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How To Plan A Wedding Ceremony

Host Cocktails Before The Ceremony

Wedding Planning | HOW TO PLAN YOUR CEREMONY and RECEPTION on a TINY BUDGET

Start the celebration as soon as guests arrive by hosting an hour-long cocktail party before the ceremony. This will give everyone a chance to mingle and ensure that even your chronically late college roommate will get there in time for the main event. Keep it simple by serving just one festive cocktail or champagne. You’ll have more time for cocktails later.

“I always suggest passed trays of champagne, sparkling water, and maybe a fun easy cocktail to set the mood for the night. Sometimes well do champagne topped with a huge cloud of cotton candy,” says Taylor. “It all depends on the mood the couple is trying to set for the evening.”

How To Plan A Wedding: The Complete 20

Your wedding day is by far one of the most important and special days of your life. And as the reality of your new engagement sets in and the excitement starts to build, youll want to get started on the wedding planning process.

Thanks to the growing availability of digital tools, planning a wedding has become much easier and less-stressful than it once was. Couples have far more control over the details of their joyous occasion, and many of the steps can be entirely DIY-style. For instance, you have the option to create a wedding website, make your dream playlist and collect pictures from guests – all from your own computer.

If youve always dreamed of planning the perfect wedding but arent quite sure where to start, this article is for you. Well guide you through the steps of how to plan a wedding – and point out some of the most helpful tools that can ease the stress and make your special day even more memorable.

Choose Music Readings And People Who Are Personal To You

From what is read to who does the reading, these elements really make a ceremony – so don’t pick ceremony readings because they seem lofty or romantic, choose readings because they resonate.

Likewise with the music, whether you hire ceremony musicians or ask a pal to sing, look to songs that are loaded with meaning and that won’t leave a dry eye in the room.

Photo by The Lous via One Fab Day

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Create A Wedding Website

Setting up a wedding website is the easiest way to do keep your guests in the loop, and one of the most important steps to planning a wedding. Make sure to include all of the important information about your big day on your websitedate, location, travel information, room block details, and more. Nows also the time to create your wedding hashtag to use on social media leading up to your wedding day.

Make Your Guest List The A

Pin by Kotton Kandie on Happily Ever After

It goes without saying that a shorter guest list is easier on not only your budget but your sanity, too. Even if it’s unrealistic to whittle your list down to 20, chopping it from 300 to 150 will still help take things from overwhelming to manageable. More often than not, an intimate affair really does requires less workand it comes with an invaluable bonus: more quality face time with that cozier group of guests you invited!

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Choose Your Wedding Party

Now it’s your turn to propose to your bridesmaids and groomsmen. Remember, the earlier you ask, the sooner you can enlist their help. And keep in mind that your wedding party is agreeing to spend their money and donate their timebe considerate and kind by informing everyone about all your plans , showing them a good time and making sure they know how much you appreciate them.

Finalize Your Guest List

If you havent already, its time to create your final wedding guest list. Remember that if your parents are contributing financially to your big day, theyll get a say in whos invited. Be sure to keep your venues capacity in mind as well, and dont invite more people than the space can handle. Even though youll likely receive regrets from some guests, you dont want to risk it.

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From This Moment Wedding Ceremony Guide Looking For A Wedding Ceremony Outline Perhaps A Wedding Ceremony Timeline Looking For Simple Way To Breakdown Your Wedding Ceremony Plan Your Order Of Ceremony With This Guide

  • Extra: Photos
  • Your wedding ceremony is the most important part of your wedding that signifies your married life and love for each other. While many religious wedding ceremonies might seem similar, each of them has something unique.

    Of course, you can always customize or create a new custom or tradition for you and your partner. If you are about to embark on an interfaith wedding, consider starting to talk about creative ways to respect and incorporate both sides.

    Whether you are going for a traditional, denominational or religious ceremony, weve rounded up a general guideline that will help you set up your wedding ceremony effectively

    What Are Some Alternative Wedding Ceremony Ideas

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    Youve got much more creative freedom for how your wedding ceremony runs if you have a celebrant-led ceremony. Humanist celebrant ceremonies are legal in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but in England and Wales, youll need to do the legal part before or after. This means you dont need to worry about the legal declarations.

    One of the best ways to make a ceremony feel unique and personal is to perform a symbolic, unifying act. Examples of these include a sand ceremony, handfasting, a candle ceremony or jumping the broom.

    Heres an outline of what a humanist wedding ceremony looks like from humanism.org.uk:

    • Arrival of the couple
    • Introductions and welcomes
    • Words of well-wishing
    • Closing and departure

    It’s not too dissimilar from the traditional ceremony structure, but you’ve got a lot more freedom. Any one of these parts can be left out or made the core of your ceremony.

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    Why Should You Personalize Your Wedding Ceremony

    Creating a custom ceremony is an opportunity to grow closer as a couple. “Preparing to get married is a time to ask, ‘What makes you, you?’ and ‘What makes us, us?’ and how might we best express this to our guests?” says Martha.

    Plus, there are a lot of tasks to complete during the wedding planning process, and it can be overwhelming. Focusing on your relationship and your ceremony is a good reminder of your end goal: marriage. This can often make other decisions feel easier.

    Choose Your Wedding Ceremony Location

    Deciding where youre going to hold the ceremony has an impact on where the reception, and the rest of the wedding events, will be held. Some venues offer both ceremony and reception space, while others, like many places of worship, may be ceremony-centric. Use a wedding venue search tool like Wedding Spot to sort venues by services offered, distance to other venues, and more.

