Before the Wedding

Tips on wedding planning

1. On average, the order of priority for wedding services are: Reception, photographer, place of ceremony, wedding dress, video, hire car.  Everything else like wedding cake, bridesmaids dress and groomsmen suits, bonboniere’s, flowers, etc can be done a few months before the wedding.
2. Get a dedicated folder for all your wedding paperwork for things like contracts, receipts, to-do lists and other bits of information.
3. Ask friends and family who have recently got married if they still have their wedding supplier details.
4. Google bridal fairs in your capital city and note down the dates and locations where you can attend.  Some are free to attend.
5. Think about which friends or family members who are reliable and always on time that can help out during the wedding.  You don’t want to have to micro-manage everyone and everything on your wedding day, you’re meant to enjoy it!
6. Talk to your friends or family who have gone through the whole wedding thing and ask if there’s anything in particular to plan for or look out for.  Learn from other people’s mistakes.
7. Bring comfy shoes with you during the photo shoots.  There may be a lot of getting in and out of the car/limo, and walking to the various areas for photos.  You can put on your high-heels when the photo requires it, otherwise, your dress is usually covering your feet and there’s no need to be in uncomfortable shoes if you’re not going to see it in the pictures.
8. Usually, your maid-of-honour or the best-man will want to help out with whatever you need.  Try not to do EVERYTHING yourself… delegate some tasks out that you can trust them to deal with.
9. Work out a rough schedule of the day.  It doesn’t have to be right or perfect.  Just getting started will have you thinking of wedding services that you may have forgotten to organise.  The best way is to start from the reception and work you way back to the start of the day.  That way, you know what time the make-up and hair stylists will need to be at your place.
10. Set a realistic budget and allow for any extras just in case.  It’s also good to have a firm maximum budget that you will not allow yourself to go past.

Checklist:

• Celebrant/Priest
• Photographer
• Place of ceremony
• Reception
• Bridal Dress
• Bride’s shoes and jewellery
• Groom and groomsmen suits
• Bridesmaids dresses
• Flowers and pin-ons
• Bridal cars
• Wedding cake
• Bonbonierries
• Speeches
• Who the bridal party are