Preparing to Hire a Caterer for Your Wedding

Hiring a caterer is a huge decision. Indeed, most young couples find that the catering is the single biggest cost in the entire wedding planning process. It does not have to be, of course, but often it is. The trick for each couple is to make the catered part of their wedding celebration exactly what they need it to be both in quality and budget. To do this, however, a couple needs to spend a little time in preparation before they ever begin preparing to hire a caterer for their wedding celebration.

Create a Guest List
Since the most common fee structure among caterers is based on the number of guests, the only way to ensure that a couple can control their wedding budget is to know exactly how many people at most they want to entertain. Since most guest lists only expand as the couple realizes they over looked Uncle George etc. the only way to make sure this does not happen is to prepare an exhaustive guest list before they begin looking for venues and wedding professionals.

Accomplishing the assembling of a guest list, however, is easier said than done. One of the most efficient ways to make certain that everyone is covered after both sides have finished scouring the family photo albums for family and friends they might have forgotten about, is to use the discipline of putting together a couple different seating charts. This forces the couple to think about who is sitting with who and will often remind a couple of individual they might have forgotten as they think of who to seat Aunt Sarah next to. Putting together some sample seating charts can also help to inform the decision a couple has to make regarding the kind of reception venue they want as some offer round tables, others long tables, and still others offer no table options.

Establish a Budget for the Wedding
A good next step in preparing to hire a caterer is to figure out how much money does the couple have to spend on the wedding total and establish a budget? It is not enough, however, to simply divide that total based on the recommended percentages. That is the surest way to ...

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Six Helpful Beach Wedding Reception Centerpiece Tips

We all want that perfect dream wedding day. And a beach wedding with gorgeous reception centerpieces is a great start for many, but the sun and the gentle ocean breezes that makes the beach so magical also poses challenges for your wedding plans – and really impact beach wedding reception centerpieces.

Most any bride who has been married on a beach will tell you that the wind and the sun are the biggest challenges to overcome when designing the centerpieces for the beach wedding reception. The question is what to do about them? What works under those...

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Five Steps Toward Establishing a Wedding Budget

Establishing a wedding budget is not fun, but it must be done. Looking at wedding dresses, dreaming of wedding venues, going to cake tastings, and shopping for bridesmaids gifts are all more fun than establishing a wedding budget. But what a couple is able to do with any of these elements of their wedding are all impacted by the wedding budget. All too often brides blow their wad on one or two items on the top of their list and then find they have to do without, or cut back dramatically on other elements of the wedding.

Consider Your Financial Situation: Start establishing a wedding budget with an honest assessment of where you are financially. What resources are available to enable you to mount your wedding celebration? How much money is available from savings? How much has been offered in the form of gifts from relatives? Depending on your financial situation, how much can you responsibly expect to borrow and later repay without causing an unnecessary stress on your new marriage relationship?

Consider Your Guest List: The act of creating your guest list during the budgeting phase of your wedding planning is extremely important and largely overlooked. However, if a relatively accurate guest list is not put together at this point there will be no way for the new couple to determine how much needs to be budgeted for a number of areas. For example... continue reading Five Steps Toward Establishing a Wedding Budget

Free Wedding Planning Checklist

I have resisted posting a free wedding planning checklist up until now because far too often brides allow the checklist to become a substitute for taking the time to plan.

That's understandable.

The engagement period is an extremely busy time of one's life and during busy times it is easy to look for shortcuts. The problem is that using a wedding planning checklist as a substitute for real planning is the surest way I know to spend way more than necessary on the wedding celebration.

That said, there is one really good reason to print out an use a free wedding planning checklist. That reason is simply that modern weddings are so complex and have so many details that without a checklist to consult it is easy to overlook some detail which could pose a real problem.

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Wedding Planning E-book. Free!

At long last...

I am proud to announce the release of the long awaited Stepping Stones to Your Dream Wedding!

In it I:

• Reveal how each of the primary disciplines in the wedding industry works.
• Reveal the issues each wedding professional have to wrestle with to keep their business afloat.
• How you can make use of that knowledge to work with your wedding professionals to come up with the best possible result for your money.
• Practical suggestions for ways to find nearly every commonly used element in weddings for a fraction of the original cost!
• Plus, a free Wedding Planning Checklist.

This book is designed to help any bride decide what is important to them - and come up with their dream wedding not a copy of every other wedding you've seen.

Get your copy now. For a limited time, I have decided to make Stepping Stones to Your Dream Wedding free to my readers, but I don't know how long the free offer will last so pick up your copy now.

