Review your wedding day

lesleypnimrod

Hi

As a fledgling wedding planner I have to say your tips and hints are great and I have used many similar ones for the couples I'm working with.

themadvix

Thanks 1nmyopinion - there's so much good stuff in your post that I think I might save a copy to refer back to! (And will definitely take your comments about bouquet on board - I've been umm and ahhing for too long about what colour I should go for!)

Vicky

1nmyopinion

TIPS/ WOULDN'T DO DIFFERENTLY: I borrowed two veils - one from each sister, I wore the long one for the service (it ripped on a twig so bear in mind that they do get damaged without you being careless - my sister was fine about it!) and then the shorter one in the afternoon. This was brilliant because, the long one looked great for the ceremony and photos but was impractical for moving around as kept being pulled out through getting stuck on twigs and leaves and being trodden on. The short one enabled me to still wear a veil on the only day of my life that I can, and was fuss free and there for the pictures.

Don't be sucked into thinking you need 'bridal shoes' some of the best pictures I have seen the brides have bright red shoes or unusual shoes. They are mainly hidden anyway but its nice to see something a bit different when you do! I couldn't get bright shoes so just wore £25 (in the sale) silver sandals, which were comfy, pretty and I can wear them again (and already have!). In the photos they look good.

If the ground is likely to be muddy or wet bring funky wellies, they can't be seen under your dress and look wicked in pics if you hold your dress up and show off the welly. They prevent your heels from being ruined. Also buy a large cream/white golfing umbrella it looks good in pics and the light reflects around your face for the photos better. My cream one Brand new cost £12 off ebay but I ended up with a heat wave so didn't use it.

CHEAP IDEA:
I bought £1 flipflops (half price in the sale) from Tesco for the evening for ladies to change into. 10 pairs was enough for my 70 guests (some people brought flat shoes, some don't like flip flops, some were old etc) and they went down a treat, all but one pair were on peoples feet!!

Try debenhams for hair tiara's, hair slides comb etc. Their Jon Richard range is good and cheaper than all the ones you see in bridal mags and bridal shops. My slider comb was diamonte, but elegant and costs £15 (but I got it on a 20% off day for £12).


I'll shut up now, sorry for rambling! To all of you planning your wedding, enjoy the planning and do your best. When it comes to the day, relax and forget the worries, the time to enjoy your amazing day has begun.

1nmyopinion

themadvix wrote: »

Thanks 1nmyopinion - there's so much good stuff in your post that I think I might save a copy to refer back to! (And will definitely take your comments about bouquet on board - I've been umm and ahhing for too long about what colour I should go for!)

Vicky

Re your bouquet... Do it! You won't regret it! I'd send you a photo but I don't know how to or if I am allowed to!!! But look through bridal mags, most 'real brides' have white/light flowers and you can't see them against the dress... you see her hair and the dress but the flowers have no impact and you almost don't notice them (well for me anyway).

I found my best decisions were the ones I made quickly, i would umm and ahh and then go back to the first one!! Umming and Ahhing stressed me out! Once you have decided on something, leave it and move onto the next item - much less stressful!!

My hydrangeas incidentally lasted weeks! The centrepieces were a large single hydrangea head in a fish bowl and it only died after 3 weeks! (If you do like hydrangeas and they fit your colour scheme, your bouquet will need a drunk during your meal as they get thirsty after a 6 hours out of water)

ampafc

1nmyopinion wrote: »

TIPS/ WOULDN'T DO DIFFERENTLY: I borrowed two veils - one from each sister, I wore the long one for the service (it ripped on a twig so bear in mind that they do get damaged without you being careless - my sister was fine about it!) and then the shorter one in the afternoon. This was brilliant because, the long one looked great for the ceremony and photos but was impractical for moving around as kept being pulled out through getting stuck on twigs and leaves and being trodden on. The short one enabled me to still wear a veil on the only day of my life that I can, and was fuss free and there for the pictures.

Don't be sucked into thinking you need 'bridal shoes' some of the best pictures I have seen the brides have bright red shoes or unusual shoes. They are mainly hidden anyway but its nice to see something a bit different when you do! I couldn't get bright shoes so just wore £25 (in the sale) silver sandals, which were comfy, pretty and I can wear them again (and already have!). In the photos they look good.

If the ground is likely to be muddy or wet bring funky wellies, they can't be seen under your dress and look wicked in pics if you hold your dress up and show off the welly. They prevent your heels from being ruined. Also buy a large cream/white golfing umbrella it looks good in pics and the light reflects around your face for the photos better. My cream one Brand new cost £12 off ebay but I ended up with a heat wave so didn't use it.

CHEAP IDEA:
I bought £1 flipflops (half price in the sale) from Tesco for the evening for ladies to change into. 10 pairs was enough for my 70 guests (some people brought flat shoes, some don't like flip flops, some were old etc) and they went down a treat, all but one pair were on peoples feet!!

Try debenhams for hair tiara's, hair slides comb etc. Their Jon Richard range is good and cheaper than all the ones you see in bridal mags and bridal shops. My slider comb was diamonte, but elegant and costs £15 (but I got it on a 20% off day for £12).


I'll shut up now, sorry for rambling! To all of you planning your wedding, enjoy the planning and do your best. When it comes to the day, relax and forget the worries, the time to enjoy your amazing day has begun.

