Small Wedding Day

8 Reasons to Have a Small Wedding

If you’re on the fence about having a small wedding ceremony, you might like to know that there are a lot of perks to doing so. While a large and lavish wedding may seem like a dream come true, the realities that accompany such a large affair might not be worth the extra dough and energy. Explore the following reasons as to why an intimate wedding might be the best route for you.
1. Large weddings require a lot of energy and time to plan, which equals more stress. If you choose to have a small wedding, then you’re proactively cutting out unneeded stress during the planning process, as well as your wedding day.
2. Are you planning a wedding or a production? Large weddings typically have banquet captains and wedding planners behind the scenes equipped with headsets and walkie-talkies that coordinate each step in the production. Smaller weddings don’t require this type of manpower and reflect that by exuding a more personal and relaxed energy.
3. The most obvious reason to opt for a smaller wedding is because you’ll save money. Weddings, unless you go the extreme minimalist route, are expensive regardless of the size, however you’d be surprised at just how much you can save by cutting down the guest list. Every wedding guest requires an invitation, a meal, drinks, and a designated spot at your wedding; all of which comes at a cost.
4. If you have a smaller wedding, then you’ll be able to allocate more of your budget to your wedding getaways. How nice would it be to schedule a spa day a day or two prior to your wedding? Or going over seas to an exotic destination for your honeymoon instead of having to stay close to home?
5. There are countless romantic wedding destinations to choose from, but if you’re working with a small budget then you’ll most likely need to cut down your guest list in order to have your wedding at one. Destination weddings tend to be on the smaller side anyway, since a lot of wedding guests aren’t able to get away.
6. The fewer guests you have, the more time you’ll have to allocate to each guest. It’s proper wedding etiquette to visit with each guest at some point during your wedding reception and thank him or her for coming. If there are 600 guests at your wedding, then this respectful gesture becomes almost impossible.
7. If you opt to have a smaller guest list, then you can put more money into other aspects of your wedding, for example your wedding dinner. Having fewer guests could give you the opportunity to be choosey about your wedding food.
8. Fewer guests also means you’ll have to choose from. For example you could hold your wedding at a home, in a backyard, a park, vineyard, restaurant, art gallery, or perhaps an adorable bed and breakfast.
There are two (or more) sides to every aspect of your wedding planning, including the size of your guest list. The most important aspect of this decision is that you know the pro’s and con’s of each, so that you can make the right decision that fits your budget and wedding vision.

Succesful Wedding Day

Tips for a Successful Wedding Day

The Gilmer Mirror

Planning a wedding can be one of the most memorable and joyous times of your life, however, it can also be one of the most stressful. A wedding is a huge and expensive undertaking, and unfortunately, scammers are out there just waiting to ruin your perfect day.

“It’s common for brides and grooms to get caught up in the moment and open their wallets without doing any research on the company they’re about to do business with, it’s important to remain focused, organized and not get caught up in the moment.” .

Choosing a Photographer

Interview the photographer

A personal reference is always reassuring. Ask to see past work and get a list of previous clients. Contact them personally and remember to check their company record of customer experience at www.bbb.org.

Know the costs

Make sure you know what everything costs such as albums and reprints. Some photographers offer package deals while others use a la carte pricing. Ask about delivery times and how long it will take to develop your proofs.

Contracts & Payments

Is everything in your contract spelled out for you? Any services that are going to be rendered should always be in writing. Read everything twice before you sign your contract and check for a cancellation clause.

Choosing a Florist

* Word of mouth is always a great place to start choosing a florist, when shopping for a florist be sure to:

* Do research by going to bridal shows and looking at pictures online from the store’s Web site.

* Make appointments to visit at least 3 different florists.

* View pictures of their work and look to see that the pictures are not dated and the arrangements keep pace with current trends.

* Speak with the designer who will be doing your arrangements so there are no surprises on your big day.

* Give yourself a comfortable lead time to reserve your florist.

