As I am sitting in the airport for my flight to my honeymoon, with my husband asleep in the seat next to mine, I figured I would share my experiences.
Things WILL go wrong. It WILL all be OK.
Our venue neglected to tell us that an event was ending in our ballroom at 3pm (with my wedding starting at 5pm) until the day before. We also had to move our ceremony from outside to indoors because of the heat wave. The ceremony space looked beautiful, and I don't know how we pulled it off. We scheduled so much time for photos before the ceremony and ran out of time because of a whole host of hiccups.
Despite all these issues, it was beautiful. My parents were both supposed to walk me down the aisle. My dad has severe spinal pain and walks with a walker. Last minute, I walked alone with my mom. We had a first look, which I loved. I thought I wouldn't get as emotional since we had already seen each other. I was wrong. As soon as my mom and I stepped into the ceremony room, tears just started streaming down my face. I cried the entire ceremony with the biggest smile on my face. Last minute, my dad also said he couldn't do the father-daughter dance. My brother offered to step in, and while it was unexpected, it was really sweet.
I also normally hate attention. I hate how I look in photographs. However, my stylist made me feel so beautiful. I got so many compliments on my hair, makeup, and dress. I was so happy to marry the love of my life. People have been texting us photos we took, and I've loved all of them. It was such a different experience from my normal life, but I loved it.
Everyone had a great time. I see people on here comment about stressing with themes and how to entertain guests, etc. We didn't have games. We didn't have a theme. We didn't have a photobooth. We had good food, good music, good alcohol, and amazing people. Multiple people have told us or our parents how wonderful the wedding was. The ceremony was only 7 minutes, but people thought it was beautiful. Husband's uncle officiated, and he choked up a few times when speaking, which was endearing. I cried through my vows. My husband got teary eyed as well. The outpouring of love in the room was indescribable.
Things will go wrong. You'll forget about some important stuff (we finally signed the marriage license after the lights came on at the end of the reception...oops). These will make funny stories. At the end you will be marrying the love of your life in front of those who love you. That will be all that matters when everything is said and done.