Finding the Personal in Personalized Groomsmen's Gifts

You want the right personalized groomsman's gift. It's only natural. After all, they are among your closest friends. Moreover, they are playing a generous role in making certain that your wedding day goes off just as you want it to. The normal response is a gesture of gratitude as reflected in a personalized groomsman's gift.

The tradition of giving gifts to our wedding attendants is an once in a lifetime opportunity to show your love and appreciation for all they mean to you. Moreover, considering that...

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Random Thoughts about Wedding Invitation Wording

Stay Basic: People tend to skim invitations. Limit your wording primarily to the five ‘W’s. Let the theme of the wedding be set either by the type and design of the invitations or by a handful of carefully chosen words.

Avoid Wordiness at all Costs: Simple invitations are clear, wordy invitations invite confusion.

Consider Personal Culture: Only you and your closest friends know the culture of your community. Is the inclusion or the exclusion of some element in the traditional wedding invitation going to cause a stir? Is the possible fight worth the potential damage to your celebration? In these matters ignore the talking heads - these matters have to be decided on a personal level.

Acknowledge where Acknowledgement is Due: If someone other than you is paying for the wedding, they are putting it on – so the invitation should reflect that. This means that unless they tell you otherwise, the wording should reflect that they are inviting the guest to the celebration – not you. If you want the invitation to say "Come join us in the celebration of our wedding," then you need to pay for the wedding yourself. Sound harsh? It's not. It is just the way life works.

Make Use of Internet: Include a web address for a website where guests can RSVP, get details including maps, registry, hotel information, pictures, videos, polls, whatever...

Easy Centerpiece Ideas for Your Wedding Receptionj

The wedding reception table centerpieces are a key component of the decor in any wedding. After all, every eye is trained on the table centerpiece more than any other decor element in the room. As a result we want our centerpieces to be stunning.

It's natural. The question is how.

Of course we can buy wedding reception centerpiece kits. That is a great way to take the stress out of at least one element of your wedding planning. You just order a couple more kits than you anticipate needing tables and everything is shipped to your door - ready to be arranged on the tables.

But what if you can't find something you like or don't have the budget to buy pre-made kits?

The answer, is to build them yourself.

Of course we have all seen the low, wide bowl filled with water and either floating candles or flowers. That option is tired.

But there is no reason not to take off on the concept. Consider finding a tall slender vase, approximately eighteen inches high, placing it on a mirror (or a piece of fabric that matches the color scheme) and cutting one or two calla lilies so the entire 'flower' and stem is just shorter than the vase. Now surround the vase with lit candles and you have a centerpiece with enough height to have drama yet not so big that it will significantly interfere with sight lines of those at the table.

Or fill a clear vase with slices or wedges of citrus fruits of different varieties in layers and topped with flower petals. Then fill with water and add a floating candle to the top of the vase. It can be stunning and relatively inexpensive.

Of course, many have created memorable centerpieces by arranging their wedding favors in a creative manner.

Save Money on Your Floral Budget

With the economic downturn more and more people are looking for ways to save money while still mounting a wedding that they can look back on with fond memories. Is that a tall order? Not really. All it takes is replacing the money that would have been spent with a little more careful planning. Anyway, today I posted a new article entitled, Save Money on Your Wedding Flowers. Check it out. It could save you a lot of money.

Homemade Wedding Cakes

I just posted a new article about the pros and cons of attempting to save money by making a wedding cake. The article goes on to provide a few tips that will help those who choose (whether because of budget or something else) to bake and decorate their own wedding cake in their endevors.

Click here for Do-It-Yourself Wedding Cakes

Exercise to Reduce Wedding Planning Stress

There is nothing like good physical exercise to reduce wedding planning stress - or any kind of stress for that matter. It truly is good for the human body in virtually every possible way. We were created to be physically active.

During the wedding planning phase of a woman's life it is easy to feel like she just doesn't have time to get down to the gym. After all, she has so many things to do and so few days and weeks left to accomplish them. But life doesn't work that way. The human body, mind, and soul needs a change of pace.

Sometimes, as mentioned in previous posts, that change of pace means slowing down and meditating or taking a good long hot bath. Other times, however, it means a different task. It means physical exercise.

Why?

• When you have to focus on the physical task on hand, whether it be a tennis match, or swimming, or weightlifting, it forces your mind to put the stresses of planning a wedding on the back burner. As a result a bride who exercises will find that she will come out of it with a different perspective and a clearer head. Tried it and it didn't work? This probably means that your head wasn't in the game. Focus on the task at hand. For the hour or so you are playing the game, be the best you can be at that game. Forget everything else. It will pay off in a clearer mind when you return to the wedding planning routine.
• Vigorous exercise releases endorphins - the chemical that our bodies produce that is much stronger than morphine. Endorphins are the magic behind what is often called the "runner's high". In short it is a natural way for your body to feel better.
• Regular exercise helps our coordination and fitness level which naturally results in higher feelings of confidence and self esteem.

