One of the biggest worries for a bride is: “have I missed anything important”. Hopefully the wedding tips below will help put your mind at ease.
- Do a preliminary reconnaissance on the number of guests before embarking on venue and vendor search. Once you have the approximate guest numbers, you can narrow your search for a venue with the appropriate capacity. The venue can generally recommend other vendors that work well with that venue. It will pay to do things in a logical order. For example, shortlist your dates before selecting a venue, select your venue before selecting other vendors, think about flowers before you select your cake etc.
- File all your wedding research, photos, guest list and other information in one folder – electronic or otherwise. Some people like setting up a special email address dedicated to wedding communication. It is also a very good idea to store all the vendor numbers on your phone. There are also some free wedding planning apps available, if you are that way inclined.
- Your wedding reception budget could follow this rule of thumb: 50-55% venue & food & beverage, 8% flowers & decorations, 10% dress & other attire, 8% music entertainment, 10% photo/video, 2% invites, 2% gifts and the balance for miscellaneous items. Work to a budget.
- If you have your heart set on a specific date, make sure you book your venue and vendors early. If you are flexible with dates then it may pay to wait. The closer you are to the wedding date; the more are the chances that you may get a better deal. There are many vendors that will give you a better deal if you approach them 6 months to the date.
- It is better to have a kids policy that is uniform ie: either welcome all kids with open arms or have no kids at all. There may be few hurt feelings if you only permit select kids to attend.
- Don’t try to control every single aspect of your wedding on your wedding day – this is when things are likely to go wrong. Prepare as best as you can before the day and then trust your vendors, friends etc who you have entrusted to carry out certain tasks on your special day. If some things are not exactly as you wanted it to be, don’t stress too much about it. Focus on enjoying your wedding day and sharing it with all the people that are important to you. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
