To make sure they saw everyone at their wedding, one couple I know actually handed out the dinner plates at the start of the buffet line. The groom is always the guy at parties who's cooking and making sure everyone is fed, so it was especially fitting and a really special (and efficient) way for them to see and thank all of their guests and keep the line moving towards food!
I'm divorced but if I were to get married again I would want to repeat: I got the first dance songs of all the married couples and played them during the cocktail hour and people got to have a special moment for them as they heard them. Some people even danced to their song while we were taking pictures it was so special
People don’t watch movie older than 3 years…. Me just finished her video about seating charts from 4 years ago 😂 oops. I love her videos!! It’s helping me plan my own wedding now!!
Crying @ “stop and look at your husband and say holy smokes we’re married” 😭😭 Getting married in nov of this year (2024) thank you for all your videos/ help jaime!
Can I say- The receiving line was KEYYYY!!!! We got married on Saturday!!! We saw every single guest (140) as they exited the church and got to talk to them all, but they had to keep it pushing because of everyone else behind them! Then at dinner we got to relax and got to see everyone on the dance floor!!!
I’ve been watching you for so long because I used to want to be a wedding planner/was a coordinator’s assistant. Now I’m watching you because I’m engaged ❤😢
The photographer we hired for our future wedding is such an MVP. He said he will not charge us extra to stay for the whole night so he can do sunset pictures and last dance pictures. 😁
Friends who got married this summer did a "table photo" where every table of guests were called forward and one table tried to one-up the other and now they have pictures of everyone :) also, after taking the picture with them, the people from the table were supposed to move to the buffet line
Best thing at my reception was having a caller for a couple of English Country Dances (thing Pride and Prejudice) since that is something my husband and I love doing. It was something super unique to us that we got to share with all our friends!
As excited as I am for my wedding, I’ll be sad when it’s over for the sole reason that I won’t have a reason to watch Jamie’s wedding UA-cam channel anymore
Me : the bride who's been married few years still watching this. Especially on the other side her aita videos are great and for this one was just curious if I did a good job listening to her or if I ended up with some of them just for curiosity. So yes alot less but still she has good ones and on the other side just about of respect for Jamie :) and enjoy her content.
Not married. Not engaged. Not even in a relationship. I’m subscribed! :D (Good to know info for the future & I lovvve all things weddings, wedding planning, etc. lol)
I like the idea of a receiving line, but it's to take the photo with the bridge groom - that way you get to say hello and thank the guest for coming, and you get a nice photo too - I've seen it done a few times, and it's sweet. We also want to do an afternoon wedding (our guests are older, or have little kids), amd that way if anyone gets tired, we get to still spend some time together :) (also, love the idea of a quiet moment, I know I'll need it, and my introverted beau will too ❤)
I’m a photographer and we do either pictures with tables or have the dj announce for people to come up and take turns taking pictures with the couple. Way better than calling up by table but also I’m Mexican and our tables are not numbered and seats are not assigned so that wouldn’t really work anyway
After talking with my haidresser for my wedding, we décide that i would go the day before for a hair wash so she can prep my hair for my big day. The curls stay untill the day after my wedding and I Danced a LOT! For reference, my haïr are super straight and usually dont hold curls
Also, since we did a first look, we greets and take a pictures with every guest as they arrive, we printed them for personalise thank you note and they loved that
Hi all, current wife and past bride. Jamie's videos and The Master Plan were essential to keeping me on budget, on track, and with my goals for the day in mind. 18 months I married my husband in our backyard. (no, its not some amazing property, it's a 1/4 acre in a blue collar neighborhood). we had 56 people, 2 dogs, BBQ catering, a DJ, rented tables chairs etc. dress, flowers, rings, etc all for under $4,000. Here is what my biggest takeaways from Jamie helped me to create: I only invited the most important people in my life, the one who my heart would break without inviting them (yep, i left out extended family that i'm not close with in order to invite friends who are like family) The food had to be good, but not the worlds best food (mission BBQ catered our wedding, good food, great price) It was super important to make sure my guests were comfortable and having fun (I built an amenities station with shawls, fans, heart sunglasses, blankets, flipflops, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, moist towelettes, mints, candies, etc so that any obstacle was handled. i also had lawn games and arts and crafts ((i know my demographic)) so that everyone could enjoy themselves. this also gave us a lot of ways to interact with our guests. my husband and i walked into our home after the ceremony and closed the door behind us. no one was with us, and had time to soak in the experience and be married for those first moments. most importantly, i worked so hard to plan such a great day on such a small budget. I STILL HAD A DAY-OF COORDINATOR! I had someone who could ensure that my hardwork went off without a hitch, more over I didnt feel stressed worrying about it all coming together. someone else kept the timeline, me, and my sanity in check! DO IT!
I’ve fully gotten out of conversations at parties with “ooooh I’m sorry I’ve been waiting for this song all night I’ll be back”(spoiler alert I don’t come back🤣😂) and just dash to the dance floor and 9 times out of 10 the person I say it to gets it. But yea even if it isn’t pretend “this song right now” is the ONE you’ve been waiting for
We had to push our wedding back but it is coming up in less than three weeks now. Thank you for the pep talk at the end there. I have a couple things to do still but have delegated a fair amount of it at this point because it is just A LOT. I am going to make sure to get the rest of the payments taken care of beforehand that will definitely help.
