i’m going to start this out by saying marriage is awesome. i’ve only been married for 7 months now so i am by no means an expert but i can and have looked back on my day with some major take aways. did everything go as planned? as far as i know, they did, but that’s because if they didn’t, i did not want to know. was it the happiest day of my life? you bet it was. did my dress stay in pristine condition? haha, 45 minutes into the reception + a little stumble resulted into the dumping of an entire cup of coffee on my gown. did it ruin my night? heck no! a little soda water ( and miraculously, white wine ) and i was good as new!

i had some amazing people by my side giving me tips throughout the process on how to make my wedding day the best day ever. at first i thought, yeah yeah… these are just things everyone says. but, let me tell you… you are in control on your day. if you make it the best day of your life it absolutely will be.

below are 5 tips that helped me make the most out of the most magical day of my life. i hope they can do the same for you, because memories on your wedding are some of the most special and treasured times.

1. don’t sweat the small stuff

when your big day comes around, don’t worry about everything working out. there are so many moving pieces to a wedding that it is inevitable that something goes wrong. and when it does, don’t sweat it. in fact, you probably won’t even know if something did go wrong. i put my maid of honor in charge of any issues or assistance needed. your friends ( especially bridesmaids ) are there to support you and make sure you have a great time. don’t be afraid to ask them for help. especially with communications or stresses that could take away from you enjoying every single moment.

 don’t let anything get in the way of having the best time of you life. in the end, you get to marry the man or woman of your dreams and you get to do life with them. y’all it’s an incredible journey. and let’s be real, you worked way too hard to make your day perfect for it to be anything less than that. so focus on the big picture. if there’s a hiccup, embrace it and move on.

2. remember it is your wedding

well yours and your spouses of course. whatever you do, do not feel pressured to make everyone happy at your wedding. that is never going to happen. make sure your day is a reflection of you and your spouse. remember, that is who is being celebrated. weddings can bring out all kinds of emotions in people and sometimes even a little crazy. as a bride, you want to make sure everyone enjoys themselves fully, but you must always keep the bigger picture in mind and do what’s best for the majority. in every wedding there is always someone with an opinion. listen to all suggestions, but take them with a grain of salt. you don’t have to do anything by the book. there are no rules and no regulations. if you want to serve dessert first, because that’s the way you and your spouse do it, eat dessert first! your guests are there to celebrate and support you. not the other way around.

3. be in the moment

on your big day, take a deep breath. in fact, take lots of deep breaths. i’m sure you’ve heard a million times before, but your day will go by so quickly. make sure to soak up every single moment you can. when else do you get to be surrounded by all the people you love most just to celebrate your love? it is such a special time.

i remember just stopping to look around and take mental pictures because everything felt so surreal. it felt as if i was walking through a dream that i never want to wake up from. it’s a feeling i will never forget and forever cherish.

4. hire a good photographer

memories last a lifetime but so do photos. hiring a photographer that you enjoy being around and are able to honestly communicate your expectations with is key. you cannot go back and replicate the moments in time, so be sure to hire someone to capture them for you. going back and looking through wedding photos still gives me butterflies, as i hope it always does.

these pictures are ones that i will forever treasure and cannot wait to someday look through all of them again with my children and grandchildren and tell them about the most magical day of my life.

5. be thankful

this one doesn’t need much of an explanation. for all things, be thankful. be thankful you get to marry your best friend. be thankful the people you love most are all in one room, because you brought them together. be thankful for the memories. be thankful for all the love in the room. and be thankful all the planning is over!

my husband and i asked our wedding planner to make sure to pull us aside so we could have a moment to ourselves to take it all in at our wedding. this moment was incredible. david and i went for a walk and found a bench and just sat next to one another feeling blessed beyond measure and so thankful for everything.

your wedding day may not go exactly as planned, but if you find the beauty in the imperfections you will have the most perfect day.

shop some of my favorite bridal pieces

shop little white dresses

shop wedding shoes

xoxo | jasmine

 

photography by: chelsea q white photgraphy
Follow:

       choosing your bridesmaids can be tough. you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or have anyone feel left out, but the decision has to be made. once that decision is made, you have the fun task of choosing the dress for your bridesmaids. for some, this may see daunting. for others, it’s a blast! i used three simple steps to help ease my decision process and ultimately found the perfect dress.