    Pro tip: If youre planning on having live music for your ceremony, make sure your venue isnt located in an area with a strict noise ordinance in place, and consider the needs of neighboring homes and businesses. Youll also want to consider any sound issues your venue has that may interrupt your ceremony, such as nearby roads, gun ranges, etc.

    Find the perfect wedding venue!

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    Figure Out What Youre Going To Wear

    Its your wedding, so the best ensemble is the one you feel best in. Theres no right or wrong option. Perhaps youll wear jeans and a casual jacket. You might go with a bow-tie. Maybe youre going to honor your cultural heritage with a traditional look colorfully-patterned clothes, a Saukele, a kilt, a kimono. Just make your selection early so you have time to get everything altered if you need to.

    Pro tip: Schedule enough time for multiple alteration appointments if needed just in case something changes between the first fitting and the last. Anything from weight to shoe choice to personal preference can change in a matter of months, so its good to leave some buffer.

    Start Your Wedding Registry

    Wedding Countdown Checklist

    Pretty much immediately after you announce your engagement, your loved ones will ask: Where are you registered? When thinking about how to plan your wedding step by step, its a good idea to create your wedding registry relatively early on in the process. Your family members and friends may want to purchase engagement giftsyou can always make changes and additions to your registry later on. Use our wedding registry checklist to get started.

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    Talk To Your Other Half

    Different people have very different ideas of what they want their ceremony to be. For some, it’s about being short and symbolic, for another couple it’s it’s about celebrating your relationship to date, and for some couples it’s a chance to show off the talents of creative family and friends. Do you want it to be romantic, emotional, or fun? Figuring out what you want your ceremony to be, the general tone or theme, will make the rest of your decisions so much easier.

    Photo by The White Tree via One Fab Day

    Final Thoughts On Planning Your Wedding Ceremony

    We know that this is a lot of information, but we have just a few final tips to make sure your wedding ceremony goes off without a hitch:

    Were certain that using this guide will help in planning your wedding ceremony in a way that exceeds your wildest dreams. Youve got your ultimate checklist for the wedding, now its time to get to planning the perfect wedding reception!

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    Do: Have A Backup Plan If Your Ceremony Is Outside

    Prepping a plan B in case of rain, snow or whatever the weather may bring is a must, and that might mean reserving an indoor alternative or a tent. And you should also think of ways to make everyone as comfortable as possible for your outdoor ceremony. That could mean reserving heat lamps to ward off chills in late fall or buying parasols for a hot summer day.

    Bonus tip: You can get a feel for what you’ll need by doing a walk-through at around the same time as your ceremony . And keep an eye on the weather leading up to the day for any sudden changes.

    Take A Break And Manage Last

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    The hiatus before the hoopla. The breather before the big day. The calm before the celebration. However you want to think about it, this is the sweet spot between all the planning and the actual wedding. There will be things to manage and decisions to be made. But mostly, this is a time of anticipation and excitement. Enjoy it.

    Pro tip: Assign someone to be your crisis manager during this time. Theyll handle incoming requests, take care of tasks that they dont need you for, and can filter out anything that actually does deserve your attention. Wedding planners, maids of honor, and best men are all great for this role as long as you trust their judgment and feel they are reliable.

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    How To Plan A Virtual Wedding

    Wedding plans changing because of the pandemic? Have a virtual wedding! This post outlines everything you need to know to plan a live stream wedding!

    Life as we knew it has come to a screeching halt, with limits on gatherings in many states. The new normal still isnt quite normal, and we have no idea how long this could last.

    For engaged couples, this has meant a total upheaval in their celebratory plans. But at The Budget Savvy Bride, we are used to having wrenches thrown into our plans usually due to finances and have become experts in finding a workaround. Planning a wedding amid a quarantine is no different.

    While of course, we would love for all of our nearest and dearest to be in attendance, right now that is a near-impossibility. But that doesnt mean you cant still have an incredible wedding day, complete with speeches, photos, vows, and being able to see everyones reactions. Itll just look a little more virtual.

    Technology is going to be your best friend during these days of social distancing, especially when it comes to planning a virtual wedding. Below well outline the steps youll need to take to plan a wedding on the internet. Plus, we share the resources that will help you execute everything as simply as possible. Youll learn how to include your loved ones from near and far in your microwedding, minimony, or elopement. Lets dive in!

    Get A Marriage License

    If youre thinking about how to plan a wedding step by step, remember one of the most important tasksobtaining a marriage license so that you and your partner can actually get legally married! Every state has different marriage license laws, so be sure to study up beforehand. Make sure that you get your marriage license at the right timein advance if theres a waiting period in your state, but not too far in advance if the license expires after a certain amount of time. If you’re interested in changing your name after the wedding, that marriage license will be a critical step in the process.

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    Who Do You Tell

    Keep things under wraps by telling only the people you absolutely need to, such as your vendors and their staff. Hiring a great team of professionals will be key since you wont be able to ask bridesmaids or family to assist, says Valorie Darling of Valorie Darling Photography. And sharing the secret with your parents is a good idea if youre worried about how they may react on the big day. Plus, they might be happy to be part of the planning.

    Have A Unifying Element

    Maybe you have viewed this before? Wedding Ceremony Ideas ...

    Our celebrant told me this, and I totally agree. There’s something to be said for having one unifying element of “we’re all in this together” that eases people into the idea of a unique ceremony, gets everyone laughing, and sets the tone for the rest of the festivities. Whether it’s a group song, a call and response, or some kind of game, find some way to bring your guests together within your ceremony.

    Looking for more ceremony ideas? Check out our real weddings and get our essential list of ceremony readings

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