As a Cairns Wedding photographer who has seen, documented, and attended heaps of weddings over the years and planned my own wedding (ok, my wife did most of the planning) I hope my knowledge of having a stress-free wedding day will help you tremendously. It’s one of the biggest life events you will ever have to plan and weddings can be stressful as there’s so much that you have to organise.
Wedding planning tips, timeline assistance and vendors recommendation are of course something I provide all my clients but I thought I would pack up my best tips in this blogs for those I won't have the privilege to meet.
Remember that your main goal is to have fun on that special day, so if anything goes wrong, don’t panic and simply find an alternative solution.
Wet Weather Plan
When you choose Cairns, Port Douglas or anywhere else in Far North Queensland there is one thing that might happen more than other places in Australia, RAIN. Even during our dryer months (Jun-Jul-Aug), there is a small chance of showers so please make sure your venue has a wet weather plan B. You do not want to be worrying about rain on your wedding day, you want to be enjoying yourself, relax in the knowledge that no matter what happens, you’ll have a wonderful day!
2 Create a Timeline
This is probably one of the more important tips for a stress-free wedding day. Your timeline can control how easily your day flows or affect how anxious and rushed it feels. Since a lot of the day revolves around taking photos and video during available daylight, it is usually the photographer who makes the timeline (working around your set ceremony time etc). I suggest reaching out to your professional wedding photographer for advice or have him create a timeline for you. Your photographer should know how long he needs for the wedding party group shots (and the like). By not consulting your photographer or videographer about timing, you might not get the best time of the daylighting wise for your creative session and it won’t be their fault if you don’t end up with all of the photos and shots you want.
A simple thing to keep in mind is that everything will take longer than you think it will ;)
Break in your wedding shoes
Make sure you pre-wear your wedding shoes as much as you can before the wedding day. The last thing you want is blisters and sore feet on your wedding day. Wear them around the house with a thick pair of socks to stretch them out a bit. Bring along a pair of flat shoes that you can slip on while shooting photos outdoors or after the first dance. Either way, make sure you or your bridesmaids pack Band-Aids in your purse on the day, just in case.
Eat breakfast and Hydrate
Breakfast is the most important meal of every day so even so more on your BIG day. You’ll be up early and will feel like you do not stop from the moment you open your eyes until midnight when you finally get to bed. Too often brides do not eat anything until the reception that evening. You might also have a few drinks by the end of the day and on an empty stomach, not the best! You’ll probably also be tired from lack of sleep the night before. So, make sure you eat light yet filling breakfast in the morning. Ask your venue to have a light breakfast brought to your room. Drink plenty of water the day before and the morning of your wedding to stay hydrated throughout the day, Cairns can get hot even during winter!
Delegate
You cannot, and will not, be capable of managing everything on the day of your wedding. Ask your good friends, siblings, or anyone close to you on the day, to help with little jobs. Knowing you have someone taking care of the important tasks like picking up or delivering the cake, will help you relax. Designate a go-to person who knows just as much about the wedding as you do. In most cases, this is the maid of honor or sibling. Give your mobile phone to one of your bridesmaids or even a family member on the day of the wedding. That way, they can help to deal with any issues like transportation of guests and late flower deliveries.
Something Might go Wrong
No matter how big or small that something can be it's ok, your day will still be PERFECT!! People aren’t perfect and you can’t control every little thing. Take it as it comes, don’t let it get to you, it will just add to your unique wedding day story. Weddings can be stressful, and it is easy to place so much pressure on the day and yourself. Remember the actual reason you are celebrating today, you are marrying the love of your life! No one is going to notice the little something that didn't go as planned, zippers will break, flower girls will cry, and what matters at is your marriage. Just enjoy this special time with your soulmate, family and friends!!
Soak it all up
Your wedding day will fly by, it’s a busy day full of hair, makeup, photography and videography, jumping from one place to the other on a tight schedule. Make sure you set aside some time to just enjoy the moment with your husband. Sneak away from the reception for ten minutes, have a quick drink together privately in your room before the reception, or even book yourselves a private car from the ceremony to the reception, just so you can spend a little bit of time together as husband and wife for the first time before the craziness of the reception.
I really hope this wedding planning blog will help you with your wedding photography and videography in Cairns, Port Douglas or Palm Cove. As a wedding photographer and videographer, I am always happy to help so do not hesitate to ask me any questions you may have HERE.