Weddings are difficult to get to grips with, from setting the date to finding the perfect venue and navigating which guests are and are not going to make the final list. It can all cause tension before you have even taken one step down the aisle.
Take a breath and go back to the drawing board, here we will discuss some of the main points that you will need to consider.
Theme
Have you always had a dream wedding in mind? Is there a particular theme that always creeps into your scrapbooks? Perhaps your partner is the one with a love for a particular theme and you want to incorporate it into your big day. This is something that you should think about before deciding anything else because it could influence everything else from the time of year that you have your wedding to the type of venue that you want. For example, if you are after a winter wonderland wedding, then you’ll need to wait until the appropriate time of year and hope that there will be snow.
Venue
The venue is the most critical part of the wedding; it will be in the photographs of your wedding album and your memories; it might even be somewhere that you visit on your anniversaries and other special occasions.
This place has to fit with your vision of your wedding day, whether that is an all-in-one place where you can get married and have the reception, or whether you are looking for your perfect church and separate reception to gather afterward.
It also needs to hold the maximum number of guests that you are thinking of inviting, whether everyone accepts those invitations or not – planning ahead, circumstances might change, and you need to think about possible additions and subtractions to the guest list families change.
Most importantly, it needs to be available on the date that you want to tie the knot, so it is best to book it as far in advance as possible – this also gives your guests plenty of advanced warning to arrange days off and travel around work as they need to.
Accommodation
If you have got family all over the country flying in for your wedding, then you need to consider what accommodation is around your venue, and then you will need to consider if you are going to reserve the rooms yourself or let your guests’ book what they need individually.
Some venues might have limited accommodation that you are able to book as part of your package for your bridal and groom parties, so no one has to arrange transport home after a night of partying, and some venues might even be able to make a deal with other local hotels in the area for wedding guests.
Guests
You will need to know who is coming to your event beforehand; it goes into planning the venue, the catering, and the seating plan. Make sure that you are clear on who you want to invite on all sides of the family, and to make sure that there are no questions as to who has been invited, either give everyone a separate invitation or list everyone in the house or family that is invited – including the children.
If you are not a smoker, you can put a polite request to your guests that they do not smoke in areas around where photographs are being taken. You might consider allowing people to smoke using vape kits around the venue as an alternative, as they are subtler, and they will not leave the smell of nicotine on your wedding clothes.
You also need to consider who is coming to the ceremony and who is coming to the reception; it is common to only have a select few close friends and family members at the ceremony and wedding breakfast, and then the extended family and friends at the reception.
Dress Code
You will have your own clothes sorted, whether that is a stunning wedding dress or a beautifully tailored suit, but you will also need to think about what style of wedding you are having. Now you do not want to be too strict with your guests, but if you want to have a more formal look, there is nothing wrong with letting your guests know, after all, it is your day, and if you are getting married in a country club, then someone turning up in jeans is not going to be appropriate.
Leave a Reply