Planning your own wedding day is awesome. The experience is something you can treasure for the rest of your life. However, this can take so much of your time. If you are the type of person who likes to personalize everything, then you have to check your calendar and start jotting down.

Hiring a wedding planner for your assistance though it seems to be a bit expensive is also one good option because there are certain things that one actually cannot carry out by themselves in the midst of all the wedding preparations. Also with a planner at hand you would be less stressed.

If it is possible, you must as well delegate some responsibilities. I understand that it’s your wedding, but you can always ask your friends and family to help you out. They would be more than happy to be of some help to you, anyway it is your wedding day and you cannot compromise your health for pressure of doing it alone. Here is a guide to help you start your wedding plans right:

1. Prepare A Wedding Checklist

In any occasions, and most importantly on your wedding you need to have a checklist at hand. A wedding checklist must include all the necessary jobs that need to be done. From the venue to the wedding dress, to the reception and the honeymoon, everything needs to be listed in the wedding checklist for future use.

2. Start with the Date and the time of the Wedding

As soon as the engagement has taken place planning the wedding may start. The primary decision you will need to make is the date of the wedding. The date you choose can depend on various considerations such as your honeymoon destination, a special meaning of that specific day for both of you, or the availability of the church and reception location for rent. Once your date is set you can start planning other things.

3. Decide on the Wedding Budget

The wedding budget is the most of important aspect of every wedding because this will help you meet your requirements. In deciding this, always remember to have a realistic budget at hand. Unless you are filthy rich and you don’t mind spending your money, a budget should be decided based on practicality. When you set a certain budget to spend for your wedding you will less likely surprise you that you do not have enough money to spend in the end. Do not spend beyond your budget. Bear in mind that no matter how you want your wedding day special, it is still a one-day festivity and the more important thing than this is the future ahead of you and your spouse.

4. Choose your Wedding Color/Motif or Theme

Your wedding color/motif is important because it will be the basis for some of your decisions like the wedding cakes, bridesmaid’s dresses, the flowers, etc. The color you choose may depend on the color that best suits your complexion, or that has a special meaning to both of you. Experimenting with the color combination is also good if you have a special taste for fashion. A good advice on color-never use color that draw too much attention on it instead of the wearer. Common wedding color/motif is green and all its shades, blue, pink, yellow and red. Also, choose a theme for your wedding and convey it to your planner. If you have not hired a planner, you need to follow the theme and start working accordingly.

5. Reserve the Wedding and Reception Venue

Availability of the wedding and reception venue depends on your chosen wedding date. If you chose to marry on a peak season, you should not forget to reserve the wedding and the reception venue as soon as possible. In choosing for the venue, consider a place that is not very far from your wedding venue. This will lessen the burden of your guests.

6. Prepare your Invitation Cards and Send them.

Organize your guest list and send invites with some time at hand. You must do it as soon as you’ve decided your wedding date and venue. If people are invited earlier on, they would get some time to plan and attend the wedding as well. Also, your guest list would help you in deciding the venue space and the caterer. You will want to get approximately 20 additional invitations to cover errors. Remember to save one for yourself, and you may want to invite others if someone can’t attend.

7. Choose the Photography and Videography Service

Your pictures and videos are the memories of your wedding event. If you do not have idea on where to get the best wedding photography you can check on some websites that list wedding photography service directory. You can reserve your photographer for the day, or better still, you can ask any of your family members or friends to do the job for you.

8. Decide on Wedding Dress

One of the crucial parts of planning a wedding is to decide on your wedding dress. Look for the latest designs, embroidery works and colors. The color of your theme should match the color of your gown. You can purchase these at a bridal store, gift store, or you can make them yourself. You can go to bridal shops, online stores, or other options. You will need to decide on your budget first so you know the price range you are looking for. You don’t want to find the perfect dress and then discover you can’t afford it. You will also want to decide on the bridesmaid’s gowns and the tuxedos. The attendants at the bridal shop can help you match your colors with gowns and the tuxedo attire.

9. Pick your wedding ring and other wedding accessories

Take your would-be-spouse along and let her make the pick. You can also look for wedding ring designs from the magazines or create your own wedding ring.

