Wedding Regrets from Real Brides

You know the saying, ‘hindsight is 20/20?’ We all have our moments of reflection and that’s when we start to nitpick what happened and start to obsess over what went wrong and what we would have done differently.

According to a report from Dana Rebecca Designs who surveyed more than 2,000 brides, three-quarters of couples say they would do things differently if they had the chance to marry again. Almost half of those say there are things about their wedding that they “flat-out regret.” What are the biggest regrets? Obsessing over and spending so much money on the dress and invitations.

We’ve curated some quotes from brides that reflect specific reflections and things they would have done differently:

• “I wouldn’t have spent the first seven months of planning trying to please every single person but me. Huge mistake.” – Portia D
• “I would have listened to the people who told us to take a day off between the wedding and honeymoon travel (especially if you’re taking a long flight).” – Meghan W
• “I wish we would have put less effort into the smaller details. No one remembers what color chair covers you had or the exact type of flowers used.” – Kristin J
• “Not eating enough. Even though every bride warns you about this. We had amazing food and I barely ate any. I did get cake, though—nothing will keep me from the dessert table.” – Nancy E
• “Everyone told me this, but for some reason, I just didn’t really get how quickly the day would go. I wasn’t able to see small details or enjoy the centerpieces. You are simply too busy! INVEST IN A COORDINATOR! My friends, family, and I were so relaxed because we weren’t running around taking care of last-minute details—our coordinator was.” – Jenna A
• “The only thing I would change would be my dress. Of course, I loved it but looking back I would have been just as happy with a $500 dress! (And so would my dad!)” — Angie W
• “Straight up: Don’t do shots at your own wedding. Learned that the hard way.” – Mara A
• “Freaking out over the details. Nobody will remember the confetti packets you created by hand.” – Rachel A
• “Don’t cheap out on the DJ! It’s awkward when he says the wrong bride’s name, does the dollar dance after you told him not to, and loses your list of music!” – Jenna H
• “We didn’t get the right combo for pictures. I wish we had written down a list of what we wanted and given it to the photographer ahead of time.” – Kei R
• “We hands down would have booked a videographer! While our memories of it all are amazing, we wish we had it documented in that way as well. There is no such thing as over-documenting the day, so take as many photos and videos as possible.” – Liz Z

Do you have any thoughts or advice for other brides?

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