So it starts, lovers are engaged, family are planning the day, and you are romanticizing about new amazing adventures made for two. But what does it really take to plan a successful wedding?

We here, at Carl Kerridge Photography, are starting a series of basic tips and information to help plan and answer questions on how to have a successful wedding! No, we don’t have all the answers, but we’re willing to help jump start your research, encourage your uniqueness, and provide entertainment along the way.

To kick off our collection, we got in touch with some of our lovely brides from the past wedding season and interviewed them for their confessions leading up to a successful wedding day and the aftermath. We did this for fun so if you just recently got engaged, have been engaged, or thinking about your future wedding, we wish you the biggest of congratulations and invite you to check out the interview below!!

Does spending time with each other’s family add more value to the marriage?

[BRIDES]: “In our case, yes…It really brought us all so close…Making time for each other’s family adds value because we really enjoy their company…Fortunately he fit right in with not only my family, but my friends too. It was like he was meant to be there all along.”

How long should the “wait” period be after the engagement? What shaped your opinion of this?

[BRIDES]: “An engagement is the impetus to getting married. I guess it depends on the couple. Looking back we waited a bit longer than I think most people do. We had more time to make decisions without feeling rushed, we had more time to save up some money. That helped us plan a ‘successful wedding’. We had little trouble booking our venue, photographer, and band. It gave us plenty of time to get our honeymoon planned and paid for too.”

How did you know you were ready to get married?

[BRIDES]: “I was ready to NOT be his girlfriend anymore lol. Joking aside, the same vision for a future together is really important. It wasn’t a question of ‘should we get married?’ just ‘when do we want to do it?’ Our whole relationship we’ve taken slow and moved along at our own pace – that worked for us. We always knew we wanted to get married, but weren’t in any hurry since we knew this was forever, whether we had the paperwork or not.”

How did you get everything planned just the way you wanted it? 

[BRIDES]: “Decide ahead of time what type of wedding you both want. Stick to the plan you both decide on, especially when it comes to cost and quality. My tip for a successful wedding, keep notes. I wrote everything down. I think it also helps to try to concentrate on one thing at a time. There are apps that are great planning tools too. They’ll give you deadlines on when things should be done and a checklist to keep you on track. Such a lifesaver! Trust is huge when picking vendors. We opened ourselves up to a connection with these people and then trusted them to do right by us no matter what and it worked out fine. Lastly, keeping those lines of communication open kept us sane. If we thought of a question we forgot to ask, we just emailed whoever we needed to and got the answers we needed.”

How did you handle anything that stressed you out?

[BRIDES]: “A certain degree of stress is going to be inevitable, but we kept in mind that this is going to be a celebration and fun filled event – for us and our guests. If it was something for the wedding day and it was causing me stress, there were times I just eliminated it from the plan. My husband is very chill so talking to him was a huge help. Another trick is to talk to friends that have already gotten married. Again, communicating with everyone we were working with was a huge stress reliever and key to a successful wedding. Getting the answers I needed right from the source and knowing we were on the same page kept me level headed.”

How did you determine your guest list, vendors, and location?

[BRIDES]: “Write down everyone you want to invite. Then go back over the list and do a method of “elimination,” if you end up with too many people. Someone is always going to be hurt that they weren’t invited, but we all have a budget. Pick a location where you have experienced the most wonderful food, times, and fond memories. Friend-referrals and people we knew were how we chose a lot of our venders. At the end of the day, we invited and hired the people we knew we wanted to share that day with. Who you share the experience and memories with is equally important for a successful wedding.”

Does the relationship actually change after you get married? How is it different in general?

[BRIDES]: “Honestly, our relationship hasn’t changed at all. If anything, it’s more exciting now. I love to call him my husband when he calls me his wife. We’re closer now than we’ve ever been, but marriage was such an easy step for us that our relationship hasn’t changed, it’s just grown. We are moving in the same direction we always were, but now we are moving as a married couple, which is nice.”

Do you get to a point where you stop discovering things about each other and it gets boring?

[BRIDES]: “Not yet. People in relationships in general, tend to become complacent with one another. I think this is a comfort and we must assure one another that we are just that instead of feeling insecure. Talking is the big winner! We were friends first and are best friends always so that keeps things in perspective. Keep doing things for one another, take action, and don’t forget to surprise.”

Being with someone forever you’re bound to have arguments, how do you learn to not hold a grudge?

[BRIDES]: “If we fight, we give each other some space until one of us breaks, then we talk it out, agree to disagree and move on with our life. The best way to prevent a grudge from forming for us, is to not let things stew too long. Always remember that you fell in love with the person because of who they are, so stop trying to change them.”

You’re two separate people, how do you learn to balance your likes with your partners so neither of you have to give up on your personal interest?

[BRIDES]: “We’ve always had separate interest.This is something you should look for in a person prior to marrying them, so that when you are together it does not become an issue – it’s already understood. It’s important to be receptive and keep an open mind. Although we do like a lot of the same things, we are pretty open about each other’s interest that we don’t always share [like 90’s hip hop music]. If somethings isn’t working for us, we don’t push it, but also don’t discount it until we’ve at least given it a chance.”

If you had to do it all over again, would you do anything differently? Why or why not?

[BRIDES]: “Looking back, I don’t think I would have put so much pressure on the guest list. I also would have taken a minute during the reception to stop and look around. Someone told me before the wedding that this was the best advice they had been given before they got married. Stop and look around. Stand somewhere out of sight and look out on your wedding. Take it all in. Notice how much fun everyone is having – eating, drinking, dancing, catching up with old friends and family; all to celebrate you guys. I really wish I had done that but found myself so immersed in what was going on around me that I truly forgot to step back for a minute. It was great advice and if I could go back, I would have made time for it.”

Pop quiz! You have this best friend who you adore and she changes her mind about everything when it comes to her jewelry. Her partner just came to get advice from you about the ring, he’s going to propose in the next few days. You know this needs to be perfect for her, so how would you help the groom-to-be pick out the most meaningful ring?

[BRIDES]: “I’d find some way to be browsing jewelry either online or in magazines and ask for her input. I would tell him to listen to his gut instinct. If you love someone and you know it’s right then the perfect ring will present itself. Look with your heart and trust your gut. In the event that your gut fails you, keep your ears open…always. Girls have a tendency to voice their preferences when it comes to things they really want. Last resort, I’d tell him she’s the girl you take to go ring shopping. Take a drive, give two dozen roses and make it romantic. Ask the question before you get to the jewelry store, then take her in to go ring shopping.”

If there’s more you would like to know about having a successful wedding or other info you want us to research and include in future sections of this series, drop a comment below!

We also encourage you to check our Wedding Day Packages and please don’t hesitate to let us know if we can help with your photography needs