As social events go, there aren’t many that can top a wedding. The wedding reception really, is when the fun begins. But let’s not forget about the parties that precede the wedding, the engagement parties, the bachelor and bachelorette parties, the wedding shower and the rehearsal dinner. These pre-wedding parties can be great fun, too. Here is a run-down of each:
To eat, drink and be merry! That’s the real reason guests love attending wedding receptions. Because food and fun go hand in hand, many couples plan their wedding food and wedding drinks at the same time they’re planning the reception.
And even though the majority of wedding receptions are held during the evening, this doesn’t have to be the case with yours. If you’re working on a tight budget, instead of planning a nighttime sit down-style reception, consider arranging a morning, brunch, lunch, or cocktail reception. They can be just as festive, but at a fraction of the cost. To set the tone, select a location with a pleasant daytime view. If you prefer an evening reception, a buffet dinner will cost less than a sit-down dinner as will a paid bar versus an open bar.
Almost as fun as planning your wedding is planning your honeymoon. You want your first trip together as husband and wife to be memorable and it’s tempting to take an ‘anything goes’ approach. After all, you’re likely to get lots of wedding gifts in the form of cold, hard cash so why not?
Well for one, you want to be able to eat and see the sights when you arrive, so you’ve got to use some discretion when making your arrangements. Many couples find that it is possible to have a great honeymoon, even if they’re sticking to a budget and all it takes is some planning.
Choosing a wedding reception location involves more than just making sure all your guests can fit comfortably into the space. This location is where the majority of the wedding day festivities will take place so there needs to be enough room to accommodate eating, dancing, socializing, and all the other fun activities that happen at receptions like cutting the cake and throwing the wedding bouquet.
Many couples choose larger-sized hotels or function halls for their wedding receptions because typically, everything they need to pull off this memorable event is right there on-site. As an added bonus, these types of wedding reception locations usually include the services of a wedding coordinator who will work with the couple to meet their every need. And the great thing about having a reception in a hotel is that overnight accommodations don’t require any extra planning.
Long after the last guest has left the reception you and your spouse will have your wedding photography or videography to look at when you want to re-live the joyous occasion – hopefully, that is! When it comes to planning your wedding photography or videography, the most important aspect is to have an idea of the wedding memories you want to capture. And then you’ve got to work on finding someone with the right experience and who has a personality you can work with.
This will require more than scanning the phone book or Internet to find the least expensive package deal. It’s true that you get what you pay for and if you’re willing to pay the minimum amount, you might just end up with minimum wedding photography/videography service.
Choosing a wedding reception location involves more than just making sure all your guests can fit comfortably into the space. This location is where the majority of the wedding day festivities will take place so there needs to be enough room to accommodate eating, dancing, socializing, and all the other fun activities that happen at receptions like cutting the cake and throwing the wedding bouquet.
Many couples choose larger-sized hotels or function halls for their wedding receptions because typically, everything they need to pull off this memorable event is right there on-site. As an added bonus, these types of wedding reception locations usually include the services of a wedding coordinator who will work with the couple to meet their every need. And the great thing about having a reception in a hotel is that overnight accommodations don’t require any extra planning.
A wedding is first and foremost about the celebration of two people uniting for eternity. It’s always been this way and will continue to be this way. Guests are invited to share in the joyous occasion but also to bear witness to the union. There is something about standing before all those who are special to you and making lifelong commitments for others to hear. And that is really what transforms two people into a married couple.
Wedding favors are used as a way for the bride and groom to show that they appreciate each of their guests; the time they have taken out of their busy schedules, the help they have given, the thoughtfulness in their gift-giving, the distances the guests have traveled, whatever it is the guest did that helped make this day even more special for the couple.
There’s a saying about gifts and that is, ‘It’s better to give than it is to receive.’ Now if you ask couples who have had weddings, they’ll probably tell you that on their special day, they received some of the nicest gifts ever, so these people might not agree with this saying. But whether it’s for better or for worse, gifts given by the bride-and groom-to-be are certainly part of the wedding tradition.
So who makes up the group fortunate enough to receive a gift from the bride and groom? Members of the wedding party top that list. That includes everybody: best man, maid (matron) of honor, bridesmaids, ushers, groomsmen, junior bridesmaids, flower girls, and ring bearers. It’s also a nice gesture for the bride to give a gift to the groom and vice versa, although this is not mandatory. Nowadays, the bride and groom also include each set of parents on the gift giving list. And finally, it’s definitely a nice gesture to give a gift to any other person who did something special during the occasion. Sometimes someone will be asked to do a special reading at the ceremony, or to step in for the bride’s father and walk the bride down the aisle and these individuals should be acknowledged.
Wedding rings are the most visible signs of marriage. They have long been a part of history and they haven’t always been made out of metals. Ivory, leather, bone and glass, along with precious metals, have all been used to represent what wedding rings still represent today – eternal life together. Shopping for wedding rings is one of the more enjoyable tasks of planning the big event, but with so many beautiful styles to choose from, it can become overwhelming.
According to most wedding planning timelines, you can wait to shop for wedding rings until 4 months before the actual wedding date. By then, most of the stress-inducing logistics have been taken care of enabling the two of you to relax for a brief period. And that’s what shopping for wedding rings should be – a time relaxing, quite time for the two of you to regroup before things really spiral out of control and tensions flare!
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