Planning a wedding doesn’t have to be a nightmare, but it can be if you don’t get the wedding logistics right. Everything that goes into a successful wedding that’s the envy of all requires meticulous planning, especially attention to detail. Leave nothing to chance by journaling everything about the wedding, from the budget, who’s to do what, and when, to critical matters such as the venue and the food and drinks your guests will enjoy. Other factors, such as the forecasted weather around the wedding day, are crucial matters you should get in a row. Planning your next wedding shouldn’t be daunting if you do it right, especially since the following ten details will make the process smoother.
1. Make an Entrance
One of the most memorable wedding moments is how you make an entrance. A grand entrance sets the stage and tone for the rest of the wedding. From the right entrance vehicle, whether it’s a Mercedes limo or any car you fancy, to the song you dance to as you join the rest of the party, you want everything to be perfect, or at least nearer there.
Planning your entry should begin weeks, if not a couple of months before the wedding. For instance, if you’ll be using a Mercedes, take it to the Mercedes auto repair technician to ensure it’s in tip-top condition. You’ll also need to line up the song you’ll be dancing to as you make your grand entry.
There are many unique ways of making an entrance, such as taking a trolley. To spice things up a notch, how about having your guests line up to greet you as you disembark from the trolley? You could also transport your guests to the afterparty venue on a personalized bus. Ride with the guests or follow them in a customized vehicle.
Another great way to announce your entrance is to ring a bell to draw everyone’s attention and make a welcome toast. You could also make your guests part of the entrance by walking with them to the reception. Your guests will be enthralled at being part of the entrance parade.
On wedding logistics, how about using a golf cart as transportation, especially if the wedding is in a golf resort, country club, or a vintage getaway vehicle to announce your entrance? Put on a show by engaging performers to escort you to the reception to spice things up even further. Lastly, kick things a notch higher by playing live music as you enter. The song choice could be a special song you’ve settled on with your partner.
2. Don’t Forget Prep
Preparing for a wedding is not easy, but this is expected as a wedding is one of life’s highlights you’re unlikely to forget. Between sending invitations, choosing the perfect venue, getting a dream dress, and other customizations and details, arriving at an appropriate wedding timeline can be hard. One of the things you need to do when prepping for your wedding is to devise a budget and monitor your expenses.
Preparing for a wedding largely depends on your budget. Come up with a budget that covers all elements of your wedding from the beginning to the end. Don’t leave anything to chance, even the decor flowers. The budget must be flexible enough to accommodate last-minute changes but with a set maximum spend to keep it from snowballing out of control.
Your wedding logistics should include a daily skin rejuvenation routine. You want to look your best on the wedding day, and having clear, well-toned skin doesn’t happen overnight. Strictly follow a daily skincare routine to give the skin care products enough time to work on your skin. This is especially crucial if you intend to introduce a new treatment routine.
Your wedding prep should include personalized touches. This is one area where you can let your imagination run as wild as you want. After all, it’s your wedding, and you’ve earned the right to make it as unique as possible. From the decor for the venue, the dress code, the color of your dress, or the entire experience, this is your chance to make the wedding your own.
You can, for instance, check out Pinterest for inspiring ideas on how to give your wedding a personalized touch. Another critical wedding preparation stage is sending out wedding invitations on time to ensure your guests have enough time to plan. Once you’ve established the wedding date and venue, get the invitations out immediately.
3. Create a Wedding Website
While having a website is not essential to wedding logistics, having one keeps you organized. A website is a one-stop reference for all wedding-related tasks, from hiring wedding vendors to creating a guest list. It helps you avoid the stress and anxiety of planning a wedding, as everything is in one place. You also don’t have to keep answering the same questions from guests and vendors, as most are already answered on the website.
A wedding website also provides a venue for sharing registry information. By sharing your registry, you give your guests an idea of what gifts you truly need or want. It also helps avoid purchasing similar items, as guests visiting your website can see what has already been purchased.
Another great reason you should consider a web design for your wedding is that it’s easily accessible via most devices. Guests can get the venue address, start time, and dress code information by logging onto your wedding website. Besides, a wedding website is a lifetime memento, as the internet doesn’t forget.
Think of a wedding website as a digital keepsake of your memorable day. The key is to design the website with your and your partner’s style in mind. You can add wedding day photos and share your love story on the website. The good thing is that you can keep your wedding website online as long as you want!
4. Decorate
What gives a wedding venue a special appeal? The answer can be as varied as one’s taste, which differs from one couple to another. Wedding decor is one of the most crucial wedding logistics. Everything must come together exactly as you envisioned, from the theme color to the flowers and lighting. Talking about vision, great wedding decor starts with a vision of how you want your wedding venue to look and feel. Are you seeking a minimalist, Bohemian, glamorous, or classic theme?
Sometimes, putting into words how you want your wedding to look and feel is a challenge. The key at this planning stage isn’t to consider your wedding decor a be-all, end-all activity. Instead, concentrate on the feeling you want the wedding to evoke, the impression you want to leave in your guests’ minds.
Are you looking for an edgy, modern, romantic, or relaxed feel? Take your pick and then focus your decorations on items and lighting that evoke your preferred outcome. If a neon sign will help you achieve what you’re looking for, use it by all means. Even when you’re certain about your preferred wedding decor, always leave some wiggle room for flexibility and creativity.
5. Make Things Official
Chances are that you’ve told everyone in your circle about your wedding plans by now. That’s okay, but you must move to the next step and make it official. Send out invitations early enough to allow your guests adequate planning time.
Three to six months prior notice is considered fair. Consider sending save-the-date cards immediately after you book the wedding venue, so your guest can keep that date free. On the card, include the phrase ‘official invitation to follow.’ When you send the save-the-date cards early, you’re in a better place to gauge who will or won’t make it.
To make your wedding official, make it legal by getting a marriage license. While this part of your wedding logistics comes later in the planning process, it’s nonetheless critical. Find out the requirements for getting one and assemble all the requisite marriage documents as early as possible.
Decide who will officiate your wedding. You have several options here, and in some lucky states, such as Florida and others, you can get a notary to officiate your wedding. Or you can go for a church-officiated wedding if that’s what you want. Whether you want your wedding in Las Vegas, in the mountains, at the beach, or in church, ensure all the paperwork is in place.
6. