Five Biggest Wedding Preparation and Planning Mistakes

Just as with any big show, your wedding day will not be perfect – but that's okay. While you cannot plan ahead for every little detail or problematic situation that may arise, you can arm yourself with some helpful advice to be prepared at all times for any potential wedding mistakes. But before you begin planning your special day, consider these five biggest wedding preparation and planning mistakes that amateur 'wedding planners' often make.

1. Not Budgeting Costs
It's hard to believe, but true – many couples do not create a budget when it comes to wedding preparation and end up in a deep hole of debt. The very first thing you should do to avoid disastrous (and bankrupting) wedding mistakes is devise an itemized budget, allowing for the necessary requirements, such as a venue for both the ceremony and reception, food and drinks, flowers, favors, decorations, etc. If anything is left over, either use this money for your honeymoon or spend it on something a little more frivolous, like a horse drawn carriage for your departure from the reception.

Budgeting ahead of time also involves your acknowledging the fact that you may surpass the total by at least 10%. Surprises do happen, so cutting back on other needless things will ensure that you don't go over budget too much. In these initial wedding preparation stages, you and your fiancé need to discuss who will be paying for what. It used to be that the bride's parents paid for everything, but this ideal is slowly fading away. If you're still coming up short on funds, there are literally hundreds of ways to cut costs for your wedding day, including having fewer guests, choosing an off-season date, selecting flowers that are in season, and having friends and family play a bigger part by making the wedding cake or trying their hand at photography.

2. Not Giving Yourself Enough Time
The image of the harried bride has been engrained into the psyche through a number of television shows that hype up the combination of little to no time and a 'my way or the highway' attitude. This is why giving yourself ample wedding preparation time is necessary to ensuring that your wedding flows seamlessly. If you want a large, extravagant wedding, you need to begin planning at least a year and a half in advance; for a smaller, more intimate wedding of about 50 guests, eight months to a year is fine. You need to take into account what your plans are for your wedding and adjust your schedule accordingly to prevent costly wedding mistakes from occurring.

Giving yourself more wedding preparation time allows you to order your cake, dress, wedding favors, flowers, decorations, etc. well in advance so that you don't come up empty-handed from last minute rushing. Allotting enough time also applies to your wedding ceremony and reception. Don't keep your guests waiting at the reception venue while you and your wedding party are taking hundreds of photos – consider taking a majority of the pictures before the ceremony and the all-important couple, wedding party, and family pictures after the vows have been exchanged.

3. Not Delegating Responsibilities
Delegating responsibilities, wedding preparation tasks, and roles is vital – you cannot do everything! For brides, their bridesmaids are there to help them with the important duties of the wedding day, so creating a short list of responsibilities for each friend is not unexpected. Mothers, family members, and friends are also glad to help run a few errands or make calls for you if you ask. Just make sure you ask someone you know will get the job done on time.
Part of the wedding experience also relies on a number of people who require detailed wedding preparation directives from you, such as the caterer, photographer, florist, transportation and/or drivers, and DJ. Discussing your ideas with them ensures that you can work together on the same wavelength and avoid embarrassing wedding mistakes during the actual reception. You should also arrange for the wedding party to meet at the church or the wedding ceremony location at a specified time. Corralling so many people at the same time is what leads many couples to pick up the wedding party members at their homes. Late arriving wedding party members is one of the most frequent and sometimes uncontrollable wedding mistakes a bride and groom have to deal with.

4. Not Hiring a Wedding Planner or Someone You Trust
Many brides swear by their wedding planners, and yes, it's true that they take care of just about everything involved in wedding preparation and planning, preventing a number of the more common wedding mistakes brides make. It's kind of like you and your fiancé are the stars, while the wedding planner works behind the scenes for your big performance, seeing everything from start to finish. Wedding planners know all the ins and outs of great wedding preparation and planning and can help the couple find reliable caterers, bridal attire and supply stores, transportation, and DJs at lower prices. Before signing any contracts, however, talk with the wedding planner to see if it's a situation you're happy with.

