A
wedding is often a strange mix of happiness and distress. But proper
planning can tilt the balance toward the positive.
Weddings
don't just put themselves together.... Unfortunately, some
brides and grooms think that because they have a few months left, they
have plenty of time. But if you want a summer ceremony, you should have
a pretty good idea of what's going on by late winter.
We've
tracked down some of the best advice out there and offer the
following checklist to make sure that your wedding planning is going
well. These are all the things that you should have accomplished
— or be well on the way to doing by the three-month mark
before your wedding. Are you on pace? Or do you need to move faster?
Select
your wedding date, based on when your facility is available, or by when
you want a particular season. Remember that Fall is just as popular as
Summer now, so plan in advance if you want to get the right place and
the officiant you prefer.
Announce
the wedding, or send save the date announcement - choose your bridal
party as some may need or want time to "adujst" their weight or hair.
Choose
wedding rings.
Choose
and book your officiant as far in advance as you can, such as Let's Get
Married, and Confirm the ceremony’s content. You will want to
meet with the officiant to make sure he or she knows what is important
to you, and that the ceremony reflects you and your fiance's
wishes.
Secure
all tuxedo rentals and obtain men’s measurements.
Choose
bridal accessories. This is where something old, new, borrowed and blue
comes in.
Determine
the clothing of the mothers of the bride and groom.
Order
invitations, announcements and thank-you notes.
Be
sure to order extras of everything in case of mistakes and for
mementos.
Design
maps that show the location of the ceremony, reception and hotels.
Meet
with the musicians who will play the ceremony or reception.
Order
the wedding cake (after tasting lots and lots of samples of course!).
Arrange
transportation for the wedding party.
Complete
the gift registry.
Determine
the logistics of your ceremony. This includes reserving pews, arranging
the processional and recessional order and
arranging the receiving line. It also means figuring out the layout of
the reception room, determining the gift and cake tables and
identifying parking options.
Meet
with the cater, florist and photographer.
Arrange
wedding-attire fittings.
Plan
bachelor and bachelorette parties.
Finalize
rehearsal dinner details with the wedding party, location, officiant
and musicians.
Secure
unity candle, toasting glasses, guest book, ring pillow, flower girl
basket and cake knife.
Send
e-newsletter or update to the wedding party.
Buy
honeymoon attire.
Confirm
lodging for out-of-town attendants - book a block of rooms and make
sure to ask the hotel for a hefty discount for your guests. After all,
you are bringing in a bunch of business for them.
People often spend thousands of dollars
on their weddings; with
some thrifty planning, you can help prevent breaking the bank so that
you have money left over for the future.
First, estimate how
many guests you want to invite. Write
out a list and try to keep the number of guests even between the bride
and groom. You may want to cut the list by eliminating business
associates, escorts for unmarried guests and relatives who live far
away.
Buy a wedding dress off
the rack from a secondhand store or borrow one from a friend or
relative. When shopping, take a
frugal friend with you to help keep things in perspective.
Make your honeymoon
plans early to get discounted rates on airfare and accommodations.
Forgo the limousine, have the ceremony flowers transferred to the
reception, have a relative take photographs and videos, and serve a
buffet-style dinner. Or consider skipping the big wedding altogether
and getting a combined marriage/honeymoon package.
Discuss
Money Carefully
All too often individuals feel that money is a
taboo subject. Money problems will not get
resolved by avoiding discussion. Even when
it is uncomfortable, discussion is needed to get financial problems
resolved. Not talking about money issues does not make them
disappear.
Other roadblocks
to healthy communication about finances are: having
only one individual within the family who has complete financial
control. Typically that was how money was handled in the past.
Today, however, it is advisable to have all
family members involved in
the decision making process. Controlling family members by controlling
the family purse is likely to break down relationships. Source: M.A.P. Road Blocks to Communication.
It
only takes a few hours to get married, but couples often
spend more than a year planning the big day. With so many details to
remember and events to coordinate, there are bound to be some details
that slip through the cracks. Below are a few things to remember to
help make your wedding run smoothly.
First,
to fully enjoy your wedding day you need lots of help. With all the
people to greet, dances to dance and pictures to smile for, when will
you have time to eat or drink? It's a good idea to task people with
keeping you going. Someone could be in charge of making sure you get a
plate from the buffet -- nothing can spoil a wedding day like an empty
stomach. Someone else needs to be ready to fill your glass (and not
just with champagne). With all the excitement, you may find yourself
dehydrated. A friend with a cup of water can save the day.
Second,
with all of the checks to write for a wedding, don't forget the ones
due on the big day. No couple wants to be writing a check in their
wedding gown and tuxedo. Have any checks written ahead of time and left
with a trustworthy friend. This keeps the band from pestering you as
you escape to the honeymoon suite.
Pack
ahead of time and pack light.
The purpose of a honeymoon is to relax. Pack a few days ahead and
you'll have time to remember all the small details: your passports,
plane tickets and that new lingerie you just got at your shower.
Your
wedding photographs are
treasures to last a lifetime, but be careful of the never-ending photo
shoot. Beforehand, give your photographer a list of shots you want.
Review it later to remove any shots you don't need. A few extra
pictures can mean precious time away from friends and family at the
reception.