So carve some time out of the wedding planning schedule - despite all those feelings that there is just not enough hours in the day. Take the time to go for a hike, play tennis, go ice skating, run on the beach, or just go to the gym and work out. The result of a clear mind and feeling better that come from good vigorous exercise is worth the time set aside. Besides, the effort will help make that wedding dress and that new lingerie fit better helping to reduce the stress when the actual wedding day comes around.

Reduce Stress in Your Wedding Planning

It's mid week. For the brides who are in the middle of wedding preparations we sometimes find that we need a break... that lasting until the end of the week is just not an option!

Whether it's a misunderstanding over the flowers or an obsessive Aunt who seems to feel the need to dictate every little detail of the wedding - regardless of the fact that it is not her wedding, every bride finds from time to time that she needs to blow off the steam in a controlled fashion.

Yes, she will have to deal with those issues - and sooner rather than later - but sometimes the strength to deal with those issues in a constructive manner cannot be found until the bride has taken some time to regroup without risking becoming a "Bridezilla".

Today's tip: Take in a Chic Flick - Sometimes girls have to be girls. A wise bride will choose some time to send the guys off to be a guy and then grab a girlfriend with whom she can let down her hair and be a girl. Laugh, cry, enjoy.

Thursday morning she can be regrouped and ready to tackle that headache that so stressed her the day before.

Reducing Wedding Planning Stress

During the course of planning a wedding we encounter many elements that we were not even certain existed before hand if we have never planned a wedding before. Usually those elements are in the details and they are rarely the same thing for each bride.

Usually they have to do with assumptions about the way the wedding industry does or should operate.

Whatever the particular stressor, the trick is to find a way to overcome the stress - separate from overcoming the problem! This is important. You might not always be able to get every element to go your way in your wedding planning, but you still have to find a way to get past the stress of each conflict.

The question is how? How do we deal with the stress of wedding planning when things don't go the way we hoped they would?

The answer is simple and profound. The man we know as Mark Anthony - the great Roman General and friend of Julius Caesar said, "The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts, therefore, guard accordingly; and take care that you entertain no notion unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature."

The writer of the biblical book of Philippians said something similar: " Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8 (New International Version)

Enjoying your wedding day is not about making certain that everything in her wedding plans goes just so - though we all hope that it will. Rather, a bride who takes the time to meditate on the good things in life will be able to relax and enjoy the celebration of her wedding a lot more than one who is focused on everything that has gone wrong.

Friday's Wedding Planning Stress Buster

It's Friday. The wedding plans are coming together but the stress and the enormity of the task is taking its toll. What to do? Keep on pressing on? Sometimes. We all know that sometimes perseverance is the only way to accomplish anything.

Assuming that we have persevered and tackled major portions of the wedding planning process how do you release the stress that builds up without creating more stress by spending money you don't have on a night on the town?

How about a night in the tub?

Seriously. Grab a good book. Get some soothing music playing. Light some candles. Grab something to sip. Fill the tub with hot water and scented salts or bubble bath. Close Slip out of your stresses as the clothes fall to the floor and slide into an hour or two of relaxation and distraction.

No book? Not a problem. Close your eyes and envision your time in Hawaii playing with the dolphins and hiking through incredible rain forests or walking hand in hand with your lover on sun kissed beaches. Don't plan anything. Just fantasize.

When you get out you will either be ready for a good night's sleep (which you probably need) or to tackle the wedding plans. Either way, that hour or two soaking in the hot tub will do wonders.

Another Fun Way to Reduce Wedding Planning Stress

So often we either try to ignore and endure wedding planning stress when we should be setting aside an occasional evening, afternoon, or even a weekend to help our minds and bodies release and manage the stress. Without times like these we run the risk of allowing ourselves to turn into Bridezilla.

If, on the other hand we work those breaks into our wedding planning schedule - breaks where we do not think about, talk about, obsess over, etc. our wedding plans - then we have a good chance that we will be able to keep things in perspective, keep our relationships with our loved ones positive rather than tense, and truly enjoy the ramp up to the celebration of the love of our lives on our wedding day.

That said, here is today's tip.

Go Out to Dinner: Take the time to sit and enjoy a good, high quality meal. Eat something healthy. This is as much about good nutrition as it is about a change of pace. Our bodies needs the change of pace that sitting down to a good meal will provide and it also needs nutrition rich foods to help deal with the stress planning a wedding can bring. Going out and having someone wait on us for a change is part of the therapy. Who the bride chooses for company is her choice, as long as it takes her away from wedding planning activities during the meal.

