Let’s Try That One More Time

Given the chance, here’s what these brides would do over

By Anna Sachse
CTW Features

When I got married in 2008, I thought I could do it all myself. In hindsight, I really should have hired a wedding planner. The money I would have spent on the help would have been nothing compared to the total cost of my event, and, more importantly, I would have had more time to enjoy the moment while I was in it.

Every bride – no matter how perfect her day – has something she’d do different. So I polled my in-laws and friends to see what they’d do over, too.

Set aside the bridal mags for a moment. Sometimes the best advice about what to prioritize for your wedding comes from ladies who’ve been there, done that – and know what they wish they’d instead

Bride: Jane Andros

Married: At 25 on Aug. 8, 1970, in Bay View, Mich.

Do-Over: The size of the auditorium where we got married was right, but why in the world would you choose to be married in such a picturesque town and choose the ugliest building, one that doesn’t reflect the historic element of the community in any way? We did haul in about 30 evergreen trees to try to make the space look “up north,” but when I think of how much natural beauty was all around us, I definitely would have picked a more meaningful venue.

Bride: Merriah Fairchild

Married: At 27 on July 4, 2004, in New Brunswick, N.J.

Do-Over: Easy: Hire a real photographer. My mother-in-law’s best friend had offered to take pictures for free, but it turns out she didn’t know how to work a camera. Luckily Uncle Lou managed to take a good one – but more than one would have been nice!

Bride: Beth Sachse

Married: At 23 on June 19, 1971, in Tulsa, Okla.

Do-Over: I would have had my own dream wedding dress – or at least borrowed one that was really my size rather than appearing tea-length because it was too short for me.”

Bride: Elizabeth Morgan

Married: At 21 on Aug. 14, 1998, outside Eugene, Ore.

Do-Over: I didn’t get to enjoy our reception as much as I would have liked. We started too late and then after the ceremony we had a receiving line. By the time we finished with that, there wasn’t much food left because all the guests ate before me. I was totally starving and then it was time for pictures. I should have focused on the party and not on all the things that I was supposed to do.

Bride: Claudia Sell

Married: At age 26 on Aug. 8, 2009, outside Portland, Ore.

Do-Over: Most wedding venues these days seem to shut down at 11 p.m., requiring wedding parties to move en masse if they want to keep dancing, which is really hard to do. I would have tried to coerce our venue into allowing us more (paid!) hours or found a different site that let us stay at least until 2 a.m.

Bride: Katie Sachse

Married: At 29 on May 2, 2009, in St. Louis

Do-Over: You have to consider the fact that some guests, especially the older ones, may not be aware of some of the newer, more unusual things people are doing. We rented a photo booth so that guests could take pictures and paste them into the guest book next to the booth. I decided not to interrupt the party by making an announcement, but it turns out a number of people didn’t understand what to do.

Bride: Yael Natori

Married: At 28 on June 16, 2007, in New York

Do-Over: I would have left a day later for the honeymoon. We had a brunch on Sunday, and then were rushing to pack and leave, which was a tad stressful. It turns out our flight was delayed anyway, and we both ended up falling asleep at the airport, since we were so exhausted after the wedding.

Bride: Lainie Motamedi

Married: At 33 on Oct. 29, 2005, in Portland, Ore.

Do-Over: We were so focused on the wedding that we didn’t really take the time to plan a honeymoon where we could just relax and enjoy ourselves. Instead of traveling around Vietnam, I definitely would have headed to a true island vacation!

Copyright © CTW Features