Planning For A Wedding? Know This First

Are you worried about the family drama, budget, catering services, fashion, wedding cards, venue, photography, make-up, mehndi, and decorations for your wedding? 

Have a look at these Wedding Planning tips.

Here’s what To Plan

1. The basic point: Plan the budget.

Plan and work on the budget at the earliest, even 12 months before the wedding day.

Want to keep some room in your wallet?

• Cutting down the guest list can trim the wedding budget, though it may be brutal.
• The biggest part of the budget should be reserved for reception. Some extra percentage of the budget should be allocated for unplanned expenses such as printing extra invitation cards.
• Be straightforward while discussing with the respective vendors.
• Assign task priorities in the wedding. Cut the corners of the least important requirements spend more on the most important ones.
• Discuss the facilities and budget with various vendors, compare them and choose the best one.
• Hire a budget-friendly wedding planner and follow the above step here too.
• Don’t forget to spend on Honeymoon following the above step.
• Even talk to your relatives or friends about the various vendors they had come across to compare their services.

2. Finalize The Date.

In India, this is mostly done under the guidance of a priest. The couple and the closest family members are considered for this decision. Other potential dates should be kept as options to deal with any issue.

3. Make A Guest List.

It’s obvious to prioritize the closest family members first. The lists can be big in the big fat Indian weddings. This list can be, however, increased or decreased further.

4. Book A Venue.

• For this, consider the budget, potential wedding dates, traveling, the size of the venue, and an estimated guest count.
• Read online reviews about the various venues, visit there personally, or hire a wedding planner(optional).
• Read the venue's contract thoroughly before signing. Discuss the booking amount and the cancellation charges with the contractor. This part needs great responsibility and transparency.
• There is a difference between a venue for 50 people and for 200 people. The caterers, photographers, make-up artists, hairdressers, cleaning staff, music players, and other service providers have to be considered too.

5. Transportation And Accommodation.

• Look for the closest venues(if you are comfortable).
• Be ready to arrange transportation and accommodation for the guests to reduce their inconvenience. Transportation includes buses, taxis, or private cars, whereas, accommodation includes rental apartments, hotel rooms, or a room in your own house.

6. Be Ready For Disasters.

• Don't ignore the rain, lockdown, curfew, bugs, heat, war, and other calamities. Book the venue accordingly. Manage extra umbrellas for the guests in the rainy season.
• Some other annoying reasons can be a trade conference or an event resulting in heavy traffic.

7. Hire The Service Providers

• This includes photographers, florists, wedding planners, caterers, make-up artists, musicians, mehndi artists, hairdressers, officiants, etc. If you feel too overwhelmed, distribute the responsibilities with your partner, friends, and family members. Still, if it doesn’t work, a wedding planner may help.
• It is recommended to hire 2 photographers, 1 from the groom’s side and the other from the bride’s side. Both the photographers should be clicking the photos during the wedding in case if any of the photographers later messes up while developing the images.

8. Utilize The Offers

• Various vendors provide various offers to reduce the burden on our budget. Compare the various offers and choose the best one.
• This is also applicable to the honeymoon packages.

9. Plan For The Meal

• It is advised to keep the veg and non-veg food sections apart from each other.
• Planning the menu is an important part. Thus, the couple can ask many close people to get a bit of advice for a better and finalized menu. Various people can recommend various dishes as a single person is not expected to decide the whole menu.
• It is better to have more food rather than disappointing anyone. Even if some food remains, donate it later to the poor.

10.  Plan For A Honeymoon

• Tourism and honeymoon packages are both different. Honeymoon packages include all the facilities that must be enjoyed by a couple such as couple games, couple suites, couple trekking, etc.
• Comparison among various honeymoon packages is recommended.

11.  Get The Invitation Cards

You may hire a budget-friendly calligrapher if you find writing the names of the guests on the invitation cards time-consuming.

12.  Buy The Wedding Attire And Jewelry

The bride and the groom should know what wedding attire they both are buying so that their attires look complementary. This is also an important part of the budget. Don’t just follow in other’s footsteps. Choose what suits you the best. The bride and the groom must not force each other to buy something.

13.  Talk To Other Married Couples

Though you don’t have an experience of being married, the experiences of other couples may help you a lot. So, ask them whatever you want to. But don’t make them uncomfortable with your questions.

14.  Wait For The Day

It’s natural to be nervous regarding the wedding. Still, be patient and wait for the Wedding day. Utilize this period to know each other and the families.

Here’s How To Plan

Every couple has a different courtship period. If this period is shorter than 12 months, then the plans mentioned here will have to be condensed accordingly. For example, if the courtship period is 6 months, then the guidelines mentioned here for 12 to 6 months will have to be performed in the first month.

11 To 12 Months Before

• Start working on the budget. The budget can increase with time.
• Start making your guest list.
• Start looking for design ideas for your wedding attire. Visit various websites or vendors for that.
• Start making a guest list.
• Start gathering the team of photographers, designers, caterers, make-up artists, wedding planners, musicians, priests, etc.

9 To 10 Months Before

• Purchase the wedding dress, jewelry, foot-wears, and undergarments.
• Reserve the venues and thoroughly plan for the various arrangements such as seating arrangements, floral arrangements, stage, and air conditioning.
• Begin your fitness and skincare routine.
• Book the flights and accommodation for the honeymoon.
• Start searching for various service providers.

7 To 8 Months Before

• Book various service providers.
• Start looking for invitation cards.
• Book the hotel rooms for the guests(optional).
• Start buying gifts for the guests.
• Start looking for a priest.
• These responsibilities make the bride and the groom come closer. So, utilize this time to know each other from a different perspective.

5 to 6 Months Before

• Be ready with all the bookings for the honeymoon to avoid any last-minute trouble.
• Get the invitation cards printed now. This will help to replace the incorrect invitation cards or order more invitation cards.
• Book the transportation.
• Buy and wrap the gifts for guests. You may need to buy more gifts in the future before the wedding. So, be ready for that.
• Hire a priest.
• Attend pre-marital counseling if needed.
• Taste the food items to be kept for the wedding and finalize the menu.

3 To 4 Months Before

• Go through the guest list again.
• Start distributing the invitation cards.
• Experiment with make-up, hairstyles, and jewelry.
• Look for the final dress fitting.

1 To 2 Months Before

• Get more gifts if needed and pack them.
• Start packing for your honeymoon.
• Call the vendors/service providers for confirmation.
• Apply for leave at your workplace.

For The Last 1 Month

• Make arrangements for the care of your plants and pets at your home when you will at your honeymoon.
• Inform the musicians about the playlists you want to get played at the wedding.
• Get your hair a final cut.
• Inform the drivers about the directions towards the venue.
• Keep the amount and tips to be paid to all the vendors separately.
• Get the spa treatment done.

One To Two Days Before The Wedding

• Get the mehndi applied.
• Get the ‘Haldi ceremony’ performed.
• Now calmly wait for the wedding.

The Wedding Day

• Have enough food before going to the venue.
• Pray.
• Call your driver to pick you up.
• Call your guests whom you have provided some accommodation and inform them that you have left for the wedding.
• Enjoy the wedding.

Post-Wedding Responsibilities

• Get your marriage certificate.
• Fly off for your honeymoon.
• Get your wedding pictures and videos.
• Thank your guests(optional).

Conclusion

Planning for a wedding is tiresome and brings a lot of responsibilities. So, messing up everything will prove to be a blunder. However, creating and following a checklist will help us to be on track reducing a lot of burdens. This requires some time, patience, coordination with each other, and farsighted plans.