Wedding planning course

If you are planning to do the bulk of your wedding planning yourself, consider enrolling in a short wedding planning course if there is one available to you. I am not referring to the fully pledged full time accredited wedding planning course, but rather a short evening wedding planning course. TAFE runs some throughout the year through their adult learning classes. It’s especially good if you have had little experience with wedding planning, as it can give you a good overview on what is required to plan your wedding as well as like-minded people to bounce ideas off.

Disposable wedding cameras

Ditching the professional photographer and giving each of your guests a disposable camera, is becoming an increasingly popular way for the wedding couple to capture their special day. The idea is that you end up with candid shots of your day from the people that know you best, your family and friends.

To ensure you get good coverage, you may like to designate certain cameras specific shots. For example Aunty Betty, Uncle Lou and your friend Jane could cover the wedding dance, whilst Mary Beth and your cousin Tony can cover the speeches.

You could substitute this idea with asking your guests to bring along their digital camera and pass on their photos to you. If they are sending them via email, you may like to set up an email account just for this purpose such as Smiths_WeddingPhotos@email.com

I would still recommend hiring a professional photographer for the official photos. This just means that you may only require their services for an hour rather than the entire day.

Pack a Lunch for After Your Ceremony Photos

The traditional after ceremony wedding photos with champagne usually ends up in some great photos, but it can quite easily end up in the bridal party ending up a little tipsy if they haven’t had enough to eat that day.

It can very easily happen with all the hustle and bustle of the morning wedding preparations. Delegate someone to pack a light lunch for after the ceremony for the members of the bridal party. A piece of fruit, or a tub of fruit salad for each person works well. This will avoid anyone becoming light head before the reception and ceremony ahead. Have some water handy too.

Shorter Engagments Could Save You Money

Many couples tend to think that by having a longer engagement they can save money on their wedding, but did you know that for many couples, the opposite is true?

When you have a longer engagement, there is more time to add ‘unessential’ luxuries into your wedding day. There is more time to browse wedding magazines, visit bridal shows and go to bridal shops. The longer the engagement period is, the more likely it is that your wedding may increase in scale. You may also feel obliged to invite more people to your wedding as the months (or years) pass as more people find out about your wedding.

That’s not to say that all long engagements will result in a costlier wedding, it just means that you have to work harder at sticking to your budget.

Trash The Dress

Wedding dresses once worn are preserved and carefully looked after by the bride, right? Well that’s not always the case; many brides are now trashing their dresses. They are going to the beach rolling around in sand, waiting for a rainy day and lying in the mud or splattering themselves in paint. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

(photo source: http://www.bluenaluphotography.com)

Compiling The Guest List

One of the more stressful parts of planning the wedding is the guest list. You don’t want to forget anyone and yet you don’t want to invite every single person you know. The following is a list of pointers that should help you with planning your list.

• The first thing you and your your partner should do is decide on the number of guest you would like to attend your wedding. An influencing factor in this decision is usually the budget, as most reception venues will charge you ‘per head’ for your guests.

• One way couples limit their guest list is by not adding ‘plus one’ on the invites. That means that any single friends will not be allowed to bring dates. This issue is sometimes up for debate, but ultimately it is the bride and groom’s decision. I’d love to hear your views on this!

• Compile a list of the absolute essential people that must be invited to your wedding. this will give you a good starting point. Next, write a ‘maybe’ list of people who you may like to invite to your wedding if budget and venue permit. This list could include close co-workers and people from clubs that you belong to. Once you have a concise picture of your venue and financials, you can decide which people from this list to add the main guest list.

Try not to send the invitations out too soon after compiling your guest list. Give it some time to sink in and come back to is and reassess.

Wedding gifts upon arrival to the honeymoon

A great idea for the bride and groom’s wedding present is to arrange to have it waiting for them at the hotel when they arrive during their honeymoon. Of course this doesn’t apply to practical gifts such as dinner sets, but it is a nice gesture for gifts such as gift certificates to a nearby spa from the hotel suite, or a hamper of wine and chocolates on arrival to their honeymoon suite. Another idea is to book a dinner gift certificate to a nearby restaurant. You will need to arrange this with reception, but it can be a nice touch.

Is It Polite To Invite Guests to Just The Ceremony?

One of the topics that frequently come up when planning a wedding is whether or not it is rude to invite guests to the ceremony only and not the reception. One of the main reasons for this is that the bride and groom are trying to keep the cost of the reception down. Whilst the need to wanting to save money is understandable, inviting guests to ‘only’ the ceremony is considered rude and should be avoided if possible.

The guest will undoubtedly end up feeling like a second-rate guest who is not important enough to be included in the celebrations. Ill-feelings are also bound to eventuate if the guest feels obliged to buy a gift and may end up feeling that this was the only reason that they were invited.

Consider having a smaller guest list, having an off-peak wedding, or a midday wedding as opposed to an evening one to keep costs down without excluding anyone from the reception.

It’s important to note that if the ceremony itself is going to be held in a location that only holds a limited amount of people, such as the bridal party and immediate family, then it is okay to invite guests just to the reception and not the ceremony.

If you are keen to limit the number of guests to your reception by having some people attend the ceremony only, one approach, to minimize potential hurt feelings, is to hold an ‘official reception’ and an additional ’post-reception function’ for close family and friends.

The way it works is that after the ceremony a reception is held with perhaps appetizers, cake and champagne. This could last for 2-3 hours and can take place at the church’s hall, a nice park, or a nearby venue. After this ‘official reception’ ends, the bride and groom can hold a dinner for immediate family members and the bridal party at another reception venue. This approach really only works if you have a lunchtime ceremony and follow through immediately with the official reception. The family dinner can then be later in the evening after an hour or so. Do be aware however that you still may end up hurting feelings this way, but if you keep referring to it as a family dinner then it should be minimized.

Who pays for the bridesmaids gown?

After the initial excitement of being asked to be bridesmaid is over, then comes the inevitable question, do I need to pay for my own bridesmaid gown? The general answer is yes; when you accept to be bridesmaid you are expected to pay for your own gown. Once upon a time, the bride used to pay, but that is no longer the norm. However, bear in mind that this differs depending on what part of the world you are from. For example, in the USA and Australia the bride doesn’t pay, but in the UK most brides provide and pay for all the gowns.

When you start shopping around for gowns, it is a good idea to have a casual discussion about how much you can afford to spend on a dress. It’s not fair for the bride to pick out a lavish dress that will cost three weeks worth of pay if you cannot afford it. On the other hand, you should be realistic in your budget and set aside enough money for a nice dress that the bride would like.

You will find that if a bride has her heart set on bridesmaid gown that is over your limit, she will likely offer to pay the difference.

A head’s up! What should your guests wear to your wedding?

When planning a wedding, try to remember that your guests may be having a hard time trying to figure out what to wear to your wedding. Different types of wedding call for different levels of dress. Many factors influence what the dress code will be whether it will be a church wedding, beach wedding, summer or winter wedding.

Don’t feel awkward to give your guests a heads up to what the dress code will be. For example, if it expected that all guests need to wear hats to the church wedding, guests would much rather know this before the ceremony than walk into a church and be the only one not wearing a hat. It happens!
This is best conveyed through word of mouth, or a small mention either on the invite itself, or on a small general note slipped inside the invitation.

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