Simple Tips for
Organizing a Wedding
While
planning a wedding is a fun and beautiful experience, it
can also be stressful. That's why 3M, the maker of organization tools
like Post-it(r) Notes and Flags, developed these tips to help brides-
and grooms
Make
a list of everything that needs to get done
, from choosing the reception hall to picking out the favors. Then,
divide and conquer by assigning "leadership responsibility" to
everything on the list according to each of your interests.
Start
Early Although the big day may
be a year or two away, the days will fly by faster than you can
imagine. Start researching the big-ticket items, like the band and
photographer, early. The more work you do up front, the smoother the
planning will go -- and the less stressed you'll both feel as the date
draws near.
Do
Your Homework Flip through
bridal magazines before heading out to find your perfect dress or
meeting with any vendors. Bring the magazines with you when you visit
the bridal store or florist, for example, to give them a better idea of
what you're looking for. And here's a simple tip: instead of
"dog-earing" the pages, use Post-it(r) Flags to mark the dresses,
hairstyles or flowers that you like. They're easier to find than
folded-over pages and come in a variety of colors so you can use a pink
flag to mark dresses, a blue flag to mark flowers, etc.
Keep
It All Together Keep all of your
wedding-related information in one convenient place for easy reference.
There are numerous planning books available to help you keep track of
everything, or simply use file folders. Use separate folders for the
photographer, the band, the church, etc. Use Post-it(r) Flags to
highlight any important information and jot the action date on the flag
so you won't miss important deadlines.
Wedding Requirements -
Where It Costs Most
Everybody
goes through once in their lifetime experiencing a nuptial form of a
wedding, or in some other's case more than once wedding nuptials is
encountered. Given that most people will experience their first wedding
will want the best as possible, especially for a significant day of
one's life by expressing eternal love to one another in the exchange of
wedding vows and wedding bands. When it comes to planning a wedding of
a lifetime, most people would get so emotionally caught up with the
moment and do get out of hand, which this is where the costs and
expenses get blown out of proportion and highly so does the initial
budget. The costly part of the wedding and requirements to set up and
plan needs to be identified as in order to underline where most likely
the budget could be out stretched. These unnecessary and very costly
wedding requirements are found in planning: the reception is
particularly the most expensive part of the wedding; flower ornaments
and arrangements; professional photography and video recording; live
entertainment of a band or DJ; food catering; wedding guest
invitations; wedding favours; wedding rings and wedding gowns.
Useful Tips &
Suggestions
- Reception.
When you want to invite the whole family member and friends, even
though you have not met or really know them. Keep necessary number of
head counts that is important to you to be invited to the wedding.
- Flowers.
Choosing styles and types of flower arrangements and quantity of how
much flowers you want to decorate at the wedding is enough to put your
budget out of line. Purchasing from wholesalers and get the flowers
professionally arranged will set you back on your savings.
- Photography.
Capturing the best and memorable moments of the wedding on pictures and
on video recording is a very costly one, when it is done beautifully
and professionally. Shop around for the best price and go for special
packages that includes photography and video recording services.
Separate services will be exceptionally expensive.
- Band
or DJ.
A band which consists of few members requires more to pay to perform,
where on the other hand a DJ requires only one person to play the
music. It's obvious that a DJ would save you costs for musical
entertainment.
- Food
Catering.
Sit down dinners with banquet or al 'acarte menus can immensely put
your budget out of line, especially when they are catered for your
tastes in the choices of dishes. Buffets and low cost banquets would be
alternatives on saving costs.
- Invitations.
Professional invitations can add up consumedly alot of money,
especially when you have a certain generous number of people to invite.
Do it yourself or DIY your own invitations to give that personal flare
of creation.
- Wedding
Favours.
Buying pre-made wedding favours or packages is quite expensive when it
is already designed or themed to. Personalized favours is no doubt less
expensive and you can add to your own personal touch and style. Buying
by the bulk from wholesalers or distributors will save you heaps.
- Wedding
Rings.
Custom and design made wedding rings will certainly set your budget to
rise. Purchasing a desired pre-set wedding rings with a light
personalized touch to it can achieve the same monumental and
sentimental meaning.
- Wedding
Gowns.
A one off outfit that is worn for only one big day and is unnecessarily
expensive. Rental wedding gowns or evening wear is worthwhile enough to
be memorable. Or even then a second hand wedding gown is a saving.
Final
Good Hints To Budget That Wedding
When sending out wedding guest invitations, do not hesitate by noting
upfront what types of wedding gifts is gratefully requested with
options of various gift categories. (Note: make sure gifts are sensibly
affordable and not ridiculous to guests). In this way you do not double
up with the wedding gifts received and is more of a preference to what
you want - who would want to receive two coffee makers or two dinner
sets? Of course with more expensive and larger gifts, a group of
friends or family can opt to pay together for that one gift. For this
to work, one of the groom's or bride's helper (bridesmaid or groomsman)
needs to check-off who is going to get what gift in that way another
guest going for the same gift knows its taken. Another alternative is
to basically note on the wedding guest invitations with the option of
receiving money instead of the gifts, that is if the guests chooses not
to provide one of the gift preferences. Anyone would know that money
would come really in handy at the time of a wedding, especially when
its a budget one!
Looking for ideas for wedding music?
Here are some great ideas!
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