Wedding Planning
Preparing for a wedding is not only one of the most exciting times of your life: it is also one of the busiest. In order to make a success of the event you need to start your wedding planning early and to cover all aspects, from the clothes you will wear to the budget you can afford, to ensure your wedding day is happy and successful.
Unless you know you can buy a ready-made dress that is just what you want and fits you perfectly, your wedding planning should allow several months for the designing, fitting and making of your wedding dress. This provides time to consult with your designer about style, color, fabric and accessories, and to attend several fittings while the dress is being made. It is important that your wedding planning includes an arrangement with your wedding dress designer for a definite collection date, and that you make this date at least a week before the wedding, preferably earlier. The closer you get to your wedding day the busier you become, especially in the final week. By then you need the peace of mind of knowing that, thanks to your thorough wedding planning, your wedding dress is hanging up in your home, completed to your satisfaction and without any last minute alterations needed.
Even if you see the wedding dress you want ready-made in a salon, your wedding planning should still allow for buying it well in advance of the day. Something that looks right on a model may not necessarily suit your figure or be comfortable to wear. By ensuring that your wedding planning takes account of the need for you to buy the dress early, you will have time to select another wedding dress if necessary or to have any required alterations carried out after trying it on.
The floral arrangements that feature in your wedding planning can be simple or elaborate, budget-friendly or expensive. If expense is no object, you can select flowers that reflect the theme of your wedding to make up your bridal bouquet and to decorate the wedding and reception venues. Otherwise, especially if you want to keep costs down while still making the most of the flowers you choose, you can ask your florist for flowers that are in season. Hiring silk flowers will also keep your wedding planning costs down.
The types of floral arrangements that a bride can carry on her wedding day are as many and varied as the list of flowers that can be bought or hired. It is a good idea as part of your wedding planning to consult with your florist about your bouquet, as its size and shape should complement the style of your wedding dress. A larger bouquet, for example, is more suited to a long wedding dress than a small bouquet that is usually carried with a knee-length wedding dress. A cascade arrangement, a classic style in which the flowers shape down to a point, enhances a long, formal wedding dress, while a single bloom can be carried to good effect with a shorter dress. The bride usually carries the bouquet in two hands, slightly below her waist, or across her arms, especially if it is a loosely tied, long-stemmed bouquet.
Always an important part of wedding planning, wedding invitations can communicate not only your wish for the recipients to attend your wedding, but also the type of wedding it will be. Stylish, formally worded wedding invitations can set the tone for a formal church ceremony, while a more informal type of invitation would be suitable for a casual, outdoors wedding. Your wedding invitations can also reflect a particular theme or color featured at your wedding. If you have a creative flair, you may choose to make your own unique wedding invitations, designing them to correspond with the wedding theme. Other stationery included in your wedding planning can be chosen to harmonize with the style of wedding invitations you select. Place cards for the wedding reception and thank you notes for gifts are among the other items you will need.
Once you begin your wedding planning, the wedding invitations need to be ordered or bought as early as possible. If you are having them printed, this allows time for the correction of any mistakes and also ensures that the wedding invitations can be sent about six weeks before the wedding. They should include an RSVP date that will give you time to confirm numbers with the caterer and to arrange seating for the wedding reception.
Photographs and film of your wedding will preserve your memories of this most important day of your life. It is essential therefore for your wedding planning to include an early booking with your photographer, and an appointment to discuss details. If you want a particular photographer who is one of several employed by a company, make sure the person you nominate will be the one listed to photograph your wedding. If you are not sure who you want, word of mouth recommendations always provide a helpful way to choose a wedding photographer.
An important part of wedding planning is the budget, so you need to be sure the photography costs are within that budget. At the same time, you will want to know if they cover everything you want recorded. For this reason your contract with the photographer should include starting and finishing times. If you find it too expensive to have a photographer remain throughout the reception, you may be able to adjust your wedding planning at the reception centre to set up photographs that appear to depict such highlights as cutting the cake and dancing the bridal waltz, before the photographer leaves. In that way you will have a professional record of those important moments at your wedding.
Wedding venues should play a prominent part in the early stages of your wedding planning. As soon as you set the date you need to book the locations you want for the ceremony and the reception. If they are popular venues you may need to have a couple of dates in mind to avoid disappointment. Whether you plan a traditional church wedding or want to make your vows in a park, on a beach or even taking part in some extreme sport you both enjoy such as jumping from a plane, you’ll need to book the location and an officiant, and make sure there are facilities for your guests to see and enjoy the ceremony.
