There are plenty of websites that will offer you basic wedding plan tips. They’re useful but they can also be a little generic. Today, we’re here to give you the wedding planning tips that only the insiders know about. By the end of this list you’ll be more prepared to manage your time and money and deliver an event all of your guests will adore.
1. Gift Better
Make sure to indicate which gifts are acceptable to receive early. For example, a bridal box subscription should be given well before the I Do date so the bride can enjoy it through the months leading up to your wedding. In a lot of cases, lugging larger items to the venue is a hassle for your guests. Likewise, lugging them home is a hassle for you. Making things as simple as possible is a good thing for everyone involved.
2. Manage the ‘Who’
A lot of couples want to invite everyone they’ve ever met to celebrate their big day. In reality, this is impractical. Your budget will inflate and you’ll have to start making compromises. Things will become more difficult to coordinate. Guests who probably should not have been invited will feel awkward during the event, and may even resent you for having to invest their time and money. One of the more important tips for planning a wedding is to restrict your guest list to only those who are closest to you.
3. Is that really the best date?
Research is a critical wedding planning hacks that you rarely hear about. Standard advice tells you to balance the ideal date you have in mind with off/on season budgets. What they don’t tell you is to search out everything else that’s going on around that date. Events like concerts, protests, and conventions will clog up traffic and make finding a hotel room a nightmare. Push your guests to book their stay early, and warn them to leave early if any sort of interruption should arise.
4. Reward yourself
The very top of your wedding planning to do lists should be looking into credit cards, even if you have the cash at hand. Weddings are a huge investment. Making all of your purchases on a single credit card has several advantages. It provides a single-source paper trail of all your transactions. This makes tracking and organization a snap. The second is that all of your purchases will contribute to rewards! You can use these extra air miles towards your honeymoon or retail rewards for renovating your newlywed home.
5. Get Tech
Setting up a wedding website and installing a wedding planning app can be a godsend. This wedding need provides all of your guests with up to the minute information, preventing them having to call you with questions. It also gives them a space to upload their personal photos and contribute to your wedding album. A wedding planning app keeps things centralized. Most of them provide pre-loaded check lists and the ability to save and sort photos and notes. Sharing the app with your wedding planner, fiancee, and other contributors keeps everyone on the same page. Test a few out to find the perfect one for you.
6. Love the Help
It probably isn’t in the contracts, but one of the more important tips to plan a wedding is to take care of your vendors. You are relying on them to make your wedding unforgettable, so it’s not wise to leave them hungry or crabby. Save some room in the budget to feed them. Offer them one of the rooms from your hotel block if they are travelling. Give them a glass of Champagne during the toast. Make sure that it’s clear that their time and efforts are appreciated and they’ll be happy to go that extra mile for you.
7. Who Will Think Of The Children?
You don’t have to allow children to attend your wedding. However, if you do you should make sure they are well taken care of. Children do not have the same level of patience and understanding as adults. When they’re hungry, they need to eat. When they’re bored, they will act out. When they’re tired, their emotions will get the better of them. That list of everything you need for a wedding must include entertainment, a separate food schedule, and care for the kids. A craft corner, readily available snacks, and pre-planned rotating oversight from some of the parents is a good start. If you want to go the extra mile, hire a caretaker or even provide daycare at the hotel.
8. Accommodations (directions, hotel blocks, phone numbers, leave w. reception)
Last on our list of wedding tricks is understanding. Not all of your guests are familiar with the area. Not all of them are familiar with the latest technology. Provide as many details about the venue and schedule as possible, and in as many formats as you can. This is exponentially more critical if the ceremony and reception are at two different places. Send it to them by email, leave it with reception at the hotel, and print it off. In short, go well out of your way to make it impossible to show up late or get lost
About the Author:
Valeriya Istomina is a Wedding Forward expert on wedding budgets, etiquettes, ceremonies, and music. If you need tips for wedding planning, she will guide you all the way. She collects analytics and surveys, talks to experts; creates checklists, templates, and gives her take on wedding planning. Her other passions are yoga, photography, and reading.
