Planning
Planning Your Wedding Decoration Budget
When it comes to your decorating budget it really depends on where the ceremony and reception will be on what decorations need to be present as well as what if any; themes that you are choosing.
For example, if you are planning an indoor dinner, you have to include centerpieces etc. The most common decorating choice for weddings and reception are flowers, and streamers.
While the streamers and various other decorations are generally inexpensive, the flowers can kill you. It is best when choosing your flowers for a wedding service and reception to use false flowers or paper machete flowers as they are cheap and reusable.
For those who would much prefer to use real flowers, it can be much cheaper to go with wild flowers and/or hand picked flowers. It is also a good idea to use them sparingly.
For example, rather than going all out and decorating everything with flowers just use a simple arrangement for the center of the table and place them in small vases or hand made crafts.
Of course you can also opt to keep the flowers strictly in the ceremony. Paper machete flowers re getting more and more popular as well as hand made roses that were created from tissue paper. When they are placed on green pipe cleaners or wires that are covered in green tissue paper they are quite attractive. It is a nice way to save money and spend some time with your friends and family in creating them.
When it comes to the decoration budget, this is a time when you will want the church, chapel or hall for the ceremony to cover them for you.
If that is not possible, the ceremonial decorations can be limited to those involved in the ceremony, such as their clothes. If you must, you can pin balloons to the areas where the guests will be seated or create some flowers out of tissue paper.
Streamers are always used, but there are other ways to decorate that are just as appealing. Here are some good tips for decorating at your wedding on a budget.
- A really unique idea is to use glass containers and putting baby fish in them. It is very unique and attractive, and it is also cheap because the glass containers can be purchased at Wal-Mart and even a dollar store. The fish can be as cheap as you want them to be
- Good old candle holders and candles are always a romantic addition to any wedding decor
- If your reception is at night it is nice to add fireflies to a glass container with holes for air or even butterflies during the day
- False flower arrangements in a bamboo pot are a very nice addition and keepsake for guests
- Using white Christmas lights streamed through greenery is a beautiful decoration and is one that you likely already have available
- Chocolate and candy flower bouquets are sweet accents to the décor and they can be souvenirs for the guests later.
- Balloons, balloons, and more balloons are always fun
These are not the only decorations that are available but you are getting the idea. The best thing that you can do before choosing your decorations is to choose a theme first. Themes for weddings are just like choosing themes for anniversaries and birthdays. Once you can decide on a theme, you can decorate around that theme.
For example, if you are choosing to have your theme be tropical romance, you can use glass containers with sand etc. as centerpieces to your reception. Some extra and easy to afford themes include those that will be listed in the table below as well as some of the things that usually accompany them.
These are common wedding ceremonial themes that are used as opposed to the reception themes mentioned above; of course they can be used as reception themes too.
Wedding Planning Made Simple
With all the stress that can accompany wedding planning, it’s a wonder that so many couples decide to even have a ceremony. A significant amount of trouble that many people experience when planning their wedding is staying within a set budget, if they have one at all. Many people will hire a wedding planner, someone skilled at making sure wedding ceremonies go without a hitch. Hiring such a professional doesn’t come by cheap. Although many people consider wedding planning a daunting experience, by focusing on a few important issues related to your wedding you will be able to enjoy a less stressful time preparing for your special ceremony.
You’re probably wondering how you can focus on only a few aspects of your wedding ceremony. After all, the entire ceremony is special, right? While it is true that all aspects of a wedding are important, by focusing on those tasks that involve the most stress you can save time and ease your mind. By tending to the following wedding planning tasks no later than six months before your wedding date, you can avoid some of the stress associated with planning a wedding.