Save Money On The Caterer

* Ask your caterer to provide you with a time table that outlines when courses will be served. This will help structure events at the reception and help you keep your reception from exceeding the hours you reserved.

* Always ask for a food tasting to be certain you like the desired menu.

* Find out if the caterer offers wedding cakes in their packages, this will save you time and money.

* Be sure that the price includes table linens, napkins, dishes, glassware etc.

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Shop for a wedding gown

* A bride should shop for her gown 6-8 months prior to her wedding and allow 2-4 months for her order to arrive

* Always do research beforehand. Check out designer Web sites & bridal magazines.

* Pay with your credit card so that you have documentation of activity on your account if something goes wrong, and remember a debit card will not protect you.

* Only brick and mortar bridal shops are authorized by designers to sell their gowns. They may have online sales too, but a store presence is required.

* Always read and understand the return policy.

What to know before you go on your honeymoon

* If you want to travel to another country be sure to allow time to obtain a passport.

* Book everything in your maiden name until you change your ID, otherwise you will have problems proving your identity.

* Ask your bank if your ATM card will work in your destination country.

* Leave good jewelry at home, maybe even your engagement ring. Consider getting a Safe Deposit Box to store valuables.

* Write down credit card, passport and phone numbers you may need incase they are lost or stolen - and put them somewhere other than your wallet.

Typical Wedding Scams to Avoid

* Bridal shops that pass off cheap gowns as designer gowns or sell used gowns for full price.

* Unprofessional photographers who ransom photos, demanding more money.

* A limousine that never arrives.

* Fewer flowers than promised.

* Musicians who don’t show.

* Jewelers that exaggerate diamond quality.

The bride and groom might even consider obtaining wedding insurance. Aside from the gown, wedding insurance can provide a variety of coverage for many mishaps that might affect a wedding including vendor no-shows, foul weather, military deployment, and health issues affecting key participants.

Ideas for Wedding Reception

Wedding Reception Ideas

A little girl grows up dreaming of her day with a perfect picture in her mind on how it is supposed to be. Then we grow up, get engaged and become shocked at how expensive everything is. Things become crazy and we get stressed out wanting everything to be perfect but wondering how to pay for it all. A wedding should not put you in debt. Debt is not a good way to start a new life with the person you love. The reception can be the most expensive part of your wedding; the location rental, the food, the alcohol and other beverages, the DJ or band, the flowers, the place settings, etc., etc. There are ways to cut costs. First of all it is your reception; do not worry about pleasing your guests. They are supposed to be there to share in your special day, not to critique the food and the decorations. I’ve been to many, many weddings and receptions and I can’t remember ever thinking that anything they did was tasteless or tacky. I don’t recall caring whether or not they had extravagant decorations or simple centerpieces. That was not why I was there.
One of the easiest ways to cut the expense of your reception is to cut all the extras. Unless you can get a great package deal that includes all the bells and whistles, you don’t need them. You can choose to have your reception earlier in the day so you don’t have to provide guests with dinner. You can have hour devours and finger foods along with your. You can skip the alcohol or just have the champagne toast and shots for the dollar dance. Giving shots for the dollar dance works to your advantage because if guests want the alcohol they have to pay to dance with you to get it. Another option is by having a cash bar, let guests pay for their own alcohol while you provide just tea, coffee, punch or soft drinks. If Uncle Fred or Aunt Jackie wants to get toasted, they can do it on their own dime.
If you really want to have a dinner reception check your area for culinary arts schools or cooking schools, sometimes they will cater an event for just the cost of food. You could even have pot luck. Have close friends and family each cook a special dish for your reception. You are bound to have great food without the cost of a caterer. Skip the fancy linen tablecloths, china, and silverware settings. I about had heart failure when I found out how much rental for those items would be. Plus I would have had to wash everything before returning it, except the tablecloths. Paper plates and plastic silverware are fine. No one will be insulted because you didn’t have fancy table settings. If you think someone will be insulted maybe you should consider not sending them an invite. You can coordinate the plates, napkins, and silverware with your wedding colors and it will look very pretty. You can also use plastic or paper tablecloths. Everything will be disposable and you won’t have to worry about returning rentals when you should be enjoying your honeymoon.