The bridal wedding accessories can be a family heirloom or new jewelry piece. These ornaments make the bride look more elegant.

10. Choose your Wedding Cake and Wedding Food

The cake is included in some wedding reception package, however if you want to buy it or create your own, it is also a pretty good options. The cake should of course match the wedding theme and should taste good. You can shop from bakeshops and have a taste test to know if you will like it. Considerations on the food should include preferences of your guest it should be a selection of food that you think they will enjoy.

11. Select the Wedding Flowers and Decorations

Another important aspect of planning a wedding is to decide on your decorations. You will want flowers for the church, bouquets for the bridesmaids, boutonniere for the groomsmen and ushers, just to name a few. The flowers should also match the theme of your wedding, so look into these things carefully as well. You will also need decorations for the reception location, which will include centerpieces for the tables as well as plates, silverware, and napkins for the reception as well. You might consider artificial wedding flowers as well.

12. Choose your Wedding Music

The wedding music makes your wedding event more special. It adds color to the day, a good music adds harmony to the event. You can decide to hire a professional wedding singer or ask a friend to render the songs live for you. Otherwise make a collection of the music you love and compile it in a CD and play it on, just make sure to inquire the availability of the sound system when you choose your wedding venues. The CD can also be given as your token to the guest.

13. Reserve the Wedding Car

You may want to feel special by hiring a limousine to bring you to the wedding venue. It is fine as long as you do not exceed your budget. In any way, you can save still in transportation by having a friend or a relative to drive you instead of hiring a driver. The wedding car should be white and it will look good if you put a ribbon or bouquet of flower on the front. When the car is arriving, everyone knows that the bride is coming.

14. Select Wedding Gifts and Tokens

The best way to thank your guests for coming is through giving gifts and tokens. It may not be something expensive but this should be part of your budget. You can wrap some sweet goodies to give your guests and some keepsakes souvenirs for your sponsors like photo frames, CD of your favorite songs, etc.

15. Plan your Wedding Honeymoon

When you are planning a wedding make sure you don’t forget about the honeymoon, this should become the most exciting topic of your wedding preparation. Decide on your honeymoon destination and then make hotel, airline and rental car reservations as soon as you are decided on the date you want to go. The best rates are reserved for those who book early, so make sure to plan ahead.

Planning a wedding isn’t everybody’s job. Some of the talented lots are just inborn wedding planners. However, with so many things to be done for a single event, the steps to planning a wedding can be a stressful ordeal. It often seems like time is running out of hand and there are so many things yet to be done. What’s even more important is prioritizing the jobs to be done; that helps in doing first-things-first. Although everything about a wedding is equally important, but some things just demand more attention.

Once you have everything put in place your wedding day will be the most special and unforgettable day, the start of something truly beautiful.

Finally, once all these steps to planning a wedding are complete, you need to brush through your checklist to find if you’ve missed out in something.

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A Complete Guide to Planning your Wedding

The first thing brides should consider is how the wedding ring will match with the rest of her jewelry, such as her necklace and engagement ring.  This is rather important because the majority of brides want everything they wear to match.  Thus, the first thing a bride should do is to make sure all the metals match.  For some examples of beautiful necklaces that will match rings of any type, please click here to view Zoara’s uniquely designed necklaces.

Once the bride has selected a metal type - be it platinum or some color of gold - the next thing she should consider is engravings.  While most wedding rings do not contain engravings, it has become increasingly fashionable to engrave the names of the couple as well as some sort of poetic verse on in inside of the ring.  Engravings will also make your ring unique as it will make the ring personalized to a degree that other rings are not.

Other ways to personalize and make a wedding more unique is to engrave religious symbols or use a ring that is associated with your heritage, such as Celtic knot rings, Claddagh rings and tradition Russian wedding rings, all of which differ from the regular wedding rings available for purchase.

Obviously, one thing the bride should consider is the presence of diamonds or other gemstones.  While it is commonly epe3ct that wedding rings and other wedding jewelry such as necklaces and earrings will have diamonds, it has become increasingly popular to not have any gems on the ring.  However, this is still mostly unheard of as most brides prefer the presence of diamonds.

