Take the Stress Out Of Wedding Planning With These handy Tips
Wedding Planning can be a challenge but it can also be great fun if you do your research and plan ahead.
To increase your fun factor and avoid stress, this blog is packed full of inspired ideas for wedding themes as well as tips and advice on budgeting, DIY decoration, achieving an hour glass shape in your wedding dress and so much more.
We also advise on how you can avoid all those little niggles that can throw a spanner in the works. You can navigate the guest list, seating, plus 1 and kids issues with a few well worded invites and signs. Page down to view our most popular advice and trouble shooting guides.
When it comes to what’s trending for weddings in 2018 and 2019 we have weekly blog updates along with future forecasts as well as a ‘design on demand’ service to ensure your wedding invitations and accompanying stationery are all bang up to date! Subscribe so you don’t miss out.
Let’s get this show on the road!
Here are a few of the questions brides-to-be have asked over the years, and some of our answers. Use our contact form below to ask ‘YOUR’ wedding planning question.- How to plan a low budget wedding that looks a million dollars
- How to create the perfect hour glass figure whatever your shape!
- How to save money buying wedding dresses online.
- What wedding songs are trending now?
- What can I gift my Bridal Party?
- Bride hair, makeup and accessory guides
- What are the rules for guest lists, gifts and seating? Etiquette Guide
Wedding Planning Dilemma’s – what to do!
Planning a wedding throws up many challenges and they generally revolve around money issues and accommodating your guests. Your guests may not appreciate of your difficulties fitting everything and everyone in, so you have to plan ahead to avoid disagreements before the big day.
- Should I have kids at my wedding?
- How to create a stress free seating plan
- Does every guest have to have a plus 1?
- What newly weds would do differently
- How to avoid hen do Fall outs
- How to avoid Bridesmaid Fall outs
- How to avoid wedding scammers on Facebook
And now for the basics
Planning your wedding and getting married should be a wonderful memorable experience. Without great planning, your wedding can be stressful and you can quickly feel overwhelmed by the escalating costs, the family politics and the sheer volume of what you need to do. To ensure your wedding goes without a hitch and you remain sane throughout the process follow these simple wedding planning tips.
1. Enlist help
Recruit your most creative, organised, enthusiastic friend or family member to help you plan your wedding. This will immediately cut your stress and your workload down by at least half. That is, if you are able to fairly delegate and share the responsibilities. Use the following ‘wedding planning things to do’ list to help divide the responsibilities between you.
2. Book the Venues
Book the church or wedding ceremony venue. Give yourself ample time to plan for the wedding and for guests to ensure they are free on the day. Anything from one year to two years is usual for an advance wedding venue booking.
3. Apply for the licence
Depending on where in the world you are, the rules re marriage licences will vary. Ensure you are compliant and do whatever is required according to your states laws.
4. Set the budget
The size of the budget will determine every other action you take in planning your wedding, so spend time practically working out an accurate wedding budget based on what you can afford and what you believe is reasonable to spend on this one special day.
Parents of bride and groom may offer financial support. Do not take this for granted. If parents do announce they will cover the cost then they will presumably set the wedding budget for you. Ensure you respect the limit imposed. Once you have the budget you need to divide it up to cover the many costs associated with wedding planning and execution.
Some of the many costs you need to consider:- Wedding Insurance
- Ceremony Costs and Licence Fees
- Reception Venue and Catering including beverages (bottling fees)
- Wedding invitations as associated items ie rsvp, save the dates etc.
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- Flowers including bridal bouquet, ceremony venue flowers and center table arrangements
- Decorations for ceremony and reception – ribbons, flowers, bunting, balloons
- Bridal Dress, underwear, reception outfit, shoes, jewelry, accessories
- Groom suit, cuff links, accessories, shoes
- Bridesmaid dresses, shoes, nails
- Paige boy suits
- Best man outfit
- Hair dressing, makeup fees
- Bridal Party and Thank You Gifts
- Car Hire for bride, groom, family
- Wedding cake
- Bobonierre
- Wedding favors
- Hotel room hire
- Honeymoon
- Cleaning fees
5. Create a Guest List – things to consider :
Who is coming?
How many can you afford to cater for?
Should they attend the marriage
ceremony, the cocktail hour and the wedding party reception or just the reception?
Some people have only close friends and family for the wedding ceremony and include a larger guest list for the evening reception entertainment which may include work colleagues and casual friends.
Children are a consideration as some prefer not to have children at their wedding while others are more than happy to encourage a family wedding environment. If you are including children in your guest list remember to accommodate their needs when catering the reception and planning entertainment.
6. Pick a Wedding Theme
Most brides like to have a ‘theme’ for their wedding, even if only to establish that it will be a traditional white wedding theme.
When considering a theme for your wedding consider what reflects the personality of you and the groom and what can easily be managed within the scope of the wedding budget.
Popular Themes for 2018/2019
- Fusion Indian Wedding
- Botanics
- Dark Tropical
- Watercolor
- Rustic Barn
Succulents and Cactii- Hawaiian Luau
- Rose Gold Metallics
Trending Wedding Colors :
- Rose Gold
- Black and White
- Blush Pink and Gold
- Navy Blue/Midnight and Gold
- Turquoise/Teal and Coral (Purple/Pink/Gold)
- Ultra Violet/Purple and Green
Wedding invitations for 2018 and 2019 include minimalist with a lot of white space, feminine handwritten style fonts, leaves in both spring and dark tropical with watercolor graphic elements. Popular colors are midnight blue, ultra violet, turquoise and last years favorite blush pink and gold. We’re not ready to let go of that glamorous color combo yet! As a surprise we’re also seeing more corporate styled invitations, with monochrome photos, block lettering and simplistic yet stylish look.
7. Marriage Ceremony Venue
Knowing your wedding theme will help determine where you want to get married. Select somewhere that sets the tone for your themed wedding.
A small chapel or church for a traditional wedding for close family and friends or an outdoor garden ceremony for a more rustic, country themed wedding. Weather will be a factor as will guest numbers and budget.
8. Wedding Reception
When deciding where you would like to hold your wedding reception, evening party or cocktail hour consider how your guests might travel from the ceremony venue to the reception and how long they might be at a loose end in between.
You may need to budget for transport for guests, allow for ample parking and prepare detailed directions. For guests who have to travel some distance to attend your wedding, you may also need to arrange overnight accommodation or provide a list of local hotels.
Wedding Planning Guides
If you want to be fully prepared for your special day, time line carefully calculated, checklists and budget in place etc. you could do worse than to equip yourself with Best Selling The Knot wedding planning guide .
This particular guide is packed with lots of new ideas. It’s always been a hot favorite with brides because it’s so darn helpful!!
Some of the goodies you’ll find inside:
- Timelines and worksheets for scheduling and budgeting
- Money-saving tips
- 8 tabbed dividers packed with color photos of centerpieces, table settings, favors, and more
- Color swatch page for mixing your own wedding palette
- Information on choosing your vendors, including checklists of key questions to ask
- Ideas galore
- Pockets for collecting tear sheets, contracts, business cards
- Removable stickers on the front, spine, and back so you can make the binder your own
It’s a must have! Life is so much easier when you’re well organized.
If you don’t want to splash out on one of those, there are free checklists online you can print out yourself. Martha Stewart is a good source.
Start Making Savings NOW With Wedding Sales
You can save a LOT of money on wedding items by buying just after the season has ended. Wedding trends don’t change that much (not noticeably to the novice) so buying last seasons stock at a massive discount could be a great way to make savings.
Wedding Invitation and Stationery Sales
