Getting married is a monumental moment to be cherished and to remember for the rest of your life. However, that doesn’t mean that the planning and execution of the reception and the wedding have to be stressful. Your special day should be worry-free so you can focus on the ceremony and not on ordering food, checking guest lists, or dealing with last-minute issues. Luckily, with the right preparations, you can create a seamless celebration your guests will enjoy to the fullest.
1. Wedding Dress Shopping
Surprisingly, one of the most expensive and stressful parts of getting married is buying a wedding dress. Obviously, the dress worn by the bride down the aisle is the centerpiece of the ceremony, but that doesn’t mean you have to obsess or spend an arm and a leg on the dress itself. To get the right dress at the right price, you need to research first. Finding the exact style and price range that you are comfortable with is essential to locating and negotiating for the dress later. When you know your price range and style, find where the dress will come from.
If you go to a traditional dress store, sometimes you don’t have to settle for the price on the tag. If you’ve researched the dress beforehand, and you have a reasonable justification for a lower price, you can generally negotiate for $100–$400 dollars less. Of course, don’t expect anything from traditional stores, but it is certainly worth a try to ask for a price reduction.
In addition, you can also shop for second-hand dresses, or you can attend events called designer trunk shows; the creator of the dress sells directly to you, generally at a lower price because there are no store-markups. You can generally find trunk shows online, and you can certainly turn the trip into a fun outing with your bridesmaids.
2. Event Planning
If you want a truly stress-free wedding, one of the most important decisions is an Event Design service. Finding the right service or person to plan your ceremony is a great way to get a professional opinion and the best vendors for the various purchases involved with a wedding. In addition, the stress associated with the intricate details of ordering and pricing will fall to your chosen service, which relieves the burden from you. Doing research is essential to find the perfect company for your area and your specific price needs.
Once you do find your wedding planner, make sure you know exactly what kind of wedding, theme, and pricing you’re comfortable with to make the planning process easier. An event planner is not as useful if you don’t have a clear vision for your wedding. A great way to overcome this issue is with vision boards. To create a vision board, collect items like fabric, flowers, and articles of clothing that match with the theme and feeling you want for decorations. Attach them in a pleasing arrangement on a cork board. Once you’re happy with the board, present it to your planner, so they know exactly what you want.
3. Stay Organized
A common pitfall during wedding planning is a lack of organization. It is easy to send out invitations, order flowers, and book locations without regard to documentation. To make sure you’re staying on budget, make sure you keep track of all your purchases. An easy way to do that is with a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Simply list categories of purchases and input each price to see how much you’re spending and where. You’d be surprised at how much money is wasted by a simple lack of awareness.
In addition, keeping track of your activity also helps with the efficiency of your wedding. Knowing exactly how many invitations you sent, your vendor locations, and the exact booking details of your locations helps immensely when guests ask questions or when you need to make another purchase. This step seems small, but keeping track of your activities is a great way to make life easier down the road.
4. Stay Firm with Decisions
Finally, once you make a decision regarding the ceremony, stick with it. Wishy-washy choices are pricey and detrimental to efficient wedding planning. For example, if you order flowers, see them arranged, and suddenly decide you hate them, you’ve wasted hundreds of dollars and precious hours of your time.
In the end, you’ll be married to the love of your life, surrounded by friends and family, and the stress will melt away at the sound of “I do.” Make sure you spend more time enjoying the process and less time stressing over the details with these tips, and your special day with be much better.
