Читать книгу You Are Getting Married: The Wedding Planning Guide for the Bride-To-Be - Kaitlyn Landon - Страница 6

Before you do anything else, you need to choose a date for the wedding. Be aware that the exact date that you want may not be available for the wedding venue that you want or the desired reception area.

Weddings are all about coordinating the details around this one pivotal date so you need to be open to having the date change slightly in order to have your wedding at the spot that you want, or if you are set on a certain date, be open to changing the wedding venue.

You need to pick a date that is far enough out in the future so that you can book the venues and make arrangements without being in a time crunch. You also want to give your guests plenty of notice and for the ones that have to travel, ample time to take time off of work and make travel plans.

Last minute weddings are a headache for you and for the guests so always do your best to pick a date that is far enough in advance to allow yourself breathing room for planning.

If you want to have the wedding at a popular wedding locale, then you will need to be flexible with your dates because the date you want may not be available.

Booking your wedding ceremony location well ahead of time ensures that you get the dream spot of your wedding for the date that you want it on.

Make sure that you are not going to pick a wedding date that is going to interfere with any other family functions on either side, such as reunions, birthdays, or anniversaries.

If you set your date during a time when there is another family event planned, you are asking them to make a choice, and no matter whom goes to which event, there are going to be hard feelings.

Avoid that by not setting your date near any other relevant dates for your family or for the groom’s family.

That might mean that you need to coordinate with your parents and with his to see whose birthdays are coming up, any anniversaries, highs school or college graduations, or other events.

Yes, this is your big day but you still need to think about the availability of your guests. Asking your grandparents to skip their 50th wedding anniversary for your wedding will cause conflict, so choose dates that are not going to cause issues with family trying to decide which to attend.

Holidays are also not recommended for using for your wedding dates. A three-day weekend is better than a major holiday, but the longer holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are poor times to plan a wedding because people often travel with their own families or just spend the time trying to visit all of their family as is. Spring break is also a poor time to plan a wedding.

On holidays, people often already have plans of their own and would have to scrap their annual family vacation in order to attend your wedding.

Wedding planners often recommend not having your wedding on holidays for this very reason.

Additionally, planning for a major event like a wedding during a holiday means that you will end up paying more, sometimes nearly double for the venue booking fee, the caterer, the flowers, and other things simply because it is a holiday!

Your budget will thank you if you stick to smaller three-day holidays or choose a non-holiday weekend.

Saturdays are the more desirable days for having weddings, tend to book quicker, and can be more expensive. Many places are cheaper to book on a weekday or a Sunday so consider your budget when you are deciding on the date because believe it or not, it makes a big difference.

Instead of a wedding during the day, consider having an evening wedding on either a weekday or the weekend.

Holidays, even minor ones are harder to get bookings for so keep that in mind. Similarly, avoid having your wedding during Super Bowl Sunday or during major sports playoffs such as the final four or March madness.

You do not want guests to skip the reception in order to see the game, or worse, skip the ceremony for the same reason!

If you are having an outdoor ceremony then you will want to have your ceremony while the sunlight is still shining strong.

If you are getting married inside, then a late afternoon or early evening time will be perfectly suitable. Decide on inside or outside before you set the time and the date of the ceremony!

Also, if you are having lots of family coming into town, avoid having your wedding during dates when something major, such as a convention or a city fair, is in town because hotel rooms will be harder to obtain, and the ones that are available, will be more expensive.