Your future husband just got down on his knees and proposed to you and you said yes. What happens next and what do you need to do to create your perfect wedding and honeymoon? What is it necessary to do to bring about those perfect memories that mark the beginning of your married life together? So many plans to make it is hard to know where to begin. Let’s consider some of your options.
Select a date for your wedding
Perhaps it is the day of the month you met. Or it could be a birthday or holiday or any other significant date to you. So many choices. Do you want a winter wedding when a chill is in the air, or a spring wedding when everything is brand new, or a summer wedding where the living is easy, or how about autumn when the colors are so beautiful.
Decide if you need a wedding planner
Do you have the time and patience to make all the arrangements yourself or do you need help from a wedding planner? There is a cost but their expertise may be worth it. You may enjoy planning your wedding but if it seems like another chore in your busy life then get professional help to make the process easier.
Choose your venues
What kind of settings would you like for your wedding and your reception? Will you have a church wedding or marry in another location such as a natural setting or a beautiful indoor site? How about your reception? Do you want it in a hall or will you be creative and choose something such as a botanical garden, an art gallery or even the zoo? Of course you need to insure that your preferred date is available. Booking early is the best way to avoid disappointment.
Select your caterer
Are you having a sit down meal, a buffet setting or simply hors d’oeuvres? How many guests will you have? What will your menu consist of? Can you accommodate your guests’ dietary restrictions? Will you serve alcohol? What about table settings, linens and centerpieces?
Select your other vendors
Some of the choices to be made include florists, wedding dress, tuxedo and bridesmaid gown suppliers, DJ or band for the reception, photographer and videographer and limousine or other transportation.
Plan your programs
Wedding – Who will be in your bridal party? Who will be your officiant? What song will play as you walk down the aisle? What about your wedding dress and the groom’s attire? What will the bridesmaids and groomsmen wear? How about your bouquet and other flowers? Will you have a flower girl, a train bearer or a ring bearer? Will the two of you each write your own vows? Who will walk you down the aisle and give you away?
Reception – Will you and the bridal party change clothes for the reception? Will you two cut the cake or throw the garter or the bouquet? Will there be speeches? Who will be at the head table? Will you have a father daughter dance? How about your and your husband’s first dance. Will you have a DJ or a live band? What will be on the music program? What kind of flowers will you have?
Plan your honeymoon
Where will you go? Most couples select a beautiful, tropical location. There many Caribbean islands that are wonderful choices. After selecting the island there is still the choice of the particular resort where you will stay.This is where a travel planner is essential. There are so many options and so many choices, both good and bad, that expert advice is essential. This is probably the most important trip you will ever take and you want it to be memorable and wonderfully special. A travel agent does not charge you a fee for their services as they are paid by their vendors, so there is no reason not to use one.
Consider a destination wedding
A destination wedding is a wedding at a remote site, usually at your honeymoon location. Your guests travel to that tropical paradise for your wedding, reception and other activities and then leave you to continue with your honeymoon. They get a mini-vacation and you get a stress-free combination of wedding and honeymoon. Plus you save money.
The typical traditional wedding costs more than $25,000. A destination wedding is much less expensive. Many resorts actually offer free weddings to their couples. Destination weddings are easy to plan. Most resorts have wedding planners who work with you to plan your wedding and related activities down to flowers, table settings, menus, music and other options in a one-stop shopping arrangement. And couples love the idea of getting married in an exotic tropical location with beautiful pictures and wonderful memories of their special day.
That is why this option is becoming more and more popular. More than twenty percent of weddings are now destination weddings and that number is growing.
Whatever you decide, remember that this is your wedding and you must make the right decision for yourself.
