Lessons Learned: Advice from Devyn Reing

Devyn and David Reing’s wedding took place on June 23, 2018, at St. John the Baptist Church.

If you could do anything about your wedding differently, what would you change and why?    

I wish we [could] have had a receiving line so that we could have thanked all of our guests on our wedding day. Our church said we weren’t allowed to have one there, but there wasn’t enough time to go around to all the tables at the reception.

What are you happy you spent money on?        

We love our photographers and made sure to splurge on videography, too. I am so happy we also had a Friday welcome reception at a bar down the street so we could see all of our out-of-town guests in a less formal setting before the wedding.

What do you think you could have done without?          

Pew decorations; the church was pretty on its own.

What was your biggest surprise when planning your wedding?               

Taking into account minimums for venues while also finding one that would be best for our guest count.

What do you wish you’d known before you started planning?  

Get as many little things knocked off your list as early as possible.

Did you experience any wedding-day snafus?

The florist delivered the boutonnieres to the wrong hotel room, so the groom and groomsmen never got them for the wedding. I was so sad! I accepted it was “the thing” that went wrong for our wedding and moved on. Also, the groom found a big hole in his shirt the morning of the wedding while getting ready. I never knew about it, but a couple of my bridesmaids snuck out to Kohl’s—hair, makeup and all!—to get him a new shirt.

Did you and your fiancé get into any silly arguments?   

I wanted a small wedding party—that doesn’t mean you can’t include everyone for the festivities! My fiancé wanted to include all his brothers/future brothers and closest friends. We talked about it and decided we would rather include more people than try to decide who to leave out.

Do you have any general advice for couples currently planning their weddings?             

The more opinions you ask, the more opinions you get. Just do what feels right to you and your fiancé, and don’t ask for an opinion unless you’re ready to include it in your plans.

Do you have any general marriage advice, as a newlywed?

If you’re going to change your name, wait until you don’t have anything going on. It’s a long and difficult process.