Tag Archives: Planning

Lifestyle

Planning a Vintage Wedding? Go All Out.

Vintage weddings are so beautiful, and are often a welcome break from the fast-paced nature of modern living. When guests attend a perfectly executed vintage wedding, they’re transported to a time of grace and elegance – the perfect atmosphere for a wedding. Setting the tone for your vintage wedding is important, and that’s why you need to go all out.

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The easiest way to do this is to focus on a specific time period, and do your best to emulate this in your wedding. And we’re not just talking about the décor, of course, but even the activities involved, and of course, the dress code. For example, if you wanted a less serious and more laid-back wedding, you could plan it around the iconic 50s – time when people were just starting to let loose and be a bit more fun. Fashion-wise, your guests are sure to appreciate being able to dress in fashionable soda fountain dresses, which have actually come back in style. It makes it easier for them to find outfits that they can wear to your wedding without having to scour vintage shops.

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In keeping with the theme, you could also plan a game of bingo, or incorporate the game in your décor. Although reports from the BBC and Free Bingo Hunter have reported that the online version of the game has boomed, resulting in hundreds of bingo portals in the UK alone, the game first saw popularity in the 50s, before dying down some in the 60s. Let your guests play some Wedding Speech Bingo, or use vintage bingo sets to decorate your tables and make seating cards.

You could also throw your guests back into the 50s with the experience of a vintage soda fountain. While having one installed at your reception can be a bit expensive, you can find DIY ways to recreate the experience for only a fraction of the cost. Decorate soda bottles with your color palette, and set aside a table where your guests can put together their own floats.

You can take a look at our vintage wedding reception ideas for some more tips on how to create that perfect vintage feel with different themes like country and the great outdoors.

Wedding Planning

Avoid oops! in your wedding

Planning a wedding is a little like trying to juggle with one hand tied behind your back–it takes a lot of time and energy, and at times it seems like everything’s going to come crashing down. It can be done, of course–people have been doing it for years–so don’t despair when the planning starts to get complicated. Just make sure to look out for these common wedding planning mistakes.

Booking the Venue Before you finalize the Guest List

We know you want to have that perfect, picturesque wedding venue. You’ve had your eye on it for years now and you’re ready to pounce, and if you don’t book by next Saturday it’ll be full, and–but wait! Before you book, make sure it’s appropriate for your guest list. Trust us, it’s way harder to cut your guest list in half than to find a more appropriate venue. And it’s way pricier to rent a hall that’s double the size you need.

Granted, this is more a question of priorities. If you have to have that particular venue, you might be able to design the guest list around it. But we don’t recommend risking a decade of familial resentment just to land that gorgeous-but-tiny venue.

Bingeing on Pinterest

Pinterest is a blessing and a curse for a modern bride. On the one hand, it shows you all these amazing things that people just like you did all by themselves for their weddings! On the other hand, it shows you so many of these DIY projects that if you’re not careful, you’ll be hot-gluing flowers onto Styrofoam balls on the morning of your wedding, then ducking out right after the vows to put sugar rims on the mason jars for the cocktails. Your wedding’s a busy time–if you can’t rope in enough aunts, uncles, and friends to do your DIY wedding project, maybe it is better going DIFY (Do It for Yourself).

Making Every Single Thing Unique

We know that weddings can get kind of same-y, and we’re all about going against silly wedding traditions. But we also don’t recommend going down an entire list of “50 totally unique wedding ideas” and trying to score all 50. Definitely go for mismatched bridesmaids dresses, seashell bouquets, a donut tower instead of a cake, OR groomsmen in lederhosen–just don’t try to do them all at once.

Messing Up the Marriage License

Every state has different laws surrounding who can perform the wedding ceremony, when the license needs to be applied for, which people can pick up the license, and how it has to be filed. Remember the whole goal for this process is to be legally wed, so make sure your officiant is on his/her game so when s/he says, “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” it’s the truth.

Not Allowing Enough Time for Photos

Your photos will be the most powerful souvenir of the day. So don’t rush them. Keep in mind you’ll want pictures of the couple together, then the bridesmaids, then groomsmen, then family…each requiring its own setup, lighting and poses. This doesn’t even include specialty shots such as everyone waving around sparklers together or doing a choreographed group pose. There’s no way you can do it in under an hour. You’ve paid for the photographer’s services, so don’t let that money go to waste.

There are bound to be a few hiccups in even the most perfectly-planned wedding. But you can definitely avoid some of the more common mistakes. We’ll explore more pitfalls to avoid in future installments, but for now make sure to avoid these five.

