I have photographed hundreds of weddings and thought it would be fun to ask my past clients and friends what did they regret not doing at their wedding. Some of the things will surprise you!
Here is the list in their own words…
QUESTION: What do you regret not doing at your wedding?
I regret not inviting less guests.
I wish I had stuck to a smaller group to celebrate with. 7 years later there are ALOT of randos in our wedding photos that were coworkers or friends on the outskirts of our friend groups. So much money was spent on them and it meant that I was playing hostess all night instead of spending it with my loved ones. ~ Cory
We regret not saving our money on party favors.
I wish I had spent that money somewhere else like hiring a better photographer. ~Lisa
Wasting time going table to table.
I really had the best day ever and wouldn’t change a thing. I would say- speak up for what you want, tell someone if you don’t like something, take deep breaths and take in your whole day. I put my buffet table closer to my sweetheart table so I could smile at everyone instead of wasting time going table to table. I ate, I drank, had cake, and danced A LOT. I spent 45k on a party, you bet I’m getting my monies worth! ~Krystal
Not liking my hair and makeup.
I wish I would have spoken up about not liking my hair and makeup which I paid a lot of money to have professionally done. I also wish I would have booked a stylist to come to me to get myself and my bridesmaids ready because going to the salon on my wedding day was hectic and overwhelming, it also made us late to the church. I literally got there and had to walk down the aisle. I didn’t hang any photos because I hate the way my hair and makeup looked that day. ~Sarah
Wasting time in the receiving line.
It would have been better to spend that same time talking a little more around the room. ~Deborah
We regret not hiring a videographer.
I chose fireworks over videographer and then no one recorded my son’s impromptu speech. I was heartbroken especially when we realized a few weeks later that we came in about $2k under budget. But.. on the flip side, I’m super thankful that everyone was really in the moment. Everyone truly seemed to keep their phones tucked away. ~Kristen
We regret not booking a photographer for the rehearsal dinner.
Wish we’d booked a photographer for the rehearsal dinner as well. ~Ashley
We regret not hiring a wedding planner.
Wish we would have had a wedding planner and a videographer. ~Samantha
We wish we had a day of coordinator.
I don’t have regrets. I knew that photography and video was the most important thing to me. It’s all that is left all these years later. I scaled back everything else including the guest list. If I had the money for a planner or day-of coordinator , that would have been the only thing I would change. Day of, you don’t want to be setting up your reception area. ~Ann
We regret not having more us time.
We worried so much about saying hi to every guest and making sure people were having a good time. ~Elizabeth
I regret not trying on more dresses.
I loved mine but I might’ve found one I liked more if I was willing to try in styles I thought I didn’t want. Also, I didn’t love my photographer. Everything flies by and all you have to remember all the pretty details you paid for, which are the pictures. Photography is priceless. ~Heather
We regret not having a longer reception.
This may not be the popular answer but I wish we had a longer reception! We had 120 guests (including family/bridal party) and I wish we had more time to mingle! ~Riette
We regret not having the same venue for both wedding and reception.
I wish I had the wedding and reception at the same place. Getting all the people from the wedding site to the reception site was such a pain. ~Charlie
I regret not having an intimate wedding.
I regret having a big wedding. I wish we would’ve done something just for us. Elope. Quiet, intimate. ~Elizabeth
I regret not having a videographer and not speaking up about my makeup.
My makeup was too heavy (regret not insisting on it being lightened after being called a bridezilla) and regret not having a videographer. I had an acquaintance ask me whether he could video the day who was a videographer but he bailed the morning of and I had no backup. ~Angelique
We regret not hiring the best photographer.
All the photographers I loved were over $5K. We only budgeted $4K for photography and videography. I wish we would have skipped getting a videographer (we only watched the video once) and put all our budget into photography. We found a photographer for $2500 and they were okay but missed so many important moments and photos. I do not even have a photo of me and my mom together and she passed away shortly after our wedding. I tell all my friends getting married not to skimp on photography or they will regret it. I think I will never get over this regret! ~Michelle
We regret not eloping.
Wish we would have eloped to a fabulous location and hired a fabulous photographer to take photos for us. ~Sabryna
I regret not having an unplugged wedding.
Looking back at the video and photos and seeing everyone on their phones makes me so sad. ~Rachel
I regret not taking it easy the night before our big day.
I regret drinking too much the night before our wedding. I did not feel so great on our wedding day but thankfully Hydrate Medical does house calls and my planner arranged an IV for me which helped a lot but I still regret drinking too much. ~Kelsey
I regret not breaking in my wedding shoes.
My feet were killing me before I even walked down the aisle. It is all I could think of. The only saving grace was that I had flip-flops as a party favor by the dance floor. I put some on as soon as we finished the photos! ~Evelyn
We regret not getting to eat our wedding food.
I’ll tell you my favorite thing we did – we had designated friends called drama police. Anyone starting to cause drama would be escorted out or talked to without us knowing a thing. I regret not getting to eat our food…I wish we could have eaten by ourselves and then come out to say hi to guests. ~Leigh
We regret not putting out desserts in the best location.
The wedding and reception were perfect. But I wish we would have put the desserts in a better location. Most people missed them because my wife and I did not do a cake because we don’t like cake lol. But other than that my wedding was perfect. ~Nich
We regret not packing up food for AFTER the reception.
I barely ate (so excited and so much going on). By the time we got back to the hotel late, I was STARVING and nothing was open! ~Holly