Wedding Regrets I Learned from TikTok
I took notes so you don’t have to! These are all the wedding regrets I learned from former brides that helped me walk away from my wedding with next to ZERO regrets.
As someone who planned her wedding for a year and a half like it was a full-time job — and whose biggest fear was walking away from the most important day of my life (and one of the biggest financial investments I’ll ever make) with regrets — you know I did my homework.
I spent hours in the depths of WeddingTok, learning from brides who came before me and taking notes on what to do and more importantly not to do. These are the wedding regrets that stuck with me the most — the ones I genuinely tried to avoid — and I hope they help you dodge them too.
💍 Ceremony & Vows
Not writing your own vows
Not reading our wedding vows in public – the ceremony lacked sentiment
Not practicing our first kiss and dip kiss before our wedding ceremony
Forgetting to wear my veil walking down the aisle – wish I assigned someone to be responsible
Not telling officiant to step out of the way for your first kiss
Having my bridal party stand up at the altar with us – wish it was just me and my husband in photos
Wish I walked slower down the aisle and took it all in – felt like I blacked out
📸 Photography Regrets
Not giving my wedding photographer a shot list - missed key photos
Not getting bridal portraits
Not having good posture in some of my wedding photos – ruined a lot of my photos
Not hiring my wedding photographer for all 3 days of my destination wedding (this one is my own personal wedding regret)!!
Not getting golden hour photos
Not telling officiant to move out of the way during our first kiss
Not having any iPhone footage from our wedding day – didn't have phone on me and friends didn't end up taking as many photos & videos as wanted
Not having two wedding photographers wedding day - missed a lot of shots
Not doing a first look
Not telling officiant to move out of the way during our first kiss - ruined first kiss photos
Being gone too long from guests when we did post-ceremony photos
🎥 Videography Regrets
Not hiring a videographer !!!!
Going cheap on our photographer and videographer to cut cost – I really regret this because the quality wasn't what I was hoping for
Not researching our videographer more
Picking the wrong style of wedding videographer - I didn’t realize what I was getting
Wish had more to remember from the day - didn’t hire videographer or content creator. have zero video footage
💄 Beauty Regrets (Makeup, Hair, Spray Tan)
Not doing a makeup trial
Not doing my own wedding makeup – I didn't feel like myself
Not liking hair for rehearsal dinner or wedding day
Not assigning someone to touch up my makeup later in the evening – it looks horrible in my wedding photos
Going last for hair and makeup - we were rushed and I didn’t like how I looked since she had to cut corners
Not keeping makeup artist and hair stylist there to touch up – hated how makeup and hair looked later in the night
Not doing a hair trial
Not getting spray tan before wedding!
Not steaming our bridesmaid dresses the night before - all the steam was causing our hair to fall and make up to run!
Wedding Dress, Veil & Accessories
Not buying the dress I wanted to save cost – I bought another dress then hated it and ended up buying the original
Not getting veil weights – too windy couldn't wear my veil
Wearing wedding heels with embellishments
Not changing into my after party dress before first dance – hard to dance in
Not having an after party dress
Sharing my wedding dress with too many people ahead of time
Not designating anyone to save your bouquet and wedding cake
Buying expensive designer heels – they end up getting ruined or kill their feet
Buying wedding dress too fast and having regrets
Planning & Timeline
Not spending enough time with your significant other on your wedding day!!!!
