Listen up, brides: The Robert Carter Photography wedding-planning class is now in session.

With more than 200 weddings under my belt, it’s tough to find a type of bride or disaster I havn't experienced. Below, I reveal the 12 most common mistakes brides make – and how to avoid them. 

Here are 12 of the biggest mistakes past brides made at their weddings and how you can plan to learn from them:

1. Didn't give yourself enough time.

"We did not budget enough time for hair and makeup for bridesmaids, mothers, and me. I was last, and ended up being soooo rushed. I didn't even look in the mirror before we raced out of the house to get to the wedding (20 min late) which just added more stress to an already stressful situation."

"My makeup artist was running late and we ended up doing what we could with the time left, which is not at all what we discussed. Hello, purple eye shadow and huge fake lashes."

My takeaway: The first version of my wifes day schedule gave her two hours for hair and makeup, which is twice as long as she'd usually take for a special occasion. My married friends advised that you double even that time! If you're getting married at 4 PM, your hair and makeup artists ahould be arriving at 12 PM so you have ample time to get ready, eat lunch, and relax before it's go time. 

2. Didn't place enough value on Photography.

"At the time, we thought of spending more on the dress and smaller things. Neither of these can make up for the terrible images we have to look at each anniversary because we went for a cheap photographer".

"We found a photographer with amazing images and was reasonably priced. Turns out, the images weren't his and we had photos that didn't meet our expectations".

My takeaway: Take your time when booking a photographer. Your photos are one of the only things you'll have to look back on in years to come. Do your research and make sure you place a higher value. Good Photography isn't cheap, Cheap photography isn't good".

3. Made changes day of.

"I had a simpler look at the trial and hated my bridal makeup day-of."

"I went a different direction with hair and regretted it too. Was too short, not the right curl I wanted, and I just ended up not feeling very 'me' on my day."

"Tried a new hairstyle and I never do my hair, even as a bridesmaid. They kept trying to fix it and I ended up hating it. I wish I just took it down, brushed it out and called it a day."

"Got my eyebrows done by someone who wasn't my normal girl and it didn't go well..."

My takeaway: While my wife wasn't initially planning on doing a makeup trial (again, budget!), She decided to foot the bill and do it so she can make decisions about and changes to her makeup weeks ahead of her big-day, instead of day-of.