If you want decent entertainment, check out local colleges for bands or DJ’s. With modern technology and computers many college students have excellent music skills. Music can be downloaded from the internet and saved on an MP3 player or burned onto a CD. You can get a techno savvy person to play music at your reception. Just give them a play list of certain songs you want played at certain times and make sure they have plenty of your type of music on hand. Give them a list a head of time so they can download any specific songs you may want.
Be creative when planning your  and reception and find ways to cut costs. Remember it is your wedding and if anyone has any problems with what you are planning ask them if they would like to pay for it to be done their way. If not remind them it is your wedding and your money you are spending.

Wedding Day planning

Do you want to have the best wedding that you have ever had? Well, if you said yes, then there are a few things that you can do to make sure that this happens. Today we are going to talk about a few tips that you can use to make sure that your wedding day is the best that it can be.

First of all, wedding day planning needs to be done way before the wedding. As soon as you know that you are getting married, it's time to start planning your wedding day. The first thing that you need to do is book a place to get married. Even if you are not getting married for months, you need to get your name on a waiting list. If there is no waiting list, then go ahead and book that place for the day you want to get married. This tip goes double for spring, when everyone is getting married anyway. The worst thing that you can possibly do is wait until the last second to find a place to get married at.

For a dream wedding day to come true, you need to to make sure that everything goes off without any kind of problems. Pretty much, this means that you need to make sure that everything is paid for before the actual wedding day. For example, when it comes to paying the caterers, do not try to pay for them on the wedding day. If you go ahead and pay ahead of time, then you do not have to worry about doing it during your wedding. After all, no one wants their perfect wedding day ruined by talks of money. In general the event or wedding planner, if one was hired, would have taken care of the florists and flowers, the DJ, wedding photographers and all other logisical planning details.

The above rule that we just talked about is one that works for more than just caterers, meaning that you can use these tips to pay for the building that you are getting married in, the band, and all other forms of entertainment. The great thing about doing this is that it will help you stay on budget as well. If you wait to pay everything at once, then you may notice that you got off budget just a little bit. This can be bad if it comes to your wedding day, and you can not pay everyone. So avoid this, and pay as you go.

If you are going to order your wedding day dress online, then you need to be sure that you order it way ahead of time. Not only do you have to allow the dress to ship to you, but you also have to check to see if the dress is going to fit you or not. If the dress is too big, then you are going to have to take it to get it altered. Normally this does not take too long, but it will take a few days, meaning that if you were having the wedding the next day, then you would be out of luck.

Of course, this information is also helpful when you are talking about your wedding hair as well. A lot of people get their hair cut a few days before the wedding. Women also like to dye their hair before the wedding day as well. So what does this mean? Well, it means that if you get a bad hair cut, then you are just stuck with it, and there is nothing that you can do. However, if you get it cut a few weeks before the wedding day, then you have time to let your hair grow back out if you do not like it. Also, do not color your hair right before your wedding. Remember that coloring your hair makes it very bright for a long time. It's a good idea to be sure that you color it a few days before your wedding so you can give the color a little time to fade. This can save you from looking like your head is a neon sign.

Next, find out who is paying for what on your wedding day. You may find out that you can pay for some things, your father can pay for some, and your soon to be husband or wife's family can pay for some things as well. However, you do not want to wait until the last second, thinking that someone was going to pay for something and they do not! So sit everyone down together and find out who is going to pay for what. The days of the bride's family paying for everything are coming to an end.

Your wedding day can be very special if you plan ahead. However, not doing any wedding day planning is going to leave you up the creek without a paddle. So to make sure that your dream wedding day is still a go, be sure that you follow the tips that we have talked about today.