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Planning
Your Special Day
The Wedding
Timetable
First Steps
The first
thing you will plan for your wedding is the budget. Talk between
yourselves and your respective parents about the kind of service
you would like
You will find
that your parents will be of enormous help to you in discussing
the budget. On your very special day you will want the best of
everything, so plan carefully the style and tone of the day.
When you have
decided, visit your Vicar/Priest or Registrar and make arrangements
for your marriage and ceremony. They will be of great help to
you both, and explain everything you will need to know about walking
up the aisle and saying "I do". If you wish, a rehearsal
can be arranged to set your minds at ease and to assure you that
it will all be perfect on your wedding day. Take this opportunity
to apply for a marriage license if necessary.
Now might
also be the ideal time to decide on who you will ask to be "Chief
Bridesmaid" and "Best Man".
The Wedding
Countdown
18-12 Months
Once you have
decided the date and place of your wedding, it is important to
remember the following points. In descending order your family
and friends will generally remember the following.
1: How beautiful
the bride looked
2: How wonderful
the ceremony was
3: The reception
Think about
i. Now is certainly the time to be choosing carefully both your
wedding dress and your reception venue.
Other important
things to be arranged now are as follows:
1: Book the
photographer and videographer
2: Book the
transport
3: Book the
toastmaster if required
4: Decide
on the number of guests and make a list
5: Order the
invitations
6: Book the
honeymoon and apply for passports
7: Decide
on the bridesmaids and ushers
8: Order the
wedding cake
You have now
put in place an excellent framework for the build up to your big
day. Hopefully, you now have a team of professionals all working
towards making sure it is a day to remember, and for all the right
reasons.
6 Months
Time for some
fun! Lets organise a wedding present list. (Don't forget that
a lot of stores will now help you with this.) Having already organised
your dress you will probably have a colour scheme in mind for
the bridesmaid dresses. Now is the time to co-ordinate these as
well.
Once the colour
scheme is decided it is probably time to start ordering the flowers
for bouquets, church, and reception if required.
Other items
to arrange now are:
1: Hire of
the suits for the bridegroom, best man, fathers and ushers
2: Initial
fitting of the dress
3: Choosing
the wedding rings
While you
are on the phone, now might be the ideal time to organise appointments
with your hairdresser and beauty salon, to make sure you look
at your most beautiful on the big day.
3 Months
Now is the
time to be sending out the wedding invitations. This would also
be the ideal time to be escorting the "mums" into town
to organise their outfits (Don't forget the hats!)
Also:
1: Choose
the hymns and choice of music
2: Arrange
for the "Order of Service" sheets to be printed
6 Weeks
You should
now be fairly well organised and in the envious position of sitting
back and relaxing for a couple of weeks in the full knowledge
that there are a whole host of people out there worrying on your
behalf. However, on your one weekend off between now and the big
day, it might be an excellent idea to nip out and choose some
presents for the bridesmaids, and perhaps flowers for the mums.
4 Weeks
The pace is
starting to hot up now. It is time to see whether everyone else
has been as organised as you.
1: Confirm
the reception venue booking, and numbers attending
2: Confirm
details with the photographer
3: Confirm
the wedding cars
4: Confirm
details with the florist and give final numbers for buttonholes
5: Confirm
travel and hotel bookings for the honeymoon.N.B Check passports
10-7 Days
If you haven't
already organised a rehearsal of the ceremony now might be a good
time to meet with the best man, bridesmaids and ushers to finalize
arrangements and responsibilities.
1: Practice
your make up
2: Take the
headdress to your hairdresser
3: Give the
"Order of Service" sheets to the Vicar/Priest and perhaps,
most importantly of all...
Start to pack
for the honeymoon
One Day
To Go
Try to delegate
as much work as possible. Have your beauty treatment, finish off
any packing that still remains to be done for the honeymoon, lay
out your wedding and going away ensemble, relax and put your feet
up.
The Wedding
Day
Assuming a
2pm wedding, the bride's timetable will run something like this:
8.00 Have
a shower or relaxing bath
8.30 Have a good breakfast
9.00 Polish your nails
11.00 Best Man arrives to collect the luggage/greetings cards/telegrams
11.30 The bridesmaids/pageboys arrive
12.00 Makeup
12.30 The bride and bridesmaid dress
1.00 The photographer arrives
1.30 The first car takes the mother and the bridesmaids to the
church. The bridesmaids then wait in the church entrance
1.45 The second car takes the bride and her father to the church
1.58 Wait in church entrance and line bridesmaids up behind you.
The verger will greet you
2.00 The ceremony.
GOOD LUCK
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