Recently I polled my married friends to ask them what their biggest regrets were when planning their wedding. If they could do it all over again, what would they do differently? I got a few surprising answers (one wished she hadn't worn a veil), but a lot of people put the same things.

1) Letting family have too much say.

2) Doing too much themselves.

3) Not investing enough (or any at all) in their wedding photos.

4) Not hiring a videographer.

Notice that no one said they wished they'd spent more on their food, or that they'd had top shelf liquor, or that they'd hired a band instead of a DJ. Why is that? Because those things do not impact how you remember the day for the rest of your life.

When the wedding day is over, when all is said and done, you will have your memories, your photographs, and your video. The flowers will die, the food will have been eaten, and the venue will move on to their next couple.

Over the course of the next four weeks, I will break down these four biggest wedding mistakes and how to avoid them. First up: Letting Family Have Too Much Say.

Mistake #1: Letting Family Have Too Much Say

This is one a lot of people private messaged me about. Probably because they didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings if they saw the comment on my post. This is also mine and Miguel's biggest regret. When it comes time to plan your wedding, suddenly everyone has an opinion. My mom insisted we have the wedding 100% indoors (I always dreamed of an outdoor wedding in the Fall), my father wanted a top shelf liquor bar (Miguel and I were planning on beer and wine). Before I knew it, the wedding we had was the polar opposite of the wedding we wanted. This was a theme with my friends: they let their family take over.

How to Avoid This Mistake

Give the people who are really important to you one specific task that is all theirs. Maybe your mother would really love to DIY the favors. Maybe your sister would have a ton of fun putting together a playlist for the DJ. Pick a relatively small task and make it theirs. This will help them to feel super involved with the planning while leaving you free to make the decisions on the things that really matter to you.