Random (but useful) Wedding Tip #2

Whilst planning your wedding, you will find that it can be the little details that take up the most of your time, so you need to find shortcuts that will speed up time-consuming jobs. What you need to do is write down a list of all the time consuming jobs and ask yourself (or someone else with great time management skills) how you can increase productivity on these tasks.

For example, if you are creating all your invitations from scratch, consider holding a working bee with your bridal party to construct them. Make it fun by proving some refreshments and music. Inexpensive address labels can also be a great time saver when planning a wedding, especially if you have a particularly large guest list.

Finding a Flower Girl Dress for Under $100

Have you noticed how flower girl dresses can be pricey? Starting prices are usually around $150 for a basic dress and can go up to several hundred dollars! Don’t despair, there are many ways of buying flower girl dresses for under $100, which we will be showing you over the coming weeks in our new series Finding a Flower Girl Dress for Under $100 The first post in this series features one of my favourite tips for finding a beautiful flower girl dress for a low price.

Kids are spoilt by a huge choice of dress-up costumes and many of these are actually good quality gowns that can double up as flower girl dresses! For the younger flower girls, fairy costumes can be a good choice and can found for under $50. Kids love dress-up and most kids love fairies, so they tend to get a kick out of this.

There are many places where you can find fairy costumes, the flower girl may even own one, your child’s school may have some, the local craft store or department store often sell them or you could make one yourself. Also look out for Halloween sales, as dress-up costumes tend to be cheaper around this time.

Remember, when it comes to choosing flower girl dresses you don’t have to stick to the norm. Think outside the square and you could end up saving yourself some money too!

Stay Tuned for part 2 in this series!

Spending Your Wedding Night at Home

I was talking to a couple the other day who want to spend their wedding night in their own home. They are leaving for their honeymoon two days after their wedding and don’t really feel comfortable spending money on accommodation when they, as they put it ‘have a perfectly good home to come to.’ They way they see it, if they are going to book a hotel room; it has to be a high rated one, as ‘why spend money on a low rating hotel suite in a town where we have a house.’ The bride-to-be is worried about what her family and friends will think, as it is the norm in her large family for newlyweds to spend their wedding night in a 5 star hotel room.

I reassured her that just because it is the norm, doesn’t mean she and her partner needs to follow the same path. Her circumstances are different from her family members. Most of the couples in her family were not living together prior to the wedding. They were living wither with family or roommates and therefore they needed a hotel for privacy. Those couples, who were living together, had children, so yet again they needed a hotel for privacy.

They have now become confident with their decision to spend their wedding night at home. They have saved a couple of hundred dollars and will use that money to extend their honeymoon by two days. Some of their friends will decorate their house and prepare a feast of great foods in the kitchen so that they will still be pampered.

There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to where you should spend your wedding night. Do what works best for you and your partner and forget about everyone else’s opinions.

A new take on wedding invitations

The design of your wedding invitation doesn’t have to stick to the norm.  Online greeting card and wedding stationery website Moonpig have some interesting takes on the typical invitation.   The magazine layout design is a fun way to visually depict the happy couple.  As a bonus it’s also a good way for people who have never met the wedding couple, such as partners, to familiarise themselves with the bride and groom.

Prices range from 5.95 for a standard invitation or you can buy sets of 4 small cards for $12

How to choose your wedding date in 4 steps

Choosing when to get married can seem like a daunting task at first, but it really needn’t be. It’s a matter of setting aside some time with your partner, grabbing a calendar and eliminating the dates that won’t work. This will leave you with a smaller chunk of dates to choose from.

1: Decide on the duration of your engagement.
Some couples like a lengthy engagement that may span a year or more, others prefer a smaller engagement period such as a mere few months. Take into consideration how much time you will need for the type of wedding that you are planning. Additionally, if you are holding a destination wedding or are expecting international guests, you will need to provide them with adequate notice to book airfares and take time off work.

2: Pick a Season (time of year)
Pick the season that you would like to hold your wedding. Factors than can influence your decision include whether or not you are intending to have an outdoor or inside wedding. Obviously an outdoor wedding would not be appropriate in winter conditions.

