A wedding will probably be one of the biggest events in your life. When you're 50 years old, the memories of your wedding day will be sharper than your memories of yesterday's lunch. If you want a big wedding, then start planning early. You probably can't avoid surprises or bumps in the road, but starting early will give you time to plan a work around.
A very important element of any wedding is the wedding vows. After all, the wedding ceremony is all about commitment. And the wedding vows are your verbal commitment to each other, spoken in front of hundreds of witnesses. There are two basic ways you can go with wedding vows. You can have the traditional wedding vows or you can write your own.
Some couples (and their families) love tradition, and the traditional vows have a timeless quality. They are simple and memorable. The traditional wedding vows provide comfort to those attending and may bring to mind pleasant memories for married couples who are there.
On the other hand, you may think traditional wedding vows are boring and stale. If you want to write your own wedding vows, you'll need to decide if you want them to be in traditional style, funny, romantic, or something completely different. You probably know best what you want and what your friends and family will expect from you.
Wedding weekends seem to be full of speeches. If you're the best man, maid of honor or father of the bride, you can count on having to give a wedding speech. For people who aren't used to public speaking, the prospect of a wedding speech can be frightening. The main thing you shouldn't do is wait for inspiration to strike you in the moment. Plan ahead! Do some research and prepare what you want to say. Introduce yourself, find a good quote about marriage. Tell a story about how you know the bride and groom, or a story about how they met. If you're married, share some wisdom from your own experience.
As far as the bride is concerned, the wedding dress may be the most important decision of her life. At least it feels that way at the time. Most brides hope that they will only get married once. So how do you choose a dress to wear to a once-in-a-lifetime event? First of all, think about the type of wedding you've planned. Traditional, contemporary, casual? You can eliminate a lot of possible choices right there. The location of your wedding and the time of the year will influence your decision too.
One memorable centerpiece of any wedding is the wedding cake. Choosing a wedding cake can be fun, especially compared to some of the decisions you have to make. One of the best things to get out of the way first is the cost. Wedding cakes are often priced by portion, so you'll need to know how many people you expect to feed and what your budget is. One good idea is to get a small, really nicely decorated cake for display and photos, and then have a couple of sheet cakes to feed everyone.
If you want to guarantee that your wedding cake will be ready on the big day, pay a deposit. You may need to book your wedding cake up to six month in advance, depending on how busy and how popular your cake designer is. Make sure the designer confirms that it's their job to deliver and assemble the wedding cake. You don't want that job on your plate!
Wedding invitations are the first part of your wedding everyone else will see. So don't neglect them. Make things easy on yourself and your guests by including a reply card so they can RSVP. Everyone expects weddings to be formal, so if you've decided to go casual, make sure all your guests know. Creating your own wedding invitations is an especially good idea when you have a small guest list. The high level of personalization makes the whole event more intimate. Whether you design them yourself or buy them from a printer, wedding invitations should match your personal style.
Your wedding rings will be a daily, physical reminder of your wedding day commitments to each other. They also are something personal that you'll be wearing every day, hopefully for the rest of your life. Take the time to shop together as a couple and pick wedding rings that are an expression of your combined personalities.
Wedding favors are a way for the bride and groom to express gratitude to the guests for coming to be part of their special day. Making your own wedding favors sounds like a great idea, but if you have a long guest list, you might want to reconsider. Making 300 of anything could be overwhelming. It's easy to over spend your budget in this area, so be careful. Ideally, wedding favors will match the theme of your wedding.
Try not to stress over the details. Staying organized will keep you from being overwhelmed. Above all, don't let this special day turn into something you just want to get over and done with. Enjoy!
A well-planned wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event that leaves a lifetime of good memories