Thank you for mentioning the "pause to take it all in" regret! We're planning a quick chapel wedding in Vegas with 10 of our nearest and dearest, but I don't want it to just fly by so quickly that I don't stop and notice how happy we are to be there. Do you think I could still get value out of the master plan if we're doing such a small event?
These videos are so helpful! I am planning my wedding in a foreign country because I work abroad and it is a nightmare trying to coordinate everything. These videos are helping me set priorities and goals. I’m wondering if anyone has any tips on sobriety at weddings. I don’t drink and typically weddings are pretty boring if you’re not at least a little tipsy. Any suggestions in that area? Thank you for everything!
You are so funny! I know some couples plan a wedding re-do for a major anniversary (like 25?). I hope you and your hubby will have another celebration someday!
Of course can you coordinate your own wedding. As long as it is not a near-stately (meaning huge) affair, as long as you keep it simple and you don't have a mile-long list of requests that needs to be met, you can do it. All our family weddings (and many of friends as well) have been self-coordinated, and they'd all been lovely.
Our 2 yr anniversary is tomorrow and I’m still watching you lol BIGGEST REGRET was Not having someone coordinate our day!!! I had someone in mind, but they couldn't attend. I thought because it was a Super casual, at our home wedding, that things would just naturally flow. But Plan A blew up and the time we allotted for first look photos was taken by major technical issues for streaming. The only one who could fix it was of course, the Hubs. So because we lost that photo time, we had to squeeze it in between ceremony and dinner, which was a wood fire pizza horse trailer. Sounds funny but its Napa and it was Awesome. We didn't have cocktail hr since most folks didn't drink. So no one was there to tell them to start nibbling on things already out. It took a long while for someone to actually turn the music on for them and MIL hopped in to tell everyone to start eating. Without us. That still wasn't the biggest issue.....we got to say hi to everyone, got to show a slide show at dinner, but then were taken for pictures of us signing the actual marriage certificate. While we were doing that, SOMEONE STARTED TO CLEAR TABLES. Not just dishes. They were clearing Everything and stacking chairs!!!! I came out and half of it was done, people were leaving and we didn't get to do our dance or play our silly wedding game. The dance was a big deal to me. We didn't have a DJ. Too small and casual. But because the unforseen happened, it bumped the entire schedule back and left no one to take control of the guests who were waiting. We'd been together 11 yrs. I waited THAT long for our special day, and someone literally cut it short. Long story long, Assign a Day of Coordinator if nothing else!!!! I had it planned so we didn't need one, but my plan didn't happen. Obviously looking back, the day was WONDERFUL and better then I imagined it to be. I just wish it was longer after alllllll that went into it.❤
I assigned someone to be a day of coordinator (my sons’ long term girlfriend) and it did help a little. I was the MOB and wedding planner. I didn’t anticipate that the venue would pull us aside for a LONG Sermon about the rules on the day of. My future DIL did that for me but she wasn’t into all the details that much. But it helped that she listed to the sermon so I didn’t have to. I had read the contract -maybe I should have said we have read the rules.
I was checking your channel a year ago when I was doing my venue selection process. Now back again because my big day is less than 2 months!! Grateful for your channel 🙏🏽
I would say that a video walking through specifically finding a good coordinator is so important! We had 2 multiple hour meetings with ours, which was thorough. However, our coordinator then sent me dozens of forms and requests for paragraphs of information to fill out the week of the wedding with a ton of info, which caused me stress and much more work having to fill them in! The coordinator told us they would take over Monday before our Saturday wedding, which ultimately ended in food issues since we told the coordinator about last minute meal changes, but they didn’t tell the caterer. Ultimately, the coordinator also did not fit our vibe and was stressful! I wish we had either had a planner through the process, so we didn’t have to catch them up on everything the week before the wedding, or I wish the coordinator had a way to simplify their process. If there was a specific process that I knew to expect, I would have been much less stressed.
Also a wedding coordinator and I built in naptime to my day! I had a late morning and early afternoon ceremony and reception. Then we had three hours to kill and after party. Great introvert option
We worked with the youth ministry at the church and wanted to invite the families to the ceremony but couldn’t afford all those guests for a meal reception. Despite a lot of pushback, we had two receptions with a 3 hour gap. We did tea and cookies at the church and then a dancing/dinner reception later at a museum. Anyone and everyone could come to the ceremony and first reception, but we had family and close friends only at the later one. The 3 hour gap was the best. We hung out with the bridal party and played games, had snacks, and just chilled and took it all in. The guests took a break or did a fun tour or activity in the city since almost everyone was from out of town. Everyone was refreshed and ready by reception and nothing was rushed. We also knew we wanted to say hi to every guest since so many travelled from out of town. We did the receiving line, table pictures, and a goodbye receiving line before the grand exit so that we said hi to almost every guest at least 3 times and had pictures of everyone. I have been to weddings where the couple never greets the guests and it just strikes me as rude, even though I know it’s a challenge. Traveling from out of town takes a lot and it is rough to spend that effort, money, and time for the couple when they don’t even say hi.
