How to Plan a Wedding

A wedding ceremony is the most memorable moment of a person's life. Everyone wants their wedding day to be grand. Planning the entire event--from the location, to the food, music, invitations, the wedding dress, and numerous other things, becomes a tedious and confusing task.

However, a little bit of planning helps in such situations. Given below are a few ideas to ensure that the ceremony goes smoothly.

Fixing the date of the wedding is one of the first and most important steps. It is advisable to keep a rain date in case of any contingency. As soon as the dates are decided, inform all your guests so that they can make advance plans.

Then comes the location of the ceremony. This is where your budget comes into the picture. If you have a reasonably good budget, then an outdoor wedding is a good idea, as it will cost you a bit more.

However, if the weather is not co-operative, it will be a problem. The best solution for this is to plan a location which has an outdoor as well as an indoor facility, or opt for desert locations around Las Vegas, where the chances of rain interruption are low.

After the date and location, the next step is deciding the kind of ceremony that you would like to have. Some of the issues which need to be discussed are--the theme, who will look after the decorations, who will be preparing the menu, finding a good caterer, and looking after the invitations, among many other things.

It is convenient to hold the dinner and the ceremony at the same venue, as this saves a lot of time. Choose a place which can accommodate a few extra people. Your wedding reception hall should not look overcrowded.

Make the reservations well in advance, as it could get difficult to book a banquet hall on short notice. Keep a list of contact numbers of all the guests. The content of the invitation should be short. Providing a map of the venue can be a helpful plus for your guests.

After confirming the number of guests who are attending the reception, look for a caterer. As catering is expensive, you can plan a simple yet elegant menu.

Hiring a professional wedding photographer is better. Even if his services are a bit expensive, it is his skill and the quality of the photographs that is important.

Choosing a wedding dress may be a very confusing affair, but it is always best to go out shopping with your mother or one of your friends. Involving too many people creates unnecessary stress and chaos.

The contemporary wedding dress style is the open-shoulder look, where the straps of the gown or dress do not cover the bride's shoulders. You can opt for a designer wedding dress too. However, if you have a tight budget, renting the dress is another good option.

If you are a working person and have difficulty arranging the whole ceremony, you can hire a wedding planner.

These people are consultants who plan weddings for the bride and groom, and ensure that it goes exactly the way the couples want. He/she will go over all the details with the couple, right from the wedding vows to cutting the wedding cake at the reception.

Plan the wedding in such a way that you have an extra day to relax before the event. It does not have to be a very stressful and daunting affair.