Week of Weddings- Samantha Elizabeth

I am so fortunate to have some dear friends share their wedding plans & stories this week! I love that everyone has different ideas of what they want their big day to be... & thus what makes the day special to the individual couple. So please enjoy these lovely ladies stories while I am away celebrating my wedding week!

Today's guest blogger is the very talented photographer Samantha from Samantha Elizabeth. 

Hello! First of all…a huge congratulations to the two love birds as they tie the knot! My husband Dusty and I are so very happy for them. We wish them both the best of luck on this new adventure together - along with the new addition coming in December ;) 

I thought I would share some advice I learned firsthand from our wedding day which was July 30th 2011 (almost a year ago already wow time flies). Our big day was almost perfect to say the least (a bit of advice for future brides and grooms, it will NEVER go perfectly)! We had a wonderful time and had so many friends & family there to celebrate with. We got married on a farm in Michigan where my grandmother grew up. The farm sits on top of a little hill that overlooks a valley.  There are fields, a huge hay barn and a 100-year-old farmhouse that sits on top of the hill. We set up a white tent with chairs for the ceremony…& then had the reception in town later that evening. The weather was HOT, 80+ degrees…& I was sweating so profusely I could barely get into my wedding dress!

Advice to brides to be for your wedding day:

• Take a moment while standing at the alter…to look out at all of the people who came to be a part of your big day.  It may be the last time you will ever see all of these individuals together in one place.     
• SMILE! So many brides get nervous and end up looking like they are scowling as they walk down the aisle (this is the photographer side of me talking...besides...I cried the whole way down the aisle at our wedding)      
• Don’t sweat the small stuff. It is inevitable that SOMETHING will happen that you didn’t expect to… 
• Do be careful of tan lines before your wedding…(I made this mistake). 
• Remember, everyone will try to tell you how you “should” do things on your wedding day…but make sure you do things the way YOU want to. 
• Have someone video tape it for you! (Let it be there wedding gift to you)
• Most importantly, Have Fun!