According to Rachel Beals, honeymoons allow couples a much-needed break after their wedding. Beals and her husband, Brian, took a honeymoon to Cancun to unwind after the stress of organizing their wedding.

The good news: Many brides are delighted with their weddings once the party is over.

The bad news: Many learn the hard way how to plan the event.

Although these Butler County brides all got married in 2010, they hope their experience will help those just beginning the process.

“I wish I would have taken five minutes just to kind of step back and look at everything and everybody,” said Rachel (Wilson) Beals of Butler, 25, who married her husband Brian Beals, 28, in September.“You start out at 8 in the morning and the next thing you know it's 1 o'clock at night. And you don't know what happened in between.”One example is Beals' wedding cake, which she didn't fully appreciate until weeks later.“I saw picture of Ryan and I cutting our cake and I said, ‘Oh! Our cake was so pretty!'” she said.Beals said one way to compensate is to delay setting the wedding date to defer the stress of wedding planning.“We got engaged in January and didn't set a date until that following September,” she said.“Once you do set the date, you're pretty much committed to it: You start to lose that fun aspect of being engaged.”In her role as hostess, Beals left minimal time between the ceremony at First United Methodist Church and reception at the Succop Conservancy. Although guests were not inconvenienced by the delay, Beals regrets sacrificing much-needed time for taking family photos.“We were very rushed,” she said, wishing she had prioritized her photo wish list. “We had to leave during dinner to get our pictures alone.”Beals also suggests taking a honeymoon.“I feel like the honeymoon kind of made up for that. You get to go and enjoy the time you missed out on your own wedding,” she said.

To avoid becoming overwhelmed, Beals recommends seeking help from family and friends who can make favors, address envelopes or ensure the schedule goes as planned.Brittany (Albert) Basham agrees.Basham, 23, married her husband Justin Basham, 25, in September at Community Alliance Church.After hosting a buffet meal at the Oakview Country Club in Slippery Rock, Basham regrets not having a plan for saving leftover food.“We didn't end up getting to take any food home from leftovers. It was all thrown away,” she said.“Put someone in charge of that, because you're never going to remember to eat! My husband and I, we barely touched our food. You're just too excited and talking,” she added.Although deadline pressure is ever present, Basham also warns against allowing that pressure to drive important decisions.She learned her lesson by buying one of the first dresses she saw, then finding her dream dress later.“Don't rush into a dress until you're sure,” she explained.“I kind of rushed into the first one. I didn't necessarily feel that warm fuzzy feeling until I got my second one.”For indecisive brides or those with limited time to buy a dress, Beals suggests making a decision and sticking with it.“My advice on that would be don't look after you buy one.”

Darcee (Davidson) Lyons adopted that exact mindset when planning her Dec. 3 wedding to her husband, Nathan Lyons.The couple was married at Holy Sepulcher Roman Catholic Church, with a reception at The Atrium.After dating for nearly seven years, the couple knew what kind of event they wanted. So they planned their event in under six months without second guessing decisions.“That was the best thing for us,” said Lyons. “It was a short enough time frame (that) if I made a decision I would have to stick with it instead of going back and forth.”Lyons also said instead of over-researching vendors, they chose those she knew were good from attending other weddings.“We weren't exactly doing a budget wedding, but it turned out that the stuff we chose wasn't (too expensive).“We didn't really want to go over the top with anything. It's just one day. We really wanted everyone to have fun. That was our main focus.”<br></br><br></br>

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The moment looks spontaneous, but many such images are captured within a fast-paced schedule quickly after the bride and groom take their vows.

Darcee Lyons poses for a photo with her husband, Nathan, after their December wedding at Holy Sepulcher Roman Catholic Church. Lyons thinks it is important not to second guess the decisions you make.

Although Brittany and Justin Basham have fun with their wedding cake at their September reception, many brides say their role as hostess occupies their time throughout the event.