My husband and I are introverts through and through. You may never have guessed because we both put ourselves out there through our social media and he used to play in bands in front of hundreds of people! But in all reality, we prefer small social gatherings or just spending an evening on the couch together. We never really gave much though to this until it came time to plan our wedding. Then there it was, staring us in the face. How were we going to feel comfortable at our wedding in front of all those people with all the attention on ourselves?! Good news: we figured it out! We had an amazing wedding and did not feel awkward or uncomfortable once. Here is how we did it!
Cut the Guest List
Our original guest list came in at close to 150 people. We decided to cut the guest list down to a third of that. We only invited our closest family members and friends. The ones we talk to on a regular basis and see outside of annual gatherings like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admittedly, it was a little tough to explain why we did not invited some family members. But in the end, we do not regret our choice at all. We were way more comfortable balling our eyes out through our ceremony knowing that the ones that were there were shedding tears along with us.
Have A First Look
Ok, admittedly my husband and I did not have a first look. But I suggest it for all of my introverted couples! It gives you a chance to see each other for the first time and express all the emotions your are feeling without all of your family and friends peering on. It is just you, your future spouse, and your photographer. When you see each other walking down the aisle for the first time, you will still be full of emotions. But it will not be the first time you are seeing each other for the day, so you will feel more at ease with your friend and family watching.
First Dance Alternatives
Another time all eyes are on you is during the first dances. If you are not a particularly skilled dancer, thinking of everyone looking at you during the first dances may make you want to hurl. If you don’t want to get rid of the dances all together, don’t worry! There are still options! For your first dance, you can start off the dance alone, and then have the DJ ask the other couples to join. If you like this option, make sure you photographer knows, so they can get extra pictures of the two of you at the beginning of the dance. It would also be helpful to let some couples know (parents and bridal party), so they can be the first ones to join and the rest of the guests will follow suit. For the Mother/Son and Father/Daughter dances, you can do a combined dance. Both of you dancing with your parents at the same time. (This is the option my husband and I did!)
Schedule Time Alone
If you are one to get overwhelmed in these types of situations, schedule some time to spend alone together throughout the day. First look is a great time for this as we talked about above. Other great times would be just after the ceremony and during the sunset. Invite your photographer along for these two! They are some of my favorite times to take pictures of my couples. I give them some space for a few minutes and then snag a few minutes of pictures with them! Other times throughout the night you can sneak off would be after dinner (before toasts) and after the cake is cut. No one will notice you are gone for 5 minutes as long as an event is not scheduled, promise.
There you have it! My top 4 tips for the introvert getting married. I hope these tips will help you have the most magical and stress-free wedding day! Want more tips for creating an amazing wedding day? Click here for more Wedding Tips!
