Wedding Articles & Wedding Stories

Wedding Preparations

So, you’ve decided to run the London marathon and as far your preparations go, you prefer to do a few light stretches before the race rather than months of hard physical training. The trouble is, you will not last very long and your hopes of completing the race will fall apart. This same outcome is true for many weddings because couples don't prepare themselves beforehand for the long run ahead. The result of doing it this way is you end up being exhausted on the big day and your dream of that perfect wedding is completely shattered.

So what can you do to make a very real, positive difference to your wedding experience? By following these ‘Five Rules of Wedding Organisation ’you will find the whole process so much more enjoyable. These include:

1. Getting your priorities right from the beginning
2. Believing in your ability to make your own decisions
3. Creating and sharing your vision
4. Being a leader
5. Assigning clear-cut roles for the bride and groom

On establishing these guidelines, you have the perfect starting point and are well prepared to make the right decisions to help build the wedding you really want.

Unfortunately, not all couples who want to get married will plan their big day as they should. Most couples, in fact, do not realize how far in advance they need to start organizing, occasionally with disastrous effects. In view of that, I have completed a step-by-step wedding guide that, should you follow, will allow things to run smoothly.

26 Weeks before
Begin viewing invitations by visiting different invitation companies. And also, decide what flowers will be used by the bride and for the wedding reception.

20 Weeks before
Invitation design should be chosen and begin being made. It is important to order the right number of invitations now and perhaps a few extra as it can be very expensive to have a couple extra made at a later date.

14 Weeks before
All invitations collected should be given to guests.

6 weeks before
All RSVPs will be required back. As some people will always be late, this gives you enough time to chase up any stragglers.

1 month before
The reception venue needs to know exactly how many people will be attending

Wedding Day
Sit back and enjoy!

It can also do no harm to cast an eye on the wedding speeches to make sure they are in tone with the rest of the day. The following guidelines should keep things in order:

The father of the bride’s speech ideally should:

• Welcome the groom’s parents, relatives of both families and friends
• Praise the bride’s appearance and relate about her family life
• Welcome the groom into the family
• Give words of wisdom and good wishes to the couple
• Propose a toast to the bride and groom

The bridegroom’s speech should follow next. Basically, this speech is to:

• Thank the bride’s parents for allowing him to take their daughter’s hand in marriage
• Give thanks to his parents, for all the happy years together
• Say some nice words about the bride
• Thank and propose a toast to the bridesmaids
• Thank the flower girls, page boys and ring bearers
• Thank everybody for the kind wishes, cards and lovely presents

The best man’s speech is last. It should be funny, but it should not be an extension of the stag night and it will be better received by the family audience, if it is written accordingly. Then, it should:

• Compliment the bride and groom and give good wishes for their future together
• Thank the groom for asking you to be best man
• Relate funny stories about the groom, nothing too rude and no mention of previous lady friends
• Read out a few cards, probably from absent relatives or close friends

By following these guidelines, your special day should be just that - free from any hiccups and mishaps. If you only remember one thing, let it be this - success lies in preparation.

by Damien McKeever