Wedding receptions are also important parts of wedding planning because they usually involve serving a meal to the guests and providing them with some form of entertainment. If you are going to spend some time after the ceremony having photographs taken, make sure your guests will be comfortable at the reception venue while they wait for you to arrive. Visit the venue to see if it is a suitable size for the number of guests you plan to invite and if it has facilities you will need such as parking, a dance floor and a room the bride can use if she wants to change before leaving the reception. As the budget for the reception will be a major part of your wedding planning, ask if the venue has wedding packages and what is included in the total cost.
Wedding receptions can be as formal or informal as you choose. At the same time, they represent one of the major items on the wedding planning agenda. After all, this is one of the biggest parties you will ever give, and you will want to make sure that you and your guests enjoy it as much as possible.
While there is a traditional order of events for wedding receptions you are free to choose whether to follow it, change it or ignore it altogether. If your wedding planning involves a casual, outdoors function you may decide, for example, that a receiving line would be too formal. You can also alter the traditional order of speeches that are usually given at wedding receptions. Over the years these speeches have become increasingly informal, and the order in which they are presented can vary.
When working on your wedding planning it is a good idea to arrange to have someone to act as your MC at the reception, preferably a family member or friend with experience in public speaking. No matter how informal wedding receptions are, they need to follow a timetable, and a skilled MC can keep things relaxed but on track. Other traditional features of wedding receptions, including the first dance of the bride and groom, cutting the cake and tossing the bouquet, should be considered in your wedding planning as they will provide memorable moments for you and your guests.
Once upon a time wedding cakes were fruit cakes. They were also usually round, tiered and covered with white frosting. Now, like everything associated with weddings, the rule books have been thrown away and your wedding planning can allow for a cake that is exactly what you want. It can be a cheesecake, a mud cake, a chocolate cake, a carrot cake. It can be square, heart-shaped, hexagonal or oval. It can be decorated in whatever style you like to suit the theme of your wedding. It can even, if you like, be a round, tiered, fruit cake with white frosting!
When organizing your wedding planning agenda, make an early decision about the style of cake you want and, if you hope to have it made by a popular confectioner, order it months in advance. As well as ensuring you have the cake made by the person you want, this will give you time to talk to the confectioner and discuss the various options available. Your wedding planning should include a timetable for collecting the cake, carrying it safely to the venue and saving a portion of it if you like the tradition of keeping some of the wedding cake to be eaten on your first anniversary or at the christening of your first child. Ask your confectioner for advice about freezing and defrosting any part of the cake you decide to keep for either of these occasions.
The transport that will get you to the church just a little fashionably late is one of the wedding planning issues you should organize as soon as possible. Options for wedding transport vehicles range from stretch limousines to motorcycles and horse and carriages, with your choice depending on the style of the wedding and your wedding planning budget. As well as considering the style in which you will arrive at your wedding, you will have other travel needs to arrange. These include getting the other members of the wedding party and close family members to the ceremony, traveling to any special locations where you want photographs taken, getting back to the reception venue and traveling to wherever you plan to spend the first night of your honeymoon.
Provided you have the good looking transport for making an entrance when it matters, such as at the wedding ceremony, you can save money in your wedding planning by renting special vehicles for just a few hours then using your own cars for the rest of the day. Even so, those hours tick away quickly. Seek out a company that has a wedding package to suit you, or work out how to cut down on hours. Your wedding planning budget will benefit and everyone should still be able to get to where they need to be.
After the busy months of wedding planning, and the excitement of the wedding day itself, the honeymoon offers a welcome escape and a chance to relax for at least a week or two. If you have a favorite destination that suits you both, make your bookings as soon as possible then turn your attention to the many other matters connected with your wedding. However, if you are undecided about where to spend your honeymoon, use your wedding planning time to reach a decision together about this important part of your wedding experience.
Instead of trying to select a destination from the countless options available, you can save some of that valuable wedding planning time by thinking first about the type of vacation you prefer and the location that would suit you both. Decide whether you want surf or snow, a taste of different culture or a destination close to home, a chance to do some bargain shopping or the opportunity to get away from it all. Once you’ve agreed on the type of honeymoon you want, check out a number of suitable destinations and use your wedding planning budget to make a final decision. If you don’t have a lot of time to study options, a travel agent will be able to advise you. Then book your transport and accommodation, and look forward to the holiday of a lifetime!