Wedding Planning Check List

Hiring Wedding Vendors

A wedding day is comprised of multiple vendors coming together to create the perfect ceremony and reception. The wedding planner presents the bride, groom, parents or any other party involved in the planning process with options for each vendor service. This includes rental equipment, caterers, reception venues, florists, cake and dress designers, a DJ or band, an officiant, and any other wedding necessities. The planner offers recommendations of vendors with whom she has had a pleasant past experience. The planner will note the bride and groom's style and requirements and relay this information to each vendor to ensure the couple is pleased with all aspects of the wedding day.

Communication

The planner maintains all contact and communication with the vendors. If the vendors have a question or concern, the planner can usually address these issues without involving the couple. If necessary, the planner will relay any questions to the bride or groom and then report back to the vendor. The wedding coordinator must make certain that all vendors arrive on time on the day of the event. Each vendor should have the coordinator's cell phone number in the event of an emergency.

Working with the Wedding Party

The coordinator must instruct the bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls, ring bearers, parents and officiant on how to stage the ceremony and make entrances at the beginning of the reception. This often involves working with the musicians or DJ to ensure attendants enter and exit at the correct time. The coordinator should also instruct the best man and maid of honor when to give their speech during dinner. If any attendants have issues or questions on the day of the wedding, they should direct them to the coordinator instead of the bride, groom or parents.

Assisting on the Wedding Day
The coordinator is available to assist the bride and groom with whatever they need on the day of the wedding. The coordinator is armed with hairspray, mints, tissues, makeup, perfume and anything else the bride may need immediately before the ceremony or reception. The coordinator may need to help the bride bustle her dress after the ceremony, provide more comfortable shoes, or assist with hair and makeup touch-ups.

Article by http://work.chron.com

How to Choose your Wedding Party

Once you’re engaged, it’s exciting to share the news with everyone you know. In the glow of romance you can easily make rash decisions. A common mistake is to choose your wedding party too early. It’s hard to take back a request to be a bridesmaid after you realize you’ve just gushed the news and blurted to too many friends, ‘you just have to be in my wedding party.’

Select your bridal party only after you have set a wedding date, reserved a reception site and firmed up your guest list. It’s completely up to you how many attendants you have, but if you have a fairly small wedding, it could look a little incongruous to have a bridal party of 12 and a guest list of 80. A good gauge to go by is one usher per 50 guests.

Just because you were asked to be a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding doesn’t mean she has to be in yours. There are so many factors that should be considered. This is a big responsibility, so consider their circumstances. It can be a $250-$500 commitment to be in a wedding party. Be sure they are aware of your expectations, before they say yes. Let them know if you expect them to buy their own clothing, give a speech, or throw a party. It can be a strain on the relationship if you have an expectation that they are either unaware of or unwilling to fulfill. If you still want to ask someone you know can’t afford it, offer to help them with the costs.

If you have a lot of close friends and family you think should be in your wedding party but don’t want that large of a group, give them other responsibilities. If you have a very close friend from out of town that wouldn’t be able to fulfill a lot of expected duties ahead of time, ask them to do a reading, or make a rehearsal dinner toast so they still feel included.

These days tradition has become a lot more flexible. It really doesn’t matter if you have an uneven tally of bridesmaids and groomsmen. An usher can escort a bridesmaid on either arm and be entirely acceptable. A bride’s best friend may be a man or a groom’s best friend a woman. The bottom line is to choose the people that are closest to you and you know are going to be happy to help.

Maid in bridesmaid, should be less about marital status and more about serviceability. Just keep perspective. Although your wedding is the most important thing in your life right now, it is not necessarily the most important thing to them. Don’t become ‘Bridezilla’ and remind yourself “they’re my bridesmaids, not my servants.”

Your wedding party are there to love and support you and make sure you stay relaxed and have fun. If you take your time choosing, and communicate clearly with them, you are sure to create wonderful memories together that you can reminisce over for many years to come.

Article by Magna Goerke "The DIY Wedding Expert"

12 month wedding planning calendar, Vancouver, Surrey, Coquitlam, Langley

Just engaged? Starting to envision your wedding? Wondering about all the things you'll need to do and when? Our month-by-month snapshot of all your wedding to-dos will steer you in the right direction.

12+ months before
• Envision your wedding and draw up a budget.
• Assemble your "planning team." Consider hiring a wedding consultant.
• Pick a wedding date and time. Select several options, then check with your venues, officiant, and important guests before finalizing.
• Start planning the guest list.
• Look for and book ceremony sites and reception sites.
• Ask friends and relatives to be in the wedding party.

Optional: Have an engagement party. You may want to register beforehand for gifts.