Keeping All Eyes on You
It’s a daydream of most young girls—what they will wear on their wedding day. Bridal gowns are a huge market and you will undoubtedly spend a considerable amount of time selecting the right dress for your special day. Many women already have some idea of the style of dress they want to wear. This can make things easier for you. If you have no idea what you want to wear, you will need to start shopping as early as possible. Before you hit the bridal stores, it’s a good idea to get a feel for the styles that interest you. You can start by flipping through bridal magazines, browsing the Internet, or attending bridal shows. When you actually visit a bridal store you will be able to tell the sales clerk what interests you. You can select your shoes and accessories the same way.
Performing Paper Detail
Wedding couples often wait to the last minute to consider wedding stationary such as invitations, thank you cards, and name cards. Your wedding day is a special day and your wedding stationary gives people a glimpse into what they can expect when they attend your wedding ceremony. You will need to have your guest list written so that you can have an idea of the amount of stationary you will need to order. As a rule, you should order 25 extra invitations and envelopes just in case you later decide to invite more guests.
Homemade stationary is becoming more popular. You can save money going this route. There are plenty of software programs available to make designing customized invitations a snap. You will probably have to provide the paper. Invest in the best quality paper that you can afford so that the ink from your printer doesn’t run. You can send invitations to your wedding three months before the wedding date. If you are inviting out-of-town guests, you should send your invitations at least six months in advance of the wedding date so that your guests will have adequate time to make travel arrangements.
Planning the Spread
Food is a big deal at weddings. Catering is a booming business and can be costly, depending the number of guests and the type of meal you want. If you are planning a wedding during the spring and winter months you will need to take care of catering arrangements early since these are popular times that people plan to have a wedding ceremony and your choices for catering companies may become limited. You should take time to review the people on your guest list and determine if you will need to order special meals. Are any guests on a special diet for health reasons? Any vegetarians? Low-carb dieters? A good variety of foods is always a good idea. Try to find a caterer who is highly recommended.
Once you have these tasks completed, you can continue with the other tasks on your wedding planning list. You can find tips about other wedding planning tasks at yourweddingplanning.com.
What Is A Wedding Checklist and Why Do I Need One?
With everything a future bride and groom have on their minds getting ready for their big day, it is almost impossible to keep it all in order. To help you remember everything and minimize the headaches related to even the smallest of details, it is a good idea to prepare a wedding checklist.
Having a wedding checklist, which can be altered to fit your specific needs, will lessen the stress load each time you cross off a completed task. A wedding checklist will also ensure that when your big day comes, you haven't forgotten anything and you can relax and enjoy your day.
Some things that may be included on a wedding checklist are reserving the date with a florist, photographer and disk jockey; set the time and date of the wedding, and reserve your church and reception location. These starter steps should be done about six to 12 months before your date.
More ideas to add to your wedding checklist include establishing a wedding budget, choosing the wedding party and ordering invitations and announcements. You may also want to consider picking out your dress and hair piece, visiting a boutique to look at attire for the attendants and ordering your wedding rings. All of these things should be done as early as possible to save you time when the small details become a necessity.
Closer to your date, the wedding checklist you create should have reminders for you to order wedding flowers, address invitations, plan a rehearsal dinner with friends and family, select the music and order the wedding cake. These things should be done about four months prior to your big day.
About four to six weeks before your wedding, you will need to go over your wedding checklist and began mailing invitations, do a final fitting for your gown, select your groom's gift, be sure that thank you notes have been written and sent out for any showers and receptions that were thrown in your honor, and place your announcement in your local newspaper.
As you continue crossing tasks off your wedding checklist, it will become smaller and you will have a feeling of satisfaction and organization. The final details come two weeks before your wedding when you will need to make a final appointment with your florist to approve your flowers, go to the courthouse for a marriage license, change names on accounts and official documents and begin a list of wedding gifts and senders so that you will be able to send them thank you cards later.
Although these are just a few things that should be included on your wedding checklist, it gives you an idea of how many details you will be covering throughout your planning. If you stay organized with a list and give yourself plenty of time to complete each task, you will reap the rewards of having a peaceful beginning to your new life.