Last wedding Wednesday was the first part of my 50 ideas, designs, inspirations, and suggestions for wedding planning list.
Here is the rest of the list!
26) Start wedding invitations 5 months before the big day! You'll need at least a month to order them and have them delivered. Then you'll want a month for addressing/stamping/stuffing. Finally, invitations (according to TheKnot are supposed to be mailed 3 months in advance). The RSVP date is supposed to be around a month before the wedding. This gives people ample time to get it on their calendars and take care of any conflicts.
27) Save The Dates are a very cute idea and should go out as soon as the date is set. For Matt and I, we knew that our family and friends would already know the date by word of mouth and we didn't really see a need, so we spared the expense. I feel like Save the Dates are just a current trend (much like cupcakes instead of wedding cakes). I find myself to be somewhat traditional and really don't get the point. (but do find this cute)
28) If you buy your own vases you can cut down on your centerpiece cost...alot! Trust me on this one. The florist has to make a profit on everything so why give them something else to mark up? Plus with this...then family and friends can take the centerpieces home (as opposed to renting from the florist and having to worry about getting them back).
29) Try to tie in as many traditions as possible, but don't do anything you don't want to do. For example...I love the tradition of an anniversary dance. This is when all married couples are called to the dance floor for a slow dance. The DJ progressively calls for the couple who has been married less than 1 day to exit. Then the couples that have been married less than 1 year...then less than 5 years, 10, 15 and so on. Finally the couple that has been married the longest is left on the dance floor. I do NOT however like the money dance. This is where the bride and groom stand up and any guest can pay money to dance with the bride and groom. Just weird to me. Just because it is a tradition, doesn't mean I'm doing it!
30) Splurge the $35 and fill out all of your name change forms/legal documents at
Weddingvendors.com. This website is a life saver. All of that legal jargon that I don't understand is simplified. You fill out some basic questions...they fill out the forms...you download, print them and send them off to the respective offices!
31) Weigh your invitations (include all envelopes/cards/etc) before you purchase stamps so that you know you have the right amount of postage.
32) For a fun, personalized touch...I would recommend
zazzle.com. They have great personalized postage!
33) From the day that you book each vendor...don't let time slip away. Take that booking date and figure out how many months you have before the wedding. Divide the total amount you owe on that vendor (minus whatever deposit you put down) and make monthly payments. I've heard of people putting their entire wedding on credit cards, and for Matt and I we decided that wasn't an option. We want our wedding to be paid for by the day of so we aren't worried about the expenses after the fact. Stay on top of those payments though.
34) Have a hand in the making of your program. Some churches will offer to do it for you if you are getting married there, but then you could end up with some ancient looking program. If you want it to reflect your (you and your fiance's) personalities then you may have to go out and do it on your own.
35) For someone like myself (and many other brides out there) we have opted to do the entire thing on our own. No wedding planner means a somewhat more stressful day. Staying organized is key to not losing your cool and making sure everything is set up how you envision it. My reception location and florist have been more than willing to help with all of my needs, so to make their jobs a little easier...I plan on doing this...
36) Always have back-up plans. My cake lady called and canceled yesterday. Although it was a legitimate excuse, it doesn't make the fact that I am 46 days away from my wedding and without a cake any less stressful. Luckily I have a florist that also makes amazing (and delicious) cakes. Thank god for her pulling through!
And here is a wedding where she did the flowers and the cake
37) Make"Day-Of" Timelines for everyone in the bridal party, parents, and friends that are helping out. This will ensure everyone knows when they are supposed to be at certain places. You can give these timelines out at the rehearsal.
38) Let your fiance golf the morning of the wedding...you'll be so busy doing other things...who cares. If it makes him happy, let him do it.
(this would fall under the pick and choose your battles category)
39) A perk of having a wedding planner is that they have connections with vendors who they use on a regular basis and can get deals from. If you're doing it on your own...use websites where you can order in bulk. Also, if you have time on your side (meaning at least a year to plan) then you can watch the websites and wait for when what you want goes on sale and get it then. I would recommend these sites...
40) Make fun signs and add personal touches.
41) Plan time after the ceremony and before the reception to steal away with your new hubby for some quality down-time together. (but invite the photographer along to capture it)
42) The very first thing I bought for the wedding were color swatches. I sat on the floor with a bunch of friends and family members (all girls) and we mixed and matched until I came up with something I loved, and everyone else thought was pretty too!
43) Tie in your venue to other details. Here the couple was married at the LA museum of Natural History. You can see how they tied it in to their invites...
Matt and I are getting married in Downtown Richmond and will have booklets for people to look through during the cocktail hour that will describe to them what they are seeing in the city.
44) Watch wedding videos. When the stress starts getting to me, I watch other people's wedding videos and it reminds me about how wonderful the day will be.
Scroll down to the bottom of this
website to watch this creative wedding video!
(The song they sing at the beginning is the song that my sisters all say Matt and I should dance to)
45) This isn't a suggestion - but it is an idea...I have no hope of my daughter(s) wearing my wedding dress and it's nothing that I'm ever going to touch again. Instead of the stuffy, typical, bridal portraits I'm doing what they call "Trash the Dress". This is when you get dressed up in your wedding dress after the wedding and take amazing pictures (that require ruining the dress). I'm so excited!
46) Do research on the best places to register. Update your registry as much as possible. Right before showers (so people have multiple options at different price points) right after showers, and right before the wedding.
47) Have fun picking out accessories that you are in love with!
48) If you are having a Christian Wedding Ceremony make sure to take time and research possible readings. Matt gave me a ring in High school that I wore until the day we got engaged. It said Faith, Hope and Love.
Because of that, our reading will be 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13
1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
49) Don't every lose sight of what the day is really about. The best thing for me throughout the entire last year has been those days that I get to spend time with just Matt and we're able to talk about how excited we are to start our life together.
50) Don't sweat the small stuff! It will all fall in place! (I try to tell myself this daily)