Getting married in 6 months so I truly appreciate all your insightful videos Jamie! I'm a bit of an overthinker and have extreme details planned out already, I'm confident I will have no/few or very small regrets. Taking notes on everything you just said. We're both introverts so we'll definitely be taking your advice on planning alone time!
I have to say this. Ending a wedding at 10/11 is definitely a U.S. thing (and other countries who's wedding cultures I am not aware of). I live in Canada, and the only weddings I've been to that end at 10/11 were all U.S. weddings. The first time it happened was a destination wedding in Hawaii... I thought it had something to do with the noise ordinances of the specific venue the couple chose. Nope, the next two U.S. weddings ended at 10/11. In Canada, the understanding is usually, not always, bar hours. Weddings usually last until 2:00 AM and even longer if you're celebrating in the countryside.
I agree a video about finding the right coordinator/what to look for would be great! I’m also not sure how much money a coordinator costs. I would love to have a wedding planner the whole way through but it seems to be very expensive from what I’ve seen 🤔
Hi Jamie, I just purchased the Master Plan And I am not able to access it. I reached out to support but have not gotten any help on logging in. Please help!! 😩😩
I feel like a freak of nature. I'm getting married in about six weeks, and I'm just soooo unconcerned about everything. Maybe it's because I'm a bit older (over 30), or maybe because I am really invested in the religious side of it, but I'm just happy that having a wedding means I get to marry the love of my life. I am excited that I got my dream bouquet. I'm excited that the cake is pretty and totally my style. But if day of my bouquet is ruined, my curls fall out, my dress tears, and dinner is an hour late somehow....well, we'll still be married. I care that my loved ones come and I want them to enjoy themselves, but I kinda figure day-of disasters make for good stories later.
I chuckled at the "These are all our favorite people" line. My wedding was 25% family members I'd never met or met once at another wedding or funeral. I've had people come up to me in stores telling me they were at my wedding. I had no idea who they were.
Speaking of dancing, thinking about hiring my ballroom dance instructors to attend and dance with attendees. Just to get people on the dance floor. Good idea or no?
I want to add something to point number one, not to be a Debbie Downer, but just to speak to my experience because it happened to me. I would recommend paying for everything for your wedding two weeks before or the week of your wedding. I wanted to pay for everything super far in advance so I’d not worry about it later, so I paid for things like photography in full four months before my wedding, even though the money wasn’t due until much later. Unfortunately, I ended up having to cancel my wedding a little more than a month prior. I had a contract with my photographer, but it didn’t say anything about payments made in advance since that wasn’t expected. There was no place in the contract that explicitly said she had to give me my money back since this scenario wasn’t discussed in the contract (had I paid when it was due, which was 10 days prior, it wouldn’t have been refunded at that point for a cancellation, and that’s the only place payments in full were mentioned). I was devastated, and bridges were definitely burned-I won’t be using that photographer if I get married in the future! Influencer Michel Janse had a similar problem by paying for her makeup in full and then changing her makeup artist after she didn’t like the trial; she didn’t get any of her money back because she’d paid up front. Obviously I wouldn’t wish a cancellation on anyone, but just in case, I would agree to pay in advance but don’t pay TOO far in advance. For my next wedding, I’ll be waiting until closer to my actual wedding date after this experience!
Im sorry it didnt work out for you. What you do for that is you pull the cash out and put it in an envelope in a safe at home then when it comes time you go into your home safe grab labeled envelope and deliver then if something is due day of and if you decide to pay it day of you can either deliver or have person you TRUST WITH MONEY deliver envelope as vendor you told ahead of time to get money from that individual. Don't give someone money just cause they are ___ parent bridesmaid whatever if you don't trust them with money. For me I was able to get some things that were due day of to agree in writing a simply note they wrote to me and send a viaemail or text... they were also willing to meet me at venu right before my rehersal started ( day before if something happened next day their end i would be reimbursement)
As a former vendor myself, I always take final payments 2 weeks out from the wedding and ask about any detail changes then. Also if it isn't too late to try and rebook, I would refund everything but the deposit to cover saving the date and meetings we had. I wouldn't feel right about it unless the client was someone who called once a day leading up to the wedding...then I earned that $$$$. Some states you can't keep the full amount for services not rendered.
I am an officiant and most of my contract states the balance is due two weeks before the ceremony if not paid no ceremony oh and the retainer is non refundable.
I laughed about the whole...I'm ready to be done, I don't want to party until midnight. I have had that happen with SO many of my couples. We talk about strategies ahead of time on how we can navigate an earlier exit for them if needed. Then it's a gentler wrap-up at the end of their venue reservation with no rushing around. Also, it's nice when the couple can actually leave and not have to pack up their stuff at the end of the night.
Jamie!! Most of them are very important to me as a bride but most importantly.... RSVP!! and follow the dress code! Do not bring an uninvited guest (the most annoying). 🤗 Last several years people are just down playing dress codes for weddings 😤, if you enough dress up for a wedding - when will you dress up? Ok, don't show up. No one wants their wedding photos to look like the family bbq last weekend, just saying ppl.
