EARLY, EARLY, EARLY is the mantra!

Believe it or not, most brides (and grooms) start planning a year or more ahead of time. That’s not to say that because your true love just proposed and you want to get married in eight weeks, it’s impossible to pull off! (I helped to organize a surprise Birthday party for 80 guests that was booked on Monday, for the following Saturday, and it was a huge success!!)

All I’m saying is that if you’re kind of late, you won’t have first choice with your venue and the vendors. They are actually booked a year in advance at least for the busiest wedding months, i.e. May through October. My daughter tried to book the make-up artist of her choice in August for June of the following year – and was informed that “her” date was already booked! So – try to give yourself enough time, and if that’s impossible, accept that you need to be flexible.

Considering all our busy lifestyles, it might be a good idea to hire a wedding planner or at least a “day-of” wedding consultant (i.e. just for the coordination on the day of your wedding). I have seen many young couples who organized everything themselves up to the moment of their ceremony, and who actually threw fabulous parties enjoyed by all their guests -except for the happy couple themselves who were stressed out to the limit. That should please NOT happen to you! The fee for a planner (10-15% of your overall budget) or at least your “day-of” coordinator is money well spent. Think of it!

The first decision you’ll have to make once you have chosen what type of wedding you want – church or not – and once your date is set – is actually the style and the accent color of your wedding! You will find it hard to believe that this decision has to be made right away, but it’s true. The next thing to happen is sending out “Save-the-Dates” to make sure none of your most cherished guests is booking the trip of their lifetime just around the time of your wedding. And the “Save-the-Dates” should ideally already match the overall style and color scheme of your planned festivities. There you go…

Lots of details! Let’s get back to this in due time.