Wedding Planning|Wedding Planning & Wedding Advice

Are You Planning Your Own Event?

Here are some helpful tips if you want to plan your own wedding, from someone who has been through the experience!?

The Six R’s of Planning Your Own Wedding:

3 R’s

1. Realistic

By realistic, perhaps I mean pessimistic – but it’s actually for your own good. Don’t take any chances when planning this important day. Don’t leave things to luck. For example, don’t assume that someone will pick the best man up from the airport. Arrange it. Don’t assume that the caterer knows where the Main Hall you keep referring to is located – there might be several places called Main Hall in your city. Don’t hope it won’t rain, have a contingency plan in case it does.

Also, you need to be realistic about what you can ‘pull off’ all by yourself. If you’re not hiring a wedding planner, consider taking things down a notch or two. (You’ve heard the expression KISS before, haven’t you? Keep It Simple, Stupid!) Reduce the guest list size, try to hire caterers and rental companies that provide service staff and set up/tear down, or consider a destination wedding – many ‘destination’ hotels help out with services for weddings…

2. Research

There is a lot of information online and in wedding planning books. Also, make sure you research any vendors you want to use. Wedding Planners often have established relationships with vendors. Your vendor could suddenly go out of business or not show up – ask for customer references, check with the Better Business Bureau, look online to see what other people are saying about their experience.

3. Resources

Professional caterers, florists, and party rental companies all ?have tons of experience. They can provide you with a lot of advice and guidance when you are planning a wedding. They will point out something that you might have missed or help you calculate needs based on your guest list and your budget. Be nice to them. Bridezillas rarely get the perfect wedding they are fighting so hard for. If you are polite, friendly and willing to listen to their suggestions – you will get a lot more value for your money. Remember, they’ve seen it all before!

Stay Organized

You will need to spend a lot of time organizing in advance.

Use Your Imagination

Walk through the event repeatedly (rehearse in your head!).

With A Little (Okay a Lot) of Help From Your Friends

Give everyone in the wedding party a responisibility (or five…) and ask other friends and family to help you. If you get everyone to commit to a few duties on the big day, you will have more time to enjoy the moments…

3 more R’s

4. Reliable

Make Sure Your Helpers Are Reliable

5. Written

Write down the tasks in detail and give them a copy – include who, when, and how (detailed instructions)

6. Review

Go over the plan together as a group and make sure everyone knows their role and understands how it fits into the big picture.

Wedding Planner – Job Description

Here is an experienced wedding planner talking about her job – just so you know what you are getting into. Wedding Planning is time consuming, exhausting, stressful, and also very rewarding.

Stay tuned to weddingsetups.com – our next post will include a detailed agenda you can use as a template if you are planning your own big day!