Coming from an introvert who absolutely hates weddings, one thing I liked about the last wedding I had to attend was the couple doing table visits. The bride was a longtime friend but I had never met the groom before that day, and 7 years later I've only met him since on Zoom since they live so far away. So at least I have met him in person once. Table visits make your guests feel seen by the couple, every wedding I went to before that did not do table visits. Whenever I met the couple after the wedding it felt like I hadn't even been at their wedding since I had only seen them at a long distance the entire day. Oh, and church weddings are awful. Maybe it's just because I'm agnostic, but it's a horrible start to the day to be stuck in a church for an hour...
I will be a no makeup bride. I don’t wear make up at all normally not even mascara or lip gloss. Im more insecure in makup and feel like im going insane worried something smuggling or wiped off, becomes unsymmetrical… I’m not putting up with that on my wedding day 😅
Question! Is it too weird to not have a seating chart?? I want the night to feel family style with long tables just filled with people wherever they want to sit
I’ve heard that guests actually prefer seating charts bc they don’t need to stress about where they’re going when they first get there , don’t worry as the reception goes on they’ll probably move around
What can I do to not feel/be awkward at my own wedding. I’m so worried that nobody’s gonna talk to me because I don’t know like half the guests and have never met them and family functions. I always just sit there and nobody ever talks to me. I’m afraid that’s gonna happen at my wedding and it’s gonna be, shitty
The day of payment thing is really alien to me, is that an American thing? I work in something really similar to event organisation, in another country though, and the idea of a vendor asking for money on site is crazy to me. Do you not send your invoices per mail, either before or after?😮
I recommend watching the full video as it is informative but for anyone who maybe already saw the video and just wants a refresher: 12 regrets: 1. Not paying vendors in full ahead of time. 2. Not doing professional hair and/or makeup. 3. Not planning your transportation (people and items). 4. Not hiring/designating a wedding planner and/or day-of coordinator. 5. Not including any alone time. 6. Not spending enough time with the guests. 7. Not being prepared for End time. 8. Not eating properly. 9. Not dancing enough/ not having enough dance time (d/t timeline issues). 10. Not taking a moment to pause and soak and take it all in. 11. Over-worrying/nitpicking things even though chances are, nobody will notice. 12. Not being themselves / doing things the way other people wanted.
We're having to be careful because I'm disabled so I can't stand for long and we're having a small luncheon and we're doing all the stuff ourselves because our budget is tiny.
Being afraid of not seeing everyone at the wedding is 100% we’re doing our pictures before the ceremony and will be present for cocktail hour! I want to mingle and eat the apps!!!!!
As someone from Scotland (where weddings start at 1pm and finish at 1am) is seems completely mad to me that you wouldn't spend time greeting your guests. Maybe not alot of time but it would be considered extremely bad manners for a couple to not at least say hello and chat to every guest for a few minutes. These people have come along way and sometimes spent alot of money to be there for you, you need to recognise that. Maybe it's just a cultural difference.
Weddings in the US have sorta become big productions. Lots of performance and ceremony. And such enormous guests lists that it's often not feasible to greet *everyone*. Even though I got sucked into it, I'm not a fan of the trend. My first wedding (18 years ago) I stopped by every table, but it was exhausting with all the other mini-events going on throughout the night. My next wedding will be far simpler and MUCH smaller. Only 10 guests and none of the frippery.
There are things we've already decided to skip because they're either not important to us or just not our style. No "grand entrance," no bouquet toss, no garter toss, no big speeches. I'm going to DIY my and my bridesmaids' bouquets and the boutonnières and we're getting our cake from Publix. If my family doesn't like something, that's okay. I love them all, but ultimately it's my wedding and not theirs.
To make sure they saw everyone at their wedding, one couple I know actually handed out the dinner plates at the start of the buffet line. The groom is always the guy at parties who's cooking and making sure everyone is fed, so it was especially fitting and a really special (and efficient) way for them to see and thank all of their guests and keep the line moving towards food!
I'm divorced but if I were to get married again I would want to repeat: I got the first dance songs of all the married couples and played them during the cocktail hour and people got to have a special moment for them as they heard them. Some people even danced to their song while we were taking pictures it was so special
People don’t watch movie older than 3 years…. Me just finished her video about seating charts from 4 years ago 😂 oops. I love her videos!! It’s helping me plan my own wedding now!!
Me too! 😂
Same! Some information stays true
😂😂😂 same
Susanna
Crying @ “stop and look at your husband and say holy smokes we’re married” 😭😭
Getting married in nov of this year (2024) thank you for all your videos/ help jaime!
Having the photographer go around to each table and get photos is genius! Especially for a small wedding :) candids and professionals!
Can I say- The receiving line was KEYYYY!!!! We got married on Saturday!!! We saw every single guest (140) as they exited the church and got to talk to them all, but they had to keep it pushing because of everyone else behind them! Then at dinner we got to relax and got to see everyone on the dance floor!!!
I’ve been watching you for so long because I used to want to be a wedding planner/was a coordinator’s assistant. Now I’m watching you because I’m engaged ❤😢
The photographer we hired for our future wedding is such an MVP. He said he will not charge us extra to stay for the whole night so he can do sunset pictures and last dance pictures. 😁
Friends who got married this summer did a "table photo" where every table of guests were called forward and one table tried to one-up the other and now they have pictures of everyone :) also, after taking the picture with them, the people from the table were supposed to move to the buffet line
Best thing at my reception was having a caller for a couple of English Country Dances (thing Pride and Prejudice) since that is something my husband and I love doing. It was something super unique to us that we got to share with all our friends!
