Finding Help in Wedding Planning

When you think your have wrapped up all the wedding planning & your preparing to relax with family & friends before the big day, think again. There may just be a few minor details you haven't thought about!

Have you considered who will pick up the guestbook, collect together cards & gifts, return the groomsmen's suit's to the hire shop & who will hold onto your marriage certificate for you. All of these things need to be thought about & appropriate people left in charge after you have jetted off on honeymoon (especially if you plan to leave straight after the reception).

Table Set-up
Who will set out the reception tables for you before the big day? This should have been something you asked the venue when you booked them & should have been a key element in your wedding planning . But it is surprising how many don't think about it until the last minute. Will the venue lay everything out for you or will you have to do it yourself. It is important to know who's responsibility this is & when the reception will be laid out. If you have to do it yourself find out when you can do it. If the venue has a booking prior to yours you may not be able to do it the night before. If you only have a couple of hours before the ceremony you will not be able to do it yourself. This is precisely the type of scenario where hiring a wedding coordinator comes into it's own, as they will be able to arrange all this for & have it looking perfect for when you arrive.

Marriage certificate
Assign someone to take care of your wedding certificate for you on the day. Tradition has it that the bride would look after the certificate on the wedding day, however wedding dresses don't come with pockets & bridal handbags are rarely big enough! If you can, put it with your honeymoon suitcase or overnight bag. If you are jetting off abroad you may need to have it with you. If you won't need it, then ask someone trustworthy who is local to you to keep it for safekeeping until you return.

Late-night transport
Within your wedding planning you will have organized transport for yourselves & your guests to & from the ceremony to the reception. But did you consider how you would get from the reception to home or to wherever you are staying on your wedding night? Do your guests have transportation from the reception venue to their homes? If you are planning on staying at a hotel which you haven't stayed in the night before, make sure they will take late night check-ins, particularly if the reception is not staffed 24 hours.

Service music
If you are having a civil service it is usual to provide your own wedding music on a CD. Ask someone to play the music for you. Make sure they can produce it at the right times & at the right volume! The venue may allocate a member of staff to work the PA system for you, but just in case, make sure you're prepared.

Guest book
If you are asking guests to sign a guestbook, make sure you have asked someone to take it around or get it circulated for you at the reception & in the evening. Putting someone in charge should ensure it doesn't get left on a table & forgotten about! Make sure to ask them to collect after the evening is over & either give it to you or get it to your room. You will probably want to read it together as you relax afterwards.

Flowers
Your flowers probably cost a lot of money & will have taken you a lot of time & effort to choose. Have you decided what will happen to your bouquet & arrangements after the wedding? You may follow tradition & throw it to your single friends or you may want to have it preserved for posterity. If you want to do both, ask your florist to make up a smaller, inexpensive bouquet which you could throw. If you want to keep it, make sure someone is assigned to pick it up for you & hold onto it. With your table centres & other arrangements, it is always a nice idea to give them away as gifts to female guests, which solves the problem of having dozens of flower arrangements perched around your home!

Collecting up
After the reception there may well be a number of items which will need collecting, such as disposable camera's, cards & gifts & your wedding cake. Ask your chief bridesmaid & best man to collect all these things in for you & ensure there safe keeping. It may be an idea to make out a list of everything that needs to be collected afterwards & kept. If you hired a wedding coordinator they will do this for you & leave it somewhere for your appointed person to collect later. Just make sure you pick someone who isn't likely to forget!