it is so important and allows you to enjoy the whole process. Everything always comes together on the day and all those little details you spent months stressing about are all forgotten. If it all seems too much take a moment and remind yourself that ultimately it is about you and the love of your life celebrating your commitment to each other with all your family and friends and nothing could be more beautiful or special than that.                  

– Chic Autumn Markovina Vineyard Wedding

Have fun! You often hear that planning a wedding can sometimes be quite stressful and cause tension – if you let it. Remember your wedding day is one of the most important days of your lives, think about why and how you fell in love with each other and enjoy the experience together.

– Elegant Rustic Kourawhero Estate Wedding

Decide early what your priorities and non-negotiables are, as well as the things you don’t mind skimping on. It will help with keeping to the budget later on. For example we didn’t care so much about rings and flowers and table settings, for us we wanted to spend our money on the things that would give our guests the best time possible – good food, good wine, good music.

– Minimalist Cultural Fusion Wedding

Get your a into g and get things sorted quickly so you can relax the weeks before ! Especially the girls! Don’t fuss on all the small extra things you can get for a wedding – it all adds up .. fast!! Keep your wedding list to who you want and who makes you happy as a couple. Enjoy your day it’s true it goes so fast!

– Minimalist Floral Inspired Waikato Wedding

Get the big things done early – caterer, photographer, venue etc and then you have time to enjoy being engaged before the few months before the wedding when things start to step up!

Don’t make it complicated – my dad always said it’s about the love between you and your partner not about what you’re wearing, or how you have dressed the tables. Enjoy the journey together – keep a wedding planning journal, write lists, prioritise don’t try and do everything in one day, use the people around you that want to help. One thing I am glad Tom and I did on our wedding day was, we stepped outside together just the two of us, just after the first dance and we reflected on the day that 5 minutes of us time was special as we caught our breath and just talked about how amazing it all is!

– Queenstown Hilltop Wedding with a Festival Vibe

Involve each other in the decisions, draw from help from friends and family, it really does help lighten the stress load. Focus on things you and your guests will enjoy on the day, such as the food and drinks, the activities, the running of the day and program, things that are experienced. Once it’s all done those are the details which will be remembered, rather than fine detail decorations or wedding favors. On the morning of the day leave any stress behind and accept that all that you could have done has been done and the rest will be as it is to be. A glass of bubbles and laughs with your bridesmaids is also a good nerve cure and a good way to get you excited!  

– Relaxed Floral Inspired Old Forest School Wedding

Weddings are expensive, so prioritize (no matter what your budget) what you are happy to spend money on and what areas you are able to make some savings in or what you don’t think are essentials. Communicate with your fiancé as much as possible and be willing to compromise on some aspects if need be.

– Romantic & Seriously WOW in Waikato

Make sure you enjoy the engagement! It is such an amazing experience and time spent with your partner, friends and family so don’t rush to get it all over too soon! We were engaged for nearly 18 months before we got married and it also meant we could book the important stuff well in advance to secure dates, then enjoy ourselves before worrying about all the small stuff.

– Romantic Lake Okareka Wedding

In wedding planning nothing ever 100% goes your way, vendors may cancel, the weather could be horrible but I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. Looking back on our wedding planning, when certain things happened that were out of our control we chose a different route and it all worked out even better than we had imagined. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help, delegate, delegate and delegate!

– Rustic Chic at Birkenhead Yacht Club

We got engaged a year and a half before the wedding but due to family reasons and difficult time planning, it was put on hold until the end of 2016. In middle of November, we made a decision on the date, so it meant that we had 2 and a half months to organize. It didn’t sound that crazy or scary to us. But as soon as we were getting questions such as “Are you talking about 2018?” or comments like “Wow, that is soon” we realized that some people saw it as a short time to plan. So our advice would be: don’t stress too much, if you have a plan and have thought about every part of the day it will all fall into place. It’s such a special day, so with all the planning don’t forget to just to enjoy it.

– Rustic Chic Katikati Orchard Wedding

You know, we love a good party and wanted it to be so special for our people but in the end it just came down to the fact that on the day with everyone there it was going to be epic no matter what, which it was! So I guess in short don’t get caught up in the minute details, it will all fall into place and you will all have the most amazing time!

– A Coastal Chic Wedding