Thou Shalt Not...

Brides and Grooms, MoBs, MoGs, FoBs, FoGs and good friends, listen up:

Thou Shalt Not...

1. Excuse your readers from rehearsals unless you have a REALLY good reason

2. Invite guests to the ceremony and not the reception

3. Read any bridal magazine during the last two weeks before you get married - add, delete or change something during this period and you are setting yourself up for dropped details and disappointment.

4. Trust everything you read in a bridal magazine...consider the source carefully and try to figure out if they might have an agenda.

5. Trust anything you read in a tuxedo advertisement

6. Let friends and family pressure you into something you know isn't right.  It's not their wedding.  They don't have to live with the consequences and disappointment.

7. Trust everything you read on message boards - some of it is great advice.  Some people are not who they profess to be.  Some people just have an axe to grind and still others are out to do harm.

8. Hire wedding professionals then second guess their every move.  Follow up is okay.  Micro-management is not.  Hire pros you trust...then trust them.

9. Hire ANY pro solely because their product is cheaper than someone else.  Aside from the "you get what you pay for" issue, the only reason you should hire someone is that you have evaluated their product and believe their services to be a good value for YOU.

10. Forget that this day is about two people and two families joining lives.  It is the BEGINNING not the culmination.  This is the FIRST of the most important days.  Treat it with reverance.  Have a sense of humor.  Set yourself up for success, lower your expectations a little (you'll always be pleasantly surprised), and most of all enjoy the "dream" come true that is the reason you're there to begin with.