* Start a journal:
You're engaged! Why
not start a journal of this exciting time?! Write
about your feelings and your experiences from the
engagement through the honeymoon. Keep a note bad
and pencil with you so you can write down thoughts and
feelings while they are fresh on your mind, then
transfer theses things into the journal later. You
can even turn your journal into a wedding scrapbook and
create a cherished family heirloom. Maybe even put
your journal/scrapbook in a wedding time capsule and
relive the memories on your first anniversary ... even
add to the memories each year.
* Start a wedding
website:
This is a great new
way to spread the word about the gift registry, your
wedding website allows you to tactfully let people know
where you are registered and allows them to easily view
the Registry online with the links provided. All
while sharing all sorts of important details and fun
stuff about the wedding. And since it is online,
it is available to friends and family everywhere,
anytime of the day! Local brides can
register with us online and
get a FREE
personal wedding website!
* Plan a Grooms Day Out: Most everything
in the wedding industry is focused on the bride ... try to make
your groom feel special and a part of the wedding too.
Many men don't care to be a part of the planning and just
say "whatever you want honey" they don't want to stand
around holding your bags while you shop anyway. There
are plenty of opportunities for "Girls days" during the
planning process, so
why not plan a "Guys day" too! Pick a day
(or even a whole weekend) where
your groom to be and his
friends can go out and do guy things while you are out with
the girls ... this is a great gift for him and can be done
at anytime during the planning stages.
* Get wedding insurance: As you plan for
your special day you work hard to cover all the details and
be sure everything is perfect, but what about the things you
can’t control?! Wedding Insurance can protect you from all
sorts of wedding related mishaps from stolen gifts to
cancellations due to a sudden medical emergency or even
weather and vendor mistakes! It is cheaper than you would
imagine too, usually only a couple hundred bucks! Though
sometimes the unexpected can ruin your plans, with wedding
insurance you can get the piece of mind that you will not
lose your shirt as well. www.WedSafe.com is one of the
leading providers of wedding insurance. You may also want to
call your local insurance agent and ask for a referral.
* Picking a date:
Ever considered a Friday or Sunday for your wedding?
Saturdays are the most popular and considered "Prime Time"
in the wedding industry. These dates will book first
and often cost more than other days. So choosing a
Friday or Sunday may save you money. Most of your
vendors should offer discounts for a non-Saturday event.
* Hire a
wedding director: You
don't always have to have a full service wedding planner
but we HIGHLY recommend getting a coordinator/director
for the rehearsal and the ceremony!! Don't worry
about the reception, if you have a good DJ, you won't
need anyone else. In all the weddings I have seen,
it is the ones with no coordinator/director that look
like no one knows what they are doing and they almost
always run over in time!
This can not only be embarrassing, it can be costly!
You usually book all your vendors and venues based on
time, if you go over that time, it will cost you, or you
will have to cut something out in order to make up for
the lost time. You have enough to deal with on the
wedding day, you don't want to add more undue stress.
Check out our featured vendors
that offer this service
and let someone else deal with all that for you!
* The Reception:
There are many things to
consider when planning your reception. First you
must decide on the location, the time and the theme of
the day. Then you will be able to tie everything else
together, food, decor, music, etc ... While we are
talking about receptions ... you know the thing that
disturbs me
most to see at a wedding reception? The bride and
groom in the buffet line. It just doesn't seem
right. It is your wedding day
for goodness sake, this is one day that you should not have to serve
yourself. If you have paid for a caterer, why not
go the extra step and have someone serve you and your
new husband. At the very least have them prepare
your plates in advance and have them put out just before
you arrive at the reception. It often does not
cost too much more to do this and it looks and feels so
much nicer!
* Wedding Favors: If you
are having a themed wedding, give favors that reflect
your theme. Like with a Christmas theme wedding, you
might give Christmas ornaments as favors. Have
your florist design your centerpieces like miniature
trees and
hang the ornaments on the centerpiece trees.
Or as an
alternative to the miniature tree centerpieces,
just decorate one table with a tree-like
arrangement to hang all your ornament favors on
for your guests to take one. Here is a great
idea for a
Christmas ornament favor.
Candy favors are a popular choice as well. Here
are a couple of our favorite DIY ideas ... Use regular
Hershey's Hugs and Kisses (buy in bulk at your local
Sams, Costco, or BJ's) wrapped in tulle and tied
with ribbon with a little tag that reads "Thanks for
sharing our special day ... Hugs and Kisses, (bride &
groom's name)" A cute variation of this is to
use a plastic spoon and put in 3 or 4 Kisses then wrap
it in tulle and ribbon with a tag that reads "We
thank you for coming with this spoonful of kisses,
to bless our beginning as Mr & Mrs" You
can use ribbon with your name and wedding date printed
on it for an added personalized touch.
