30 Regrets Brides And Grooms Have About Their Wedding Day

1. Thinking it was so important to get all of my family there. In retrospect, those that had to be convinced and accommodated shouldn’t have been there.

2. Posing for pictures. Ended up putting so much energy into getting perfect pics we didn’t spend time in the moment. Just ask your photographer to do candid shots only and focus on enjoying the day. Your pics will be great whether you try hard to have perfect photos or not and you won’t look at the album nearly as often as you might think.

3. Doing the garter throw. It’s just weird.

4. Picking the longest song ever for a first dance.

5. A reception line. I got talked into it. I didn’t want to do it, but felt pressured. All I did for 3/4 of my reception was stand and say hello to people it was miserable and took a lot of the fun out of the day.

6. Getting a friend to video, it’s crap.

7. I regret not hiring a DJ. It’s not only music, they help with the flow of the wedding. Flower toss, first dance, money dance, whatever you want. We cut corners where we could and that was one I regret.

8. Not wearing sunscreen. As it turns out the rules don’t change because it’s a special day.

9. Not renting my wedding dress. What a huge waste of mo eye to look great for two hours. Besides, I had a boy so couldn’t even pass it down.

10. In all honesty, I regret dancing so much. We danced so much, we forgot to go around to individually thank everyone for coming. They all came to us on the dance floor to say hello. 10/10 still dancing.

11. Having a cake because you “have to have a cake.” Our dinner was fairly late and came with dessert, and then an hour later there was cake that literally everyone was too full to eat.

12. I would say not giving more money for booze upfront because we ran out and my in-laws quietly added $2,000 to the bar tab during the reception, which I’m sure cut into their fun a bit.

13. I thought I wouldn’t want it, but now I wish I had hired a videographer. My pictures are amazing, but I would have liked to be able to watch it.

14. Agreeing to let my mother-in-law make my cake. We had a naked cake because she didn’t finish it. I’m still pissed three years later.

15. Waiting. We were high school sweethearts and had been together forever. We ended up waiting until our oldest son was 9 before finally making it official. Should have gotten it out of the way ages ago.

16. We did a backyard wedding and the property had turkeys that were squawking through our whole ceremony. BE AWARE OF TURKEYS!

17. I regret making my former best friend my bridesmaid.

We were growing in different directions, I knew she hated weddings but my dumb ass thought I could bring her closer.

It was a disaster and I felt terrible when she predictably did not give a shit about anything. I felt overlooked and unimportant.

I should’ve just let the friendship run its course instead of dragging us through this final death rattle of a relationship I was grieving in real time. I felt humiliated because the person I loved so much did not give a fuck.

Learn from my mistake.

18. Wearing heels.

19. Getting married publicly and changing my name. I only wanted a courthouse wedding and desperately wanted to keep my name. My ex would only marry me if those conditions were met. I should have known then.

20. I didn’t get to eat the hors d’oeuvres. I was so excited about them, especially the tiny beef wellingtons. Was so busy taking pictures and then getting to the main course I forgot to get any. I also forgot to get drunk! I had maybe one or two drinks! It was such a busy day. I kinda wish I could have gone as a guest.

21. Not having some help for after the party to help tie up the loose ends and tidy up.

22. Getting shitfaced at the rehearsal dinner. I didn’t want to puke the whole day of my actual wedding.

23. Getting married in a church. It was OK and didn’t ruin our day at all, both of our parents are Catholic, and it just made everything easier to make our parents happy, but it got weird when they asked us to promise to have children and we were like no. We had a ceremony that meant nothing to us, for our parents.

24. I absolutely adored my wedding. If I would change one thing though, it would have been to hire a hair and makeup artist. My MIL did my hair and it was fine and I did my own makeup and it was fine, but I wish I had just let myself spend that little bit extra on myself looking back.

25. Stuffing cake in my wife’s face. No exaggeration, I regret it to this day.

One of the traits of a successful marriage is to protect your spouse, with words, with your actions. Protect in this case has the meaning of upholding their dignity, their honor, etc. shoving cake in their face is not doing any of that and it’s very very public.

Don’t do it. Plus it messed with her make-up, I really really wish I hadn’t.

26. I would move speeches to before dinner is served, people are quicker when they’re hungry and not drunk yet.

27. Forgetting to put deodorant on.

28. Shaving my pubes. A Tight suit, hot weather, and an itchy scrotum are a recipe for disaster!

29. Having one. The marriage was enough for us but we were pressured into having a wedding. It was fine, I guess, but I wish we would have just gone on a better, longer honeymoon.

30. Seems like most people’s regret can be drilled down into doing what their parents wanted them to do.