How to: Plan a Wedding!

I know what you are probably thinking – is she nuts? She’s never even been married let alone planned a wedding… and you’d be right. I have never been married – unless of course you count the numerous times in my head that I have married Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds both of whom still haven’t returned my calls sadly. However, just because I have never had a wedding does not mean I have never planned one. Have you seen that film, 27 dresses? I’m pretty sure they drew inspiration from my life when writing the script for that one. I can’t quite remember what age she was at the end when she found her own bloke but I’m hoping I haven’t passed it otherwise they lied!! Any how, I have helped to plan weddings before so thought I would share my wisdom in a sort of checklist for all the blushing brides out there (I’m not jealous, I swear….much)….

Clothes

So most people say that once you have gotten the dress it is down hill from there and I would definitely be too excited to go and try dresses on. Of course I’d be on a famine diet until the wedding but I’d love to try some on. However, despite what most of us believe, there are other people in a wedding besides the bride. So you need to think about;

• Bridal gown
• Bridesmaid dresses
• Flower girls
• Groom
• Groomsmen
• Ushers
• Page Boys
• Leaving outfit/post wedding outfit
• Underwear

So you may of course not have all of these people at your wedding – some people choose to have no bridesmaids and just the children and some have all three. Some people also leave their wedding and go straight to start their honeymoon and if so you might need to change to travel. I know that underwear will be very important for me to hold everything in and in place underneath the dress.

Reception

So, if you are having a reception after the ceremony then chances are you’ll have tables where people will be sitting and probably eating too. There are several things to consider here;

• Seating Plan – people do get creative with these and have a map so people can find their seats
• Table and chair decorations – are you putting ribbons on the backs of chairs and are you having centre pieces?
• Wedding favours – lots of options here – are you going to have cheap wedding favours or perhaps unusual wedding favours or go for the traditional sugared almonds?
• Entertainment – are you going to have music? Are you having a disco after the sit down meal?
• Food and Drink – are you having an open bar or just providing a few bottles a table? Are you having a buffet or a sit down meal?

There is so much to think about for just this part of the wedding it is no wonder that brides go a little crazy at times is it? Though you can get feedback from your guests easily with some nice invites.

Venues

Okay so this one is in plural because most if not all weddings tend to be in more than once place, especially the ceremony and reception. So first of all you have to this about if you are going to have a church wedding and then go onto the location of your reception or whether or not you’re going to find somewhere, like a stately home or beautiful gardens that you can have everything in from start to finish.

For me I would probably go for the latter and then there is no worry about traffic and getting from one place to the next and having to stuff your dress into a car or something.

Everything Else

Of course there is still more on the list as I think quite possibly the list for a wedding is never ending;

• Flowers – you need bouquets for the women and button holes for the men. Are you having the ceremony area or the reception area dressed with flowers too?
• Rings – very importantly you need some rings to exchange and these need to be kept safe too
• Gifts – no not for you but for bridesmaids, groomsmen and mothers… are you going to give gifts and thank them?
• Honeymoon – are you going on one? Are you going straight away or a few days later?
• Hair and make-up – are you going to do your own or have someone do it for you? Are you going to a salon or are they coming to you?
• Accommodation – do you need somewhere to stay the night before or after the wedding?
• Transport – if you are using more than one venue or disappearing at the end, how are you going to travel – car, horse and carriage…?
• Photographer/Videographer – are you going to have someone capturing your special day for you? Or are you going to rely of friends and family and a bunch of disposable cameras?

There is so much to think about when planning a wedding – I suppose I should have put at the top of the list “find money to pay for wedding!” but then it is meant to be a special day isn’t it. I still dream of my wedding and how it will be so I sincerely hope that one day I’ll get one. If not I may just throw myself a wedding party and buy a dress anyway…that will work, right?

*This is a collaborative post