my husband and i both looked at our lives and felt beyond blessed to be surrounded by such incredible people. if it were up to us, everyone we loved would have been by our sides as we said “i do.” of course, that’s not how it actually goes.. but i guess on your wedding day you really can do whatever you please :).

 my biggest deciding factor was, “who do i trust to call when i need advice or just need to vent?” once i asked myself that question, the answer was clear as day. i chose my best friends, the girls i enjoy spending time with [this is very important as you will be spending lots of time with them], and the girls that know me best. i wrote down a dream list if you will, to compare numbers with my husband’s groomsmen dream list [fiancé at the time]. when we both showed our lists, our numbers were identical. my dream list consisted of 12 girls, and his dream list consisted of 12 men. it turned out being one of the easiest wedding decision we had to make.

once numbers were decided, the next big decision was, “what do they wear?” i wanted an all white wedding with touches or natural greenery and gold. i wanted the bridesmaid dresses to go with the theme. i spent countless hours searching for gold dresses and sequined dresses [it was a NYE wedding!] but nothing screamed out my name. i even considered adding a touch of maroon and pink to the mix [still think that color palette is just breathtaking] but all white, gold and natural greenery was still my number 1 choice. my back up plan, which i was trying to avoid, was to have the girls where white dress – which i’m not opposed to, but  h e l l o, it was my wedding day. all white would have been beautiful, but there is something special about standing out for your new husband on your special day.

instead, i started looking at more neutral palettes. i searched for quite sometime until i stumbled upon the dress. it was perfect. it was whimsical and dreamy, flirty but classy and exactly what i had been looking for. i had an idea of what i wanted when i started my search. i wanted it to be fairytale-like and flowly. i was cautious about complimenting every different body-type, i wanted the dresses to be fun but leave some to the imagination if you know what i mean… there were multiple dresses that would fit the bill, but i knew this was the one.

just to rain on my parade, the dress was being discontinued and had only a few sizes left. i had 12 bridesmaids. 12. i knew by the time i had them all order the dress on their own, the dress would have been sold out. which would have meant i was back to square one. so, i naturally did what any crazed and sleep-deprived bride-to-be would do. i ordered 27 dresses. i wanted to make sure everyone had the size that made them most comfortable, so i stayed up all night guessing what size would fit who best, buying 2, sometimes 3 dresses just to make sure at least one of them would fit. totally normal, right?

in end the end, the dresses could not have been more perfect. everyone had a dress that fit them perfectly and each one of the girls looked absolutely stunning as they confidently walked down the aisle and stood by my side.

my 3 biggest determining factors were

1) ask yourself, “is this dress something i would wear?”

if it is, then that tells you the dress is your style. as the bride, you are the one that decided on your theme, your dress, your decor, your venue, your everything… because it was all a part of your style. so trust your judgement. if it passes step one, then you are more than likely right on target.

2) ask yourself, “is this dress something i would buy?”

not because of its style, we cleared that up with step one. step two is based solely on cost. weddings add up fast for both the bride and the wedding party. if you are asking your bridesmaids to purchase a dress [which is completely normal and very common– to all you brides who purchase your bridesmaids dresses for your girls, you go girl!] would you spend the amount of money on the dress that you are asking your bridesmaids to spend? i recommend setting a maximum amount prior to even beginning your search. most online stores will allow you to categorize by price. make this a priority. your girl squad will appreciate it so much.

3) does this dress have the potential for any “oopsies”

one thing to keep in mind is that everyone has a different body-type. for me, having 12 bridesmaids, i had to make sure the dress was okay for girls of all letters of the alphabet… you catch my drift? i also wanted to make sure that it was a comfortable dress that made everyone feel as radiant as they looked. i didn’t want anyone having any restrictions or hesitations breaking it down on the dance floor, all the while avoiding any “oopsie” janet jackson moments. the one shoulder was perfect for what i was looking for. it added a little extra support without taking away the flirty and fun look of the dress.

if you need any help finding the perfect dress, shoot me an e-mail. i would love to help!! hello@jasmineelias.com

shop bridesmaid dresses

x o | j a s m i n e

photography by: chelseaqwhite

Follow: