Planning a wedding is meticulous, so there are things that are nice to know, and there are things you need to know-advice so important any bride who’s lucky enough to hear it thinks, „ I’m so glad someone told me that”. Andrei Weddings has for you today a priceless list of wedding tips that will help you keep things under control.
1. Guests Come First
It is good to know the approximate number of guests you’ll invite before hiring a venue, as you’ll want enough space for everyone to have a ball.
2. Investigate Wedding Blackout Dates
Planning a wedding requires doing some research to choose a date that is convenient for everybody. You don’t want to pick a date that falls on the same day as a trade conference, charity walk or other local event that could affect traffic and hotel room availability.
3. Listen to Mother Nature
You should take into consideration all weather-related issues, depending on the venue and the moment of day your wedding takes place.
4. Check Your Credit
Take advantage of the high cost of weddings and sign up for a credit card with a rewards program. Whether it gives you airline miles or great shopping deals, consolidating all wedding-related purchases to this card will help you accumulate thousands of rewards points (which could be used for your honeymoon).
5. Pay It Forward
Le tone vendor lead you to another. You can get recommendations for a florist from your wedding photographer, and your reception manager should know which band consistently packs the dance floor.
6. Lighten Your List
The easiest way to trim your wedding budget is to cut your guest list as a big chunk of the wedding expenses go to wining and dining your guests. By cutting the guest list you can make important savings.
7. Ask and You Might Receive
Request an extra hour for cocktails or for your band to throw in that Frank Sinatra sound-alike before you sign on the dotted line.
8. Make a Meal Plan
Another unforeseen expense? Feeding your wedding day crew. Before you sign the contracts, make sure you're not required to serve the same meal to your vendors that guests will receive. Choose a less expensive (but equally hearty) meal for them instead.
9. Get Organizationally Focused
Compile all your correspondences with vendors, notes you make during meetings, and photos or tear sheets from magazines you want vendors to see. Set up a special email address dedicated to your wedding, and store important vendor numbers in your cell phone.
10. Tend to Your Bar
Typically, you need one bartender per 50 guests to keep the line at a minimum. But if you're serving a signature cocktail that cannot be made ahead of time (or in large quantities), consider adding an extra server designated to this task.
11. Leave Some Room in Your Wallet
An ideal formula for your wedding budget should be the following: 48 to 50 percent of total budget to reception; 8 to 10 percent for flowers; 8 to 10 percent for attire; 8 to 10 percent for entertainment/music; 10 to 12 percent for photo/video; 2 to 3 percent for invites; 2 to 3 percent for gifts; and 8 percent for miscellaneous items like a wedding coordinator. It's essential to allocate an extra 5 to 10 percent of your money for surprise expenses.
12. Don't Be Afraid to Ask
Your wedding vendors should be your go-to, most-trusted experts during the planning process. When working with them, you should feel free to really explore what it is you want—maybe it's serving a late-night snack instead of a first course or doing a bridal portrait session rather than an engagement session.
13. Wait for a Date
With a bit of luck, a last-minute planning can work in your favour as the closer your date, the more bargaining power you have. Since most people book their wedding venues at least six months in advance, calling for open dates two months prior to your desired time can save you up to 25 percent. And, Friday and Sunday weddings should cost about 30 percent less than Saturday weddings.
14. Manage the Mail
Of course you want the perfect stamps for your wedding invitations. But not all stamps are widely available at every post office, especially in large quantities. Be sure to weigh your invitation and all the additional paper products before you send them out so you can attach the right amount of postage.
15. Prepare for Rejection
As a rule, about 10 to 20 percent of the people you invite won’t come to your big day. There are a number of factors that make people decline your invitation such as location of the wedding (destination weddings are harder to attend), how many out-of-towners are on your list and the timing of the event, as some of the guests may have annual holiday plans.
16. Make a Uniform Kids Policy
You have four choices:
-You can welcome children with open arms
-You can decide to have an "adults only" wedding
-You can include immediate family only
-You can hire a child care service to provide day care either at the reception space, in a hotel room or at a family member's home.
17. Prioritize Your People
You should divide your guest list by using a „tiers of priority” trick. The immediate family, the bridal party and best friends should go on top of he list; continue with aunts, uncles, cousins and close friends that you can’t imagine celebrating without. Finally, list your parents’ friends, neighbours, co-workers and so on. In case you need to make some cuts, start from the bottom until you reach your ideal number.
18. Take It One Step at a Time
Put together a wedding planning schedule and do things one by one, in a logical order, so you don't take on too much too fast and end up with everything snowballing around you.
19. No Ring, No Bring
If you guest list is too numerous, assess the plus-one scenario. Do a faux seating chart in your mind, and imagine whom your single pal would sit with. If it's a table of singles that she knows pretty well, then you're all set. If it's a table of couples (making her the odd one out) or if it's a table of singles where she won't know anyone, consider bending the rules.
20. Release Rooms
As soon as you've picked a date, start to look for hotels in a wide variety of price points. Many hotels allow you to reserve rooms for guests under a special wedding block and a reduced rate. You can then release any unbooked rooms a month prior to your wedding.
21. Provide Accurate Driving Directions
Make sure guests know where they're going. Map apps are not always that reliable, so it’s better to ask your ceremony and reception sites for printouts or digital copies of recommended driving directions and you can even test out the routes just to make sure everything checks out. Then include the best directions on your wedding website or email them to your guests to print out if they'd like.
22. Keep a Paper Trail
Get any nonstandard changes to your agreements in writing or send the vendor a confirmation email saying, "Hello, just confirming that you'll keep the venue open until 2 a.m. versus midnight." Don't just assume everything's all set—sometimes, by the time the actual day rolls around, your contact for a certain may no longer be working there to vouch for you.
23. Schedule the Setup
You must make sure there's enough time for setup. If you're renting a venue and bringing in outside help, ask what time people can come in to start setting. See if they can do it the day before, or at the very least the entire wedding day, before the event starts.
24. Learn About Marriage Licenses
You can check your state's license requirements online, but confirm with a call to the county clerk's office to see when they're open.
25. Go Over Ground Rules
You should always check with the manager of the house or worship or site where you’ll be married if there are any restrictions. For instance, is flash photography or bare shoulders prohibited? Or, if you're exchanging vows outdoors, are you allowed to plant tent stakes in the lawn (which is often not allowed)?
26. Classify Your Cash
Wedding budgets are very important and what matters in this issue is balance. To make things easier for yourself you should assign a number to each crucial detail of the wedding-one being the most important and three being the least. Invest your money in all your number ones and cut corners on your number threes.
27. Help Guests Pay Attention
Make sure your guests can both see and hear from their seats. If people are seated farther than 15 rows back from your ceremony altar or podium, consider renting a mic and a riser.
28. Write Down Your Digits
Keep an emergency contact sheet or phone with your vendor contacts on you on your wedding day—it may come in handy in case your limo driver gets lost or you decide you'd like your photographer to take some behind-the-scenes shots.
29. Call the Fashion Police
If you decide to go dress shopping on your own, there is a risk that all the gowns will start to look the same after a while and it will be harder to recall which style you really loved. But be careful about who you do bring. If your mom or sibling can't make the trip, ask a friend who is truly honest.
30. Be Realistic With Your Time
When it comes down to the last month of your planning (and when you're particularly harried) look at your mile long to-do list and cut three things. Yes, cut three things. Not crucial things you just don't feel like doing. Eliminate only the over-the-top tasks like hand-painting "Just Married" signs, or baking cookies for all of the welcome bags. Cross them off and make a pledge not to think about them again.
We hope you enjoyed reading this post. While you’re here you could also check out Top 10 Crazy Wedding Venues and Top 10 Wedding Venues In London