Reduce Wedding Planning Stress - Monday

It's Monday. The typical day when none of us want to do any work - which brings us to today's tip - reduce stress by giving some of your wedding planning responsibilities to someone who will embrace them with open arms!

Guys love their toys... and most guys love anything high tech. So get your intended to get out his digital camera, camcorder, and laptop so they can set up a wedding website – through which you can have them post wedding registry information, track RSVP's share engagement photo's and videos – even send out invitations, or at least have them use the computer to print the invitations and create address labels. You get the idea.

Reduce Wedding Planning Stress

Today's post is a controversial one. Not because it is iffy, but because some people have tried today's suggestion with poor results.

The problem, in most cases, is not in the idea - it is in the execution... as is so often the case.


Hire a Wedding Planner: A wedding planner who has been around the block a time or two offers something very few brides have – experience. They know people in the business, they know how to deal with wedding professionals, they have handled the problems that inevitably come up with planning a wedding, they have handled drunk relatives, etc. Most of all they know what to expect and what is a problem and what is not so the bride does not have to waste stress over situations that are not really a problem.

The execution problem, comes as a result of the fact that so many 'wedding planners' are little more than young girls who enjoyed planning their own wedding so they hung a shingle proclaiming themselves as 'wedding planners' (or something like that).

The solution? Look at resumes. Check references. Get permission and attend a wedding that the planner you are considering is mounting and watch. It won't take you long to decide if what you see is what you want coordinating all the elements of your wedding.

Wedding Planning Stress Reduction Tip Number Two

Most brides are going to love today's wedding planning stress reduction tip. There is little that is its equal in helping one to unwind and rejuvenate. But then again, times of great stress require great stress release tools.

Take a Trip to the Spa: Often brides will plan a trip to the spa with their bridesmaids in the week just before the wedding. That can be good, but it might not be enough. There is nothing that will release stress faster than being pampered while you lay on a warm table immersed in a soothing fragrance and surrounded by relaxing music.

Can't afford trips to the spa? Not a problem. Recruit a good friend to help you create your own spa experience with aromatic touches, soft music, and a homemade facial mask or body peel.

The money is not the issue. There are many inexpensive ways to create a spa experience without paying the big bucks. The issue is the time a busy bride takes away from the pressures and deadlines to let her mind and body rejuvenate - preparing her to think clearly through the planning for the beach wedding or elegant crystal wedding that is still to come.

Tips for Relieving Wedding Planning Stress

During the next two or three weeks I am going to devote myself to providing practical, time tested tips that will help any bride to manage, relieve, or reduce the stress that so naturally follows the act of wedding planning - and stress will follow. Anything worth doing is difficult enough to produce stress and something as big as today's wedding celebrations clearly are a stress producer for all but the most twisted of us!

Of course I make that last statement tongue in cheek - but... to plan something as big as a wedding. Well, any wise bride will keep a bag of stress relieving tricks up her sleeve.

Today's tip: Ignore the media and politicians when they talk about how bad the economy is. The media will stretch the story to grab ratings or sales and most politicians, and I don't care what stripe we are talking about, will lie if it will help them grab more power and influence for themselves.

True, there are a lot of people who are out of work, but a wedding is not about the nation's economy. A wedding is about the celebration of the commitment of love between two people - and no one wants stress to ruin their wedding.

Instead, a bride should consider the celebration they want to look back on with fondness over the years and temper it with the economic realities of her own situation (besides, there are a lot of ways to save money on wedding planning without giving up entirely).

But don't listen to the modern news media. That will only add stress.

Wedding Day Lingerie Shopping Keys

Every bride wants to look fabulous on her wedding day. That means choosing the right lingerie to provide just the right application of support to help her both look and feel beautiful in that gorgeous wedding gown she just paid so much for. There is, however, a trick to buying the perfect wedding day lingerie. It's not overly complicated, but as in so many things there is a wise process to work through.

She should begin the process of shopping for the lingerie she will wear under her wedding dress by actually shopping for and purchasing the wedding gown itself. Far too often young brides rush out and pick up the sexy lingerie only to discover that it will not work with her dress. That is fine if she has an unlimited budget and time frame that will allow her to repeat the process, but it is not such a good thing if funds or time is limited.

The silhouette of the dress will dictate the type undergarments the bride needs. The obvious example is the bra. A backless gown will demand that the bride not use a standard cut brassiere regardless of how 'high end' it is. Of course it does not stop there. We all know how essential the right foundations can be on any given dress.

Once she knows the cut of her wedding dress the next step is to... continue reading Wedding Day Lingerie Shopping Keys