Getting married may well be something that you have spent your entire life dreaming about. But, no matter how much time you spend imagining the ceremony throughout your life, you might not ever be prepared for the amount of work and stress that having the perfect wedding party can be, but with careful planning and the kind of effort associated with the passion for getting married, you will be able to enjoy the wedding that you want and cut down on the stress in the process. Here are a few things to help you get your planning underway.
To Hire A Planner, Or Not?
When it comes to reducing the stress associated with getting married, you may want to hire the assistance of a wedding planner. Getting someone in to help you to arrange everything can really lighten the load. They will be able to negotiate prices with vendors and book everything in. They will know at what stage you should be sorting each aspect of the wedding out.
If you do hire a wedding planner, it will be important that you find someone that you can get on with well. You may need to work quite closely with each other in the run-up to the wedding and tensions can make this very difficult.
Another consideration when it comes to working with a wedding planner is how willing you will be to compromise any ideas that you have in your head. A wedding planner should work with what you want and not try and force their opinion on you. At the end of the day, it is your wedding and while they may have experience of planning weddings and will know what can be done, you have the right to feel comfortable about the process.
Whether you’re hiring out a church or a wedding marquee, venues often get booked up well in advance so it is advisable that you book and pay deposits as early as you possibly can. Don’t feel pressured by a venue if you are not totally sure if you want to actually go ahead and book with them. Once the deposit is down you won’t be able to change your mind.
Keep A Scrapbook
One of the best ways to get ideas for your wedding is to keep a scrapbook of all of the inspirations for any visuals for your wedding. Take cut-outs from magazines and catalogues, as well as including drawings and lists of your own ideas. The scrapbook can be a great place for helping to work out the dresses and clothes.
You could also create a Pinterest board for your wedding as it is packed with great imagery that may come in useful.
If you want any kind of playlists for your wedding music, start making these early as they can be time-consuming to make.
When To Start Booking
Venues often get booked up well in advance so it is advisable that you book and pay deposits as early as you possibly can. Don’t feel pressured by a venue if you are not totally sure if you want to actually go ahead and book with them. Once the deposit is down you won’t be able to change your mind.
If you are booking your wedding for the summer months, you should be aware that this time of the year is the most popular. Getting your summer wedding booked will definitely require you to get in there as early as possible to get the dates you want. You may find that you end up looking into getting married the year after or even later.
Similarly, start hiring your wedding entertainers as early as possible. Try and go and see them perform to make sure that they are suitable for your wedding guests.
Sending Out The Invites
Get your invites, save the dates, and wedding programs designed by professionals to get a product that is unique and well made. Include as much information in the invite as possible. Think about letting them know how to get there, information about hotels, a rough itinerary for the day so they know whether to expect to eat along the way.
Photography And Your Big Day
One dilemma that many couples face when they are planning their wedding is whether or not they should hire a professional wedding photographer. Many couples will immediately consider just asking a family member or friend who enjoys photography to take photos of the day. You do need to consider that you will want to keep these photos forever. They will be the strongest link that you will have to the day. And, given the fact that your wedding day will fly by in the blink of an eye, you will want to have as many memories of the day that you can hold onto for many years to come.
With that in mind, you may well want to think about the quality of the photos that you would like to look back on. Hiring the best photographer that you can find, and paying out a considerable sum of money for them is often very good value in the long run.
When you hire a good photographer, they are likely to meet with you ahead of your wedding to discuss what you want from the day. It should be important for them to get to know you both, and find out as much about you as possible. They should ask you about who will be at the wedding and who you want in your group photos. Then, when it comes to the day, they will be there all day. They may have an assistant with them. They may shoot thousands of different images so that they can capture everything. Following your wedding day, they will edit and select the best shots. This is days worth of work. When you consider that they may well put at least a weeks worth of work into your wedding, if not more, think about what is reasonable for their skills, equipment, and time. Ask yourself when a wedding photographer is charging a very small amount of money from you, what you will actually get.
Another aspect of photography that you may wish to consider is whether you want your guests to be able to take pictures of the event on their smartphones or cameras. Many weddings nowadays are unplugged, meaning guests are asked not to take photos throughout the service, and not to post on social media unless asked to, There are a couple of reasons that people opt for this, firstly, you can avoid images of your wedding that you cannot control the quality of appearing online. Another reason is that when everyone has their cameras and photos held out in front of their faces as you get married, you won’t see their faces in the official photos.
If you choose to have a wedding free of cameras and smartphones you should let the guests know in their invite. Think about putting up signs around the wedding venue to remind them.
On The Day
When the big day finally arrives you may well have undergone months or years of waiting and hard work. These periods of time can really drag, and your wedding may have felt like it would never come. But, on the day time will suddenly start to speed up dramatically. After going from a time you thought your wedding would never arrive at the time that you are unpacking after your honeymoon may go in the blink of an eye.
Take the time to slow down. Having other people such as your bridesmaids, ushers, to help you out with the final jobs that need doing will free you up to enjoy your day more.
Once you have delegated all of your tasks, you will be free to go and spend time with your guests. Getting married can mean that you have to spend a lot of time socializing with people you may not have seen for a long time. Everyone will want to congratulate you, and before you know it, you will be overrun with well-wishers and won’t have the time to stop and appreciate the big day and each other.
Take some time with your new husband or wife and allow yourself to relax for a little bit. This is a day that is about both of you, and your relationship. So often, couples end up rushed off their feet and the only times they get with their partner and the fleeting formalities of the day. Run off together for a few minutes, your guests will be able to occupy themselves without noticing that you are not there for a short while.
Have It Your Way
Ultimately, your wedding should be the way that you want it. Don’t worry about feeling as though you need to do something because it is expected of you. If you are marrying anywhere other than a church when you meet your celebrant, they will tell you about all of the things that you need within your ceremony, other than that, your wedding is your own to determine.
Add your personalities into the day and make your wedding a true celebration of everything that you both are as a couple. Try your best to enjoy the wedding planning stage and work together as a team to get the best results for you both,
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