8-10 months before
• Bride: Think about, shop for, and order your gown.
• Envision reception food.
• Decide what type of entertainment you want. A pianist for the cocktail hour, strolling violinists, a DJ, or band?
• Think about your floral decor.
• Research and book your wedding professionals. Interview vendors: photographer, videographer, reception band or DJ, florist.
• Research a wedding insurance policy to protect your deposits.
• Research and reserve accommodations for out-of-town guests.
• Register for gifts.
• Contact rental companies if you need to rent anything for ceremony/reception, such as chairs, tables, and tent.

6-8 months before
• Book ceremony musicians.
• Order bridesmaid dresses.
• Start planning honeymoon.
• Send save-the-date cards. This is a particularly good idea if you're marrying during a tourist or holiday season or having a destination wedding.

4-6 months before
• Attend prewedding counseling, if required.
• Shop for and order invitations and wedding rings.
• Shop for formalwear.
• Renew or get passports, if necessary.
• Envision your wedding cake and research, interview, and book a cake designer.

3 months before
• Order wedding cake.
• Hire a calligrapher, if you want your invitations professionally addressed.
• Attend your shower. (It may be earlier, depending on when hosts decide to have it.)
• Groom: Rent the men's formalwear.
• Hire wedding-day transport: limousines, other cars. Look into transportation sooner if you're considering renting streetcars or over-the-top travel.

2 months before
• Mail your invitations.
• Write your vows.
• Purchase gifts for parents, attendants, and each other.
• Book your stylist and try out big-day hairstyles.
• Book a makeup artist and go for a trial run.

1 month before
• Apply for a marriage license. Check with the local bureau in the town where you'll wed.
• Bride: Have final gown fitting. Bring your maid of honor along to learn how to bustle your dress. Have the dress pressed and bring it home.
• Call all bridesmaids. Make sure they have their gowns ready for the wedding.
• Make last-minute adjustments with vendors.
• Create a wedding program to hand out to guests.
• Order and plan in-room welcome baskets for out-of-town guests.

2 weeks before
• Review final RSVP list and call any guests who have not yet sent a response.
• Deliver must-have shot lists to photographer and videographer. Include who should be in formal portraits and determine when portraits will be taken.
• Deliver final song list to your DJ or bandleader. Include special song requests and songs you don't want played.
• Bride: Get your last prewedding haircut and color.

1 week before
• Give reception site/caterer final guest head count. Include vendors, such as the photographer or band members, who will expect a meal. Ask how many extra plates the caterer will prepare.
• Supply location manager with a list of vendor requests such as a table for DJ or setup space needed by florist.
• Plan reception seating chart.
• Print place and table cards, or finalize list with the calligrapher you have hired to do so.
• Call all wedding vendors and confirm arrangements.
• Give ceremony and reception site managers a schedule of vendor delivery and setup times, plus contact numbers.
• Groom: Get your hair trimmed.
• Attend bachelor/ette parties.

2-3 days before
• Bride: If you need to, have your gown pressed or steamed.
• Groom: Go for final fitting and pick up your formalwear.
• Groom: Ask the best man to make sure all groomsmen attend fittings and pick up their outfits.
• Determine wedding-party positions during ceremony and the order of the party in the processional and recessional.
• Hand off place cards, table cards, menus, disposable cameras, favors, and any other items for setting the tables to the caterer and/or reception site manager.
• Reconfirm final details with all vendors. Discuss any necessary last-minute substitutions.
• Call the limousine- or car-rental company for pickup times and locations.
• Arrange for guests without cars to be picked up from the airport or train station. Ask friends, attendants, or relatives to help.
• Deliver welcome baskets to the hotel concierge; make sure to include names and delivery instructions.

Day before
• Provide all wedding professionals with an emergency phone number to call on the day of the wedding.
• Write checks and/or talk to wedding hosts (usually your parents, if not you) about any final balances to be paid at the end of the reception.

Night before
• Rehearse ceremony. Meet with wedding party, ceremony readers, immediate family, and your officiant at the ceremony site to rehearse and iron out details.
• Bring unity candle, aisle runner, yarmulkes, or other ceremony accessories to the site.
• Give your marriage license to your officiant.
• Attend rehearsal dinner.
• Present attendants with gifts at the rehearsal dinner. You'll want to do this especially if the gifts are accessories to be worn during the wedding.

Day of
• Present parents and each other with gifts.
• Give wedding bands to the best man and the maid of honor to hold during the ceremony.
• Give best man the officiant's fee envelope, to be handed off after the ceremony.
• Introduce your reception site manager to your consultant or maid of honor for questions or problems during the reception.
• Assign a family member or attendant to be the photographer's contact so he knows who is who.

Postwedding
• Prearrange for someone to return any rentals.
• Preplan for attendants to take the bride's gown for cleaning and return the groom's tux to the rental shop.
• Write and send thank-you notes to gift-bearing guests and vendors who were especially helpful.

Read more: Wedding Planning: 12-Month Wedding Calendar - TheKnot.com