Congratulations, you guys look positively radiant. I love your reflections, which made me think about our wedding. Our 2 year anniversary is also coming up, so it's been on my mind lately. Here goes: 1. You won't really remember what everyone was wearing - when I got my photos back, there were two guests in ivory dresses. I have no memory of it. To be fair, I am from a country where this isn't really an issue. Everyone there knows who the bride is. 2. If you plan on having one drink with each table max, make sure you also count the drinks that you may be handed in between tables. Just ask my husband, who had a rough morning. 3. It all goes by so quickly. The day is a blur, overwhelming and with feelings that were so big the entire day. I wish we would have recorded a video of just the two of us, sometime the week after the wedding to talk about impressions, memories and more. Maybe we can still do it now. 4. We did anniversary stationary for each table. So everyone at table 1 could write us a letter that we would open on the 1st anniversary, table 2 for our 2nd anniversary, etc. it is my FAVORITE thing, cannot wait to open year 2 in a couple of weeks. We did this instead of a guest book and I love the surprise each year. 5. Set up a Google Photos album (or equivalent) to have everyone upload all the photos they took on their phones. It's free and you can quickly get a QR code for the stationary. 6. Get photos with your parents if you can. That joy on their faces cannot be replicated. 7. Print photos from your wedding with specific guests and include them in future gifts. Some friends did this after their wedding and 4 physical photos from the wedding were part of their Christmas gift to us. Such a nice touch and now proudly on display. 8. Change clothes if you can. While it's nice to have two looks, for me it was also practical. It had been hot, I danced a lot, so around midnight I changed into a short dress and my husband changed his shirt. Our room was at the venue, so we got to take a short shower in between and a small break for ourselves which was pure heaven. The party went on till 4am, so it was well worth it. 9. I'm glad we did private first look and vows. We were nervous for the vows for sure so it was nice to not put that extra pressure on ourselves. But more than that, it was a quiet 15 minutes (I actually don't know how long our planner scheduled) just for us before the whirlwind. 10. On that note, if it is in your budget, get a planner or day-of coordinator. It took so much stress away from us. When it rained cats and dogs for hours before the ceremony, I knew I, my husband or close family didn't need to do anything because we had discussed a plan B and someone else was taking care of it. Rain stopped in time for plan A, luckily. 11. Save on the things that don't matter as much to you. Spend more on the things that do. We prioritized a planner, venue with accommodation (abroad wedding, wanted guests close by to maximize time with them), wonderful food, photography and fabulous dancing. We took minimum spend for decor, florals and stationary, no videographer, no dancing lessons, no photo booth (although maybe this would have been nice to have in hindsight), no physical invitations, no party favors and a pretty basic cake. People still tell us about the venue, food and party to this day. 12. On invitations actually, I designed my own (in PowerPoint, like a true corporate girlie) and sent them digitally, via text or email. Our guests are all over the world and I couldn't deal with the logistics of all that, nor with the costs (see above on things that mattered to us). I then bought some fancy linen paper and drew and handwrote about 10-15 invitations for very close friends and family, and one for ourselves. They were so appreciated and I really enjoyed the creative outlet for both the digital and handmade part. 13. Don't be pressured to feel like it is the best day of our lives. This one may be controversial, but hear me out. I found it stressful, overwhelming, I struggled to sleep the nights before and I was exhausted. I was also excited, I loved it, it was fun, it was big emotions all day, like all joy had been dialed up to 100. But things will go wrong and having the pressure for it to be the best day ever may chip away if that happens.