While incredibly helpful, wedding planners can also be pricey, unfortunate for the bride who is trying to cut costs. This scenario goes back to delegating responsibilities – ask someone you trust to help you make wedding preparation arrangements and appointments with each wedding supply store and/or vendor. You can even scale back operations and have a simplistic wedding that you plan or DIY completely to save money.

5. Not Fully Considering the Reception Venue and Details
Sending your guests on a wild goose chase to find the reception venue is something that happens more often than you'd think and is one of the biggest wedding mistakes couples overlook. For out-of-town guests, this is confusing; for in-town guests, it's an annoyance. Choosing a reception venue that's close to the wedding site is a must, unless you provide the transportation to and from the reception. More than 15 – 20 minutes away is a hassle, and some guests may not even bother going if it's farther than that.

Otherwise, if your reception venue is outside (or exposed to the elements), rain and windy conditions may appear so you should always have a back up in cases of inclement weather. A rained out wedding reception is one of the more common wedding mistakes brides have neglected to plan for. Part of the wedding preparation necessities should also include your requesting the venue's landscaper to spray for bugs so your guests aren't being bitten by mosquitoes and gnats.

Learn to Laugh Off Those Wedding Mistakes
Pre-wedding preparation, while helpful, will inevitably miss some little detail of your big day. These wedding mistakes (or, more likely, minor 'blips') are to be expected and may even provide a funny moment for you and your fiancé to laugh about in the future. Wedding mistakes do and will happen, but you shouldn't be bothered by them. Simply go on with the show and smile – no one will know the difference!

Ideas to Plan A Less Expensive Wedding, Reduce The Stress Of Wedding Planning With The Help Of Friends, Seeking Help For Planning Your Wedding Day

Wedding is the most special occasion in the life of any couple for which they may have seen many dreams together. Couples usually plan a grand celebration inviting a large number of people which requires them to spend lavishly. However not everyone can make such huge expenditure. Couples who cannot afford to have a grand wedding can try and cut down the cost of wedding expenses where ever possible. There are several ways in which you can minimize the cost of your wedding.

Nowadays with prices of every thing escalating wedding cost has also increased. But there is no need for worry as there are better ways to plan your wedding and still stay within your budget.This way your wedding dreams will not shatter and you will be able to make the day special.So here are few ideas to cut down on your wedding cost and remain within your budget.

1: The Reception
The charge for hiring reception venue is usually quite high. So be careful while selecting a venue for your wedding. Try and keep the venue a simple affair.Choose a garden or a park so that you are saved from spending on the venue as these locations come for free. Talk to the local people and plan accordingly. However if you desire to celebrate in a banquet hall , choose a less expensive hall. You can make it look splendid by using beautiful decoration. So this is like planning a cheap wedding.

2: The Guest List
If you want to minimize your expenditure make sure you keep your guests list short. Just invite close family members and friends. Avoid inviting even those relatives whom you have not seen in ages.

3: The Wedding Gown
Wedding gown is the most important aspect of a wedding. Every bride dreams of wearing a beautiful wedding gown as she walks down the aisle. If the bride doesn’t want to spend on expensive wedding gowns, a great idea would be to wear her mother’s wedding dress.Though she can change the embroidery and design to suit the latest fashion, the sentiments attached to the gown will always remain intact. Your mother would also feel honoured by this gesture.

4: Photography
If you engage a professional photographer it could prove to be very expensive. A good idea would be ask any of your family members or cousins to take the wedding photographs. Why not ask youngsters to do it , they are good at it. If you entrust this task to them they will do it responsibly. This will save your wedding cost.

5: Other Expenses
There are several other wedding expenses such as invitaions, stationery, flowers and a number of other things needed for your wedding. Make sure you decide everything you need well in advance so that you have enough time to do shopping and chosse carefully. Ask a friend to help you in your wedding shopping. Flowers are quite expensive so select carefully. If the cost it beyond your range you can also consider picking flowers from a garden. Keep your invitation cards as simple as possible.The wedding cake can be done by a friend who is good at baking. Dont hesitate in asking for help as you would be amazed to see the number of people willing to help you.

