wedding articles

Copyright (c) 2009 by Tracie Morris, https://yourethebride.com/

As a wedding planner with over 11 years of experience I have seen just about everything. I wanted to share just a few of the mistakes you may make as a bride but don’t have to. I understand that you have never planned a wedding before and you want it to be perfect. There is no shame in calling in a professional to help assist with the most important day of your life. You may work or go to school and planning your wedding is another full-time job so try not to spread yourself too thin by doing it all. A bride can’t possibly know what to do in every situation that arises so leave it to the professionals to put out the fires! There is so much to do, know and remember!
1. Don’t pay full price for vendor meals. Make sure your hall backs out the alcohol portion as your vendors are professionals and should not be drinking at your wedding.

2. Don’t assume your banquet hall will fold your napkins brought in from an outside vendor. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t so if they don’t you have a big problem on your wedding day and the job might not get done.

3. Don’t not order extra invitations and envelopes. A second printing always cost much more than the first batch. It’s better to order more now than pay more later.

4. Don’t assume your Catering Manager at the hall is your Day-of Coordinator. They have one goal in mind the day of your wedding and that is to make sure that their responsibilities are being taken care of meaning getting the food out to your guests, taking care of any bar problems, etc. They will not help you fix your bustle, or pack your items up at the end of the night plus many other things inbetween that come up.

5. Don’t assume that your DJ, Photographer or Videographer works alone. They often bring along an assistant and that is an extra meal that you may or may not have to pay for. It is best when you hire that vendor to ask them if they bring along someone so you know if you will need to provide another meal.

6. Don’t assume your guests know that they can’t take home your rented centerpieces. Yes, you heard me often the vases are rented and need to be returned to the florist and your guests just walk off with them not giving a second thought to this. Then you are stuck paying a replacement fee to your florist for the missing vases!

7. Don’t assume that getting a chaircover for a $1 or so is a great deal. Often these are a mess and not clean or pressed. I have even seen them with holes and rips at the bottom..not very classy for your dream reception. Not to say that you won’t find some chaircover vendors that do take pride in your work and will deliver a nice and clean finished product but you must be careful.

8. Don’t assume your Limo Driver knows where he/she is taking you although you have provided directions and/or the address to each location. It is best to type something up and give it to him/her at the first pickup. This way you won’t have to be yelling up every 5 minutes..no turn here, back up, stop!

9. Don’t assume your wedding guests won’t come up and bother you at your reception with seating issues. Trust me this is the last thing you want to deal with while you are trying to enjoy your meal. Having a point of contact in charge like a day-of coordinator to trouble-shoot these little issues that often come up will save you a great deal of stress.

10. Don’t assume your hall will cut and serve your wedding cake to your guests for free. Be sure to check your contract to see what the charge is and often you can negotiate it.