Top Tips For Your Wedding Day From Past BCME Real Brides
Written by on September 18, 2017.
Tagged under: Top Tips For Your Wedding Day From Past BCME Real Brides, advice on wedding planning dubai, brides in dubai, wedding planning in Dubai, wedding planning in the uae
Top Tips For Your Wedding Day From Past BCME Real Brides
When you’re planning your wedding and the big day is quickly approaching, it’s always nice to hear from people who have been there. Valuable advice is often given by well-meaning family and friends, but it’s also helpful to hear from expat brides and those who have recently gone through the stress, tears, and joy of preparing for one of the biggest days of your life.
With this in mind, BCME has put together some tips from our past ‘real brides’ whose weddings have featured on the site. As you read the below, you’ll notice that there are common themes; enjoying the day, delegating and keeping it ‘you’. Read on for more words of wisdom, and let us know if you have anything else to add!
Loren
♡ Hire some help on the day. If you’re far away from family and friends, don’t try and do it all yourself. You won’t get to enjoy the special moments if you’re busy handling the venue and suppliers; I could never have pulled it off so well without Liesel’s invaluable help.
♡ Keep some perspective. At the beginning, it’s easy to obsess over every single thing but as the date nears you’ll realise that they really don’t matter at all.
♡ Keep it intimate if you can. We deliberately wanted a small, intimate wedding and everyone on the day commented on the fact that it made it even more special and much more fun because of that fact. You get to not only spend time with each and every guest but also enjoy the day together as man and wife.
You can view Loren’s elegant outdoor Dubai wedding here.
Layali
♡ Don’t over do it! Brides often fall into the trap of ‘the more the merrier the bigger the better’. You don’t want to overwhelm your guests with too many details (big centrepieces, huge flower back drops, too many things hanging down from the ceiling etc). They will forget to focus on you, The Couple! Worry about the right things. Weddings need to be classy and elegant, not extravagant and overwhelming.
♡ Make your wedding personal. There’s no need for 500 guests, so pick the people closest to you, and yes, filter! Make your own favours, build your own website, and involve your bridesmaids.
♡ Entertainment. Pick one good entertainer (or try not to have too many) as people want to enjoy you and not feel like they are at a concert.
See Layali’s relaxed, glamorous wedding day here.
Karina
I was very stressed when planning the wedding as I always need everything to be perfect. I couldn’t wait for all the stress to be over. But now that it’s over, I want to do it all again. So my advice would be:
♡ As stressful as planning a wedding is, you only get to do it once. So take it all in and enjoy every aspect of the planning – especially trying on ALL the dresses!
♡ Try to enjoy as much of the planning as possible.
♡ Start early and don’t leave anything to last minute – especially all the smaller tasks like favours, accessories, presents, song choices etc, as they take more time than you would expect.
Karina’s wedding combined Scottish and Arabic traditions. You can view it here.
Emily
♡ Become best friends with Pinterest, it is full of so many ideas.
♡ Search the internet to see what can be bought online, you will be surprised at how much money you can save.
♡ If you’re going to spend big on two things, make sure that it is the photography and the hair/makeup artist. The photos are the only thing lasting beyond the day itself, and of course, if you have an excellent hair and makeup artist your photos will be all the more beautiful.
Emily had a Parisienne themed wedding at The Address Montgomery. You can view it here.
Yasmeen
♡ Enjoy your wedding day (Eat, dance and be merry).
♡ Don’t worry if it doesn’t all go your way.
♡ Remember it’s only one day so be sensible when planning!
Yasmeen’s wedding was based on the theme of ‘regal with a touch of vintage’. See it here.
Anissa
♡ You will spend lots of time and energy planning something that will be over in a flash, so enjoy every second of it.
♡ As nice as it is to want to please and accommodate others, it is ok not to on your wedding day. Make sure you are doing what is right and important to you, and everyone else will be happy as it is the reason they are there; to share in your happiness!
♡ Stressing over the small details will only take some of your glow away. Really, try to relax! For your special day to be a success all you have to do is to enjoy it with your spouse and loved ones. The greatest memories in life are about how good we felt.
View Anissa’s gorgeous wedding here.
Lizann
♡ Make it an experience that your guests will talk about for the next year. Get them involved. Choose a venue that suits your theme or your style of wedding. The smaller the number of extra additions that you have to make to the décor, the better.
♡ Remember that this is your day, and the planning and ideas are for you. However, if you need help to get things done, then ask for it.
♡ We didn’t have bridesmaids or groomsmen, but we did have our friends help us set things up, fold pamphlets, help seat people at the ceremony and even set up the décor for the reception.
Lizann’s steampunk themed wedding took place in stunning South Africa. You can read all about it here.
Rachael { BCME’s Assistant Editor }
♡ Experiment with colour schemes and themes that you might not necessarily have considered at first. You may be pleasantly surprised!
♡ Hire an on-the-day wedding planner. I loved having creative input for my big day, but I would also have appreciated having somebody to help out on the day itself, checking that everything was as it should be.
♡ Give yourself plenty of time, especially if you’re doing a lot of DIY!
Rachael’s wedding took place at Desert Palm. Read all about it here.
Rio { BCME’s Founder }
♡ Plan Early. I cannot emphasise this enough, don’t leave things to the last minute and risk disappointment.
♡ Delegate. Don’t try and be Superwoman, delegate small projects out, get your husband involved and if budget permits, hire a wedding planning or ‘on the day coordinator’like I did, to alleviate some of the stress.
♡ Enjoy. Once the formal parts of our wedding were over, I really let loose, relaxed and enjoyed my wedding, I also took small ‘time out’s’ with my new husband to take it all in, the day really does go quickly.
Rio also held her wedding at Desert Palm. You can start reading all about her day here.
Sara
♡ Remember you cannot do everything on your own without driving yourself nuts. So, get some help – hire a planner or a wedding stylist or get support from your family/friends to guide you through the process. My wedding wouldn’t have been possible without my sister Soha’s help!
♡ Get a makeup trial! Even though I am Egyptian, I wanted to stay away from a conventional Arab makeup style and opt for a classic look with a bold lip colour. I had two makeup trials that I did not like before I found Mariya – who gave me a look I loved.
♡ Relax and do not stress. My wedding was not perfect and a lot of what was planned wasn’t actually executed because of the lack of time, but I saw the bigger picture and realized it was my day and all I have to do is enjoy it.
Sara’s wedding was held outdoors in Abu Dhabi. Find out more here.
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