Here is a unique idea. How about a wedding favor
that is good for the environment too? Consider
giving tree seedlings in little decorated tubes to your
guests to plant. Maybe have a little poem along
with it too "Take this home and plant with love and
care; watch it grow and with it our love you'll share"
Check out the
Tree Store on the Arbor Day website
Check out our
featured vendors for more
wedding favor tips and
ideas.
* How about a "Growing Up" DVD Slideshow:
Having something like this shown at your rehearsal
dinner and/or the wedding reception is a unique and
special way to share with your guests the highlights of
your lives leading up to the special day. This
usually includes baby pictures of each of you through
the present day and often includes engagement pictures
too. With special effects and fades set to music,
your pictures will come alive. This also a great
way to keep guests entertained at the reception before
you make your entrance. Also makes a great gift
for parents and grandparents! Check out our
featured vendors that may offer this service.
* Add something fun to the Rehearsal dinner:
Make up a few certificates as prizes for your guests;
such as: "Longest distance traveled", "Oldest
guest in attendance", "Couple married the longest" etc ...
This makes for a fun touch at the reception too.
Guests will appreciate the break from all the long
toasts and the winners will have a nice keepsake.
* Toasts:
Appoint someone to do the toast before
hand as to give them time to prepare, you don't want to surprise them at the
reception. For the toaster; stand up so everyone can
see and hear you better, use a microphone if in a
larger room. Speak slowly, loudly, and clearly.
Funny anecdotes are fine but keep the speech short and sweet and to
the point, you don't want to bore the crowd with a long winded rant
and you don't want to overly embarrass the couple either.
Use the couples names when toasting them ... "To Melissa and
Bryan ..."
* Gift giving:
Most of us know that it is expected to give gifts
to the brides and grooms attendants. This is meant
to show thanks for being a part of the wedding ... after
all they are expected to pay for their attire and travel
expenses! Anyway, there are a few others that you
might think about giving gifts to as well. For one, the
parents, especially if they are paying for any part of
the wedding. If you have out of town friends and
family coming
in for the wedding, you might consider sending a gift
basket to their hotel room. Out of town guests
often spend several days in town before or after the
wedding, so you might also want to give them some ideas
to keep them busy. Perhaps include in the gift
basket, a map and some tourist information. You
could even add a few Georgia themed items, such as a
glass bottled Coca-Cola, a bag of pecans, Peach candy,
or even fresh Georgia Peaches. The bride and groom may also
give small gifts to one another. Check out our
vendors for great gift ideas!
* DON'T LEAVE: If you plan on
leaving the reception at a certain time, make sure you
do some sort of "send off". This is a nice photo
opportunity and it lets your guests know you are
leaving. Never, never, never, leave a party you
are hosting! (or the one that is being thrown
in your honor, whatever the case may be) True
story, I went to a wedding of a friend of a friend last
year ... the couple was late showing up at the
reception, then when they finally came in and did the
"Grand entrance" the photographer took them away again
for pictures. They came back, did the first dance
and cut the cake and the other formalities, then they
were gone again! They were in and out all night, I
didn't see them do much mingling with their guests and
lots of people left early, needless to say, so did we!
* Tipping?, Who knew!:
Did you know
that it is customary to tip some of your weddings
vendors? Typically, it is the ones that stay
through the reception and/or those that go above and
beyond to help make your day exceptionally special.
Especially those that have done a service for you for
little or no charge. In some cases vendors will
include gratuity in there fees, so you might want to
check the contract and/or ask if you are unsure.
Here is a list of the vendors you should consider tipping:
-
Officiate: A $50 and up donation and invite them to the
reception.
(If he/she is not charging you for the service, consider
giving more)
- Coordinator/Planner:
$25 - $100
(Depending on their fee and what they end up doing for you)
- Limousine driver/chauffeur: about $25 should
suffice.
- DJ, Musician: $25-$50 (depends on how long they
stay)
- Photographer, Videographer, etc: $25-50
and don't forget
assistants, though they should only get
about half.
- Servers, Maitre D' & Bartenders: 15%
(or about $1-$2 per person, if a seated service
reception)
*
Overall tip:
Relax!
Some little thing is bound to go wrong, but it is not the end of the
world! You will not be the only bride to have something
not go quite as planned on her wedding day. Don't
sweat the small stuff! You can't control everything
and everyone. Just sit back and try to enjoy
the day, think of why you are getting married in the first
place!
Find these
and more tips in
"The Definitive Wedding
Planning Guide"
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