Author: Olga Pomeransky

Olga is manager at Best for Bride since 2005. Currently Best for Bride operates 4 bridal stores in Canada (Toronto, Etobicoke, Hamilton and Barrie). Best for Bride sells wedding, bridesmaids, mob dresses and more. https://www.bestforbride.com/
Posted on by — 3 Comments

The Ultimate Wedding Planning Timeline

Wedding planning can be overwhelming. There are so many decisions and purchases to be made to get ready for the big day. Not all couples have a long engagement for planning a wedding. Whether you have six months or two years, the ultimate wedding planning timeline can assist you by providing a checklist and general times to set up the essential elements for your wedding.
A wedding planning timeline can act as a To-Do list for the happy couple. This helps to ensure that details are not forgotten until the last minute. When looking at the ultimate wedding planning timeline, you may need to make adjustments according to how much time remains before the wedding day. Destination weddings may require additional preparations and travel to secure the venue and documentation.

Up to One Year Before:
Set a date for the wedding.
Discuss the budget and decide on a spending limit.
Announce engagement to family and friends.
Hire a wedding planner if one is being used.
Book a venue.
Choose the members of the wedding party.
Begin the guest list.

8 Months Before:
Hire the necessary professionals such as the officiant, florist, caterer, photographer, and the band or DJ.
Plan the honeymoon.
Register for gifts.
Find the perfect wedding dress, veil, and shoes.
Select the bridesmaids’ dresses and shoes.

6 Months Before:
Order wedding invitations.
Choose the traditions and rituals to be included in the ceremony such as the unity candle and selected readings.
Obtain passports if necessary for the honeymoon.
Purchase wedding night lingerie and any additional clothing and personal care items needed for the honeymoon.
Arrange the music for the ceremony and hire an organist.

4 Months Before:
Finalize the guest list and send out wedding invitations.
Shop for wedding cakes and place the order.
Purchase the cake knife, topper, and stand.
Buy the wedding rings and any additional wedding jewelry.
Create or purchase the centerpieces.
Arrange for parking if extra parking is necessary.
Buy a guest book.

2 Months Before:
Get the marriage license.
Purchase gifts for the bridal party.
Find makeup artist and stylist or do the necessary planning and purchasing to do your own.
Reserve tuxedos for the groom and groomsmen.
Finalize the menu with the caterer and the flowers with the florist.

1 Month Before:
Create a seating chart.
Print seating cards and programs.
Final dress fitting for bride and bridesmaids.
Finalize vows and details for the ceremony.

Days Before:
Have rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.
Get a manicure and pedicure.
Confirm arrival times for the professionals involved with the wedding.

Wedding Day:
Clean engagement ring.
Confirm that the professionals have arrived and are setting up.

This wedding planning timeline can be helpful for any time frame. Though your wedding planning may be rushed, you can still use the list as a basic checklist. Add additional items to this list as needed. Weddings are not one size fits all. Therefore, some weddings may require adjustments to the order of events. For example, a couple who is having a destination wedding would want to give guests extra notice about the wedding date and location. A destination wedding can be a beautiful choice for a memorable wedding, but the process of planning this kind of wedding is more demanding. For tips on planning a destination wedding, please visit this article about destination wedding tips.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Wedding Technology: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Emails and texts often replace letters and personal conversations. How has technology impacted weddings? Technology can be helpful to the couple as they plan their big day, but some traditions should not be replaced by a technological alternative. Which tech trends are appropriate for a wedding?

Wedding Planning

The process of wedding planning is where tech really shines. There  are several ways that couples can use technology to make the wedding planning process more efficient and even fun. Create a Pinterest board and start pinning wedding ideas early in the process. As you make decisions about wedding decor, dresses, cakes, and other wedding details, you can edit the Pinterest board to reflect your choices. You can share the board with certain people or keep it private.

Do you have relatives who offer way too much advice on what the wedding should be like? Add them to a Pinterest board, not necessarily the one you are using to narrow your choices. When the imposing relatives give advice, ask them to pin it on the board. You may find something you like. If not, at least the relatives feel that their voice was heard.

Google Docs can be helpful for wedding planning. A document can be created with a To Do list or wedding planning ideas. The document can be shared with others you trust to help you complete the To Do list or provide feedback on ideas.

Invitations

While a Facebook Invite might be appropriate for a picnic or birthday party, it is not acceptable for a wedding. The social media butterflies may feel inclined to forgo the traditional invitations for a quick Facebook Event listing, but this impersonal, one-size-fits-all option is not the best choice for weddings. The traditional invitations are one way to introduce the wedding to your guests.

Traditional wedding invitations show the couple’s style and personality. The social media invite for weddings is so impersonal that guests are bound to feel cheated. Receiving invites to a wedding by any computer tech method such as social media, email, or text comes across as lazy and cheap.

Wedding Attendance

As a general rule, internet tech does not belong at the wedding ceremony. Brides and grooms should not be texting or tweeting during the ceremony. Believe it or not, those things have happened! There are some cases when internet technology has assisted in the big day. When a beloved relative such as a parent is too ill to attend the ceremony, the relative can still attend with the help of Skype and a laptop or tablet.

Sharing Wedding Photos

The internet is great for sharing photos or video of the wedding. Instead of adding this to the seemingly never-ending list of responsibilities, consider asking a friend or relative to take on the job of posting the photos to a wedding blog, Facebook, or other photo-sharing option.

