Think About The Size And Budget
The guest list is always a bit of a tricky one, but know having a simple wedding doesnt mean it has to be a small one. In fact, simple weddings can allow you to open up the wedding to more people as you will be paying a little less overall by cutting out all of the bells and whistles.
A huge part of a simple wedding that reduces stress is to spend within your means . You dont want to start your married life in debt!
Send Out Your Invitations And Make That Wedding Website
Once you’ve secured your venue, date and wedding vision, send the invitations to your guests . In conjunction with alerting your guests, we recommend creating a wedding website that includes all of the relevant details regarding your wedding. While you’re building it, grab a glass of wine with your partner and complete your wedding registryâit’s fun, we promiseâso that your guests have all the details and can consider a thoughtful gift too.
Set Clear Priorities For Everyone
When a client sees a to-do list for all of their wedding planning tasks, its easy to feel overwhelmed by everything on their plate. Make it effortless for your clients to visualize how everything will get done by establishing priorities so they know exactly what needs to be accomplished, as well as the tasks that can wait for later. At the same time, those priorities will help to keep you on track as you navigate this extremely busy season. When youre on your game, your clients will feel prepared and unruffled by the long road that lies ahead.
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Wedding Venue And Reception Checklist
When choosing the location for your wedding and reception, you need to take quite a few things into consideration. Here are some things you should ask about when choosing a venue:
Disabled Access. Particularly important if you have elderly relatives or friends with walkers or wheelchairs.
Maximum Capacity. You’ll probably book the wedding & reception venue before deciding on final numbers. Check that they can accommodate the number of people you wish to invite. The last thing you want is a venue thats too small for your guests to fit comfortably.
Safety Measures. Many venues require the wedding party to take out liability insurance in the event of injury or property damage. Make sure you ask about any insurance requirements, or any other safety-related information .
Alcohol and Bar. Most venues allow you to pay a flat rate fee for a bartender and then either have an open bar for guests, meaning that you pay for all the alcohol, or have a cash bar, meaning that guests buy the alcohol themselves. Make sure to ask the venue manager what options you will have and what kind of alcohol you want to serve. Will it just be wine? Or will you also include hard alcohol as well?
Meal Choices. These days, everyone seems to have one dietary restriction or another. Whether theyre gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, kosher, or allergic, you will want to speak with the caterers to make sure that your guests with special dietary needs are taken care of.
Get Your Marriage License
You need a before you can officially get married. Usually, youll get the license from the city or county clerk, depending on where you live. Call your municipal or county clerk to find out the license requirements because they vary by state or local government. Things you and your partner may need to provide include:
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Birth Certificate or passport
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Witness
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Certificate of divorce or death certificate
Pro tip: Something no one tells you about a wedding certificate is that, in most states, including California, its not a piece of paper you can grab from the office and fill out at home. Weve heard stories of people swinging by on a lunch break with a friend who they definitely were not getting married to then having to explain to the court what was going on. Save your friend the embarrassment and only go to the office with your partner when youre both ready to sign the paperwork.
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Take Time To Not Plan
Planning a wedding is a big undertaking it may as well be the first big test of your marriage. It’s a long gauntlet of compromise, sacrifice and stress management. Before your wedding, take some time just the two of you to do anything but wedding planning. It will help you remember why you’re doing all of this in the first place.
Choose Your Wedding Venue
This often goes hand-in-hand with Tip No. 7 but since not all venues offer both ceremony and reception services, lets dive a little deeper. Wedding Spot lets you explore venues by location, style, budget, number of guests, and services offered by the site. Popular wedding venue types include:
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Barn/farm/ranch
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Beach
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Hotel/resort
Once youve settled on your top three or four venues, its time to find out if theyre available on your wedding date. If they are, the next step is a site visit, either with your wedding planner or with your partner or both.
Pro tip: Narrow down your search by budget first, then aesthetic and scenery. Choose several related aesthetics and scenery such as outdoor, beach, and waterfront to get the most options for your chosen area. Also, use a tool such as Farmers Almanac to estimate what the weather will be like on your wedding day and let that influence your venue decision.
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Who Can Help You To Plan Your Wedding Day
No one can plan a wedding completely on their own. It is crucial to rely on your support team to help make your wedding day come to life. It is totally fair and also somewhat expected for you to ask someone to lend a helping hand.
- Your partner
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Wedding planning should be an equal balance between both partners, but more often than not one partner is more willing to take on wedding planning tasks than the other. Even if one partner takes the lead it is certainly reasonable to ask your partner to pitch in and help. Asking your partner for opinions and thoughts might seem easier said than done so one good strategy is to ask your partner if there are any aspects of the wedding that they would like to take the lead on and then let them run with it. Not everyone cares about the seating chart or the type of favor that will be given so if your partner is not into a specific wedding planning area just take it.
- Bridesmaids
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There are tons of ways you can ask your bridesmaid to help with the wedding planning process. Of course, you will need their help on the wedding day to make sure the day runs smoothly but you can also enlist them early in the process. A few perfect tasks for your bridesmaids are assembling favors, planning the bridal shower and bachelorette party, stamp invitations and also help shop for your wedding gown.
- Bridal Box Subscription
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- Your future family
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Anonymous quiz
Can I Create My Own Wedding Website
Yes! You can absolutely create your own wedding website. There are a number of free wedding website builders online however, one of our favorites is Minteds wedding website builder. They offer the option to create your own wedding website from a selection of stylish templates, and they also provide the option to have a designer create a custom wedding website with unique artwork.