As excited as I am for my wedding, I’ll be sad when it’s over for the sole reason that I won’t have a reason to watch Jamie’s wedding UA-cam channel anymore
Me : the bride who's been married few years still watching this. Especially on the other side her aita videos are great and for this one was just curious if I did a good job listening to her or if I ended up with some of them just for curiosity. So yes alot less but still she has good ones and on the other side just about of respect for Jamie :) and enjoy her content.
I still watch and I’m married
I've been watching her for years and I'm not even engaged lol
Been married for 2 1/2 years and I still watch!
Also, if you'd like, she has a lifestyle channel! theJamieWolfer
Not married. Not engaged. Not even in a relationship. I’m subscribed! :D
(Good to know info for the future & I lovvve all things weddings, wedding planning, etc. lol)
Can you discuss a cocktail style reception? Tips to make them work and flow well? Suggested schedule to still fit in dances, speeches etc.
Yesss would love this! Im having a cocktail wedding!
I’d like a video about this too!
For the table pictures, I've also heard going around to each table during a song run around, quickly say hi and get a picture and keep moving.
Could you create a video for fellow coordinators on how to determine if a bride is a good fit to be a client?
I like the idea of a receiving line, but it's to take the photo with the bridge groom - that way you get to say hello and thank the guest for coming, and you get a nice photo too - I've seen it done a few times, and it's sweet. We also want to do an afternoon wedding (our guests are older, or have little kids), amd that way if anyone gets tired, we get to still spend some time together :) (also, love the idea of a quiet moment, I know I'll need it, and my introverted beau will too ❤)
“Awww aunt Susie!” *blows kisses* made me GIGGLE 😂
Same 😂
I’m a photographer and we do either pictures with tables or have the dj announce for people to come up and take turns taking pictures with the couple. Way better than calling up by table but also I’m Mexican and our tables are not numbered and seats are not assigned so that wouldn’t really work anyway
Love these tips!! I have been to a wedding where the bride and groom took pictures with every table. It was wonderful and easy on the guests
After talking with my haidresser for my wedding, we décide that i would go the day before for a hair wash so she can prep my hair for my big day. The curls stay untill the day after my wedding and I Danced a LOT!
For reference, my haïr are super straight and usually dont hold curls
Also, since we did a first look, we greets and take a pictures with every guest as they arrive, we printed them for personalise thank you note and they loved that
Hi all, current wife and past bride. Jamie's videos and The Master Plan were essential to keeping me on budget, on track, and with my goals for the day in mind. 18 months I married my husband in our backyard. (no, its not some amazing property, it's a 1/4 acre in a blue collar neighborhood). we had 56 people, 2 dogs, BBQ catering, a DJ, rented tables chairs etc. dress, flowers, rings, etc all for under $4,000.
Here is what my biggest takeaways from Jamie helped me to create:
I only invited the most important people in my life, the one who my heart would break without inviting them (yep, i left out extended family that i'm not close with in order to invite friends who are like family)
The food had to be good, but not the worlds best food (mission BBQ catered our wedding, good food, great price)
It was super important to make sure my guests were comfortable and having fun (I built an amenities station with shawls, fans, heart sunglasses, blankets, flipflops, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, moist towelettes, mints, candies, etc so that any obstacle was handled. i also had lawn games and arts and crafts ((i know my demographic)) so that everyone could enjoy themselves. this also gave us a lot of ways to interact with our guests.
my husband and i walked into our home after the ceremony and closed the door behind us. no one was with us, and had time to soak in the experience and be married for those first moments.
most importantly, i worked so hard to plan such a great day on such a small budget. I STILL HAD A DAY-OF COORDINATOR! I had someone who could ensure that my hardwork went off without a hitch, more over I didnt feel stressed worrying about it all coming together. someone else kept the timeline, me, and my sanity in check! DO IT!
Jamie my beloved !!! I’m
Getting married to my best friend in like 7 months !!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait eeeeeee!!!!!
I’ve fully gotten out of conversations at parties with “ooooh I’m sorry I’ve been waiting for this song all night I’ll be back”(spoiler alert I don’t come back🤣😂) and just dash to the dance floor and 9 times out of 10 the person I say it to gets it. But yea even if it isn’t pretend “this song right now” is the ONE you’ve been waiting for
We had to push our wedding back but it is coming up in less than three weeks now. Thank you for the pep talk at the end there. I have a couple things to do still but have delegated a fair amount of it at this point because it is just A LOT. I am going to make sure to get the rest of the payments taken care of beforehand that will definitely help.
Thank you for mentioning the "pause to take it all in" regret! We're planning a quick chapel wedding in Vegas with 10 of our nearest and dearest, but I don't want it to just fly by so quickly that I don't stop and notice how happy we are to be there. Do you think I could still get value out of the master plan if we're doing such a small event?
These videos are so helpful! I am planning my wedding in a foreign country because I work abroad and it is a nightmare trying to coordinate everything. These videos are helping me set priorities and goals.