There are several ways in which you can cut down on your wedding expenses. Just pay attention to every small detail that increases your budget and try to find ways to reduce those expenditures.

Reduce The Stress Of Wedding Planning With The Help Of Friends
Planning a wedding is an exhilarating experience for the bride but at the same time a very arduous task. If the bride, groom and their family are planning the entire occasion it may be really exhausting for them. A wedding planner can be engaged to plan and organize the entire occasion. Yet another choice would be seek the help of friends who will be more than willing to do something for you on the most special day of your life.

Every individual is gifted with some wonderful talent. Ask your friends to be a part of your wedding celebration by contibuting their bit. However before approaching your friends keep in mind the following points:

Probably all your friends are not in a position to offer any help to you.

If you are seeking help from friends be prepared to do without wedding gifts.

Make sure you are asking people to do something relevant as they will be investing both time and energy in contributing to your wedding celebration.

Ask your friends to use their specialized skills.

Your wedding ceremony and reception will allow the display of your friends talents and skills. Make sure you thank your friends in a special way for their efforts and kind gesture.

Express your gratitude when your friends offer wedding gifts to you.

Just dont go and ask anyone for help especially people who have no respect for time and are always late. Such people will arrive late for your wedding planning and delay your preparations. Make a fair choice and dont exercise your choice being biased.

Tell them about your plans and know whether they are willing to carry out the tasks according to your will.

Express your gratitude by writing thank-you notes. They maybe handwritten .

Once you have gathered all your friends who are willing to help you tell them about your ideas and the look you want to

achieve for your wedding ceremony and reception. Usually your friends will be very happy to help you on this very special occasion of your life.

With so many helping hands your wedding celebration will surely turn out be a big hit. Some friends will volunteer to take charge of your wedding decoration, others will handle the flowers. This way all your wedding preparation will be done without any stress. Moreover everyone will enjoy making wedding preparations together. Its a good opportunity for all friends to spend a wonderful time together.

Seeking Help For Planning Your Wedding Day

At some point of time in your life you must have dreamed about your wedding day and now when the big day is nearing you are actually going to see that dream become reality.

The entire wedding celebration will be a blissful experience for you. It will be such a beautiful moment when you walk down the aisle wearing a stunning wedding gown and all guests watching you. The special ring on your third finger smiles up at you as you dream about your wedding day. It will remind you of the special night when your beloved proposed to you.
It feels good to dream about the most special day in your life but when it comes to actually deciding upon a wedding date and plan and preparing for the big occasion then you feel the need of a wedding planner. Its a good idea to engage a wedding planner if you want to save yourself from a stressful wedding day.

The amount of help you need for planning your wedding depends entirely on you. There are some who prefer to manage the whole event on their own with the help of their family and friends and there are others who entrust the task to a wedding planner who takes care of every small wedding detail except choosing the brides wedding gown for her. So the help required for planning a wedding varies with your choice of assistance. If you are comfortable with planning the entire event on your own then go ahead and make the special day a memeorable one for yourself by planning everything perfectly. However if you wish to save yourself from the stress that comes with wedding planning then entrust the task to a wedding planner who will look after all the planning and arrangement.

Definitely your wedding cost will rise if you decide to engage a wedding planner. Thus if you dont have the budget to hire a wedding planner you can always get some help by reading good books on the subject or visiting online wedding websites. You can also turn for help to non-professionals . So decide what suits you and your circumstances best.

Whether you engage a wedding planner or not it is impossible for you to manage everything alone. So delegate work to everyone who is ready to help you. The groom can pick a tuxedo for him , probably your sister can distribute the wedding invitations and so forth. Go and seek help and you will be amazed to see the number of people ready to help you plan the most special day of your life.