When planning a wedding, it can seem like there are a thousand and one things to remember – some of them are really obvious and while others might seem a little more obscure, they all come together to form what will hopefully be a fantastic day for everyone – bride, groom, family and guests.
Let’s have a look at some of the main things that need organising and planning in order to make the wedding day a success.
Choosing a Venue
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Marquee Wedding by Cascade Events |
Your wedding venue is likely to be your starting point as until you get this sorted, you won’t know how many people you can invite, what transport you will need or even what colours to wear – so it’s pretty important! Are you hoping for a traditional church wedding followed by an elegant reception in a grand country house or hotel? Maybe you prefer the idea of a beach wedding with low key, informal celebration after the event or perhaps another kind of outdoor wedding, set amongst beautiful gardens with a marquee in place to cater for the reception.
Whatever you decide, numbers are important. For instance, if the venue you choose is too big, the whole event can end up feeling swamped by the surroundings and any intimate atmosphere you were hoping for can be lost. On the other hand, if you are looking at inviting big numbers, you need a venue that can handle that. You may even have a situation, where the ceremony and reception are essentially going to be in the same venue in which case you may be able to use any tables and chairs you may have purchased or hired for both parts of the wedding.
Dates
Choosing a date for your wedding is also something to take into consideration. It’s probably fair to say that most people prefer either a spring or summer wedding for obvious reasons such as the weather and perhaps more holiday time available. However, because of this many wedding venues can be fully booked for years in advance during these warmer months and you either need to get in really early and simply have a long engagement or perhaps try dates that are not quite as universally popular. Winter weddings, especially those at Christmas time are increasingly popular and if thought through carefully can be equally as magical.
Dressing the Venue
Although you are not likely to be able to do this until either the day or perhaps night before, it still needs to be thoroughly planned in advance. Will your venue of choice be supplying their own tables and chairs to your specifications or do you need to purchase/hire them yourselves? It might be that your venue organisers need to make an order themselves on your behalf based on what you have asked for. How many chairs will you need to seat everyone comfortably and likewise with the tables? What sort of layout is planned? Will you need round wooden tables or rectangular tables and will they all have flowers on them or only the head table? Will you order special banqueting chairs or choose something in a different style? Do you need the colours to match or coordinate with your theme? A little planning in this area can ensure that your wedding venue looks spectacular!
Wedding Accessories
It’s not always the case, but these are usually best acquired at the same time and place as your dress. It’s so much easier to find the right veil, tiara, shoes, jewellery and underwear when you already have your chosen dress on – you will soon know whether they work together or not, saving you lots of time, shopping trips and guess work! Again try a selection until you get it right.
Wedding Flowers
When sorting out the main wedding bouquet for the bride (although this can work for the bridesmaids too), ask your florist of choice if they can make up an imitation bouquet for you – this way you can take it with you during all of your wedding dress fittings and find out if it works before the big day. A delicate dress with bold flowers might not work and vice versa but you will be able to decide for yourself. For smaller brides looking to find a little extra height for their special day – in addition to heels, a long and trailing bouquet may be able to deliver an illusion of length and height. Again, it’s well worth experimenting if you have the time and budget to do so.
So, you have chosen your scheme and your flowers, but how many do you need? Do you have just one venue to dress or two? If your budget simply won’t allow you to dress both venues, perhaps you can be very clever with your event schedule and leave enough of a gap between each to re-dress each venue with the flowers you do have. For example, bouquets can be used as centre pieces for the main table at a reception.
If you can’t afford many flowers, a clever use of candles can also help to create an intimate and stylish atmosphere.