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Go Wedding Dress Shopping
Although you started thinking about the style of wedding dress youd like 16 months before the big day, the 12 month mark should see you attend your first wedding dress shopping trip if you’re a bride. This allows plenty of time for alterations.
Before you go, you should know your budget and buy some nude, seamless underwear. Its also a good idea to try and go on a weekday when bridalwear shops are quiet, and prepare yourself for hard work. Oh, and dont take too many people along with you. Its nice to have your mum and your MOH with you, but any more opinions will only throw you off-piste.
If you’re having bridesmaids, its a good idea to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses after the wedding dress.
One year in advance might sound like a lot, but with a large group of friends to organise, finding something which everyone loves can be a little tricky. Even if you dont actually purchase anything until six months before the wedding, an initial shopping trip well in advance can do no harm. This goes for finding suits for male bridesmaids too.
At the same time as purchasing bridesmaid dresses, consider your flower girl outfits if you’re having them.
Finding someone to make your wedding cake can be done much closer to the wedding date than the booking of other suppliers needs to be. This is because cake makers can work on more than one wedding per day.
Give The Guests A Comfy Lounge
Set up a comfortable lounge for guests at the wedding. Complete with couches, throw pillows, low dim lights, drinks, and snacks.
Venue idea: This works for both indoor and outdoor weddings. Set a lounge by the pool area, the lawn, or the garden.
Description: Its beautiful if you can separate the ladies and gents lounge with essentials to keep them comfy.
Benefits and tips of using: Gives room for guests who want to get away from the noise to do so. The lounge is an area of relaxation and catch-ups.
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Choose Your Wedding Invitations
Consider picking out your formal invitations while your save-the-dates are top of mind. You dont have to send them until about 6-12 weeks before the wedding, but theres no harm in getting them ordered early.
Its traditional to send out cardstock invites, and its lovely to have a hardcopy invite to frame after the wedding. Visit a stationery store, or browse invite websites online. Select invites that reflect your wedding style and theme. The words you select will also set the tone for your wedding. For example, use traditional language for a classic wedding and opt for laid-back wording for casual, rustic, or beach weddings.
If you want to buck the traditional trend, there are many lovely digital options for invites as well, including Paperless Post, Greenvelope, and evite. These are perfectly acceptable, and , theyre eco-friendly and usually more affordable. You can even give invitees a link to your wedding website and have them RSVP there.
Pro tip: As people RSVP, add them to a free wedding seating chart tool so you can begin to assign seats, add in dietary restrictions and meal choices, and make special notes for your catering team that they can reference as you plan your menu.
Relax With Closest Friends And Family
When you have a smaller wedding, youre reducing the way you would with a sauce. It becomes tastier. It begins when you reduce the guest list, the need to please a large group disappears. You have the freedom to enjoy more and focus on the smaller details. Small intimate wedding ceremonies are much less formal and more spontaneous. Guests love spontaneity and real genuine displays of emotions, where they are an irreplaceable part. Smaller weddings give you more time to actually figure out what you want. They need less production too. You can create something delicious that is effortless and magical for everyone involved.
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Touch Base With The Wedding Team
Check-in with all of the key people in your wedding. Talk to the wedding planner to see if there are any final details they need from you. Reach out to the venue and vendor teams so you know theyre all set. Give a call to family members and the wedding party to make sure everyone feels comfortable with the itinerary. And finally, prioritize a few relaxed evenings with each other before the wedding.
Pro tip: Create a week before checklist with everyones names, contact information, and key points to address with them. Make this in advance and keep updating it as you go along so you dont miss anything. Have someone involved in the planning process review and edit it accordingly.
Before You Sign How To Review Wedding Contracts: Everything You Need To Know Wondering What To Look Out For When It Comes To Wedding Contracts And Wedding Agreements With Your Wedding Vendors What Is A Wedding Deposit Why Are Wedding Contracts Important Can You Negotiate Your Wedding Contract With Your Wedding Vendors When Can I Ask To See A Copy Of A Wedding Vendors Contract
Yes. There is this part of the wedding planning where contracts have to be reviewed and signed. Financial commitments have to be laid out. Reading the fine print might sound like a lot to do. However, it is definitely essential that you do, for your own protection.
The truth is, every vendor might have different stipulations and terms, but for the most part, the essential elements of a contract will almost most likely be the same.
You may be asking yourself, how to review wedding contracts? Well, youve come to the right place. Well talk about the basics of wedding contracts every engaged couple should know:
Lets get started going over these points on how to review wedding contracts!
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Start Shopping For Your Wedding Dress
You may know exactly what you want or you might not, which is okay, too. To get you started, here’s an ultimate guide to dress shopping. Also, visit these places in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York Citybecause finding a gown may be a matter of trial and error, but finding a salon shouldn’t be.
Hire Priority Wedding Vendors
If you just can’t imagine getting married without a certain local band playing at the reception or a photographer whose work you love, act fast. Many top wedding photographers and other in-demand wedding vendors are hired more than a year in advance, and once they’re booked, they’re gone. Translation: Figure out what your highest wedding priorities are, whether it’s world-class catering or exquisite flowers, and snap up the vendors whose work you love.
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