I’m wondering if anyone has any tips on sobriety at weddings. I don’t drink and typically weddings are pretty boring if you’re not at least a little tipsy. Any suggestions in that area? Thank you for everything!
My reception is going to be over at 8:30. I am thrilled by this. 🙌🏻
You are so funny! I know some couples plan a wedding re-do for a major anniversary (like 25?). I hope you and your hubby will have another celebration someday!
Of course can you coordinate your own wedding. As long as it is not a near-stately (meaning huge) affair, as long as you keep it simple and you don't have a mile-long list of requests that needs to be met, you can do it. All our family weddings (and many of friends as well) have been self-coordinated, and they'd all been lovely.
Our 2 yr anniversary is tomorrow and I’m still watching you lol
BIGGEST REGRET was Not having someone coordinate our day!!! I had someone in mind, but they couldn't attend. I thought because it was a Super casual, at our home wedding, that things would just naturally flow. But Plan A blew up and the time we allotted for first look photos was taken by major technical issues for streaming. The only one who could fix it was of course, the Hubs. So because we lost that photo time, we had to squeeze it in between ceremony and dinner, which was a wood fire pizza horse trailer. Sounds funny but its Napa and it was Awesome. We didn't have cocktail hr since most folks didn't drink. So no one was there to tell them to start nibbling on things already out. It took a long while for someone to actually turn the music on for them and MIL hopped in to tell everyone to start eating. Without us. That still wasn't the biggest issue.....we got to say hi to everyone, got to show a slide show at dinner, but then were taken for pictures of us signing the actual marriage certificate. While we were doing that, SOMEONE STARTED TO CLEAR TABLES. Not just dishes. They were clearing Everything and stacking chairs!!!! I came out and half of it was done, people were leaving and we didn't get to do our dance or play our silly wedding game. The dance was a big deal to me. We didn't have a DJ. Too small and casual. But because the unforseen happened, it bumped the entire schedule back and left no one to take control of the guests who were waiting. We'd been together 11 yrs. I waited THAT long for our special day, and someone literally cut it short. Long story long, Assign a Day of Coordinator if nothing else!!!! I had it planned so we didn't need one, but my plan didn't happen.
Obviously looking back, the day was WONDERFUL and better then I imagined it to be. I just wish it was longer after alllllll that went into it.❤
I assigned someone to be a day of coordinator (my sons’ long term girlfriend) and it did help a little. I was the MOB and wedding planner. I didn’t anticipate that the venue would pull us aside for a LONG Sermon about the rules on the day of. My future DIL did that for me but she wasn’t into all the details that much. But it helped that she listed to the sermon so I didn’t have to. I had read the contract -maybe I should have said we have read the rules.
I was checking your channel a year ago when I was doing my venue selection process. Now back again because my big day is less than 2 months!! Grateful for your channel 🙏🏽
I would say that a video walking through specifically finding a good coordinator is so important! We had 2 multiple hour meetings with ours, which was thorough. However, our coordinator then sent me dozens of forms and requests for paragraphs of information to fill out the week of the wedding with a ton of info, which caused me stress and much more work having to fill them in! The coordinator told us they would take over Monday before our Saturday wedding, which ultimately ended in food issues since we told the coordinator about last minute meal changes, but they didn’t tell the caterer. Ultimately, the coordinator also did not fit our vibe and was stressful! I wish we had either had a planner through the process, so we didn’t have to catch them up on everything the week before the wedding, or I wish the coordinator had a way to simplify their process. If there was a specific process that I knew to expect, I would have been much less stressed.
Mine was similar our coordinator caused more stress than help.
Seriously can not thank you enough for these videos. They are down to earth and entertaining .
I’m getting married in a couple of months and your channel has been very helpful! My good friend shared it with me and I’m so glad she did!
Also a wedding coordinator and I built in naptime to my day! I had a late morning and early afternoon ceremony and reception. Then we had three hours to kill and after party. Great introvert option
We worked with the youth ministry at the church and wanted to invite the families to the ceremony but couldn’t afford all those guests for a meal reception. Despite a lot of pushback, we had two receptions with a 3 hour gap. We did tea and cookies at the church and then a dancing/dinner reception later at a museum. Anyone and everyone could come to the ceremony and first reception, but we had family and close friends only at the later one. The 3 hour gap was the best. We hung out with the bridal party and played games, had snacks, and just chilled and took it all in. The guests took a break or did a fun tour or activity in the city since almost everyone was from out of town. Everyone was refreshed and ready by reception and nothing was rushed.
We also knew we wanted to say hi to every guest since so many travelled from out of town. We did the receiving line, table pictures, and a goodbye receiving line before the grand exit so that we said hi to almost every guest at least 3 times and had pictures of everyone. I have been to weddings where the couple never greets the guests and it just strikes me as rude, even though I know it’s a challenge. Traveling from out of town takes a lot and it is rough to spend that effort, money, and time for the couple when they don’t even say hi.
Getting married in 6 months so I truly appreciate all your insightful videos Jamie! I'm a bit of an overthinker and have extreme details planned out already, I'm confident I will have no/few or very small regrets. Taking notes on everything you just said. We're both introverts so we'll definitely be taking your advice on planning alone time!