Timeline getting off – wish I scheduled more buffers
Not spending enough time with each other on wedding day
Not hiring a wedding planner
Not having a rain backup plan
Not managing my time better during reception - got stuck talking to people that I didn’t want to for far too long
Not taking time to actually eat dinner during reception
Being so stressed out I had a hard time enjoying bridal events leading up to our wedding
Running behind on hair and makeup / AKA photo schedule getting messed up
Not having a professional make my wedding timeline
Get ready timeline – didn't account for enough time
Not blocking off calendar a few days leading up to the wedding – was so stressed
Wish gave wedding day of coordinator more direction on the wedding DIY and how to set it up
Not announcing late night snacks are out
Wedding DIY Regrets
Taking on too many DIY projects – too time consuming & didn't turn out how imagined
Wish gave wedding day of coordinator more direction on the wedding DIY and how to set it up
Wish I unboxed and set everything up prior to the wedding day to make sure we weren’t missing anything. the person I designated to help set up DIY decor on the wedding day didn’t have everything she needed and it was a scramble the day of to find what we needed
Not making sure the linens were steamed at reception - the table linens were wrinkled at the reception and it really bothered me
Wedding Guest & Wedding Reception
Meeting people for the first time on our wedding day
Getting stuck talking to guests for too long when making reception rounds - Pro Tip: Say hello to all your guests at your welcome party so you can enjoy wedding night and not feel obligated to make rounds!
Not taking time to take it all in, because the day goes by so fast
Not giving a timeline on wedding reception speeches – Dad gave a 27 min long speech
Not eating enough food - barely ate any of our dinner
Inviting wedding guests out of obligation that we didn’t want
Hiring a random bad DJ or relying on Spotify
Not doing a head table
Not having speeches – we didn’t have any speeches at the wedding
Making rounds at wedding reception
Not having someone in charge of making a to go box of food from our cocktail hour and reception since it’s hard to eat at your wedding when you’re talking to all of your wedding guests
Not telling DJ to stick to the playlist you curated
Venue & Vendors
Not picking our top choice for our wedding venue
Choosing vendors too quick and not doing enough research
Not being clear with vendors on what we wanted ahead of time
Not telling DJ to stick to the playlist we curated
Not giving more clear guidelines to my florist. I didn't get a mock up and it didn't turn out way they wanted
Not giving our DJ a wedding playlist OR a "DO NOT PLAY LIST"
Relying on wedding venue coordinator to facilitate as our day of coordinator - wish we had hired an actual wedding day of coordinator
Wedding Invitations, Favors & Logistics
Not having an adults-only wedding – kids ruined many moments
Buying wedding favors
Doing welcome bags at our destination wedding - it was a hassle transporting everything to our destination wedding and the hotel didn’t even give them to half of our wedding guests
Picking bridal party too quickly after getting engaged
Not preserving wedding bouquet
Not saving wedding cake or designating someone to box it up for us
Chose wedding party out of obligation — wish I’d kept it smaller or skipped it
Going way over our wedding budget
Not getting ring insurance
Wellness & Self-care
Going too hard and staying up too late the night before and being hungover
Not taking a minute to themselves before walking down the aisle
Not eating food on the wedding day
Not drinking enough water
Being stressed about my weight
Being so stressed out I had a hard time enjoying the events leading up to wedding
Not blocking off calendar a few weeks leading up to the wedding
Honeymoon Regrets
Regret having a honeymoon in a new location after our destination wedding - wish we stayed local to our wedding area because we were exhausted and felt guilty not exploring the new area we traveled to, when all we wanted to do was lay in our hotel room
Wish we post poned our honeymoon instead of going right after our wedding - I could have used something to look forward to since I had horrible post wedding blues
Final Takeaways
At the end of the day, your wedding will be magical — not because it’s perfect, but because you’re marrying the love of your life. But if there’s one thing I learned from obsessively planning mine, it’s this: being intentional now saves you from lifelong regrets later. There are no do-overs on your wedding day — and for me, that made every ounce of blood, sweat, tears, and time I poured into planning 100% worth it. I did the research, I asked the questions, and I made the calls to ensure we walked away from our day with as few regrets as humanly possible.
Hopefully, this list helps you feel a little more empowered, a little more prepared, and a whole lot more confident walking into your big day. Learn from the mistakes of other brides, soak in every second of your big day, and make sure your wedding is an authentic reflection of you as a couple. No do-overs, but plenty of opportunities to get it right the first time. 💍✨
Xx
The Modern Bride Guide 💋