Hey hey! If you're here, you're probably wanting to hear all the juice about how our wedding could've been better. Well, you're in the RIGHT place!

I've learned WAY more about weddings being a wedding photographer than I ever thought I knew as a bride. I was CLUELESS.

First of all, let me just talk about all the things I wish I would've done differently.

I wish we would've eloped.

We talked about this before we got married and still talk about it now. We honestly thought that friends + family would've been disappointed that they weren't part of our day. We found out later, that literally NO ONE would've cared. Some people dream of having a big wedding and there is no shame in that! Elopements are so intimate and you really get to focus on the true commitment you've chosen to make together. PLUS, since we decided in the beginning that we were not going to burden family with wedding expenses, we paid for everything except my dress (Thank you, mother. The real MVP. Always.), DJ (Chris's Ag Teacher from High School just so happened to DJ on the side and gifted us his services! Can't say thank you enough.), and our tables + chairs (gifted by Chris's mentor and our sweet friend, Shorty). Everything else, we worked overtime at our crappy jobs for, which left us with no money to even think about a honeymoon. Which leads me to my next point!

2. I wish we would've went on a honeymoon.

We were honestly so busy with school and trying to start a life that we never even talked about a honeymoon. The wedding happens so fast, it would've been so nice to have taken the time to really take it all in! Although, the upside to that is going home to our sweet pups at the end of the night.

3. I wish we would've spent the money on a wedding photographer.

I've heard this a zillion times, but didn't really understand until it came to my own wedding. We had a tight budget, so I traded services. "I'll do yours for free if you do mine for free." I gave her my camera and a nice lens, showed her how to set it all up and use it within minutes, I let her run free and do her own thing. NOW, while this was perfect in theory because I was thinking "Heck yeah, even trade! I'll just give her my camera and I'll do all the editing and it'll be perfect." I appreciate what she did for me, S/O to you, Marissa. BUT my point is, these moments are TIMELESS. You can't redo this day. You can't redo these feelings. You can't set everything back up and start over. Your wedding portraits will be passed down for generations. These moments cannot be captured again. Make sure you're putting aside money in your budget for the wedding photographer YOU want. And if you THINK your dream photographer is out of your budget, TALK to them.You might have the most grand wedding ever, but if your photographer can't portray that... none of it will say much when it's all said and done.

4. I wish we would've done a send-off.

A send-off is the perfect way to let everyone know you're rolling out, as I've learned! I've also learned that ending wedding festivities at 8pm isn't the norm. HA! We did it anyways. Not only do I wish we would've done it to seal the deal on the end of our day, but for the PICTURES. They're classic.

5. I wish we would've practiced our first dance.

It really isn't that cool to watch a couple sway side to side (as we did). If I could do it all over again, we would've practiced and really made it something fun to do and watch!

Now, let me just talk about the things I wouldn't have changed!

1. I'm glad we kept it small.

I'd say we had a little over 60 guests at our wedding, out of the 110 invitations we sent out. We didn't spend much time thinking "is so and so going to get mad if we don't invite them?" If we haven't talked in over a year, it didn't have to be considered. Everyone that was invited was so personal and special to us. We knew everyone by name.

2. We did a lot of DIY and bought everything on sale.

My bouquet + my girls' bouquets were made of branches from cedar trees that my mom + uncle so graciously cut for me the day before. We assembled these bouquets about 20 minutes before we walked out. Our venue was outdoors and really was perfect without decor, so we got pretty lucky there. Venue | Blueberry Hill --> Check them out! And since we decided to stick to nature to provide decor, we also go lucky that Hobby Lobby puts Christmas stuff on sale (pine stems, wooden wreaths, pinecones, etc.) in October! We also made sure to not buy ANYTHING that we couldn't reuse in our home. I am a firm believer in "less is more," so I never really worried. And I want to stress that to future brides, too! Really focus on where to invest. Less can be totally beautiful and Pinterest can totally be the devil.

3. I'm glad we let people help us.

I don't want to speak for Chris, but I think him and I can both say that this is not something that comes easy to us. I have such a hard time letting others help me. Not only was a raised to think that I am capable of doing it all on my own, but I was also raised to not take from others and that's what it feels like when others offer their help//services//time to me! It's really taken me awhile to accept that people just WANT to be helpful and want to do nice things. You don't always have to say "Oh, you don't have to!" LET people help when they want to. We had so much help on our wedding day that it still gets me emotional. So many people that invested in our future together and so many people that came together to help make our day as perfect as it could've been.

4. I'm glad we rolled out at 8pm.

I talked about it earlier, but really. Chris and I are such homebodies, we were happy to leave when everyone else thought the party was just getting started, to get home to our pups and just relax. That's the cool part about it being your wedding, you choose!

5. I'm glad we had a short engagement.

Everyone is different. So, I'm not here to tell you the right way to do things. Keep that in mind. We got engaged in May and KNEW we didn't want to drag it out, so we set it for October, that same day. Now, for those of you who know me personally you've probably wondered if we did that because we were pregnant -- "OMG, you were pregnant?!" -- Don't be silly, I know you all did the math. NOPE! Chris and I found out we were pregnant in August, so things just kind of worked themselves out.

At the end of the day/night, one thing is still the same. You're married. Things you worried about, will seem silly. Have a wedding that reflects you and don't worry about what others will think.

Knowing what I know now + Things I would've done differently on our wedding day

Paage Beach

FULL TIME PHOTOGRAPHY + Why I left my corporate job

Life + Career Changes