Be a Warrior Queen: Wedding Wednesday Guest Post

*This is a guest post by Charlene @ From Bisons to Buckeyes

First thing is first, I am going to put a little disclaimer in here that I am in no way a wedding expert and I know some brides will disagree with some things I list here, but I just want to share what worked for me.

So without further adieu, here are some tips for making sure your wedding day goes smoothly...

Enjoy your last few days of being single! Create memories with your friends the week leading up to your wedding. I cherish those memories so much. Not that I don't hang out with my friends now that I am married, but it's just not the same, you know? Besides, I had a lot of friends come in from out of town for the wedding that I don't get to see very much, so I wanted to spend time with them! Also, having these moments to take my mind off of wedding planning really helped calm me down.
Create a schedule to give out beforehand. I made a schedule outlining the entire weekend and gave it to all my bridesmaids. This schedule included the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, bachelorette festivities (just the time, I didn't know what we were doing), bridal luncheon, getting our nails and hair done, and a photo schedule for the actual wedding day. You might even want to make one for the groomsmen and family members.

Make a list of must-have photos and give it to your photographer ahead of time.
Drink lots of water both on your wedding day and the few days leading up to it. It is an exciting time and will be easy to forget to hydrate but the last thing you want is to be dehydrated on your wedding day. Especially if it is in the middle of a hot July in Georgia like mine was.
Don't put the dress on till you have too on your wedding day. Seriously that thing is probably hot and heavy. Besides, you don't want to get anything on it!

Do a first look and take 'couple' pictures before hand. I know some people say it is bad luck to see each other before the walk down the aisle, but we made the first look special and made a point not to see each other before then. We got married at 7:30 pm, so taking extra pictures after the ceremony just wasn't practical. I couldn't justify waiting till after when I had the whole day before the wedding and we could take our time and enjoy it.

Assign a job to each bridesmaid that she will be in charge of on the wedding day. I did this for a couple reasons, one being I could stop worrying about the things I assigned, and two being my bridesmaids felt important and didn't get bored. Some of the jobs I assigned include...

Make sure you (the bride) drink plenty of water all day. As I mentioned earlier, it's easy to forget and you definitely don't want to get dehydrated on this day.
Make sure you (the bride) eat. When I am nervous, I don't have an appetite at all, but you need your energy! Besides, there is so much going on it is easy to forget to eat as well.
Get all your stuff from your dressing room to your car. Especially if you plan on leaving and going straight to the honeymoon without seeing anybody like we did. Having someone make sure your makeup and everything you used to get ready is in the car waiting when you leave will take a lot of that stress off of you.
In charge of the getaway car decorations. I knew the groomsmen wanted our car decorated so I put a trustworthy bridesmaid in charge of overseeing it. Though, the car was still not as tasteful as I would like but that is another story.
Keeping you (the bride) sane. I had someone whose sole job was to make me sit down, relax and take deep breaths. I picked someone who I knew wouldn't be annoying about it.
Keeping up with the schedule and making sure everybody is where they need to be for pictures and whatnot.
Pack a bridal survival kit (like the one from this pin on Pinterest) and be in charge of knowing where it is and getting it if needed. Fortunately, I really didn't need anything out of mine, but we had it in case I did.

Try to relax on your wedding day. After all, this is supposed to be the best day of your life, right? Enjoy it!
Going along with the above, focus on your husband-to-be. He is all that matters in the end anyway.

Don't sweat the small stuff. Face it, something is going to go wrong. You are trying to pull off this fantastic wedding that you have probably dreamed of your whole life. There are a lot of little details and natural law just says that every little thing can't be perfect. So don't worry if the music doesn't start at the exact moment or even if a bridesmaid trips down the aisle. It isn't the end of the world and most people won't even notice, let alone remember it years later.
And lastly, don't let your wedding planner completely run the show. If you want something done and she doesn't, don't cave. This is your day!

If you are married, did your wedding go smoothly? What tips would you add to my list?

Be sure to check out my the Wedding Series on my blog where I recapped my wedding weekend with lots of pictures!