How to Plan your Wedding: The Ultimate Guide

By Gary Knowles Photography

How to Plan your Wedding - The Ultimate Guide

Congratulations!

You're engaged and your wedding planning journey has begun.

This is going to be the most exciting time of your life, and this guide will help you plan from day one up to your special day and honeymoon.

Chapters include:
The Engagement Party - tips on location and themes
The Wedding Venue - tips on timings, planning, capacity
The Wedding Dress - tips on budget, fittings and alterations
Wedding Photography - tips on choosing the right photographer
Wedding Speeches - tips for all of those who might be doing a speech on the special day

and much, much more....

About the Author
I have been a professional wedding photographer since 2006, having been asked by so many couples for advice on different areas of their wedding preparation, I decided to put together this guide to assist in making their special day that little less stressful.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gary Knowles Photography
• Release date: Dec 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9780244733537

Gary Knowles Photography

I am a full-time photographer based in Chippenham, Wiltshire. I have had the pleasure of photographing some amazing weddings across the country as well as abroad since 2006. My aim is to ensure that your special day is captured and remembered forever. I can capture all kinds of styles, I try not to spend my time directing and posing every scene. I want you and your guests to feel relaxed while your special memories are captured. My relaxed and un-obtrusive style allows for me to blend into your wedding, as an honoured guest to your beautiful day, rather than being the centre of attention.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Engagement Party

Your husband-to-be has popped the question, and you now have that sparkly ring on your finger, well it’s time to celebrate! Planning an engagement party is the perfect way to get all your family and friends together ahead of the wedding to celebrate this special occasion.

Planning a party takes time and lots of consideration, but this is a good place to start if you want to practise. Here are some things you should consider when planning an engagement party:

Location

Where will you host your engagement party? If you are looking for a small party, then maybe consider a restaurant or at home. However, if you want it to be a big occasion then you might be needing to hire a venue.

Date

Do you want to start celebrating straight away or give yourselves a little more time to plan? Just bear in mind the time of year, especially if it is close to Christmas, where venues and even guests can get booked up.

Budget

How much are you going to spend? Do you need to set out a budget for this?

Who to Invite

You may already have a guest list. Considering who to invite will help with your budget and venue requirements. It could also help you with the wedding guest list too.

Invitations

Will you send out invitations, or will you make a group on Facebook to keep everyone updated in one place.

Theme

An engagement party doesn’t really need a theme beyond Congratulations! However, a creative concept can certainly take your party to the next level. Maybe consider a fancy-dress theme if you are hiring a venue.

Food and Drink

Will you have a buffet, a barbecue, hog roast or a sit-down meal. Will you supply the drinks, bring your own, or hold your party at a venue with a bar?

Decorations

Are you going to decorate your party venue? If so, is there going to be a theme, then you can transfer this theme over to your wedding day.

Entertainment

Will you look to hire a DJ or a Live Band to keep the guests entertained. If you are holding it at home, then ensure you have some music playing in the background. You might want to consider the younger children, as they will get bored very quickly if they are not entertained.

Gifts

It’s more than likely that your guests will bring you at least a card, if not a gift too to celebrate your engagement, but don’t expect anything and certainly don’t provide a gift list – save that for your wedding day!

Speech

While you may be trying to figure out how to plan an engagement party, you’ll likely need to give a speech at some point. Whether it is yourself or partner, or a close friend or family member who gives the speech, ensure that you are thanking everyone for coming to celebrate your special occasion.

Chapter 2

The Wedding Ceremony

The Wedding ceremony will determine where you can get married, here is a guide to the different types of wedding, and some additional things to consider.

Traditional Weddings

The Church of England has its own ecclesiastical laws which mean that you can marry in your local Parish Church with your vicar calling the Banns (Banns are explained further on).

If you don’t live in the parish boundaries of the church you wish to use, you may still be able to get married there if you can show that you have strong family links or ties to that church.

Alternatively, the vicar may agree to marry you either by Archbishop’s Licence or by undertaking a residence in the parish for a set number of days and giving a Civil Notice of Marriage.

The Church of England marriage ceremony is a legally binding one and differs from the civil marriage in that it has its own wording.

Alternative Weddings

The other route encompasses all other faiths and religions and civil marriage. This involves you having a venue organised and agreed – this can range from a church, chapel or other religious building, or for civil marriage, a licensed venue or Register Office. All venues for legal marriage have to be registered with The General Register Office as: either a Registered Building (for religious premises), or as an Approved Venue (for civil marriages).

Notice of Marriage/Civil Partnership

Once you have your dream venue booked, the next step is to book an appointment to give a Notice of Marriage (heterosexual or same-sex couples) or Notice of Civil Partnership (same-sex couples only) with the Registration Service which covers the area where you are living. When you call to make your appointment, you will be advised of the documents you will need to bring, make sure you know exactly what you need to bring.

Wait a Minute (or more)

Once the notice has been given you have to wait 28 days for the certificate of marriage to be issued – this is the authority for the marriage to go ahead at the venue specified. Without these important pieces of paper your marriage or civil partnership may not take place. The waiting period is to ensure that if anyone knows of any legal reasons why you should not marry or contract your civil partnership with one another, they can come forward and lodge an objection to the marriage taking place. Don’t worry, this sounds scary and doesn’t happen very often, but if it does happen it is treated very seriously as only legal objections would be considered. And remember, if you change your venue, you must give another notice!

Ceremony Choices

There are many types of ceremonies, these are listed with a brief explanation below:

Religious

A religious and legally binding ceremony of marriage which takes place in a church, chapel or other religious building that is registered for the solemnisation of marriage. If marrying in a place of worship, you will usually follow the rites and ceremonies of that denomination.

Civil Marriage

A legal, non-religious marriage ceremony conducted by the local superintendent registrar in a registration office or an approved venue licensed by the local authority, either within or outside your district of residence. If you’re marrying with the Registration Service, they will usually provide a range of ceremony choices and wording – any religious content is not allowed. A civil ceremony may include poems.

What both the Religious and Civil Marriage Ceremonies have in common is the use of the Declaratory and Contracting words; there are three options and they must be spoken in turn by the bride and groom in front of at least two witnesses: The Registrar and Superintendent Registrar (often referred to as Ceremony Officers) or in the case of a religious ceremony the Registrar and Minister.

The ceremony often includes the giving and receiving of a ring, and exchange of additional vows. However, in English law the couple are married on the spoken word – everything else is tradition and ceremonial which can be omitted. Once the ceremony has been concluded, the couple, witnesses and officiating officers then sign the entry in the marriage register as a record of the occasion. This is usually followed by the presentation of the marriage certificate.

Civil Partnership

A non-religious legal partnership for same sex couples. It can be accompanied by a ceremony, but it is not required under the Civil Partnership Act. The signing of the civil partnership document may take place at a registration office or an approved venue.

Civil partnership is slightly different as it is covered by separate legislation which decree that the partnership is contracted on the signing of a Civil Partnership schedule and couples wishing to contract a Civil Partnership can choose not to have a ceremony and just sign the schedule in the presence of two witnesses and one Civil Partnership Registrar (again commonly known as a Ceremony Officer).

Wedding Banns

Banns are a legal requirement