Setting the Wedding Date

The first date after she accepts your ring – picking a date to get married

So the love of your life has agreed to join you on a walk down the aisle and thereafter. Now it’s time to pick a date. That should be easy enough right? You have 365 options, which repeat with unfailing regularity. So we’ll leave the choice of your wedding date to you and the lovely lady in your life; and fill you in on the days/dates that you could avoid for reasons that will become evident along the way.

Days when your guests will have other plans

* New Year’s and Christmas (the last week of December to the first week of January)
* Thanksgiving
* Election time
* Superbowl weekend (and not to forget other major sporting events that are followed with fervour)

Also avoid national holidays that occur on Fridays and Mondays. When attached to weekends they are just ideal for a short getaway, and your guests might be taking it as well.

Dates and days even you wouldn’t want

* The 13th day of a month that also happens to be a Friday (sure you may not be superstitious, but why bother you have 364 other options)
* September 11

Some other considerations

* You might just want to get married on the same day as your parents did.
* Don’t forget to look up the weather around the time of your wedding date. All else being perfect, a sharp shower could be an unexpected guest.
* Send invitations out well in advance. Guests from out of town need time to plan their trip.

Image credit: Wedding Photography by Jon Day

Formal Wedding Dinner Alternatives

If you’re like me, every time you get a wedding invitation in the mail, your mind jumps immediately to two things; add buy wedding gift to to-do list and the dreaded chicken or beef check mark. We’ve all been there, formal sit down dinner complete with roasted chicken, or braised beef with carrots, potatoes and a bun. If you’re lucky enough, there might be some complimentary wine thrown in to help dull the memories of this all to traditional wedding dinner option.

In North America the classic formal dinner following the ceremony and cocktails is generally thought of as the expected course for your average wedding event. In some sense, I suppose this makes sense especially for larger scale weddings as there would be so much preparation work necessary even on the big day, that you’d need all of those preceding hours to accomplish these tasks. However, if you’re the type of bride/groom who likes to throw curve balls, or is just tired of the same old same old, consider having a brunch, afternoon cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, or even a light evening buffet.

The brunch option would be especially useful for the couple who are early risers, have small children they wish to include in their ceremony, are inviting just immediate family members, or want to avoid the consumption of alcohol by guests. The early risers will likely have no trouble getting up extra early to prepare for the big event, though this is a consideration needed for your guests. If you’re including small children in your ceremony, most parents would agree that working with children before late afternoon/evening provides the best results, especially when it comes to the wedding pictures. For weddings where just the immediate family members are the guests a brunch is the perfect intimate gathering following the ceremony. Lastly, for those couples whose family members or guests might chance overdoing things at the bar, a brunch pretty much avoids the situation all together, as most folks aren’t keen to guzzle back a beer at 11 o’clock in the morning.

Afternoon cocktails and hors d’oeuvres provides the opportunity for guests to partake in an early day ceremony, complemented by a casual afternoon gathering, allowing for guests to mix and mingle and still get to bed at a decent time. This option is also quite viable for ceremonies involving small children. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are a fantastic alternative to a formal dinner, and recently on the rise as the chic thing to do. Imagine yourself on a lawn, under a canopy at a majestic outdoor locale, or in the fanciest function room at your dream hotel, sipping champagne and munching on chocolate covered strawberries as you mingle with your guests. This option should be a consideration if budget is a concern, as you might be able to afford your dream venue if you don’t have to include a lavish meal.

An evening buffet is another classic option, but can easily be given a new twist to mix things up. If this is something you and your special someone are thinking of considering, try making food choices that are a little less traditional. Avoid the roasted baby potatoes and instead opt for Tabouli, a wheat, tomato and parsley salad. Instead of a deli tray assortment why not try a introducing your guests to Tapas? Your options may be dependant on your caterer, but it never hurts to ask.

A popular misconception is that your guests are all going to be starving when they arrive at the gathering following the ceremony. It’s important to provide guests with something to eat and drink, as any good host/hostess does when they invite company over. However that does not mean that you must serve a 4 course meal to make guests feel appreciated for sharing in your special day. Being creative, innovative and smart is a fantastic way to treat guests to something out of the ordinary and an opportunity to either save money, or simply redirect savings to other event details. The most important detail in planning your formal dinner alternative is clearly outlining what guests should expect in your communication, ie Black Tie Dinner, Cocktails and Hors D’oeuvres, or a Light Buffet.

Choosing Wedding Venues

A lot of people have difficulty choosing the right venue for their wedding. Most times, they choose whichever venue is available and make the best of it. Here are some time the things you might want to look out for when you are looking at different wedding venues:

1. Make sure that you search for a wedding venue as early as possible!

2. The Deposit: Always make sure that the deposit for the venue is affordable and reasonable. Also make sure that there are no hidden costs as well as no hidden clauses. Make sure that you get a receipt for the deposit.

3. Some of the hidden costs to look out for are insurance, fees for an onsite manager, security, clean up, use of the tables and chairs, kitchen etc.

4. Is there enough space in the venue for your vendors to set up the food, bar, etc?

5. Make sure that there are ample pug points close to the area where you will be serving the food and also make sure these plug points work.

