(Collaborative post) Many people have had to reschedule their wedding due to the current issues we’ve been having. Others have been considering setting a date but it’s not quite the best time to be planning anything for too soon. Planning a wedding can be a lengthy process and needs to be planned well in advance. Your wedding can be an amazing day but, there are so many things to think about and so much to buy. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement and buy items that are not necessary. So what does a bride need to buy for her big day and are there alternative options available?
Don’t Forget to Budget
It’s easy for the costs of a wedding to spiral out of control. It can help to budget so you have an idea of how much things will cost and not spend more than you can afford. In order to do this, you might find this post 5 Tried And Tested Wedding Hacks To Save Money helpful.
The Wedding Outfits
The clothing is important but for men, it is much easier to find something suitable. The pressure is all on us women. Some are all about the dress whereas others are not so much. There are so many wedding dress options available it can be quite overwhelming. Whether you choose to buy one off the rack and have it fitted or have one made especially make sure it’s one you can manoeuvre in and out of if you need to! It’s not easy when you need to take an entourage each time you need to visit the ladies. Alternative options include wearing your mother’s dress, still a popular option with some, or even buying second hand off the internet or a local charity shop.
Wedding Rings
Again, options vary greatly and some like to use a ring handed down by family. Many prefer to buy their own wedding ring. That way they get to choose the materials such as which metals are used, the stone and size stone quality or even have one made to their own specifications. If you are buying, make sure you shop around.
Hair and Make Up
Some will find this important and others not so much. I do recall having my hair done on the morning of my wedding. Although a simple style I wanted it to stay in place with enough body for the whole day so decided to be safe than sorry. My make up on the other hand is always pretty simple. I’m not one for piling it on and having to use an industrial strength tool to remove it after. I did it myself and was more than happy with the results, plus I saved on having to pay for someone to do very little.
Transport
Whether it’s a classic car, limo or one borrow from a family member or friend don’t forget to arrange your transport to the venue. You’ll need to make sure there is plenty of room for the bride, dress and don’t forget the groom.
The Venue
The venue can add so much to the look and feel of a wedding. When I got married a mere 16 years ago we chose a localish hotel with beautiful grounds to have our reception. The package included the use of venue and food and a toastmaster who came in surprisingly useful.
Catering
If not part of a package with the venue you’ll need to arrange some sort of food for your guests. Make sure you choose a company that is recommended by others than just the first you find on a google search. It’s something that can easily go wrong and affect the whole day for all.
Wedding Cake
The wedding cake options we now have available are pretty awesome. You can get cakes to suit every dietary requirement too if needed. This needs to be booked well in advance and the fun part is picking which cake options as you get to taste a variety. Yum!!!!
Decorations
All sorts of pretty decorations are now used in weddings from spectacular centrepieces with fish to flowers and even balloons. The option choices are dependent on your taste and budget. These can be hired depending on what you opt for. If you make your own or buy them outright rather than having to worry about taking them all back after the wedding do as the Greeks do and place a heart under one of the side plates. The person that finds it gets to take the centrepiece home. It’s a lovely touch and a nice treat for one lucky guest on each table.
Entertainment
What’s a wedding without great entertainment! It’s probably best to stick with the professionals with this sort of thing. You’ll need to decide between a band or DJ that do this professionally to avoid any mishaps. You can make requests in advance for particular songs, maybe even use your favourite song for your first dance.
Honeymoon
Whether you head off for your honeymoon straight after the wedding or decide to save up and take it at a later date it can be a wonderful part of the whole experience. A lovely holiday for just the two of you when you’re newly married can be a lovely and a deserved break after all the stress of arranging the wedding.
Summary
With weddings being rearranged and weddings being planned the wedding industry is really busy. Advanced planning is key to ensure your wedding day goes according to plan. These tips mentioned in the post are the main areas you’ll need to consider and should help get you started.
What option do you feel is most important to you?
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Written by Melanie Edjourian.
