Anything you wished you did or didn't do for your wedding?

I've never even seen a sand ceremony and can't remember the last time I saw a garter thrown, thank goodness. There's nothing nontraditional about a childfree wedding, either. From what you say, your ideas are not unusual.

The one thing I most often hear people say they regret, often because they find out too late that people were hurt, is that they were not aware that it's important to greet every guest at some point, whether by going around to tables, having a receiving line, mingling at cocktail hour or some combination.

Another is realizing too late that there are people who should have been invited after taking a venue that is too small. You really don't want to be at or near full capacity.

Best things we did:
*Not skimp on photography - your photos will be one of the few things that last forever and allow you to “go back in time”. I will never regret letting photography take up a bit more of the budget than other things! Our photos are absolutely beautiful and I still look through them. Also vibing with your photographer(s) is super important! We hired a husband and wife photographer team with similar personalities to us and it helped us be more comfortable taking photos!
*Made sure our food was great - it really is true that food is toward the top of the list of things guests pay attention to the most. We got so many compliments on the food.*Hired a day-of coordinator - we did all the planning and vendor-booking, but it really helped to have a DOC to make sure the day ran smoothly, be the point of contact for vendors, and help set up. It meant that our families and wedding party didn’t have to “work” on our wedding day.*Did a first look - we are more introverted people, so being able to have this private moment of seeing each other in our outfits before it all started helped take away a lot of the nerves. Even if you’re extroverted, the benefits are also that you get a lot more pictures out of the way before the ceremony and reception!*Having a signature drink - it may seem like a small thing, but boy did we get SO MANY compliments on our Shiner Shandy drink! That’s just beer and lemonade but people went nuts!
Our regrets:*Ordering too much late night snacks (or maybe even doing that at all!) - my parents insisted on buying a late night snack add-on with our caterer because my cousin did it for her wedding, and they thought our guests would be annoyed if we didn’t! I tried to tell them it was a waste of money and that our wedding wasn’t going until midnight so people would be fine, but they insisted. They over estimated how many guests would actually stay up to 9 PM (1 hour before reception end time) and there were too many leftover 😑*Not giving parents a set number of guests they’re allowed to add to the list - We told my in-laws our max is 150, no more, but then simply asked them “who are your must-haves?” Well they took advantage and added a bunch of their own friends to the list that we will never talk to or or get together with again in our life because they’re not OUR friends…

We couldn't afford a videographer, and we planned on having one of our friends record the ceremony just so we would have it for us . . . the day of, we COMPLETELY forgot to have anyone record it until after the reception was over. That's definitely our biggest regret from the day.

It's done now and overall I'm happy. Regrets are minor, but maybe I could have splurged more (a sentiment I've heard from other brides actually). I'm of the mindset that anyone who surpasses their budget, doesn't know how to budget. With my vigilance and boundaries put on my husband, we finished on the low end of a healthy budget range. But, in the 1.5 years time I've had people pass on, and was like, what is my money for if not for the experiences I want? I would've put extra into more decor: specialty lighting and indoor palm trees. I also should have nixed tradition and stayed with my husband the night before. I didn't sleep much and he did weird things that morning like fix a car window, and not learn how to tie his bowtie... Best wishes with your engagement!

Our biggest thing we wished we would have done is get married in my home state vs where we currently live. It was a lot more expensive where we live, and most of my family couldn't afford to come so I wish we would have had it back in my home state.

But in terms of the actual wedding, I wish I would have pushed for the more candid photos that I wanted versus all of the posed ones, 90% of my pictures with family and wedding party ended up being just different groups of people in a line basically. I wanted something more natural and candid and I didn't put my foot down on it.

I also wish we would have invited less people and kept it a bit more intimate.

But one thing I don't regret is that my husband and I both made it a point to periodically go around to a few tables at a time and chat with our guests, beyond our initial greetings with them. We got a lot of positive feedback on that and we really felt like we got to spend time with everyone. Not just say hi and thank you.