WebLady
07-31-2006, 10:55 PM
1. Waiting too late to order your dress and/or the brides maids dresses.
Remember, these items have to be special ordered and then custom tailored to fit you and each member of your bridal party. This process can take several weeks to several months in some cases! Plus, you will need to have the dress ready early if you want to have any pre-wedding bridal portraits done! You should try to order your dress at least 7 months out and give yourself at least 5 months for the bridesmaids. If you do get down to the wire, don't worry, some shops can expedite shipping and alterations but it will cost your more. Your other last minute option would be to shop off the racks and hope you can find what you need.
2. Not getting everything in writing.
No matter what wedding service we are talking about, Always, Always, Always, get it in writing! Written contracts are meant to protect your best interests. Contracts are your protection if something goes wrong or not as agreed. Never simply trust someone's "word", if is is good enough to say, it is good enough to put on paper! When everything is in writing, there is less room for miscommunication and misunderstanding about what you are getting and what you are paying for.
3. Forgetting to finalize the guest list and collect addresses in enough time.
While most couples know the names and addresses of the most important people, such as parents and close friends, but there are likely many other people from both sides of the family that will take some time to track down. Get your parents lists as soon as you can and get started. A spreadsheet can help you organize everything.
4. Failing to set a specific time and place for the groomsmen (and any other men involved in the wedding) to pick up their tuxedos, BEFORE the wedding day.
Most brides are sure to remind everyone about the time and place to be for the rehearsal and such but many times they forget to address when and where the men are to pick up their tuxedos. All too often, the men wait until the last minute, or even on the day of the wedding! You want to make sure everyone has time to deal with missing, wrong or miss-sized items, such as the wrong shoes or the wrong vest.
5. Not letting people know of special seating arrangements.
Many times brides and grooms assign special seating for the reception but all too often forget to tell their guests about this. Even if you use place cards, if no one knows about them, they are not likely to notice until it is too late. So it is nice to put something in with the invitation and/or program to let guests know about the assigned seating. It can also help to have a "door man" ... have this person outside the entrance with a list of guests, and direct them to their assigned table. You could also have the DJ make some sort of an announcement about the seating.
6. Choosing children too young to be in the wedding.
Everyone loves the idea of little ones all dressed up, they are so cute in their little outfits. But all too often small children make for big problems! The ideal age for a Flower girl or Ring barer is no younger than 4 and no older than 7. Any younger than 4 and you are asking for trouble. Any older than 7 and the child is just to big and you have a whole other set of problems. Many times the mother of the child is also in the wedding party, in this case she will be spending alot of time tending to the child and therefore cannot properly perform her duties. Small children get antsy easily and have a very short attention span. Besides that, you are asking them to perform in front of a crowd of strangers, many adults are not comfortable with that! Even if they do make it down the aisle, they are not likely to sit still during the ceremony and usually won't make it through the pictures afterwards either.
7. Taking too much time with pictures.
To be able to get everything you need and not take too much time away from your guests, you should take the majority of the photos before the ceremony. You can still keep with tradition and not see the groom before, just do all the photos of each of you alone and with your attendants and such. Then all you have left afterwards if a few pictures of the two of you with the families and then the romantic ones alone. If you do it right, you can be headed to the reception less than 30 mins after the ceremony! Once you have made your entrance at the reception, you don't want to have to leave you guests, the party is in your honor, you shouldn't leave.
8. *Waiting too far into the reception for the formal activities. *(ie: the first dance, cake cutting/sharing, toasts, bouquet and garter toss, etc ...)
This is something that can be avoided by having a timeline of events and following it. If you have a coordinator and/or a good DJ, they should do this for you. Many people think once the formalities are over that people will leave, and some may, so they put these things off until later. Others may put these things off so they can mingle more, which they should, but in my experience, people are more likely to leave early if there is nothing going on to keep there attention.
9. Not having proper seating for all your guests.
This goes for the ceremony and the reception. If you are wanting people to leave, this is a good way to do it ... people don't like to stand for long periods of time and they don't like to be cramped and they don't like to have to eat in their laps. In some cases, a standing room only reception can be appropriate such as with extremely large numbers of people where providing seats for everyone is not feasible ... or in a very small, intimate reception serving light hors d'oeuvres. In these cases the facility should have other seating areas available, and you still may loose a few guests earlier than you would have if everyone had a seat. The best way to go is to find a facility that can properly accommodate the all of your guests, or you might even consider cutting back the guest list a bit. The latter option will save you money.
10. Not taking the time to eat at YOUR reception.
You really should take a few minutes and eat something. For one, it is your party and you should be able to eat, at least a few bites. Plus, it is likely that you won't have eaten much earlier that day. If you are having a buffet reception, have someone serve you so you don't have to go through the buffet line and be stopped by other guests. If all else fails, have the caterer make up a to-go basket for you and your new husband to take with you when you leave and enjoy it alone together, later.
