Back in grad school I was offered a teaching assistantship. My field was music: the subject I was given to teach was business communications…

…a subject I knew less than zero about. But I needed the money. And staying one chapter ahead of my students, I learned a concept that has helped me every single day since.  It was called the “YOU ATTITUDE”, and it will prove huge in every aspect of your life!  At work, in your relationships with friends and family, on your beautiful WEDDING day, and all through your “till death do us part” MARRIAGE.

Best of all, you can put it to work right now as you plan the big day! Simply put, the YOU ATTITUDE is putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. So, as you make the gazillion decisions that go with planning a wedding, pretend you’re a guest at your own wedding!

Of course you want the dress YOU love and the cake YOU love and this or that your fiancé loves, but lots of choices can be made easier if you picture yourself attending as a guest. Would I think this is beautiful? Would I think this is goofy? Would I really take home and cherish forever that expensive wedding favor? (Sure, the people in your inner circle would do that with anything. I’m talking about the other dozens of guests at several dollars per favor). Would I really miss a sweets table after I consume a four-course dinner, several glasses of wine and a piece of wedding cake?

Would I resent having to wait an hour between ceremony and reception while the wedding party takes pictures or the bride and groom go have champagne and maybe a little “us time”?  (Open bars can solve this one, but time is money!) Would I groan at the thought of being ushered out by rows and then made to navigate a receiving line? Would I admire the idea of wildflowers (the non-self-destructing kind please!) instead of lilies and orchids?

You get the idea. Try the YOU ATTITUDE and see if it doesn’t clear up a few tough choices for you.

Oh, and one more thing—your wedding day is going to go by like a comet!

You’ll be totally consumed being nervous, or fatigued, or making sure you greet every guest and remember to attend to all the little details. After months and months of planning you’ll say: “It’s over??”

If you REALLY want to be a “guest at your own wedding”—forever—hire an experienced, professional videographer.  The right video will bring the day back in total detail—not just isolated moments but whole chunks of  moments—the entire ceremony, the emotions, the food and decorations, the spontaneous love and your guests having a great time—and maybe the MOST important, all the special people In your life at this moment.

YOU have a great wedding!