Wedding Planning Tips
Invitations:
This is your first chance to let your guests know what your wedding will be like. Weddings can take on a style that announces the personality of the bride and groom. Your invitation is your style announcement. Your guests will receive the invite to attend your special wedding event and upon opening the invite, have a feeling for what your celebration will be like. Your invitation style may portray that your wedding will be traditional, contemporary, modern, or something totally unique to you as a couple. The time frame for starting to select and design your invitations should fall somewhere around 6 to 8 months prior to your wedding date. Good places to start browsing for ideas are stationary stores, wedding websites, office supply stores, department stores and specialty card shops. Ask for samples while you are browsing. These places want your business and are usually happy to provide samples for the opportunity to earn your business. When looking at invitation choices you will be deciding about paper shades, paper weights, typefaces (ink color, font style and font size). While you are looking at invitations look ahead to your other related items that you may decide to use like: enclosure cards, announcements, bridal stationary, couple’s stationary, wedding programs, place cards and escort cards as you may want to color-coordinate these with your invitations. Shopping online for your wedding invitations can save you time, as well as spare you from having to run all over town from appointment to appointment. Online shopping also allows you to compare side by side (have multiple windows open). Here are some online wedding sites to get you started: thestationarystudio.com, FineStationary.com, stationary.org, stationaryheaven.com.
Favors:
You can choose from several types of favors including; classic, edible, do-it-yourself, what’s hot, and the inexpensive do-it-yourself favors. Favors are given as a memento of your special wedding occasion and are your way of thanking your guests for attending and celebrating with you. Your guests after all are a part of what will make your wedding special for you and your spouse. You will remember what Uncle Joe did at the reception, or what your cute niece said, or that special wedding toast from your best man. Weddings exist not only to unite you as a couple but to share your happiness with family and friends. Your favors will express how you feel about those who shared in your special day. Favors can be useful, edible, funny, themed, make a statement, or they can be practical. Most favors can be personalized with the names of the bride and groom as well as the wedding date. Some examples of favors are: candles, frames for place cards, frames for photographs, coffee/tea/cocoa mugs, pens, bath soaps, bubbles, ceramic/pewter/copper knickknacks, charms, coasters, wedding bells and bottle stoppers.
Registry:
A registry allows your guests to select appropriate gifts to give you that will reflect your style and your needs. Gifts can be practical, and help you to set up your household or be intimate and couple oriented, or they can be just for fun. A registry is your chance to pick patterns, chose how you want your home to look. Guests love to help a new couple start off life with quality appliances, china, kitchenware, bath and linens, and other home essentials. There are not many gift giving occasions in life where the recipients get to tell the gift giver what they would like to receive. Typical Registry categories are Table, Kitchen, Bed and Bath, and then a misc. category that includes home decorations, outdoor stuff like barbecue equipment, lawn care etc. To get the most out of your registry, start the process as soon as you get engaged, this allows your guests to use the registry to pick out engagement, shower or brunch gifts as well as a wedding gift. Make your registry reflect you as a couple – if you both hate to cook but love to camp, then register for camping gear instead of a lot of kitchenware. Make a list of what you and your fiancÃ?©e already own so that you will know what items to put on your register. When selecting where to have your registry look for perks like completion program that will allow you to purchase whatever you do not receive at a discount. One registry is not enough; choose 2 to 4 so that your guests have a choice. Make your selections a couple decisions. When you both make the selections you will both be receiving gifts that you will love, and you will limit the surprises. Take your time to browse and explore all the possibilities. Do not forget to select storage items to protect your gifts you will be receiving like how to protect the good silverware, fine linens etc.
Ceremony:
Your ceremony can be traditional, modern or totally you. The ceremony can reflect your religious preference, your style, or your family traditions. The ceremony will contain these elements and more: vows, ring exchange, readings, bridal party, the procession, seating arrangements, music, flowers, children participation, candle and unity ceremonies, and parent participation. The setting of your ceremony can be in a church, town hall, outdoors, at home or at a stadium or other public building. Some couples have even elected to get married while skydiving, or climbing mountains, or other non-traditional methods. Your choice of ceremony elements should reflect you as a couple. The ceremony is the first event you will share as a couple and should not only unite you as a couple but create a memory that will make a statement as a testament to your love and devotion. Keep in mind that your ceremony is not only for your benefit but also for your parents, and your guests. They will be joining you on this special day and perhaps have been also planning and dreaming about this special day in your life as well.
Reception:
The wedding ceremony is over, now is the time to relax, have some fun, and celebrate your becoming a couple with your wedding party and guests. The reception has several elements to it that need planning. These elements are: the receiving line, the emcee, the entertainment, the receiving of gifts, the food, music and dancing, toasts/vows/poems, and of course the send-off. This is the time when all your wedding participants and guests can tell you how much they love you and to have the time to wish you well. This is a sharing time and a time to enjoy the occasion. This is also the time when the couple has a chance to greet their guests and to say thank you to the people that matter the most in their lives. The reception can continue the style of the wedding in color and form as well as to create that first “couple” impression. The atmosphere of the reception can be formal or informal, relaxed and comfortable or elegant and sophisticated. The reception should reflect who you are and your lifestyle. Remember though, when you are planning that the reception is as much about your guests as it is about you. Plan ahead for any special guests that may be attending like the elderly, any handicapped needs, or any young children that may be attending. All of these guests will require some consideration when it comes to seating, mobility, food selection and entertainment. Pay attention to parking, guest rooms, bathrooms and special needs like diaper changing areas. Go through your wedding guest list and take an inventory of what needs you may have to address to make them comfortable. Planning to care for your guests will allow you to really have fun and relax during your reception and your guests will be able to be comfortable during the celebration too.
Honeymoon:
This is the really fun part to plan. Obviously your budget will determine some features of your planning but how you celebrate your new life together is totally up to you. If you have been prudent, one or both of you have been saving up for this occasion for at least part of your adult life and you have a decent amount of financial resources to spend. There are tons of travel sites online that will offer you promotional packages…don’t forget to mention that the trip you are planning for, is your honeymoon. Travel agents love to give extra attention and benefits for these very special times. Your honeymoon can be to a certain destination that you have always wanted to explore, or it could be based on an activity. Some couples are really into scuba diving and plan their honeymoon around this activity. Have you ever heard of a honeymoon registry? Well I found this site online that tells you that you can actually have your guests gift you a honeymoon. Here is their link: /http://www.HoneyLuna.com
Planning for your wedding is all about anticipating the needs of not only the wedding couple, but also the participants and guests. Everything from the wedding announcement, registry, showers, ceremony and reception reflects who you are and whom you are celebrating your special day with. The time you spend seeing to the little details will be worth it when your wedding day arrives and you are confident that everything possible has been done to insure that the day will be special for you and everyone at your wedding. Remember those who participate in your wedding; not only the wedding party, but those who help put on your wedding, like the one who officiates the ceremony, the wedding party, the entertainment, the catering service, the emcee, your parents and other family members who help you to make decisions regarding your special day. You will want to thank your wedding participants and plan how to do this before the big day. Weddings are special not only because you are uniting as a couple but because you are celebrating the occasion with those who you cherish and are apart of your lives. The wedding from beginning to end should reflect how you are individually and as a couple. There are many helpful websites, books and services that are available to help you plan your wedding. Enjoy not only the day, but also the time between the proposal and the day. Planning your wedding should be a time to reflect on who you will become as a couple as well as the statement you wish to make to each other when exchanging vows. Do not rush this special planning time, but embrace it as part of the process of becoming a couple.