Remember, these items have to be special ordered and then custom tailored to fit you and each member of your bridal party. This process can take several weeks to several months in some cases! Plus, you will need to have the dress ready early if you want to have any pre-wedding bridal portraits done! You should try to order your dress at least 7 months out and give yourself at least 5 months for the bridesmaids. If you do get down to the wire, don't worry, some shops can expedite shipping and alterations but it will cost your more. Your other last minute option would be to shop off the racks and hope you can find what you need.
2. Not getting everything in writing.
No matter what wedding service we are talking about, Always, Always, Always, get it in writing! Written contracts are meant to protect your best interests. Contracts are your protection if something goes wrong or not as agreed. Never simply trust someone's "word", if is is good enough to say, it is good enough to put on paper! When everything is in writing, there is less room for miscommunication and misunderstanding about what you are getting and what you are paying for.
3. Forgetting to finalize the guest list and collect addresses in enough time.
While most couples know the names and addresses of the most important people, such as parents and close friends, but there are likely many other people from both sides of the family that will take some time to track down. Get your parents lists as soon as you can and get started. A spreadsheet can help you organize everything.
4. Failing to set a specific time and place for the groomsmen (and any other men involved in the wedding) to pick up their tuxedos, BEFORE the wedding day.
Most brides are sure to remind everyone about the time and place to be for the rehearsal and such but many times they forget to address when and where the men are to pick up their tuxedos. All too often, the men wait until the last minute, or even on the day of the wedding! You want to make sure everyone has time to deal with missing, wrong or miss-sized items, such as the wrong shoes or the wrong vest.
5. Not letting people know of special seating arrangements.
Many times brides and grooms assign special seating for the reception but all too often forget to tell their guests about this. Even if you use place cards, if no one knows about them, they are not likely to notice until it is too late. So it is nice to put something in with the invitation and/or program to let guests know about the assigned seating. It can also help to have a "door man" ... have this person outside the entrance with a list of guests, and direct them to their assigned table. You could also have the DJ make some sort of an announcement about the seating.
6. Choosing children too young to be in the wedding.
Everyone loves the idea of little ones all dressed up, they are so cute in their little outfits. But all too often small children make for big problems! The ideal age for a Flower girl or Ring barer is no younger than 4 and no older than 7. Any younger than 4 and you are asking for trouble. Any older than 7 and the child is just to big and you have a whole other set of problems. Many times the mother of the child is also in the wedding party, in this case she will be spending alot of time tending to the child and therefore cannot properly perform her duties. Small children get antsy easily and have a very short attention span. Besides that, you are asking them to perform in front of a crowd of strangers, many adults are not comfortable with that! Even if they do make it down the aisle, they are not likely to sit still during the ceremony and usually won't make it through the pictures afterwards either.
7. Taking too much time with pictures.
To be able to get everything you need and not take too much time away from your guests, you should take the majority of the photos before the ceremony. You can still keep with tradition and not see the groom before, just do all the photos of each of you alone and with your attendants and such. Then all you have left afterwards if a few pictures of the two of you with the families and then the romantic ones alone. If you do it right, you can be headed to the reception less than 30 mins after the ceremony! Once you have made your entrance at the reception, you don't want to have to leave you guests, the party is in your honor, you shouldn't leave.
8. *Waiting too far into the reception for the formal activities. *(ie: the first dance, cake cutting/sharing, toasts, bouquet and garter toss, etc ...)
This is something that can be avoided by having a timeline of events and following it. If you have a coordinator and/or a good DJ, they should do this for you. Many people think once the formalities are over that people will leave, and some may, so they put these things off until later. Others may put these things off so they can mingle more, which they should, but in my experience, people are more likely to leave early if there is nothing going on to keep there attention.
9. Not having proper seating for all your guests.
This goes for the ceremony and the reception. If you are wanting people to leave, this is a good way to do it ... people don't like to stand for long periods of time and they don't like to be cramped and they don't like to have to eat in their laps. In some cases, a standing room only reception can be appropriate such as with extremely large numbers of people where providing seats for everyone is not feasible ... or in a very small, intimate reception serving light hors d'oeuvres. In these cases the facility should have other seating areas available, and you still may loose a few guests earlier than you would have if everyone had a seat. The best way to go is to find a facility that can properly accommodate the all of your guests, or you might even consider cutting back the guest list a bit. The latter option will save you money.
10. Not taking the time to eat at YOUR reception.
You really should take a few minutes and eat something. For one, it is your party and you should be able to eat, at least a few bites. Plus, it is likely that you won't have eaten much earlier that day. If you are having a buffet reception, have someone serve you so you don't have to go through the buffet line and be stopped by other guests. If all else fails, have the caterer make up a to-go basket for you and your new husband to take with you when you leave and enjoy it alone together, later.