Planning Your Wedding

By Bridget Collins

Now, you are about to go on an exciting journey in your life which only starts with your wedding. Although a wedding is a celebration of you and your fiancé starting a life together, its planning can be quite overwhelming. 

Unless you work full time as an event planner, this may be your largest planned event yet. However, don't fret, your first step to having your dream wedding is to have a well laid out plan. This will also help reduce stress, even as you enjoy planning your wedding.

You currently hold the best wedding planning tool to plan the wedding of your dreams. This practical guide to planning the ultimate wedding tailored for you was prepared specifically for you, the very busy and well-informed couple.

Covered in this guide are tips to help plan your memorable wedding: 

From the kind of wedding to consider

Choosing the correct budget

How exactly to select your dress 

Drawing a guest list 

Creating the reception seating chart

And much much more!

There is also a handy checklist in the back of the book that you can print and insert into your convenient wedding filing system.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bridget Collins
• Release date: Dec 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386937814

Book preview

Chapter 1: What Kind of Wedding Do You Want?

Naturally, thoughts and ideas about your wedding ceremony come to you after you take the huge step of getting engaged. You may be someone who knows what type of ceremony you would like from the onset, or you may not have the faintest idea! Not to worry, that is what this chapter addresses.

Deciding on the type of wedding to have is the first step in the process of planning weddings because it determines many significant decisions that would be made later on. It may seem apparent but the wedding day is really all about the ceremony. Some are of the opinion that the ceremony detail is of huge importance and lots of time and effort should be invested in it, but for others, the ceremony is a mere formality.

There are lots of options to choose from when deciding how and where to get married unless one is committed to a ceremony of the religious type, which typically cannot be unwavering. Choosing the right style and type of ceremony for oneself is crucial; a lot of options abound. It is a great shame that many people are still of the opinion that you only have the choice of religious or civil marriage.

The primary terms one will need to get one’s head around are those identifying with wedding subjects and the various types of wedding ceremonies in existence. From civil to pagan, to non-denominational to humanist, weddings appear to have a language of their own. By the time one walks down the aisle, one will know all about bombonieres and boutonnieres. Choosing a ceremony that appeals to you and communicates how you and your better half or spouse-to-be feel about one another and your lives inside the larger world is imperative. What’s more, it is as straightforward as that truly!

Below are some of the most prominent wedding theme thoughts and ideas.

Traditional or Classic Wedding

A wedding style that incorporates a sit-down-three-course dinner at a gathering is often a significant formal event and is referred to as a classic or traditional wedding.

Such weddings are marked ordinarily by the couple wedding in a church, the bride wearing a traditional, often times a white princess wedding dress, styled as a ball-gown and formal celebrations following the service. The groom will wear a traditional tuxedo in black color, and the groomsmen, in general, will wear a tuxedo or formal suit. Members of the bridal party usually include flower girls, ushers, ring bearers, page boys, and junior bridesmaid/groomsmen.

Common formal celebrations in a classic or traditional wedding consist of the garter and bouquet toss, professional wedding photographs, the cutting of the cake, talks, first dance, father-little girl and mother-child dances. Further religious or social conventions may also be included in the ceremony if the couple is hitched in a church. For instance, in few societies, the bridal party will wait in a receiving line at the altar once the ceremony has started so that each and every guest present can come past one by one and extend their congratulations to the bridal party.

Contemporary Elegant Wedding

Another formal event is a contemporary and elegant wedding, and while it has the foundations of a classic and traditional wedding, it has contemporary twists. The contemporary touches can be current design options such as a non-customary wedding outfit or non-customary wedding location, and additionally a current take on styling, flowers, solicitations, and embellishments.

It is basically a traditional wedding with trend focused and classy styling ideas making the overall mood and subject somewhat more contemporary than its conventional version.

All the formalities that are available at a traditional wedding, for instance, a sit-down dinner and speeches may be incorporated into contemporary and elegant weddings. All the key players in the bridal train too such as the page boys, ring bearer, bridesmaids, and groomsmen are usually incorporated in a contemporary and elegant wedding.

Religious Wedding

A religious marriage happens in a place of worship where the bride or groom is a member of the church. The reception, which can either happen in the church’s banquet room or at a different place, often happens promptly after the vows have been exchanged. For the union to have lawful standing, the bride and groom must get a civil marriage permit from their local courthouse or country clerk’s office.

Roman Catholic Wedding

Priests officiate Roman Catholic weddings. A matrimonial mass may or may not take place. The father of the bride walks the bride down the aisle and gives her to the groom who meets up with her with a few steps. The bride’s father then sits in the front pew on the left.

The bride and groom, as well as the wedding party, receive communion in the event that a nuptial Mass happens. The guests usually do as well. During communion, guests who are not of the faith will stay in their seats.

Scriptural readings are often given by relatives or close friends.

Jewish Wedding

From Reform to Orthodox, Jewish weddings vary. Notwithstanding, few parts of the wedding ceremony are found in every single Jewish service. During the ceremony, the bride, the groom, and the rabbi are covered by the wedding canopy or huppah. Initially, the bridal chamber itself was the huppah. The couple’s going into the chamber is symbolized by the word in our era.

The wedding band must be plain gold with no stones. The groom places it on the bride’s finger and says, To me are you are blessed with this ring, as indicated by the religion of Moses and Israel.

The bride and the groom taste wine from the same glass over which blessings have been said. To symbolize Jewish mourning for the demolition of the Temple in old Jerusalem, the groom steps on the wine glass and crushes it. To avoid splinters and cuts, the wine glass is covered with fabric before it is crushed.

On holy days, for example, the Sabbath, Jewish wedding is a taboo. However,, numerous Jewish couples have Saturday-night weddings on such days as the holy days end at sundown.

As an indication of regard for God, males cover their heads in the synagogue. For this reason, guests are given skullcaps called yarmulkes.

Islamic Wedding

Islamic weddings are generally not elaborate. Vows are pledged in the mosque by the bride and groom within sight of family, friends and the Imam or religious leader. It is expected to dress modestly though there are no limitations as to the color of apparel. There are racks where shoes are to be placed as everyone removes shoes before entry. Because worshippers usually touch the floor while praying, removal of shoes is not a religious custom, but one done for sanitation purpose. Guests present usually say Salaam aleikum (peace be with you) to one another at the end of the ceremony.

In a hotel or hall, a reception is generally held after the ceremony. Asides from the fact that no liquor is served and the food fits in with Islamic dietary laws, these receptions are similar to wedding receptions in any other place.

Civil Ceremony

A civil ceremony can be directed by a Justice of the Peace, a mayor, or a judge, and it is typically held in a courthouse, city hall or judges’ chambers. With simple vows and just a few guests, the secular ceremony takes place within a short time span. After the ceremony, a basic or grand reception can take place.

This is not a religious ceremony. It is conducted by a registrar, and it usually holds in a town or city hall or in a different place that