Wedding Planning Tips for Brides Planning a Wedding

Planning a wedding can be very stressful.
Stick to these rules and you'll do fine!

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1) Set a date and a budget and stick to it. There is a perfect wedding
vendor for every price range.

2) Ask for referrals from vendors you've booked, friends or family.
Check with the BBB about a vendor's history. If names are given to
you by a wedding vendor, ask them how they got on that list. Some
paid hundreds or thousands of dollars to be on that list!

3) Coordinating a friend, their own or their daughter's wedding doesn't
make someone a professional wedding coordinator. Make sure you
hire a professional at some point during the wedding planning process
to make sure that you are on track, spending your money wisely and
tying up all the loose ends properly. A wedding coordinator will save
you hours in chat rooms, on the phone with vendors and attending
unnecessary appointments and let you free your time to do other
things.

4) Set a timeline of tasks that you need to take care of. For example,
you should book your reception hall 12 to 18 months out; your
photographer 9 to 12 months out; etc.

5) The number on the guest list will increase or decrease your budget.
A good rule of thumb is that if you won't be friends with them five
years from now, don't invite them! However, you do want to invite your
boss, appropriate colleagues, close friends and family. There will be
family that your parents will request you invite and you'll need to
accommodate those requests.

6) Invitations should go out six weeks before the wedding. DO NOT
PUT YOUR REGISTRY INFORMATION IN YOUR INVITATION. This is
an etiquette no-no. Instead, direct your guests to view your website
for more information.

7) Take a break from the planning. Have a quality date night with your
fiancé where you don't talk about the wedding at all.

8) The rehearsal dinner should only be the people participating in the
actual ceremony. However, you will have guests arriving a day early
for your wedding and you can feel free to invite them to the rehearsal
dinner if you feel inclined to.

9) Have an emergency kit the day of the wedding. A basic kit should
have a needle and thread, stain remover, glue, nail polish, nylons,
deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, hair pins, hairspray, double
sided tape, comb and safety pins at minimum. A wedding planner will
have a more complete kit to prepare you for anything that will go
wrong. (And something will!)

10) Eat! Eat! Eat! on your wedding day.

11) Relax and enjoy the process and the event. A wedding is not
supposed to be stressful, it's a celebration of the love you and your
fiancé share. This is where a wedding coordinator can come in
handy. You only get married once -- we do this for a living! We know
how to keep you calm, collected, under control and enjoying the
process.

12) IF YOU BOOK A BAND: Get them to add a clause to their
contract which states that they will not drink alcohol at your event.
This can be handwritten and initialed by both parties.