Top Ten Tips for Planning Your Wedding 1) If you are planning an outdoor wedding, make sure to have a plan B in case of bad weather. Most importantly make sure you really like the plan B. If your venue doesn’t have a indoor option that you can picture yourself getting married in, consider another venue. 2) Prioritize. You will discover fairly early in your planning that you can’t do everything and not blow the budget. Find out what is really important to you and spend accordingly. Visualize your day with and without certain elements and decide what you can live without. What will guest remember after the wedding is over? What will you remember after the wedding is over? If your photos are important, start with hiring a great photographer. You might decide to skip the table favors or limo so that you can get the photographer that you really want. (Of course we recommend a professional videographer to capture all those memories) 3) If you are planning an outdoor ceremony and want to have a unity candle, consider the sand ceremony instead. The sand ceremony is when you each pour a different colored sand together into a single glass container. Like the unity candle, it symbolizes two separate lives becoming one without worrying that the candle won’t light. Even on a still day, candles rarely light and stay lit outdoors. 4) Grooms seat your mother yourself, don’t give this job to an usher. It is always a touching moment when the bride’s father walks her down the aisle and giver her away. The groom’s family often denied a moment like that. As the groom you can honor your parents by walking them down the aisle and seating them. This is a good time to say thank you to them for all they have done for you, and an opportunity for them to tell you they are proud of you. 5) Hire a wedding coordinator. Get some help from the professionals, they know the best vendors, venues and resources. Even if you can only afford one for the “day of” it is worth it to create a buffer between you and chaos on your wedding day. The coordinator will be the one to call the florist that is lost or work out last minute catgering details. Yu should relax and enjoy the day. If you can’t squeeze it into the budget, give the task to a friend that is not in the wedding party. Make sure they have all your vendor contact information and schedules. Then tell the vendors that she/he is the contact person for the day. 6) Don’t wait to the bitter end to throw your bouquet. Brides sometimes want to space out the elements of the wedding so that guest will stay longer. The fact is they won’t wait around. It is better to do them earlier in the evening and then let the guest dance, mingle and enjoy the evening with out interruption. If you wait too long to throw your bouquet, you will be throwing it to a handful of little girls that are still there with their parents. In fact more and more couples are choosing not to single out their un-married friends as it makes them feel uncomfortable. Instead they are choosing to honor the couple that has been married the longest by giving the bouquet to them. 7) Get a Good DJ. Your DJ can make or break your reception faster than overcooked roast beef and rubber chicken. A good DJ is more than just a source for music. They are the master of ceremonies. They keep your event flowing on schedule. They gage the mood of the crowd and adjust the music accordingly. They are the principle means to communicate with your guests during the reception. Your DJ can make or break your reception faster than overcooked roast beef and rubber chicken. A good DJ is more than just a source for music. They are the master of ceremonies. They keep your event flowing on schedule. They gage the mood of the crowd and adjust the music accordingly. They are the principle means to communicate with your guests during the reception. Make sure, when hiring a DJ, that you meet with the actual person that will be attending your reception. Make sure they have the music that is important to you. Don’t just assume they have the Mexican wedding march if that is an important family tradition. Lastly make sure they can pronounce your name and wedding party name. It helps to give them the phonetic pronunciations ahead of time. 8) Don’t put your cake in a dark corner where no one can see it. Wedding cakes are no longer the tasteless white cakes with hard sugar flowers. Not only are this generation of cakes incredibly delicious, they are works of art themselves. Why not put your cake in the center of the dance floor. You won’t be dancing until after the cake is cut anyway and everyone can see you cut it. It will be a centerpiece to the evening and not an afterthought. Wedding cakes are no longer the tasteless white cakes with hard sugar flowers. Not only are this generation of cakes incredibly delicious, they are works of art themselves. Why not put your cake in the center of the dance floor. You won’t be dancing until after the cake is cut anyway and everyone can see you cut it. It will be a centerpiece to the evening and not an afterthought. 9) Dance your first dance when you are announced into the reception. This makes your entrance something special and you have all of your guest undivided attention. If you schedule your first dance later in the evening, people will be talking, eating cake and going to the bar. Why not schedule your dance when all eyes are already on you anyway. This makes your entrance something special and you have all of your guest undivided attention. If you schedule your first dance later in the evening, people will be talking, eating cake and going to the bar. Why not schedule your dance when all eyes are already on you anyway. 10) Take care of your vendors. Your photographer, videographer, DJ and coordinator work hard for you all day. They rarely take a break and are often on site before you. Make sure they get a meal. They will do a better job for you on a full stomach than an empty one. Most of all it makes them feel valued and a part of your day. Also make sure they have all the information the need to do a great job. Give them an itinerary as soon as it is set. Let them know who the special people are that will be there. Your vendors want to do a exceptional job for you, a little information goes a long way. Your photographer, videographer, DJ and coordinator work hard for you all day. They rarely take a break and are often on site before you. Make sure they get a meal. They will do a better job for you on a full stomach than an empty one. Most of all it makes them feel valued and a part of your day. Also make sure they have all the information the need to do a great job. Give them an itinerary as soon as it is set. Let them know who the special people are that will be there. Your vendors want to do a exceptional job for you, a little information goes a long way.
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