Financial restrictions can also affect the time of year that you decide to get married. Getting married in the peak wedding period tends to bring with it inflated pieces, which is why many couples are now opting to marry in the off-peak months.

3: Eliminate Dates
Now that you have narrowed down the possible months to hold your wedding, eliminate the dates that don’t work for you. You may also want to consider if a member of the bridal party has any prior important commitments that cannot be rescheduled.

4: Find a Suitable Venue
Now that you have a narrowed down lists of wedding dates, you can begin the process of calling up your ideal venues and finding out whether or not they are available on any of your shortlisted dates. This will help you narrow down the dates even further.

Display a family tree photo montage

How many times have you been to a wedding and wondered who was the bride and groom’s family members were? Sure it’s easy to pick out the parents of the bride and groom, but for other important family members it can get a little confusing.  Wedding guests like to piece together the family members at a wedding, so it can be an interesting idea to display a family tree photographically at a wedding. It’s a great conversation piece and ice-breaker for other guests who may not know too many other people at the wedding reception.

Depending on the venue, you can display a series of candid photos of the bride and groom on a wall (be sure not to use anything that may permanently damage the wall) and you can also include photos of the parents, grandpaerents and siblings.  Be sure to include captions explaining who everyone is.

The photos could be displayed in decorative frames or could mount them on mat board. If you don’t have a wall accessible to you to display photos (the reception venue could have strict rules in place) you could display the photos on a table. Remember, only use copies of the photos, never the original.

Don’t forget the leftover wedding wine

If you are staying at the same hotel that is holding your wedding reception, organise with the bar manager to have any leftover bottles of wine or champagne brought to your hotel room for you and your partner. After all if you don’t claim them yourself, they will just end up as waste or the bar staff will make good use of them.

Ofcourse, if you are leaving early for your honeymoon the next morning, make sure that you wont be driving yourselves and that transportation is arranged.

Quick Tip: Wedding Music

When it comes to choosing your wedding dj or band, make sure you take time to have a chat with them about what types of songs you would like played, as if you fail to do, your entire song list for your wedding will be left for someone else.

Try to include songs that have special meaning to your fiancé, and also a selection of your own and your partner’s favourite songs. It’s also a good idea to include a selection of current popular songs for your guests. These songs may not be on your top 10 list, but if you choose too many obscure songs, it may be hard to entice your guests onto the dance floor.

Choosing a Wedding MC

Choosing a Wedding MC can be a daunting process, as the Wedding MC is ultimately the glue that holds your wedding reception together. There are generally three choices when it comes to a wedding MC:
1. Using the reception venue’s official MC can have great benefits as they are familiar with the venue and talking to large crowd. Ask the manager to find out if they have done many wedding functions before.
2. A family member or close friend : Many couples love the personal touch of having a family member MC the event. One of the major advantages of having family MC the event is that they can draw on personal stories to entertain the guests.
3. Hiring an external MC: Hiring an external MC, can be ideal as it allows you to be picky and not be confined to a venue’s MC. Start by recalling weddings that you have been to. Were you impressed with the MC? Ask family and friends for referrals.
When selecting your MC it is ideal to see wedding videos of the candidates in action. You don’t just want a confident public speaker, you want someone who can entertain and draw the guests in.

Wedding Photo Locations – Horse carousel

Having some photos on a merry- go- round, can be a great alternative to the usual posed wedding photos and can really evoke a spirit of fun, not to mention great visuals in your photographs.

It can be a little tricky finding a merry-go-round near your reception venue, but you may find if you have a good search you can usually find something close enough. There may a fete on, or perhaps the local theme park can help you achieve your photos. If you take the photographs during the day whilst the park is open, you may even be able to get by with only paying a portion of the admission fee.

Carousels with lights are even more stunning at night time and can become great memories for years to come. If carousels are a little too hard to achieve, but you are still after photos that evoke a spirit of fun, why not head to your local kid’s playground and take some photos on the swings.

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