Is there a greater fear than having regrets about your wedding? We’re not talking about marrying the wrong person. No, we’re talking about the planning of your wedding, and the fear that something was missed, overlooked or just didn’t meet your expectations.

According to a recent survey of Millennial newlyweds, these are the top 10 things that brides regret most about their wedding day (in no particular order). Read on for a more detailed description of each one.

POOR VENDOR SELECTION

“I wish we would have hired more experienced vendors. The ones we overlooked and now regret were the wedding planner/coordinator and the bartender.”

Overall, the unanimous theme regarding vendors was that you get what you pay for. Hiring experienced vendors, doing your research and reading peer reviews were all highly, highly suggested.

“Read reviews!!! I booked based off sales pitches and wedding expo instead of going home and really seeing people’s experiences with them. I was left very disappointed with a few impactful vendors”

NO TIME TO VISIT WITH GUESTS

“I spent the whole night dancing, which was amazing, but I wish I had visited with guests more”

Another common response was the difficulty in finding time to speak with everyone. With everyone you love in the same room at one time, getting a chance to talk to everyone is really difficult.

WEDDING WAS TOO BIG

“A smaller wedding would have been nice to keep things more manageable. Sometimes I think back and wonder how I ever did it”

Many brides lamented about how their wedding became bigger than they wanted it to. Too many guests, too high of a price tag. Having a large number of guests show up without RSVP’ing, or RSVP and not show up, was another source of frustration.
 

DRESS REGRET

“In hindsight, instead of splashing out for the Vera Wang dress, I would have bought a dress that was more like what I wanted and easier to move in on the day”

This may well be the most expensive item of clothing you ever buy, and nobody wants to regret this decision.
 

BEING CHEAP WITH A CASH BAR

“I would have tried to save up a bit more and have an open bar”

Weddings are expensive, and alcohol isn’t cheap, but several brides talked about how they wished they would have been more gracious hosts and paid for the drinks rather than have a cash bar.
 

NOT HIRING A PROFESSIONAL

“I wish we had hired a great photographer – my biggest regret is not doing so”

This came up frequently by brides who elected to have friends or family members photograph their wedding on the cheap. The same comments were also made about those who chose not to hire professional videographers.
 

SHOULD HAVE ELOPED

“ELOPE! We ended up spending $75,000 on our local wedding! Everything costs a fortune if you want things to look good and taste good” 

There was a lot of discussion around this. It’s not 100% clear if these brides would elope if they had a chance to do things over. But it is clear that the stress and the cost of the weddings was something they wished they could have avoided entirely.

Considering an elopement makes sense for some. Not everyone agrees, however.

“I wasn’t a big fan of our larger wedding and initially thought I would have preferred to elope or do a destination, but we had all our friends and family with us, which ended up being more important anyway.”
 

NOT TAKING TIME FOR THE TWO OF YOU

“I do wish we had done a private first look before the vow exchange so my husband and I could have gotten more personal time alone with a more private, intimate moment”

Again, many newlyweds commented on how little time they actually spent together with their spouse.

WEDDING CAKE

“We cut our wedding cake, and then forgot to serve it to our guests. What a delicious waste of money!”

It is surprising how many couples commented on how they never even served their wedding cake.
 

HAVING THE WEDDING EVERYONE ELSE WANTED

“The price tag grew and grew, the guest list contained people I had never met before, and in the end it wasn’t even the wedding I wanted”

This one was an underlying theme for many of the responses I received. Everyone was happy that they married their love. And most people were thrilled to have their friends and family around them. But once the thank you cards were sent, many brides were left feeling like they succumbed to pressure and made major concessions that were for other people, not themselves. Inviting too many people they didn’t know, holding the wedding at a venue they didn’t want, changing the location or the timing to accommodate outside requests.