Between wedding magazines, Pinterest, and reality shows, wedding planning ideas are everywhere! In a series of posts, we’ll talk with brides who have gotten married in the last few years to see what they did, and get tips for couples planning their weddings today.

First name: Sadie

Wedding date: September 15, 2012  

Bride Sadie only took a few months to plan her outdoor wedding at Stanley Park in Westfield, MA and indoor reception at the Sons of Erin Hall. She tells us all about how she and her husband made the day their own and shows that planning a gorgeous wedding doesn’t have to take years if that’s not your style!

What’s something that was unique about your wedding? We planned it in 2 months’ time, just because we wanted to get married before summer was over. It was shorter and more simple than other weddings I’ve attended. We also read our own vows and I had both my mother and my father walk me down the aisle.

Did you have specific ideas that you really wanted even before you started planning? I knew that I wanted to keep it somewhat simple, but that’s about it.

Were there any popular trends when you got married? Braids or loose waves seemed to be trending for hairstyles; bright colors for bridal party attire; simple square fondant wedding cakes or dessert and candy tables in lieu of cake, etc.

Did you include any of those trends? We had cupcakes with a top tier instead of a big cake, and the groomsmen wore pink ties.

What was your wedding song? “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli

Tell us about your dress. My dress was a strapless white gown. The top was ruched satin that corseted in back, the bottom was lace covered tulle. It had an asymmetrical waist (which is a little trendy) and small appliqué flowers scattered throughout.

Tell us about your partner’s outfit. He wore a classic black suit with a white French-cuff shirt, silver tie, and pocket square.

What’s a memory that stands out the most from your wedding? The reading of our vows. It wasn’t that long ago, so I remember most of it pretty well, but the vows were very important to me and something I don’t think I will ever forget.

What advice would you give to a bride just planning her wedding today? It’s so easy to get stressed out and overly caught up in the wedding planning itself; just make sure you take time to really appreciate each other and the commitment you are about to make. Nothing about the wedding day itself is more valuable than the lifetime of marriage that will hopefully follow!

Photos courtesy of the bride.

Getting people dancing at your wedding is both the fun part and – sometimes – the hard part. Be sure to enlist the help of bridesmaids and groomsmen. Your wedding party becomes your unofficial “dance captains” and can help bring friends and family to the dance floor. Read on for other tips to pack the floor for slow and fast dances alike.

Ask for song requests in advance

Leave space on your RSVP cards and ask guests to write down a song that they’d love to hear (and dance to!) at your wedding.

This also lets you coordinate with your DJ to make sure the songs your guests want get played. You could even have some guests mentioned when their song gets played. Think: “We want to see the bride’s cousin Jessica out on the floor for this next song (title). Come on, Jessica, dancing time!” Just be sure to provide this information to your DJ (and maybe your cousin!) in advance.

Play some guaranteed favorites, even silly ones

Whether you go with the cheesy YMCA or the trendy song of the moment (think Gangnam Style in 2012) it’ll be sure to coax people onto the dance floor. While they might not be works of music genius, they’ll get your guests dancing and laughing together.

Organize a special slow dance

Coordinate with your DJ for a longest married/newest married dance. First, choose a song for the slow dance and ask your DJ to call the new bride and groom to the floor. The DJ can then ask for the longest-married couple by asking couples to raise their hands if they’re married, and put them down when the DJ says the number of years they’ve been married. So the DJ might ask couples to keep their hands up if married for 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, etc. until there is just one couple left with their hands up. The DJ then invites that couple to the dance floor. The longest-married and newest-married couples begin the dance, and after a minute or two, the DJ can invite all the couples to join in.

Remember your DJ can be a great way to help coax people to dance, but it’s also a good idea to let the DJ just keep the music rolling without too many interruptions once people get started dancing.