Hire Vendors You can Trust

The right vendors will make or break your wedding day. If you’ve found one vendor that you really like and trust (like a venue or a photographer), be sure to ask them for recommendations about other reputable vendors in the area. The wedding industry is a small world, and these vendors will know others who are reliable, and that they enjoy working with. Nothing can ruin a wedding quicker than a vendor who is not on time, or unprepared for your wedding. We always offer our brides exclusive vendor guides with names of Montana vendors that we know, like, and trust.

Make Sure Your Venue Has a Plan B

We live in Montana, and so if the weather is one thing, it’s unpredictable! Most of our couples want to have a ceremony outdoors with the beautiful scenery. But sometimes we get too much rain, or even snow on the wedding day! The best venues will have contingency plans for this. Make sure there’s room to move the ceremony indoors if needed. Or some venues will have tents that will be enough cover to keep the day going. Ask about this with your venue before you book!

Utilize a Planner or Day-Of Coordinator

Having one single person to wrangle all of your vendors takes so much stress off of you and your family. Not only do they make sure things run on time, but they help ensure that any little hiccups that happen throughout the day don’t turn into bigger problems. If you don’t hire a planner or coordinator, this job will inevitably fall to either you or a family member/friend. But we want you and your guests to be able to enjoy your wedding day without worry! Many venues will have an on-site coordinator, but if you need any planning help before the wedding day, it’s best to hire a professional! If your venue doesn’t have a day-of coordinator, be sure to look into reputable companies that offer this service.

Let a Trusted Friend Keep Your Phone

As vendors, family, bridal party, and guests trickle in on your wedding day, they will inevitably have lots of questions: where to park, where to put gifts, where are the boutonnieres, etc. They’ll all want ask you these things, because your the bride and it’s your day! You’ll get lots of calls and texts on the day. Let a trusted bridesmaid or friend handle your phone and answer all of these questions, so you can just focus on yourself and your future husband! This bridesmaid can often refer people to the day of coordinator/planner for them to handle things. But these are all questions you shouldn’t have to be worrying about on your special day!

Have a Wedding Day Emergency Kit

This is a must have! Your day will have some hiccups so it’s best to be prepare. These are some of the things we recommend to have in your kit: Jewelry cleaner, sewing kit, extra makeup for touch-ups, extra earrings, sunscreen, painkiller, lint roller, bug spray, safety pins, bobby pins, deodorant, hand lotion, tweezers, super glue, first aid and hairspray. This is just a starting spot. Any other things you can think that you might need on the day, put it in your kit! You won’t know you need it, until you do!

Drink Lots of Water and Eat

Story time…we had a bride that was so excited and nervous on her wedding day, that she hardly drank anything, and she forgot to eat! Fast forward to after the ceremony and on the way to the reception: the bride started feeling nauseous, passed out, and then proceeded to puke all over her dress. Luckily, she had another dress to change into. But the moral of the story is, drink water and eat! Have snacks that you can access throughout the day (these could be part of your emergency kit). And be sure to be drinking water (a good job for a bridesmaid is to make sure your drinking water throughout the day).

Use a Timeline and Send it to Everyone

A stress-free wedding day includes a detailed timeline! Your planner and photographer can help develop this for you. It should have times of first look, ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and when all of the different bridal party and family photos will be happening. Make sure everyone that’s part of the wedding (vendors, family, bridal party) has a copy of this timeline. That way, everyone knows exactly where to be and when. And hopefully, this means they won’t be trying to ask you so many questions 🙂

Prepare a List of Must-Have Photos for Your Photographer

Which photos are most important to you? What are you most excited about? Make sure your photographer knows this so they can put it in the timeline. Also, have a list of all of the family photos that you want done. Do you just want immediate family? Do you want photos with extended family? These can take a long time, so it’s important that everyone knows where they to be, or it can throw off the whole timeline. Are there friends/guests that you want photos with who maybe aren’t part of the family or bridal party. Make sure you let your photographer know and this can be built into the timeline. And then share this timeline, so everyone knows where to be and when.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

There will always be little mishaps throughout the day. That is inevitable. But if you’re prepared and you have a great team behind you, this small mishaps won’t turn into big problems. Let your coordinator and other vendors do their jobs to handle any problems that arise. And when mishaps come up (because they will) just know that these will be part of the story of your day. They’ll turn into fun memories that you can laugh about years later.

Take Time to Be Present

While you want have a solid timeline, make sure there’s some wiggle room in there. Schedule in time for breaks away from your guests, and time to be alone with your partner. This can be a first look before the ceremony, or time during sunset portraits. Let it sink in that you’re marrying the love of your life! There will be little joyful moments throughout the day. Take the time to embrace them and enjoy them!