When you begin planning your dream wedding, there is little doubt your expectations will perhaps be a little higher than is ideal, this can lead to stress and heaven forbid, disappointment on your big day.
Managing expectation is therefore important and the key to this is planning.
The biggest contribution to wedding stress is leaving things to the last minute, this is an easy mistake to fix, don't delay, get yourself a notebook and calendar right now and let's look at the area's you need to focus on: Discussion Accept that at the beginning the bride and groom will not agree on everything and you will each be more enthusiastic about different aspects of the wedding day.
Men are less likely to pay much attention to flower colours and table arrangements, but this doesn't mean the groom doesn't want to have a substantial input in other areas, it's just guys tend to do better with more practical tasks.
With all of this in mind, sit down and draw up a list of both of your likes and dislikes and come up with a broad overview of how the day should work.
Once you have an outline divide out some jobs that each of you are best suited to researching and arranging.
Don't forget you are going to be getting married, don't start with an argument, and make some sensible compromises to ensure the plan gets off to a smooth start.
Budget Let's not dress it up, weddings are not cheap, the average UK wedding will likely cost about £20,000.
Although it is traditional for the bride's parents to stump up the bulk of this, nowadays it's more common that both parents help out as well as the bride and groom.
It is important at an early stage to confirm exactly how much you have to play with, better to have an open chat with parents and take a frank look at your finances now that get in deep and then realise you have to make drastic cut backs.
The Reception This part of the wedding is often left till late to arrange, don't let this happen as good wedding entertainment can get booked up well in advance especially in the summer months, so you will need to act early to secure your entertainment.
You will also need to plan entertainment for your guests for any gaps or downtime in your days, this often pops up after photos and before the wedding breakfast, or after wedding breakfast but before the reception.
If you find you have a gap at these times, you might want to consider some relaxed mix and mingle entertainment such as a close up magicians or a caricature artist, both will amuse guests of all ages.
Get some help There is a lot to do so don't be afraid to ask for help, it might be one or both sets of parents or a friend or other family member, everybody knows someone who likes to organize, tap into them! Be organized It should go without saying, but when you are talking to suppliers, hotels, churches, entertainers, photographers etc, make notes, and put all the contact details into a spreadsheet or into a set page in your planner.
It sounds like a small thing, but it can save time and hassle in the long run.
When it comes to invitations, organization is again the key, make sure you use a spreadsheet, sort it alphabetically and colour code day guests and evening guests separately, this will help you keep a close eye on numbers.
Managing expectation is therefore important and the key to this is planning.
The biggest contribution to wedding stress is leaving things to the last minute, this is an easy mistake to fix, don't delay, get yourself a notebook and calendar right now and let's look at the area's you need to focus on: Discussion Accept that at the beginning the bride and groom will not agree on everything and you will each be more enthusiastic about different aspects of the wedding day.
Men are less likely to pay much attention to flower colours and table arrangements, but this doesn't mean the groom doesn't want to have a substantial input in other areas, it's just guys tend to do better with more practical tasks.
With all of this in mind, sit down and draw up a list of both of your likes and dislikes and come up with a broad overview of how the day should work.
Once you have an outline divide out some jobs that each of you are best suited to researching and arranging.
Don't forget you are going to be getting married, don't start with an argument, and make some sensible compromises to ensure the plan gets off to a smooth start.
Budget Let's not dress it up, weddings are not cheap, the average UK wedding will likely cost about £20,000.
Although it is traditional for the bride's parents to stump up the bulk of this, nowadays it's more common that both parents help out as well as the bride and groom.
It is important at an early stage to confirm exactly how much you have to play with, better to have an open chat with parents and take a frank look at your finances now that get in deep and then realise you have to make drastic cut backs.
The Reception This part of the wedding is often left till late to arrange, don't let this happen as good wedding entertainment can get booked up well in advance especially in the summer months, so you will need to act early to secure your entertainment.
You will also need to plan entertainment for your guests for any gaps or downtime in your days, this often pops up after photos and before the wedding breakfast, or after wedding breakfast but before the reception.
If you find you have a gap at these times, you might want to consider some relaxed mix and mingle entertainment such as a close up magicians or a caricature artist, both will amuse guests of all ages.
Get some help There is a lot to do so don't be afraid to ask for help, it might be one or both sets of parents or a friend or other family member, everybody knows someone who likes to organize, tap into them! Be organized It should go without saying, but when you are talking to suppliers, hotels, churches, entertainers, photographers etc, make notes, and put all the contact details into a spreadsheet or into a set page in your planner.
It sounds like a small thing, but it can save time and hassle in the long run.
When it comes to invitations, organization is again the key, make sure you use a spreadsheet, sort it alphabetically and colour code day guests and evening guests separately, this will help you keep a close eye on numbers.