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How to Choose a Unique Wedding Ring

Wedding Ceremony

Most wedding ceremonies are done in the church but some prefer a different venue. If you are bound by your religion and are required to follow church wedding only, your expenses may include; decorations of the altar, the fee for the officiant and the fee for the wedding singer. You can save on the altar decorations depending on the season. You can opt to using simple decorations like white laces for bows and put only few on the front rows just enough to reserve the seats for your important guests. Seasonal flowers are more affordable instead of buying expensive ones. You may also do the arrangement on your own to save some money instead of buying arranged flowers. As for your officiant, some states allow almost anyone to apply for just a minimal fee. You can ask your friend or relatives to marry you to save for the fees. Pre-recorded music can be used instead of hiring live wedding singer.

Reception

Remember that the biggest share of your budget is the wedding food. A good reception serves the variety of foods that are healthy and fits the guests’ palate. You wouldn’t want to serve exotic food that only you can eat. Simple foods are less expensive and are less risky to serve. The best way to trim down your cost is to limit your guests to close relatives and friends. Next, decide on the time of the reception, normally the weektimes, winter, Friday and Sunday are the cheapest to book. You should avoid peak holiday periods to get the most reasonable prices. Consider also a late breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea or cocktail party reception because they are shorter in length and the fare is lighter - which means lighter also on your budget.

Wedding Flowers

The flower accentuates your wedding event. You can choose to use fresh cut flowers which are in season and choose arrangements accordingly or you can also do it on your own. Let the bridesmaids carry simple or even single flowers If you would like a larger bouquet. You can use candles, glass bowls with stones, or silk flowers and arrange your centerpieces ahead of time. You can trim your floral budget in half or more if you do a little planning in advance.

Wedding Dresses and Accessories

Your wedding gown should not cost you a lot even if you want to wear gold wedding shoes. If your wedding is a little informal consider buying evening gowns and cocktail dresses. You can also look for sample sales, vintage and rental shops, using your mother’s gown or consignment. Also, allocate a budget for alterations which can cost several hundred dollars depending on the needs to alter. For your entourage, you can consider renting in bulk, this way you can get a big discount. Your wedding accessories can be borrowed from a relative or a close friend. There are several sites that provide information on creating your own wedding ring which could save you a big budget and makes a personalize effect at the same time.

Wedding Music

When you inquire about the reception you can also check on the sound system and if it can hook up to stereo or MP3 player. You can measure the length of each parts of your wedding will be and create a playlist to play the right music accompaniment. Also, consider hiring a DJ instead of a band. They are more affordable and can adapt to a variety of musical types.

Bridal Car

If you know a friend with a nice car, you can ask them a favor of driving you to your wedding day. If you intend to rent a limousine, search for a best price offer and their offered wedding packages. Never hire it for the whole day because you will just be spending money on the driver who will just wait around.

Wedding Photography and Videography

Several ways can be done to reduce high costs of photography and videography service. You can hire students majoring in Photography or reduce the time you hire a photographer or create the wedding album yourself. You can even ask a relative or friend to video your wedding.

Wedding Invitations

The best way to save on invitation is to print your own. You can shop for invitation kits that are affordable and presentable at the same time. Just prepare content ahead of time and run some samples before printing it on your stationary.

Wedding Souvenirs

The souvenirs you give to your gusts serve as your way of thanking them and they are not supposed to be expensive. Cookies or cakes can be your option and you can print your pictures and attach it to your favors. Bridal gifts should be something that is useful and can be kept like picture frames, decors and display items. If you are in a tight budget, you can consider skipping out this area.

Finally, whether your budget is large or small remember that wedding planning is stressful. Find time to relax and breathe, enjoy every moment and never forget that whatever happens, it is not the material things that matter in your wedding but the people in the event who shares with you.

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How to Plan a Wedding on a Budget

Basic Preparation

You and your partner are the main accessories to your wedding day event your wishes are the ones to come true and not the parents, friends or other guests. If you are thinking of marriage you have to start writing down how you want your wedding day to come true. You should have a notebook to write down all the basics of your wedding plans. You can use a simple notebook or a wedding planner which shows the step-by-step guide to planning a wedding and tips that help big deal.