Wedding

How To Make Your Wedding Stand Out

Most weddings are pretty similar and boring. Guests come and wait for the bride and groom to make vows before God and Father asks them to accept each other as life partners. As they do so, the food gets ready. It is served to the guests. After that there is a small dance party as an entertainment for the guests. The guests leave with nice wishes even gifts for the couple. That is what happens on most of the weddings and it looks pretty boring to me. Have a look at the following great ideas from Star Photo Booth on how to make your wedding stand out and make it more exciting:

  • Use thousands of petals to blow out of the cannons across the ceremony site at the time both the bride and the groom accept each other as life partners.
  • Give guests a place to take a break from the dance party and food by creating a space, with chairs, couches and pillows, at your reception.
  • Use hot air balloons or yellow school buses with the name of the couple written in the either for guest transportation. It will be a big surprise for the guests.
  • Serve pre-ceremony cocktails like juices or iced-teas to the guests. It will refresh them for the upcoming events of the wedding.
  • Set up a make-your-own-flower station for the guests.
  • Set up a photo booth for everyone on the guest list so that the guests can have memorable pictures and know that the wedding party is not special only for the wedding couple. Make sure to send them a copy of their photo after the party.
  • Think beyond the typical guest book. Create a jigsaw puzzle of your photo and let guests sign each piece. Or put out silver trays with engraving pens so guests can carve a lasting message on a useful keepsake for you.
  • Create a sitting chart which shows the exact seating positions of the guests and the relationships between the guests sitting next to each other.
  • Have fresh flower petals dropped from the ceiling when the couple starts to dance to make this moment a big one for both the persons.
  • There must be a video confessional booth where everyone must be allowed to make confessions.
  • Use creative lighting instead of the boring colors.
  • Make beautifully scripted table numbers, monogrammed cocktail napkins, and even bathroom-door labels that read “ladies” and “gents.”
  • Just when everyone thinks the fun is winding down, liven up the party with late-night nibbles that will leave everyone ready for an after-party.
  • Select the most spicy foods like BBQ so that everyone can have fun making what they are going to eat.
  • Have a great after party arranged at which there should be a big surprise for all the guests like an all night concert or a movie night and no guest should be aware of this big after party plan.
  • Make a plan for your wedding that no guest leave without a compliment for the party you arranged.
  • To have a record of the day, get your guests involved with live tweets, Facebook status or Instagram feed.
Wedding Planning

Five Must-Know Wedding Planning Tips to Save Money

A person’s wedding can be one of the most memorable celebrations of their life, but unfortunately, it can also be one of the most stressful and expensive to plan and pull off. From the cost of sending out invitations to the wedding attire, decorations, and catering service used, there are a number of factors that need to be considered, and all of them require the expenditure of money to some extent. Below we provide five tips to help you reduce wedding costs:

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1. Build a Budget and Prioritise

First, before anything else, you should devise a suitable budget that will ensure all of your expenses are kept within an affordable framework that won’t leave you taking items back or revising your plans at the last moment. Establish a total amount you’re willing to spend, and start prioritising to figure out what you absolutely must have at the wedding. From there you can begin calculating how much each aspect of the wedding will cost.

2. Shop Around for the Best Catering Service, or Cater the Reception Independently

By far one of the most expensive parts of a wedding is the cost of preparing and serving food to all the guests. Fortunately, there are many ways to save money on the cost of wedding catering. Try using a drop-off catering service to save money, or maybe even cater to all or part of the reception yourself. The best route to take is to utilise a combination of independent catering efforts and a drop-off service that will bring pre-prepared food, set up the tables and other components, and then leave without having to stick around for the duration of the wedding reception.

3. Cut Corners on Wedding Attire Wherever Possible

Everybody knows wedding dresses and suits can be exuberantly expensive, spanning in the range of thousands of pounds per clothing item. Consider shopping around at local department stores and outlets rather than only looking at wedding dress boutiques and other specialty stores. Other economic alternatives include once-worn or vintage gowns and traditional gowns sold by discount gown retailers.

4. Booking Discounted Venues Through Deal Providers

Another huge expense associated with holding a wedding is the cost of booking a wedding venue. While you always have the option of holding the wedding at your home, in cases where this is not possible, booking a discounted venue is the next cheapest course of action. By using a wedding booking service like UK Wedding Savings you can quickly save up to 50% or more on the cost of booking wedding venues with exclusive deals that cannot be arranged directly with the venue.

