If I Had to Do It All Over Again …

All photos by Emilie Inc. Photography

Inspired by a blog post about what one would do differently if they were to get married again with the same budget and with a dream budget, here is what I would have done differently if we were to plan our wedding again in Arlington, Virginia.

{Same Budget}

1. A small bouquet. I loved my bouquet [top left photo]. However, with the leaf collar, it ended up being huge and heavy.
2. A 2nd sushi chef. We did a sushi station and underestimated its popularity [bottom left photo]. The sushi chef we had was working as fast as he could and there was still a long line. And I should have tipped him handsomely.
3. Spent more time taking pictures with my husband. Although I love the pictures we have, I wish we had a few more of just us. It was over 90 degrees that day so it would have been really uncomfortable to spent too much time outside taking pictures. I really like the small town/urban feel around the Clarendon Ballroom (where we had our reception) and wish we could have walked around and taken some cool portraits.
4. I wish I had my Mom with me when I was getting ready. Just would have been fun.
5. Sat at a table with our parents or bridal party instead of at a sweetheart table.
6. Hubby said he would have gotten married in the spring or fall. We got married in July.

{Dream Budget}

1. Hired a trumpet player and/or brass band for the ceremony. My husband is a trumpet player. I heard a brass band played Trumpet Voluntary at a ceremony and it gave me goose bumps! The organist/choir director is amazing and the combination would have been memorable.
2. A large band with a horn section for the reception. We invited our ballroom dancing instructors to our wedding and they taught a quick swing lesson to all guests. (It was a blast and also the funniest thing I’ve ever seen) It would have been cool to have the band play a bunch of swing music afterwards! [Hubby’s comment: he would have kept the DJ]
3. Late night snacks, like Dunkin Donuts chocolate glazed donut (yum!), because we had a fairly long reception. It would have been a nice thing for guests to take back to the hotel and for those of us that went drinking at Whitlows afterwards!
4. A day-after event. We had a family dinner on Thursday night for my parents’ wedding anniversary and a welcome party at Continental Pool Lounge after the rehearsal dinner so we actually spent a lot of time with our friends and family already. However, I would have loved to have catered a late brunch/lunch/BBQ at our house on Sunday and spent more time with them.
5. More flowers. Our reception was a cocktail party, an extension of the cocktail ‘hour’. So we had tons of cocktail and cabaret tables (and a few large rounds reserved for our relatives.) So I only ordered floral centerpieces for the large rounds. With a bigger budget, I would have gotten a ton of small, but all different arrangements for the cocktail tables.

Looking back, I actually would not have changed one single thing about our wedding. My husband and I really didn’t have to make any compromises.

What would you have done differently?