Step By Step Guide To Planning The Perfect Wedding

It's not just a childhood dream any more. It's reality, and reality is not always as pleasurable as a day dream.You have by now most likely heard from friends and acquaintances how planning a wedding can actually reduce your girlhood dream into a nightmare. I have listed some helpful tips on how to plan your wedding, and avoid common mistakes that  can lead to   a stressful melt down...

 The first important decision to be made should be. "What kind of wedding do  we want, as a couple? Yes - you  may need to alter your dream wedding, to incorperate his dream  wedding... 

Lets Get Started! Take a deep breath, this is going to be fun...

 Obtaining The Perfect Clergy

A good starting place in planning a wedding is to set the date, and obtain clergy to perform the ceremony. So many couples make the mistake of booking a designated spot to hold their wedding. without seeing if their clergy will be available on that important day.

Where To Hold The Nuptials?

 So will it be a small or large church wedding? Perhaps a garden wedding. You get the picture. After you have made up your minds on what kind of wedding you want. Its time to choose the actual space (church, hall, garden) you want to hold the nuptials? After you have made up your mind, and have your heart set on a perfect spot -- book it!  Don't hesitate, and let that perfect spot be taken by another couple on the day you need it. By hesitating you may lose your dream location.

 Reception

Having a reception? Same goes as choosing the wedding location. Scout out your places of interest, choose the perfect reception hall, and again book it...

Hiring The Caterer

You have the date, the clergy, the nuptial site, the reception hall. You now need to book a competent caterer.  who will be in charge of creating, and serving the menu of your dreams.A good place to start your search for the ideal caterer is by talking to everyone you know about their experiences with local catering companies. Such as friends, family, Wedding gown shops, or the people at the reception hall you booked. Most reception halls will have a list of caterer's they can recommend. You should also take advantage of the many catering companies you might find on the Internet.Take any and all referrals and cross-check them -- and any others you may have come across yourself -- with the  Better Business Bureau.  By doing this you can make sure that everything seems legit ,and that the companies in question are in good standing. Have a favorite local restaurants? Check  to see if they cater? After  you have narrowed down your search to the top caterers of interest,  make appointments to meet with each in person. This will provide you with the opertunity to sample their food, and talk  booking date, and budget with the caterer. Tip: You might also want to know whether the caterer will be working any other weddings on that day you have scheduled their service to provide the meal for your wedding? The more work a caterer takes on , could  mean less time dedicated to you and your services. Make sure the caterer has ample employees to make sure all the food is prepared with care.

The most important issues that you need to discuss with a caterer has to do with the style of the reception you want to have, and your budget. Talking with your potential caterer about the options, pricing, and other issues that might be of concern is the best way to avoid over spending, and other communication problems that could arise. Cocktails and   Hors d'oeuvre can be simple, and inexpensive regardless of the formality of it.

Teas and dessert receptions  less expensive, and can be very elegant.

Lunches and brunches will cost significantly less than  full blown dinners.

Family style meals will cost less than formally served meals.

Buffets may or may not be less expensive than a sit-down meal.

Buffet styles include an informal self-serve style buffet or stations, and a formal served buffet.

Setting Up The Registry

Believe it or not, you have just made the biggest decisions. The rest  should be are easy, and fun...You may think this next task should be later in the program? But its not, and I will tell you why. Setting up your registry should be fun, and not become a rushed task as wedding planning proceeds. Plus it is a curiosity to guests that will be looking for that perfect gift to please the bride and groom. On another note, people today tend to love to buy ahead. In some cases It's just more convenient to get the gift buying out of the way. When setting up your registry give plenty of gift options. Also select items in a wide range of prices. This makes it easy on a guest that truly wants to splurge on a gift, while keeping in mind those that may not be able to splurge on a gift. but truly wants to buy an item that you will enjoy.

Choosing Flowers

First always consider your budget, and what flowers will be in season or easy for the florist to provide on your wedding date? Blooms that are out of season or hard to obtain may be costly. This is just a tip to keep in mind. If your budget is small, but you just have to have an expensive bloom, ask the florist to use less of the expensive flower, but do add it to your arraignment.

Time To Pick The Cake

First choose a flavor of cake. Bride can't agree with the Groom? Alternate flavors...As a rule this is a better way to go anyway. It gives your guest a bit of a selection on what they might prefer. Choosing the cake can be fun, the baker will always have loads of photo's and sample cakes for you to choose from. Cakes can range in price from inexpensive to very expensive. So - before meeting with your baker, consider what type of design you would like your cake to be, and come up with an amount you feel comfortable spending on the cake. Let the baker know of these decisions up front. This tends to make the process a lot easier on all concerned.

                                                        The Invitations

If forrmal, keep the choice of invitation formal. If your wedding is more casual, keep the invitation casual. Do you want to have guest respect formal attire? Add this wish to your invitation. There are a wide variety of invitations on the market, so it won't be hard to pick the prefect one for your wedding... But do get them sooner than later. This is also a good time to compile the guest list. Future in-laws should be requested to submit persons, along with address to those persons that they would like to be considered to be invited to the wedding. It is smart to supply in-laws with a specific number of guests that you will feel comfortable to accommodate with invitations. By supplying a given number, it should avert the possibility of a very uncomfortable problem that could occur, if the in-laws list is to long... Its smart to be up front, and avert this problem.

When To Send Invitations - Keeping To Wedding Ediquette

Start to address your wedding invitations three months before the wedding.  Ideally ediquette states, wedding invitations should be sent 8 weeks prior to the wedding. This courtesy allowing guests several weeks to make travel arrangements if need be, also to arrange time off from work if necessary, before sending them back to you. 

Keep in mind you will need to get them back in advance so you can start labeling place cards, make final head count for the caterer, etc. Ask for an RSVP date 4 weeks before your wedding. If you keep to this schedule all will run smoothly...

Hey! Its Time To Shop For A Dress...

Most brides have a vision of what they would like to wear on their wedding day. I mean after looking at trillions of Bride's Magazines, brides as a rule get their heart set on a certain style gown. Please keep in mind while you search for your prefect wedding gown, there are so many styles out there. Most likely you have not as of yet actually tried a wedding gown on. So don't do yourself a disservice by not trying on many style of wedding gown's.

 You might just be very surprised. Sometimes the gown pick you...Sometimes a wedding gown from a magazine or one you have envisioned, just does not actually look as you dreamed it would look? So be open to trying on many styles of gown. Have fun choosing your wedding gown. You will know the one, the minute you see it on, and look at yourself in a mirror.

When going to shop for your wedding gown wear a strapless bra, bring along shoes that will approximate the height of heel you will choose to wear on your wedding day. Another tip, fix your hair a bit, and if  as a rule you wear make-up, wear it ... You will get a real preview of what you will actually look, on your wedding day.