5. Do the Invitations Yourself, and Put a Limit on the Number of Guests

Finally, make sure you put a limit on the number of guests you’ll be inviting, and if the number is small enough for you to print and send out the invitations yourself, then by all means do so. Paying a service to take care of the invitations for you can be quite expensive when you consider the fact that you can do it yourself in a single afternoon with the right organisational effort.

The Cake Topper

In conclusion, while there must be at least 100+ ways to save money on the cost of a wedding, the above five should help spark some inspiration for new ideas in your own brainstorming efforts, while also giving you a great starting point on your way to a more affordable and economically conscious wedding reception.

Wedding Planning

The Wedding Planning

As your wedding day approaches you start to think of all the things you need a DJ, a caterer, a photographer. All of these things are important, but a marriage photography Chatham is the most important thing. A photographer is needed to document your day, having a good photographer ensure you will be able to show off your wedding pictures. Wedding pictures are looked at for years; you show them to your children and grandchildren, you hang them in your home. Make sure to hire the right photographer for your wedding.

How to Choose a Photographer

A wedding takes a lot of time to plan, so when the big day comes you don’t want to miss anything. The right photographer will ensure that you will not miss all the small details you planned out so diligently, they will be documented in your pictures. The right photographer can take you back to that special day just by looking at your pictures. So when you start your wedding planning, look for a professional photographer first. Photographers, especially the good ones, stay booked up months in advance. Make sure to find the photographer you want as soon as you can so you can look into booking them. Give yourself about 6 months to find the right photographer.

Wedding-PhotographerWhen you start your search enlist the help of friends, co-workers, and family. See who they used for their weddings and special events and see if that photographer can fit your needs. Most reputable photographers have websites with their work on it; you can take a look at that to find if they take the style photos you want for your wedding. Once you have found the photographer you want make sure to research in-depth what they offer and how much their services will cost. Some photographers only shoot certain locations or only certain parts of the ceremony. Make sure you know what you are getting and you are happy with it. Once you have narrowed down who you want make sure to get a contract signed and find out what the deposit is. Read over the contract thoroughly before signing to make sure you know exactly what services you are paying for.

You have put so much time and effort into planning your big day, make sure to hire a professional photographer that can help you document all the special moments. Finding a reputable photographer, that you love their work, can be a daunting task but it is well worth it in the end. Your wedding day is something you will want to remember forever and having a friendly and professional photographer documenting your day will make your life as a bride so much easier.

Photo Credit: Pictage

Wedding Planning

The First Things To Do Towards Planning Your Wedding

If you have just got engaged, there is no harm in taking some time to simply enjoy it. Show off your ring, make the announcement on Facebook, enjoy all the congratulations, and, if you want to, throw your engagement party and get those engagement photos taken. Of course, while getting engaged is exciting, it does also mean you have the huge job of planning your wedding ahead, and there is really never a time that is too early to start once you’ve got that ring on your finger! Now is a good time to start reading bridal websites and magazine like weddings-magazine.com and gathering ideas, but you can also make some firm decisions now too!

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Here are some of the first decisions you and your partner will need to make:

Location

You may not want to decide on the exact venue yet, but if you are from different places, you may have been making different assumptions about where your big day would be held. While you may have assumed it would be at your family’s home town, as per tradition, he may be thinking it will be in the town you live in. You need to talk about the pros and cons of each potential location. You can either have the wedding where you live, which chances are is where your joint friends and co-workers are, where one of your families live, or even in another place entirely such as on a tropical island. Discussing this is a good way to make sure your visions of the wedding are on the same page from the start.

Scale

Weddings come in all sorts of varieties, and while you don’t need to decide on the details like the color scheme and so on yet, the scale of things is an important first decision. Will it be a small affair with just family and close friends, or do you want a huge party with everybody from both of your workplaces and all your distant second cousins there? This is important to decide even before setting the budget, because while even large events can be done on a budget, you need to know that this is what you are dealing with organizing as opposed to a small, casual wedding.

Budget

The budget may be the least romantic thing about planning a wedding, but it is also possibly the most important, and can be a source of friction between couples if not decided early on. If you are getting help paying for it from your families, this will also need to be discussed with them. You don’t need to get it down to an exact figure yet, but an order of magnitude will help drive other decisions (will you be spending $2,000 or $20,000?).

Making the basic decisions that will shape what sort of wedding you will have is a great way to start seeing what needs to be done and creating your wedding to do list, so once the glow of being newly engaged has been sufficiently enjoyed, it is time to start making choices!