Wedding Layers

It is true that planning a wedding can be very stressful. However, with careful planning you can have a perfect wedding, no matter how big or how small. The magic word is ‘planning’. There are number of factors to consider when planning for the perfect wedding.

Setting the Date

Planning starts from the very beginning. There is no wedding without a wedding date. There are many factors consider when selecting a date. Of course the date you choose needs to be convenient for you and your fiancé. Unless you are planning to elope, the date also needs to be convenient for your friends and family as well. It is recommended to select a date that is at least three months away, in order to allow your relatives and friends to make themselves available for the special event.

Additionally, make sure that the date selected does not clash with any holidays or important working days that might affect attendance at the ceremony. As soon as you have a date, you can determine the time table for announcing your engagement and sending out invitations so that guests have sufficient advance notice to prepare.

Choosing a Type of Ceremony

The type of ceremony you select plays an important role in how enjoyable your wedding will be to you. Will you have a large and formal wedding, or will it be a small informal ceremony and only family and close friends wedding? Maybe you want a large wedding, but you would prefer a semi-formal event.

You need to know what type of ceremony you want as soon as you start planning. All of your plans are going to center around the type of ceremony, since the arrangements are going to differ greatly for each style.

Budget

Weddings can be very costly. Make sure that you know how much money you can afford to spend on your wedding and stick to your budget. Each expense must be considered systematically. There are many expenses associated with planning a wedding. Just a few of the expenses to consider include: wedding attire, food, decorations, wedding favors, honeymoon expenses, music, accommodations, location, and many more things.

Shopping Around

There are a number of vendors who specialize in providing wedding-related products and services. When you plan ahead of time, do some window shopping before you start singing contracts. It is in your best interest to do some research regarding what is available and to compare prices.

Booking Facilities

Advance book any facilities you will need to have your perfect wedding. It is a bad idea to wait until the last minute to make facility reservations. If you put off this task, you will likely find that banquet hall, park, chapel that you want to reserve is unavailable when you need it. The same is true for photographers, florists, DJs, caterers, wedding cake artist, seamstress, and anyone else you may need to make your wedding perfect.

In addition, you might actually save some money for booking early. Many wedding industry vendors offer discounts to brides and grooms who make their reservations far ahead of time.

Delegating Chores and Errands

As soon as you start telling your friends and family members that you are getting married, they will likely ask what they can do to help. Take them up on their offers! Planning a wedding is a huge project. Don’t do it all by yourself if you have people who want to help you. By delegating some of the wedding planning tasks, you can reduce some of the preplanning stress.

As you can see, with the right planning you can have the perfect wedding you always dreamed about. Your wedding day is special day that you will cherish for life. Careful planning helps make sure that the day you end up remembering is just the way you always dreamed it would be.

The Perfect Wedding Guide offers tips on finding and booking your Toronto banquet halls as well as tips for buying the perfect wedding dress in Toronto.
http://www.theperfectweddingguide.com/wedding_reception.html

Author: Amy Nutt
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The sole purpose of save-the-date cards is to give the people you intend
to invite to your wedding plenty of advance notice. If, for example, you
are planning to marry during the holiday season or a holiday weekend,
you’ll want your guests to reserve you wedding date on their calendars
months in advance. If you will be inviting guest from out of town who will
need to fly in for the wedding, they will need time to make the necessary
travel arrangements.

You should send save-the-date cards to all of your intended guests
when either of these circumstances fit your situation. Even friends and
family members who you already know will attend should be sent a card.

On the other hand, if you are not sure whether a particular person or
couple will be invited to the wedding, don’t send them a save-the-date
card. And there is really no reason, and it’s a waste of your precious
money, to buy and send these notices when all of your guests live
relatively nearby or the wedding will not occur during a busy time of the
year.

Planning and Sending

Once you know all of the basic details about your wedding plans, place
your order with your stationer. As with invitations, having these cards
printed can take up to several weeks, so give your stationer plenty of
time. You can mail these cards out up to six months before the wedding
date.

Save-the-date cards can be designed to match the rest of your wedding
stationery and ordered at the same time, or they can have a completely
different look.

Getting your guests’ attention

Some brides-to-be really want these cards to be eye catching so that
they truly standout and serve as a visual notice. If this is what you have
in mind, look for something unusual, such as scratch-off cards or
magnets (that can be posted on your guests refrigerators). Maybe you
will want to make your own cards, incorporating one or more of your
wedding colors, a graphic design, or a photo.

You can buy save-the-date cards through most wedding stationery
manufacturers and retailers. If you want to create your own cards or save
money, look for a card-design software program. Michael’s arts and
crafts stores sells a good software program called “Wedding Invitation
Kit” that costs under $25. The program is designed mainly for making
your own wedding invitations, but it does include note cards.

What you should do

Since this will be your first written contact with most of your guests, it’s
important that they make a good first impression. Make sure that you
spell each guest’s name correctly. If you are unsure about the spelling of
someone’s name, look it up or contact someone reliable.

In your save-the-date, include the date, time, and place of the ceremony
along with any other information that your guests will need.

Here is a sample of how your notice might read:

“Please save the date of Saturday, June 25, 2005, 2 PM, for the
wedding of Karen Hinkley and Brian Nelson in Minneapolis, MN.
Invitation and directions to follow.”

Always follow up with the expected wedding invitation, which should be
mailed about six weeks before your wedding date.

A nice touch that can truly be helpful to your guests is to list your web
site address–assuming you will be updating it with more details.

What you should not do

Keep in mind the purpose of these cards. Don’t include unnecessary or
inappropriate information such as directions, the rehearsal dinner
location and time, or registry information. (Incidentally, if you do list your
name with a bridal registry, the only place that information can be
included is in a shower invitation. Generally, good etiquette demands
that you rely upon friends and relatives to circulate such details by word
of mouth and only if asked.)

Since you are not trying to elicit a response, do not include a reply card.
And last but not least, you should not e-mail your save-the-date
information. Of course, there is always an exception to every rule, but try
not to break this one.

About the Author

Jean Bachcroft is a former public relations director, the founder of Bachcroft and Aloha Labels, and the publisher and editor-in-chief of Town and Country Shopping Bargains Magazine. For designer wedding, holiday, and year-round mailing and return address labels, you can visit her web sites at http://bachcroft.com and at [http://alohalabels.com]

For bargains and bargain shopping articles, [http://townandcountryshoppingbargains.com] visit Town and Country Shopping Bargains.

Author: Jean Bachcroft
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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