Some great ideas - will pass them on to the OH!

Curious_George_2

Wedding: Saturday 2nd July 2011 (4 months ago today)
Venue: Our Local Church followed by reception at Tennis Club
Guest: 75
Bridal party: Best man, 3 bridesmaids, 1 page boy & 1 MOH

Best things: Finally marrying my beloved, marrying in the most gorgeous church, everyone loving the effort we had put into the reception, all the little thoughtful touches we had provided (and made ourselves) and the fact so many of them complimented us on things they had really enjoyed and never seen done before,
the photo booth, the tribute table, the sweet buffet, the personalised cake topper etc
also... i had posh shoes for the service and made sure they had been seen before i changed into my sparkly white trainers, they had diamontes on so were "bling" but bloody comfy! i could not have done all day in those shoes

Worst things:
1, My dad, he just wasnt that interested, didnt want photos taken, wasnt happy about wearing a suit, didnt make a speech, infact the only thing i heard from him all day were comments about peoples weight, so i ignored him.
2, the weather - now this will sound weird because our weather was perfect.... beautifully hot sunshine, but as it was so warm a lot of our guests sat outside and because of that it felt like the party never really got going indoors, all the kids played outside all day and i hardly saw my daughter where as i wanted her and her friends dancing encouraging others... a bit bridezilla i know but in half the photos it looks lie there is nobody there as they are all sunning themselves outdoors!
but i guess if that was our biggest problem then it went ok!
3, our toddler was sick a few times and made a few messy nappies which other people had to clear up for me, we later found out it was because he had eaten the fruit from the bottom of a jug of pimms!!!!! poor kid! silly me for thinking my mum would have actually kept an eye on him after saying she would!

Differently:
1, I would have got to the church a little later, i didnt want to be late but apparently they didnt expect me on time so i threw everyone into a panic! lol
2, i would appoint a few people to take charge of my son so he didnt get the chance to eat that fruit, I dont have many pics of him in his suit as he had to be changed after he vomited, and due to him feeling a little poorly he was fast asleep by the time the photobooth opened and he would have LOVED it.
3, i would have encouraged more people onto the dance floor!
4, also, i typed out everything my OH had to say, all the thank yous etc and then the rules of the game where we gave away the bouquet, and there was a space where it said something like "then say a few words about your lovely bride before cueing the song that ends the speeches" as i didnt want anyone cat calling my father to get up and say something, so there had to be a song played at exactly the right moment and we had gone through this with the dj... but when it came to it OH didnt add anything of his own, if i could do it again i would remind him several times he is supposed to at least say something in the way of a gushing declaration of love...thats the whole point of the speech!

Budget: our wedding & honeymoon to Milan came in under £5000, i heard a few guesses from guests of how much they thought we had spent and the lowest was at least double that.
I can honestly say if we had all the money in the world the only thing that would have changed is the food, we would have had a sit down meal instead of a buffet,
and i suppose i would have had a lovely old red double decker bus take everyone from the church to the tennis club if i had the money, but we were very happy with all our arrangements

74jax

Curious_George wrote: »

.
I can honestly say if we had all the money in the world the only thing that would have changed is the food, we would have had a sit down meal instead of a buffet,

Can I ask why you would change to a sit down meal instead of the buffet?

I love getting everyone's 'take' on their day. This is such a good thread :j

Curious_George_2

74jax wrote: »

Can I ask why you would change to a sit down meal instead of the buffet?

I love getting everyone's 'take' on their day. This is such a good thread :j

dont get me wrong there was nothing wrong with our buffet, it was really nice (i was told... i didnt have a single bite lol)
the food was the only thing i had to compromise on because of the cost.

we picked the buffet because we wanted as many guests as possible and to do that we had to pick the lower priced option,
i cant remember the exact prices but if the buffet was (for arguments sake) £10 a head and we were expecting 80 people that was an awful lot of money, but not nearly as much as the cheapest sit down option which was £25 a head...and if we had picked that i would have had to upset a lot of people with a severe chopping down of my guest list.

the buffet does have one MAJOR advantage over sit down though, there is literally no stress over last minute numbers, our guest list fluctuated wildly between 70 & 100 in the last few weeks, we were actually expecting 90 people on the day and i think there was about 75 in the end, if there had been 15 left over meals at £25 a head i would have been pretty upset, but as it was a buffet it didnt matter as you dont cater for everyone anyway, it all got eaten!

74jax

Curious_George wrote: »

the food was the only thing i had to compromise on because of the cost.

That's the same with us. I don't want to spend a great deal on food and so am considering canapes and buffet. Just wondered the reasoning behind it that was all so I could take it on board in my planning

Idiophreak

Curious_George wrote: »

we picked the buffet because we wanted as many guests as possible and to do that we had to pick the lower priced option,
i cant remember the exact prices but if the buffet was (for arguments sake) £10 a head and we were expecting 80 people that was an awful lot of money, but not nearly as much as the cheapest sit down option which was £25 a head...and if we had picked that i would have had to upset a lot of people with a severe chopping down of my guest list.

Just to press the point a little, why would you have preferred the sit down meal anyway? Is it just the formality you'd have liked? Or more hot food etc?