6. How far is the venue from where your guests live? Most couples like to choose a venue that is easy to get to as they do not want their guests to have a long drive back home after the wedding.

7.  How easy is it to load stuff into the venue? Some of your vendors will be require to load and unload their vehicle before and after the wedding.

8. If the venue is located in a residential area, are their any curfew times that you should be aware of? The last thing you need on your wedding day is the police showing up on your doorstep asking you to stop celebrating your wedding.

9. When can your vendors come and set up the decorations, seating, food, etc? Some places will let you come the night before and set up the venue in case they do not have another wedding on that day. Be nice, smile a lot and ask them if you can use the venue the day before. Most places will not have a problem with that.

10.  Make sure there is enough parking space for all your guests. Guests get quite annoyed when they have to park a few blocks down and walk to the venue wearing their fancy clothes.

11. Go to as many wedding venues as you can to find the perfect one for your wedding. It is really worth it and you will not regret it.

Photo by kennymatic

Wedding Magazines and Online Resources

Finding and sharing wedding ideas can be a real adventure. Wedding magazines and online resources provide an abundance of information for brides, grooms, bridal party attendants and even wedding guests. Sorting through this cornucopia of information can be overwhelming and a waste of valuable time if you are not mindful of a few important factors; relevance, level of importance to your event, and financial impact.

If your hope chest is bursting at the seams with everything you’ve ever collected over the years that you thought would be “perfect” for your wedding day, you might find yourself sifting through a dusty box of useless material. As little girls we often find ourselves day dreaming about the dress that we will wear on our wedding day, to the point of clipping magazine pages to hang on to a picture of what you’re sure will be the perfect dress for your big day. However, the reality of the fact might be that the dress you loved at age 14 is no longer in style, or is just not appropriate for your body type. Holding on to the keepsakes of your childhood daydreams has a special place in your life, but it shouldn’t be something you spend more than one afternoon sifting through to see if there is anything viable for the event at hand. If you want to share the walk down memory lane, be sure to schedule a specific date and time with your mom or your gal pals to accomplish this in one viewing, thereby making the best use of your available time without completely skipping the effort. When it comes to wedding idea resources, your best bet is to stick to the most current offerings, ensuring that the what you see is available to you when it’s needed.

Weddings are such an exciting time, be they a small or large scale event that you are planning. It is quite easy though to get caught up in the idea of the “perfect wedding” verses what you are actually planning, your perfect wedding. What this means in plain English ladies is spending all your free time and even some time when you’re supposed to be working, on looking for all of the biggest and best wedding ideas out there, is not necessarily a great use of your time either. Just because you read somewhere that you ‘need’ to have a minimum of 3 attendants on both sides does not mean that you have to meet and make a new best friend in the next year because you’ve only got two close girlfriends. It’s also important to remember that looking through pages and pages of 5 course menu ideas is sort of useless if you’re planning on having a destination wedding with an all inclusive package. Knowing the key components of your big day should help you to identify the areas where you should spend your time and energy resourcing.

For the majority of couples it is there whether it’s been explicitly expressed or not, a wedding budget. It can be a dreadful thing feeling constrained by what you are fiscally able to do to celebrate your marriage, or it could quite possibly be your saving grace, it’s really dependant on your personality and how you see your big day in the timeline of your life. If you’re working with a substantial budget and have allocated a significant amount to what will be spent on your wedding dress, then absolutely, spend three weeks leafing through fashion designer label dresses. This is also applicable to the bride who wants to wear Vera Wang and is willing to serve crackers and water to her guests to ensure that she stays within her budget. If however you’re working with a budget that does not allow for white calla lilies to be flown in for your big day in December, then spend your time looking for something that is more seasonal and available locally. Meeting with travel agents for details on destination wedding packages, when you know your budget will only cover being married at the court house and having a quiet dinner with immediate family members at a nice restaurant following, is not the best way to utilize your time.

Wedding Magazines and online resources can really open up the possibilities when you sit down and start sifting through for ideas and best practices. Just be wary of time wasters once you hammer down the fundamentals of what you will actually do to celebrate your big day.

Bridal Party Gift Ideas

Know your audience. This is sage advice in most instances involving others, but especially when presenting a thank you gift to your bridal party.

Traditionally the Bride and Groom present those people that they have asked to stand with them on their wedding day with a token of thanks. This not only helps to acknowledge your bridal party, but can serve as a reminder of their part in your big day for years to come. Some ideas for traditional and non-traditional gifts are as follows:

Bridesmaids/Maid of Honor
Engraved Make Up Compact
Gift Certificate for a Spa Day
Jewelry
Stemware
Personalized Box of Treasures (could include favourite bottle of wine with glasses, favourite chick flick dvd, scented candles, chocolates – endless possibilities)

Groomsmen/Best Man
Engraved Beer Steins
Gift Certificate for Golfing
Tickets to Sporting Event
Personalized Box of Treasures (could include favourite alcohol, dvd offavourite action flick, set of shot glasses, golf tees and balls – endless possibilities)