How to Have Fun at Your Own Wedding: 7 Tips

Don't sweat the small stuff. Really. No one is going to be saving the wrapper that comes on your custom-labeled bride and groom chocolate bar that you invested 30 hours picking out and then hunting for the best price on. Don't get me wrong – if you can get some cheap candy with your names on it virtually hassle-free, then hey. Go for it! But my point is that any miniscule detail that's going to end up causing you anxiety just isn't worth it.

Have a small bridal party. The more people involved, the more planning and coordinating involved.. and the more potential for chaos and confusion. Not to mention... large bridal parties can end up being "the main cast of characters," with other wedding guests, who may in reality be just as important, fading into the background of your day.

No chicken dance, macarena or electric slide. It's safe to say that the majority of wedding guests would rather not perform these humiliating dances, but do so out of a sense of obligation. "Look at this, aren't we having fun, watch me flap my arms and shake my backside like a total fool!"

Get a good band or DJ. Nothing gets people up and dancing than, well... good music of course! Even if you don't have the bucks to spring for a great band, it's easy enough to supply your DJ with list of favorite songs that are also great to cut a rug to. Keep in mind that, while some songs, like Hotel California, may rank high up there in the Sountrack of Your Life Together, they won't exactly get people up out of their seats and moving to the beat.

Don't let the deejay micro-manage. A strong DJ who knows how to pace the party is one thing... a micromanaging DJ, who insists on orchestrating the whole day and "emceeing" to the point that you can't even hold a conversation, is quite another.  

Tone down the picture-taking. Of course, you want all those priceless moments preserved in your wedding album forever. But watch out for photographers who feel they must stage every cliche wedding photo in the book. It's hard to enjoy yourself when you've got paparazzi breathing down your neck for the entire day. Talk to your photographer about keeping his eye on the action but also staying in the background so the fun can unfold naturally.

Encourage people to leave the kids at home. I know some people may disagree on this. We actually had our son at our wedding, so we couldn't very well say no to people who also wanted to bring their children. But if you really want to have a good, 5-hour stretch of grown-up shenanigans... leave the kiddies at home with at sitter. Otherwise, it will inevitably turn into hours upon hours of grown ups standing on the sidelines, smiling those blank, zombie parent-smiles at the kids who are somersaulting maniacally around the dance floor.