How to organise your wedding day – Step 1 “To-do” Now

As soon as that ring is on your finger you will need to be on top of the wedding plans as soon as possible. It is never too early to start getting ready and it will pay dividends in the long run, as the day looms closer you’ll be the coolest bride around. We have touched on this bfore in our earlier blog “Congratualtions, you’re engaged.”

Here’s a refreshed ‘To-do’ now list

• Announce your engagement, throw a party and tell the world!
• Have the financial chat NOW with all those concerned, everyone knows where they stand and what contribution they are making.
• Decide what kind of ceremony you would like – Civil or Religious and arrange appointments with relevant venues and ministers.
• Look for a wedding planner if you would like one.

You’re about to take part in the biggest day of your life – being prepared will make the whole process a breeze!

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Questions to ask you wedding suppliers: Catering

Our final instalment for this week looks at questions to ask your caterer. Visit several, ask for sample menus, get a feel for what they do and their quality and value for money. Don’t forget to ask some of these vital questions too;

Catering

1. Have you catered at my chosen venue before?
2. Do you have set menus?
3. Would you be happy to create a bespoke menu for me?
4. Do you provide waiting staff?
5. Do you charge for menu tasting?
6. What different styles of food do you offer?

Asking about dietary requirements, the supply of furniture and linens are all things that should also be covered.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this weeks series on vital questions. Next week we are asking for help in planning the ideal virtual wedding so don’t forget to follow the blog and join us over on Face book.

Questions to ask your wedding suppliers: Entertainment

Check with the venue that there are no restrictions on live bands or a limit to the time they are allowed to play until. Once you’re cleared those two points, you’re ready to seek out a live band, disco, comedian, magician – there’s a whole plethora of suppliers available. Our questions relate to live music, we’ll cover other entertainers in a separate blog.

Entertainment

1. Where can we see you performing before our wedding day?
2. What style of music do you play?
3. What happens in between sets? Is there a DJ or recorded music?
4. Do you have our chosen first dance music?
5. What do you need in terms of power and technical equipment?
6. Can we see your play list?

There’s so many questions that you could ask but this is personal to you and will have a huge bearing on creating the atmosphere for the evening reception. Research, research, research would be our advice.

The final part of our check list tomorrow will be looking at catering.

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Questions to ask your wedding suppliers: Florist

It is recommended to book your florist 6 – 12 months in advance of your wedding and once you have decided it might be that you don’t need to speak to them again until closer to the day itself. So how do you know that you’ve asked all the right questions? Do you feel reassured that you have covered every angle?

Continuing in our series of vital questions, we look at the questions you should ask when booking.

Florist

1. Do you have testimonials from satisfied Brides that I can read?
2. Will it be you doing the flowers or will you delegate to your team?
3. Have you worked with this venue before? Will you visit before the day?
4. I’d like seasonal flowers, what will be in flower on my chosen date?
5. On the day, how long will you need to set up?
6. I have a budget in mind of £x, are you happy to work to that?

Tomorrow we will be asking about outsourcing entertainment and what you need to know before booking.

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Questions to ask your wedding suppliers: Photographer

Continuing from our vital questions for wedding suppliers, today we look at photographers. The idea of the check list is to give you enough guidance to be able to negotiate with your chosen supplier by being clear in your own mind of what you should ask.

Photographer.

If you have met a potential photographer at a wedding fayre then you should have been able to samples of their work. But if you have just taken some details and seen a few photographers it’s always worth refreshing your mind with the quality of their work.

1. Can I see examples of your work?
2. What packages so you offer? Is it possible to have a bespoke package?
3. Are you familiar with my chosen venue?
4. What is your style of photography?
5. How are you fee’s structured?

It may be salient also to fins out if they shoot digitally or with film. If possible, ask if they are happy to share details of another wedding where they were the photographer.

Our next instalment looks at your Florist.

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Wedding Speech

How many times have read ‘tweets’ or blog posts related to the wedding industry that have abbreviated words and initials? We’ve compiled a list of some of the ones we know about, but feel free to add any that you know.

B2B – Bride-to-be

H2B – Husband-to-be

OH – Other half

MIL / FIL / SIL / BIL – Mother/Father/Son/Daughter – in – law

BM – Best Man

MOH – Maid of Honour

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