I have to say this. Ending a wedding at 10/11 is definitely a U.S. thing (and other countries who's wedding cultures I am not aware of).
I live in Canada, and the only weddings I've been to that end at 10/11 were all U.S. weddings. The first time it happened was a destination wedding in Hawaii... I thought it had something to do with the noise ordinances of the specific venue the couple chose. Nope, the next two U.S. weddings ended at 10/11.
In Canada, the understanding is usually, not always, bar hours. Weddings usually last until 2:00 AM and even longer if you're celebrating in the countryside.
Same here in Scotland 🎉
I have watched videos older than that! If it’s you im watching it lol Thanks for all your great ideas and advice ❤
I love you Jaime I've learned so much I from you, so happy to have you as a resource!
I agree a video about finding the right coordinator/what to look for would be great! I’m also not sure how much money a coordinator costs.
I would love to have a wedding planner the whole way through but it seems to be very expensive from what I’ve seen 🤔
Hi Jamie,
I just purchased the Master Plan
And I am not able to access it.
I reached out to support but have not gotten any help on logging in.
Please help!! 😩😩
I feel like a freak of nature. I'm getting married in about six weeks, and I'm just soooo unconcerned about everything. Maybe it's because I'm a bit older (over 30), or maybe because I am really invested in the religious side of it, but I'm just happy that having a wedding means I get to marry the love of my life. I am excited that I got my dream bouquet. I'm excited that the cake is pretty and totally my style. But if day of my bouquet is ruined, my curls fall out, my dress tears, and dinner is an hour late somehow....well, we'll still be married. I care that my loved ones come and I want them to enjoy themselves, but I kinda figure day-of disasters make for good stories later.
Should we wait about a month or 2 out from our wedding to use your perfect timeline?
I chuckled at the "These are all our favorite people" line. My wedding was 25% family members I'd never met or met once at another wedding or funeral. I've had people come up to me in stores telling me they were at my wedding. I had no idea who they were.
I watch all your videos! I don’t care how old they are. I take a mental note, but nothing more!
Would you recommend a Day of coordinator if the wedding is more DIY style? Only vendors will be photo, officiant and mariachi?
I would definitely recommend a point person. Im DIYing and my sister/MOH will be handling texts and checking in with vendors so i can focus on my day!
I just got done watching a video of yours from 6 years ago and another from 5 years ago. Some of us watch those older videos!😂
Hi Jamie! Love your videos. I can't find your perfect timeline, where can I find it?
Speaking of dancing, thinking about hiring my ballroom dance instructors to attend and dance with attendees. Just to get people on the dance floor.
Good idea or no?
Wedding Planner/ Wedding Coordinator are they the same?
How can I jump onto the calls for your master plan course?
I want to add something to point number one, not to be a Debbie Downer, but just to speak to my experience because it happened to me.
I would recommend paying for everything for your wedding two weeks before or the week of your wedding.
I wanted to pay for everything super far in advance so I’d not worry about it later, so I paid for things like photography in full four months before my wedding, even though the money wasn’t due until much later.
Unfortunately, I ended up having to cancel my wedding a little more than a month prior. I had a contract with my photographer, but it didn’t say anything about payments made in advance since that wasn’t expected. There was no place in the contract that explicitly said she had to give me my money back since this scenario wasn’t discussed in the contract (had I paid when it was due, which was 10 days prior, it wouldn’t have been refunded at that point for a cancellation, and that’s the only place payments in full were mentioned). I was devastated, and bridges were definitely burned-I won’t be using that photographer if I get married in the future!
Influencer Michel Janse had a similar problem by paying for her makeup in full and then changing her makeup artist after she didn’t like the trial; she didn’t get any of her money back because she’d paid up front.
Obviously I wouldn’t wish a cancellation on anyone, but just in case, I would agree to pay in advance but don’t pay TOO far in advance. For my next wedding, I’ll be waiting until closer to my actual wedding date after this experience!
I paid our catering in full like 7 months out because it got us a huge discount. But makeup paid in full before the trial?!?
Im sorry it didnt work out for you. What you do for that is you pull the cash out and put it in an envelope in a safe at home then when it comes time you go into your home safe grab labeled envelope and deliver then if something is due day of and if you decide to pay it day of you can either deliver or have person you TRUST WITH MONEY deliver envelope as vendor you told ahead of time to get money from that individual. Don't give someone money just cause they are ___ parent bridesmaid whatever if you don't trust them with money. For me I was able to get some things that were due day of to agree in writing a simply note they wrote to me and send a viaemail or text... they were also willing to meet me at venu right before my rehersal started ( day before if something happened next day their end i would be reimbursement)
As a former vendor myself, I always take final payments 2 weeks out from the wedding and ask about any detail changes then. Also if it isn't too late to try and rebook, I would refund everything but the deposit to cover saving the date and meetings we had. I wouldn't feel right about it unless the client was someone who called once a day leading up to the wedding...then I earned that $$$$. Some states you can't keep the full amount for services not rendered.
I am an officiant and most of my contract states the balance is due two weeks before the ceremony if not paid no ceremony oh and the retainer is non refundable.
Do you have any coupon codes for perfect wedding timeline?
If I am having a destination wedding, should I still join the Master Plan?
I laughed about the whole...I'm ready to be done, I don't want to party until midnight. I have had that happen with SO many of my couples. We talk about strategies ahead of time on how we can navigate an earlier exit for them if needed. Then it's a gentler wrap-up at the end of their venue reservation with no rushing around. Also, it's nice when the couple can actually leave and not have to pack up their stuff at the end of the night.
Jamie!! Most of them are very important to me as a bride but most importantly.... RSVP!! and follow the dress code! Do not bring an uninvited guest (the most annoying). 🤗 Last several years people are just down playing dress codes for weddings 😤, if you enough dress up for a wedding - when will you dress up? Ok, don't show up. No one wants their wedding photos to look like the family bbq last weekend, just saying ppl.
I regret having flowers at the reception. I threw that money away.
Coming from an introvert who absolutely hates weddings, one thing I liked about the last wedding I had to attend was the couple doing table visits. The bride was a longtime friend but I had never met the groom before that day, and 7 years later I've only met him since on Zoom since they live so far away. So at least I have met him in person once.
Table visits make your guests feel seen by the couple, every wedding I went to before that did not do table visits. Whenever I met the couple after the wedding it felt like I hadn't even been at their wedding since I had only seen them at a long distance the entire day.
Oh, and church weddings are awful. Maybe it's just because I'm agnostic, but it's a horrible start to the day to be stuck in a church for an hour...
I will be a no makeup bride.
I don’t wear make up at all normally not even mascara or lip gloss. Im more insecure in makup and feel like im going insane worried something smuggling or wiped off, becomes unsymmetrical… I’m not putting up with that on my wedding day 😅
Question!
Is it too weird to not have a seating chart??
I want the night to feel family style with long tables just filled with people wherever they want to sit
I’ve heard that guests actually prefer seating charts bc they don’t need to stress about where they’re going when they first get there , don’t worry as the reception goes on they’ll probably move around
What can I do to not feel/be awkward at my own wedding. I’m so worried that nobody’s gonna talk to me because I don’t know like half the guests and have never met them and family functions. I always just sit there and nobody ever talks to me. I’m afraid that’s gonna happen at my wedding and it’s gonna be, shitty
You're the bride. EVERYONE will go out of their way to come and talk to you, you probably won't get a moment's peace.
The day of payment thing is really alien to me, is that an American thing? I work in something really similar to event organisation, in another country though, and the idea of a vendor asking for money on site is crazy to me. Do you not send your invoices per mail, either before or after?😮
I recommend watching the full video as it is informative but for anyone who maybe already saw the video and just wants a refresher:
12 regrets:
1. Not paying vendors in full ahead of time.
2. Not doing professional hair and/or makeup.
3. Not planning your transportation (people and items).
4. Not hiring/designating a wedding planner and/or day-of coordinator.
5. Not including any alone time.
6. Not spending enough time with the guests.
7. Not being prepared for End time.
8. Not eating properly.
9. Not dancing enough/ not having enough dance time (d/t timeline issues).
10. Not taking a moment to pause and soak and take it all in.
11. Over-worrying/nitpicking things even though chances are, nobody will notice.
12. Not being themselves / doing things the way other people wanted.
I have planned multiple weddings for friends, and it made me 100% sure I will NOT get married without a day-of coordinator.
We're having to be careful because I'm disabled so I can't stand for long and we're having a small luncheon and we're doing all the stuff ourselves because our budget is tiny.
Being afraid of not seeing everyone at the wedding is 100% we’re doing our pictures before the ceremony and will be present for cocktail hour! I want to mingle and eat the apps!!!!!
As someone from Scotland (where weddings start at 1pm and finish at 1am) is seems completely mad to me that you wouldn't spend time greeting your guests. Maybe not alot of time but it would be considered extremely bad manners for a couple to not at least say hello and chat to every guest for a few minutes. These people have come along way and sometimes spent alot of money to be there for you, you need to recognise that.
Maybe it's just a cultural difference.
Weddings in the US have sorta become big productions. Lots of performance and ceremony. And such enormous guests lists that it's often not feasible to greet *everyone*. Even though I got sucked into it, I'm not a fan of the trend. My first wedding (18 years ago) I stopped by every table, but it was exhausting with all the other mini-events going on throughout the night. My next wedding will be far simpler and MUCH smaller. Only 10 guests and none of the frippery.
nahh it's a person to person thing I would efinitely say hi and thank each individual as an American.
Gen Z def knows what a checkbook is😭😂
My vendors all required the payments to be paid in full 2 weeks before my wedding
There are things we've already decided to skip because they're either not important to us or just not our style. No "grand entrance," no bouquet toss, no garter toss, no big speeches. I'm going to DIY my and my bridesmaids' bouquets and the boutonnières and we're getting our cake from Publix. If my family doesn't like something, that's okay. I love them all, but ultimately it's my wedding and not theirs.
Being annoyed with the vender, because you didn't pay when they arrived or the day before, is odd. They shouldn't have to ask.
Oldest gen z is 25 or 26. We know what checks are and theyre not used much cause theyre obsolete, but thanks for the condescention