Start Planning

1. The wedding concept

Start with the concept of the wedding. Do you want a church wedding, a beach, a unique wedding or a civil wedding? What wedding motif do you prefer? When you choose the wedding motif always remember to choose only the color motif that will make you stand out when you are surrounded with that color motif. It is also best to use light colors on a daytime wedding and dark color motif on night weddings. Never use too bright colors because they distract too much attention to the eyes leaving low interest to the wearer or to the bride.

2. The Budget

When you have decided on what type of wedding you want then decide on the budget. How much are you willing to spend for your wedding day celebration? How much savings you have that you want spent on just a one-day wedding event? If you do not have an idea about the price of a wedding based on your concept, this will help if you do a survey on the price of a wedding event. You may ask your friend who had recently married, or ask a quotation from a wedding specialist.  Whether you decide to set your budget after listing all the allocations or before that, it depends on your available funding. Just remember that your main goal is to be able to hold a wedding event.

3. The Guest List

After deciding how much do you want to spend on your wedding day event decide on the number of people who will form part of your special day celebration. Remember to multiply each guest to two when you count the final number list.

4. Making the Wedding Memorable

There are varied ways in making your wedding day a special one. The most common ways include parlor games, the newly wed’s paper money dance, selling keepsakes to the guest to raise fund for the newly-wed, a presentation video, and many others. If you want to be unique you can think of your own special ways to do it like designing your own wedding ring instead of usual gold wedding rings, or other accessories, having a unique bridal dress, ivory bridal shoes, colorful wedding invitations, and so on.

5. Making the Wedding Memory Lasts

Indeed your wedding day is celebrated in a one-day event but you can make it last by choosing the right photography and videography services. The quality of your pictures and videos will determine the years of time you can make your wedding memories last. Look your best with wedding and bridal makeup.

Implement your Plans as Scheduled

The purpose of having a plan is to avoid forgetting any important details of your wedding day. You have to follow a strict deadlines for you to ensure that everything is in the right order and are handled very well according to plans.

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Tips on Planning Your Wedding

What kind of wedding memory do I want instill in me and my “would-be” partner in life, my family and my partner’s family, and to the invited guests?

A decision to marry is definitely difficult, the reason why it is also called “tying the knots” is because marriage is a lifetime commitment. Whether you decide to make it simple or grand, it is an undeniably an unforgettable event in your life. But human memory is short, what lasts are the evidences of the events such as the wedding rings, wedding dresses, wedding photos, wedding video, and the wedding gifts. These memorabilia should not fall short in your wedding plan list. A unique wedding picture is something that makes you smile after several years.

How much is my available budget?

Surely you want a memorable wedding but it is not anymore practical to break you savings and spend your hard-earned money for a one day occasion. A wedding bundle such as wedding photo packages, food packages, the entourage package should be considered. Photo prices should comprise a big part of your budget because the wedding picture speaks about the event even after several years had passed.

What are the preparations needed?

If you have enough budget to pay for a wedding planner, you will be able to save time doing all of these preparations. Depending on the grandness of your wedding occasion and of course your budget your preparation will have to be done at least three months before your wedding. The amount of time you spend in preparing your special wedding event will lessen the chances of forgetting important details. As with the other activities you do, a wedding preparation starts with a list of all the important parts of your wedding event. A wedding plan should at least contain the following:

1. The list of the people who will be part of your special event. Make a separate list of the people who will comprise your entourage from a list of the regular guests.
2. The list of the wedding suppliers from the gown, the cake, the wedding jewelries, the wedding photographer , the food, the reception venue, the church, the flowers etc. should be at hand.
3. A scheduler to jot down all appointments list and your deadlines.
4. A financial list to safely stick to your wedding budget.
5. A short list of notes of special and exciting experiences you had while doing all these preparations.

In whatever encounters you may have while creating a version of your own “wedding to remember” always think that above all it is the love between you and your partner that matters in this event.

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A Wedding to Remember

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Planning a Beach Wedding Video

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What You Need to Know In Planning your Wedding

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Easy-Does-It Wedding Planning