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Great list here! I was mentally ticking them off. Our wedding is 90% planned but we’ve had to postponed sadly.
I’m looking forward to having a few more pennies to spend on our wedding now x
I’m so sorry to hear that. New rules have just come into place which greatly reduce numbers that can attend unfortunately. Glad it’s mostly planned though. I hope you have a wonderful day when it happens.
These sound like some awesome essentials for a wedding day! I know a few people sorting out their wedding days so I will have to pass this over to them as the process can seem so overwhelming at times.
It can be very overwhelming. It helps to have an idea of which bases to cover first.
I think the most important to me would have to be the venue – once you have got that right, then everything else can slot into place.
The venue is very important to many. It can help give an amazing feel to the day.
It is weird that when I read essentials I thought about cake first way before rings or even honeymoon 😂😂😂
Lol, I’m a foodie too!!!!
I think for me the venue and entertainment is one of the most important things as you want yourselves and everyone else to have fun. But also a good photographer because you’ll treasure the photos forever. I’ve got all of this planning to come x
Good luck Rhian. Now you have a checklist to help.
Just reading through this makes me reminisce about our wedding! Getting ready, planning and preparing everything is such a big job, but one that is worth it in the end 🙂
It sure is but it can also be really good fun. I planned loads with my husband which was really nice.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever get married but the ring would be the biggie for me 🙂 I’d be the kind of person to opt for a small wedding in favour of a big, extravagant honeymoon.
I loved choosing my ring. It’s hard with so many options though. The honeymoon is something that needs to be chosen wisely. Loads of options available.
My daughter is hoping to get married in 2022, so fingers crossed everything is back to normal by then. My BIL is getting married in April, but really unsure if it will happen
Let’s hope things improve by then. It’s hard on anyone wanting to arrange a wedding with all the changes and restrictions.
Planning a wedding can be so stressful and having a simplified list with bullet points of the main things that need to be done is very helpful. I can imagine how hard it is for brides to be now to take a decision about what is going to happen with their planned wedding, with all these restrictions tightening.
It can be pretty stressful. Some ask bridesmaids to help out to relieve some of the stress although most enjoy making all the arrangements themselves. It’s really hard for anyone getting married right now although I suppose the restrictions reduce numbers so in essence make it cheaper. That way you can spend more on a lovely venue, gorgeous rings, and an amazing honeymoon.
We will be celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary next week, we already had two children when we got married, so our honeymoon was a family holiday, my sister is a beautician so that was taken care of and my dad is cake maker, so he made a stunning five tier cake, it really doesn’t seem that long ago!!
Oh wow, sounds like you kept quite a bit in the family. That can really help. Happy anniversary Mandi x
I’m not married yet but will definitely be writing these down for when the big day decides to arrive 🙂 thanks
Hi Kira. Well, when it happens I hope you have a wonderful day!!!
I think all of these which you have listed is so important, from the rings, to the flowers, cake, car, venue and honeymoon. These were on my list of essentials when I got married
There are so many items that can be added but are not necessarily essentials for weddings. It’s all about covering the bases and expanding as much as you like.
Well written and simplified. Weddings can get so complicated thinking of every little detail. It is important to enjoy planning it as the day itself goes so quickly!
The day does go very fast. You need a honeymoon to recover from it all.
I always preferred small, private, family only (if possible) weddings. It just makes the occasion more solemn and personal. However, I like to choose a garden setting for a venue and a good caterer that serves good food and wine (nothing fancy though). I guess I just prefer simple gatherings with people I hold dear to my heart.
That seems to be the way things are going at the moment with the new laws in place. Small and personal. It can still work well.
Ah I needed this list ten years ago. I loved my wedding but there is so much to remember.
There sure is. It’s important to know that there are basics we can stick to if we are watching what we spend.
I know quite a few people getting married and I am going to some weddings this year. This information will be very useful for them. Thank You
I’m glad the post was of interest x