Most wedding days feel like a blur.

A flurry of timelines, people, details, and emotions. You wake up, and before you know it, you’re saying goodbye to guests and wondering if you even ate dinner.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
I believe your wedding day should feel like a deep breath. Like coming home. Like a slow, steady morning where you’re surrounded by people who love you, and everything about the day reflects your story—not a checklist from Pinterest or a production made for Instagram.
Here’s how to make your wedding day feel slow, meaningful, and entirely *yours.*

1. Build In Breathing Room

When couples ask what makes the biggest difference in how a wedding day feels, I always say: time. Build margin into your schedule. Give yourself permission to move slowly. Don’t pack your morning with appointments and errands. Don’t stack your timeline so tightly that one late boutonnière derails the whole thing.

Some of the most tender moments I’ve photographed happened when nothing was scheduled—just quiet minutes of a bride writing her vows in the morning light or a groom sitting with his grandmother, sipping coffee.

Those are the moments that last. Let yourself have them.

2. Choose Meaning Over Performance

There is no "right way" to do a wedding. The only right way is your way.

Skip traditions that don’t mean anything to you. Add rituals that do. Whether it’s a private vow exchange before the ceremony, a shared journal you write in all morning, or a custom cocktail that nods to your first date—choose details that hold memory and weight.

Your wedding doesn’t need to impress anyone. It needs to feel like you.

3. Be Intentional With Who You Let In

This one might be the hardest—and the most important.

The people around you on your wedding morning shape how the day feels. Choose calm. Choose kind. Choose the friends and family who support you, not the ones who create chaos. You don't need to entertain anyone on your wedding day. You don’t need to manage emotions or put out fires.

I’ve seen firsthand how peaceful a morning can feel when a bride is surrounded only by people who make her feel safe. I’ve also seen how one stressed-out voice can change the entire energy of a room.

Protect your peace. It’s the best gift you can give yourself.

4. Consider a First Look

I know this isn’t for everyone—but hear me out.

A first look gives you a moment to be alone together before everything begins. It’s often the only time you’ll truly have just the two of you. No ceremony nerves, no crowd, no pressure. Just you, seeing each other for the first time, breathing each other in.

Plus, it helps the rest of the day unfold more slowly. You can take most of your portraits early, join your cocktail hour, and ease into the evening without rushing from one thing to the next

5. Reframe the Day Around Connection, Not Perfection

Things will go wrong. A boutonnière will fall apart. The wind might mess up your hair. Your flower girl might refuse to walk down the aisle. Let it be what it is.

You’ll remember the way your partner squeezed your hand during the vows—not whether the napkins were the right shade of sage. You’ll remember the warmth of a hug from your grandfather—not how long dinner took to be served.

When you release the pressure of perfection, you open yourself up to connection—and that’s what truly matters.