Organizing a Wedding

A friend of mine called today and asked for suggestions on how to make her wedding as organized as mine (mine was organized?! hehehe!) because she isn't hiring a wedding coordinator also and wants to have everything in order the way I did it when I got married. So I told her to visit this blog and look for tips here and I will add more as time goes by (her wedding is going to be in December so I still have lots of time to update this blog) plus check out other sites as well. So, to help my friends and other brides-to-be who happen to visit this blog let me start a series of tips and ideas on how to make your wedding memorable and according to your dreams without causing a huge dent on your budget.

First of all, let me clue you in on a few details while I was preparing for my wedding. I didn't hire a wedding coordinator too, but then I had a lot of help from friends and family. Also, I became a member of an online "support" group called Weddings at Work to gain lots of ideas from other brides-to-be and newlyweds as well. Also, Charlie and I spent our own money for the wedding without asking for monetary help from our parents so we were really working on a strict budget at that time. We allowed ourselves a fixed time frame when to reach our target savings and when our deadline came, we promised ourselves that we will only spend the money that we saved for the wedding and not allow ourselves to get carried away with the spending. When it was time to start buying stuff or signing contracts with suppliers for the wedding we always made it a point to haggle! Not to the point of offending our suppliers, though... we just wanted to be able to maximize our spending powers. Now here starts the suggestions/tips flow:

Make sure you have an idea of how you want your wedding to be, don't be shy in making your ideas come to life, after all it is YOUR wedding. You should be comfortable with your plans and not be easily influenced by what is common, what is tradition or what is popular. Don't be afraid to ask. For all you know, your friends and family might have ideas or suggestions that will enhance what you already have in mind, you just have not thought of it yet because you are jittery with excitement. If you have a theme, stick to it as much as you can but do not go overboard! Having a theme could make a wedding beautiful but being tacky is considered bad taste.

Ask your entourage way ahead of time. Be sure that they will be able to attend without being iffy about it. I mean, what's the use of planning a wedding to be attended by friends and family if half your entourage will not be able to make it? Then you should have just gotten a couple of witnesses and asked for a quiet "just us" ceremony. But don't forget that the bride and groom are the stars of this event, and the supporting roles could be easily given to others. I mean, if your first choice to be your bridesmaid makes so many excuses, then choose another!

Shop around, do not make decisions based on liking a sample product of just one supplier. Remember, there are lots of shops to choose from and closing a deal with the first shop that you visit may end up being an impulse that you'd regret later. Read a supplier's contract carefully before signing. Make sure that you and your supplier are seeing eye to eye up to the minute details. Always consider quality instead of popularity. It doesn't matter if your supplier isn't world-acclaimed or coveted by others, what's important is that you are sure that they will deliver what you asked of them. Explore. Suppliers often have freebies for would-be clients so don't be timid in claiming these. Free taste, free trials or free add-ons are there for a reason, it makes no sense to turn them down. Do not rely on hearsay. Make sure to test a product on yourself or get to know a supplier on your own before making judgment. If money isn't the issue, then splurge, after all weddings come once in a lifetime (or so we hope!), why worry about the moola?