CONGRATULATIONS! You’re engaged and entering one of the most special and memorable times of your life. Throughout my time in this industry though, I hear time and time again from couples that this period of life FLEW by. It’s easy to get caught up in all the excitement, after all this is your freaking wedding, you should be excited! But I cannot express how important it is to slow down with bae and soak in this time that you’re in. Here are my top tips on how to slow down and enjoy your wedding day.

Take Time and Plan Together

Slowing down starts wayyyyyy before the day of the wedding.  There’s so much planning and festivities that can go into a wedding, it’s important that you set aside time for the two of you from the get go. Between choosing vendors, figuring out where you want to get married, celebrating with family and everything else that goes into wedding planning, you need to make sure you and bae set aside time to plan with one another.  Not only does this keep you on the same page with everything that is happening, but it also creates some quality time for you to experience this together.  

Make it fun, plan a bi-weekly date night where you order your favorite take-out and go over all the deets.  Walk to your favorite coffee shop with your planner and daydream about what your day will be like.  All these little moments will help you to slow down with bae and help you to not only plan your wedding together but enjoy this time together.

Plan Alone Time Into Your Day

I’m going to be honest with you, if you don’t plan time into your day to slow down with one another, it’s going to make it extremely challenging to make that happen. As you get closer to your wedding day, you’ll begin to create your wedding day timeline so you, your vendors and your guests can all be on the same page when it comes to where to be and what to do on your wedding day.

There are SO many different and cool ways to slow down throughout your wedding day. Between the more traditional routes of a first look, to the more adventurous options like going on a hike together, there are SO many different ways to set aside time for you and bae. Here are some of my favorites.

Private Vows

After you see each other for the first time on your day, have someone hand you your vow books. Wander away from all the commotion with your photographer and read your vows to one another. I love this option for couples because it allows them to slow down on their wedding day, pause everything around them and really think about the reasons that they are there on that day. Make sure your photographer has some tissues on hand though because if you’re a crier, there is bound to be waterworks.

Private First Dance

This is a great option for couples who want to wait until their ceremony to see each other for the first time. They can sneak away before or after dinner, check out some of their favorite spots at their venue, and share their first dance. It gives you a little bit of a pause later in the day allowing you to reflect on everything that’s happened so far and really enjoy this time with bae.

Buffer Times

Okay, so these aren’t like “official” like an activity you do with bae to slow down on your day. It’s more just extending a window of time on your wedding day so you two can enjoy that specific part together. This can look like sneaking away for ten minutes after your ceremony and before you need to be at portraits. Or taking a few minutes together to eat some appetizers before heading into your reception. They don’t always happen if you are running behind on your wedding day, but if they do, they are really nice little moments.

First Look

One of the more mainstream routes for planning alone time on your wedding day is scheduling a first look. First looks for a long time were just chalked up to be a sort of photo-op between the soon-to-be newly-weds, but now they are becoming more known for the quality time they provide on a wedding day timeline. Planning a first look for your wedding day allows you and bae to slow down before your ceremony and spend some time together. Seeing each other before the ceremony also allows for more flexibility in the rest of your timeline, thus more opportunities to be with each other throughout your day.

Spread Out your Wedding Portraits

I LOVE this option for my couples. This is such a fun way to not only slow down with one another and soak in different parts of your day, but it also allows you to document some of the different emotions you’re feeling throughout! Schedule in a 20-minute first look in the morning, 40 minutes for portraits after the ceremony, and sneak out from the party for like 20 minutes to end your evening excitedly chattering about your day and getting some cool photos while you’re at it.

Have a Day After Session

This is a great option for couples who really want to spend as much time as they can with friends and family, but still, have a great, intimate experience with one another. The morning or a couple of days after your wedding day, meet up with your photographer and plan an entire day doing your favorite things in your wedding attire. Go on a hike, hit up your favorite places around town, run around your local city. Just walking around in your wedding gear is SO much fun. It makes for such a unique experience and allows you to get some cool portraits following your wedding day.

After Your Wedding Day

Just because your wedding day is over doesn’t mean that your celebration has to end. Just like how there’s a ton that goes into the build-up to the wedding, there’s no stopping you from continuing the fun once the day is over. You and bae can rent a cute AirBnB nearby for just the two of you to share some alone time and slow things down on your wedding weekend. Or go the traditional route and jet off for your honeymoon the day after your wedding. If you had a guest book, bring it with you and read through all your messages. Look through your sneak peeks from your photographer, and have an intimate getaway together to slow down and soak in your wedding day.

Your wedding day is going to FLY by, but if you include some of these ideas into your timeline you and bae will be able to slow it down to reflect and soak in everything that happens on your wedding day. Remember as you’re planning you don’t have to include every one of these. Figure out which of these options sound like you and your partner, and which ones will fit well with your wedding festivities. Having even just one of these options will help you to take some time to yourselves on your wedding day so you can slow down and enjoy the moment. Want to make sure that your wedding day feels like you? Head to my blog post here that goes over exactly how!