With so many lists and so many things to do when planning a wedding it's hard to know which are the most important. It's even harder to figure out which parts of your wedding you will be glad you spent hours on and which didn't really end up being that big of a deal. Let me tell you the things that ended up paying off the day of my wedding.

• Excellent and Expensive DJ: Everyone (and I mean everyone) was on the dance floor. He payed attention to detail and did more than was expected. He kept everything on schedule and made sure that I, the bride, was happy!
  
• The Wedding Dress of your Dreams!: Obviously you need to feel FABULOUS the day of your wedding. And you might think you can settle for something less expensive and less gorgeous because you'll still feel pretty, but you won't. You'll be thinking about the better dress or the dress you didn't even bother looking for because you knew it would be too expensive. This is where you should spend a good amount of your budget. There are so many other parts of the wedding that don't have to be top notch quality. Find the most gorgeous dress ever no matter how long it takes to find it, it WILL be worth it. I don't think I will ever forget how I felt in my dress or how many people told me it was the most gorgeous dress they'd ever seen!
• Chair Covers: Unless your reception hall has really nice chairs I would highly recommend chair covers. I had to stretch my budget to fit them in but I'm happy that I did. It adds a lot to the look of your reception. They make everything look a little more elegant.
• Pictures Before the Ceremony: I am very traditional but I opted to do pictures before the ceremony and I am very thankful I did. No matter how on schedule you are, the day of your wedding is rushed and hectic and nerve racking. You want to make sure you have plenty of time for all the pictures you want because that is the only thing that you'll have left when it's all over! (other than your husband that is : )
• Video: We could not afford a videographer. Even with discounts it was still going to cost at least $1200. So at the last minute one of my uncles set up his video camera and taped the whole thing for us. We are so thankful to him for doing this for us! I would have been heart broken if we didn't have it. There are a lot of things that can't be captured in pictures and even though our video isn't the best quality, we can still watch our ceremony and reception. It brings you back to those exact moments and allows you to remember them even better.
• Photography: This is another thing to use a large part of your budget on. Get an excellent photographer! Someone who isn't going to think they are running the entire show but who is confident enough to keep the ball rolling when everyones standing around chatting. Be firm about getting allllllllll of the pictures you wanted because when you have your pictures after it's all over you will be happy you did it. Even if you have to be a little bit of a bridezilla, it's worth it!
  

Now I can tell you the things I desperately wish I had done.

• WEDDING PLANNER: If you can afford it get a wedding planner!! I wish I did! I only needed a planner for the day of the wedding because I was stubborn about doing everything myself. If you need the help and it wouldn't be a bad idea to hire them for the entire process. There were a lot of things I wanted to do that didn't end up getting done because I took on everything myself. But definitely hire a wedding planner for the wedding day. I figured that either my mom, maid of honor, bridesmaids, dad, or mother in law could help me with anything I needed; plus I asked my aunt to be there for the day in case anything came up that we needed some extra help. With all of those people why would I need a coordinator? Well! There were a lot of things that happened that those people could not help me with. It is a very good idea to have a professional who is not part of the family or friends of the family to run the show. This person can get bossy when it's necessary without the repercussions that someone who knows the wedding party would suffer. You can discuss certain things that NEED to happen the day of your wedding with your planner so that they can worry about that instead of you! They don't need to be in pictures or see the ceremony so they can focus on making your day as wonderful as you imagined it!
  
• Trial run for your up-do: This is a huge must do! I did not because I thought I would trust my hair dress for once. I thought it was a little ridiculous to spend $60 on something that was not completely necessary. I had a highly recommended stylist who owned the salon and had cut my hair perfectly a couple months before the wedding. He did my makeup beautifully then moved onto my hair. I wasn't really paying attention because I was completely trusting him which I don't normally do. When it was all done I hated it. Hated it hated it HATED IT! I tried to ask him to change a part of it but it was too late. My hair was cemented in place and the only way to fix it would be to start all over. We were already running late so I decided to not say anything to anyone and just tell myself it was fine. Now whenever I look at my hair in wedding pictures I am APPALLED! I'm not upset with the stylist because he was doing what he thought would look great. If I would have gone to the trial run he would have had a better idea of what I wanted.
• Try to RELAX:  Everyone says this but it is very important.  Something is bound to go wrong.  When it does try as hard as you can to take it with a grain of salt.  Have drinks prepared for when this happens! haha (just a few!)  You can be angry and worry about it later.  Today is supposed to be happy and fun and exciting.  Don't even get started, once you get slightly upset, it's all over.  You will be tired, already on the verge of tears (happy or sad), and extremely stressed: a recipe for disaster!  So keep your smile on, you'll trick everyone else and eventually yourself as well.