Technology has its place in day-to-day life. Some use of wedding technology is helpful. We use technology to learn about wedding trends and to coordinate the wedding planning with friends and relatives. When deciding whether or not to use technology to replace a tradition, consider if the tech alternative will improve the wedding or if guests may be offended by its use. Will the technology enhance the personality and flair of the big day or come across as impersonal?

For more tips about wedding planning and the use of wedding technology, please see this article about Planning a Wedding like a Professional which includes a tip about wedding planning software.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Wedding Embarrassing Moments and How to Avoid Them

Embarrassing moments can happen anywhere, but they seem to stand out when they occur at a big event like a wedding. Some wedding embarrassing moments can be avoided. These true wedding horror stories may have left one bride blushing, but they don’t have to happen to you.

Many brides spend weeks if not months choosing the perfect dress. Not as much thought is usually put into the shoe selection. Often, the shoes are covered by the gown. The wedding day is an emotionally and physically demanding day. One bride regretted her shoe choice when she landed face first on the dance floor in her 5″ spike heels. To avoid such a disaster and sore feet the following day, choose a stylish, yet sensible shoe. Also, practice walking in the shoes days before the ceremony.

One surprisingly common problem embarrassing moment during the wedding ceremony is the groom passing out at the altar. Several video clips of unconscious grooms falling to the floor have been passed around the internet and even appeared on television. The fainting is often blamed on heavy alcohol consumption the previous night or low blood sugar from a lack of eating.

Heavy drinking can cause numerous problems the next day. Dehydration can be severe after binge drinking. One suggestion is to celebrate a few days prior to the wedding to avoid intoxication or dehydration during the big day. The groom and bridal party may want to either avoid alcohol or drink in moderation the night before the wedding. If the groom or bride are avoiding eating due to nervousness or nausea on the wedding day, consider eating some toast or plain crackers to at least be able to remain upright at the altar.

Tumbling wedding cakes are another common embarrassment. A large cake can be considerably heavy. Flimsy tables collapse under the pressure. Please make sure the table is up to the task of holding the cake.

Wardrobe malfunctions are another embarrassment. The bridal gown has never been worn for an extended period of time before the wedding. Therefore, the bride is not likely to be aware of potential hazards. Broken straps, unsupportive tops, ripped skirts, holes, and tears can leave any bride blushing. One recommendation is to keep an emergency sewing kit for quick repairs handy at the venue. Also, brides should inspect the craftsmanship of the dress prior to purchase. There’s nothing wrong with buying an affordable gown, but the gown should still be of good quality. Keep an instant stain remover at the reception for a quick touchup of any small stains.

Texting at the wedding is poor etiquette, especially if the one guilty of texting is the bride, groom, or member of the wedding party. Remind everyone to turn off cell phones prior to the beginning of the ceremony.

We can’t control all sources of embarrassing moments. Family members and friends may act impulsively or drink too much and embarrass themselves. Though we can’t prevent those types of faux pas, we can prepare to reduce the damage from a situation when it occurs.

Best for Bride has more tips for avoiding wedding embarrassing moments. Check out this article about emergency fixes for damaged wedding dresses.

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Avoid These Tacky, Outdated Wedding Traditions

something blue

Wedding traditions can give the wedding a sense of timeless charm. Some wedding traditions show little sentiment. They simply look dated and cheap. After months of careful wedding planning to make sure everything is chic and stylish for your perfect day, don’t destroy it all by adding tasteless traditions.  Avoid these six wedding trends and traditions that do more harm than good.

something blue
something blue

Asking for Money

It’s hard to imagine a situation where asking for money isn’t tacky. Maybe it’s acceptable when dressed in a Santa suit and raising money for charity outside the mall. However, it definitely doesn’t belong on a wedding invitation. The money dance is another tacky, panhandling trend that has faded.

Announcing the Wedding Party at the Reception

This isn’t necessarily tacky, though sometimes it is done in an annoying way such as a choreographed dance entrance. Usually, the announcement of the bridal party by name is just a waste of time. If the guests don’t know every single member of the wedding party, then chances are they won’t find the announcement of their name to be enlightening. As wedding guests, maybe we are supposed to care, but do we?

Garter Belt Removal

Sometimes awkward and always tacky, the garter belt removal has been part of the wedding reception traditions for many years. The new husband would remove his bride’s garter belt and toss it into the crowd. Wedding planners see this trend is disappearing. Less than a quarter of newlywed couples are participating in garter belt traditions during their receptions.

Chocolate Fountains

Once upon a time, people became fascinated with the cascading cocoa of a chocolate fountain. While these are still featured in some buffet restaurants, they are hardly suitable for a grand affair like a wedding reception. They are gaudy and messy.

Partial Invites

Under pressure of looming wedding costs, some engaged couples try to save money by only inviting certain people to the wedding reception meal. They invite numerous people to the wedding and the dancing portion of the reception but not the meal. The meal is reserved for a select group. Separating guests and basically declaring that some guests don’t matter much is in bad form.

Serving Premium and Cheap Meals According to Importance

Another way newlywed couples are playing favorites with their guest list is by serving costly meals to some guests and cheap alternatives to others. This is not a case of guests getting a choice of meals. In order to save money, the couple assigns a cheaper meal to some of the guests. Sitting at some tables, you may have some guests being served steak while others receive chicken or beef tips. This is hurtful, tacky, and causes family conflicts. When you don’t treat guests equally, you are inviting drama. It would be better to serve an affordable meal to everyone or trim the guest list.

Traditions have their place. They should uplift and reflect the values of the couple. Including the best wedding traditions can enhance your special day.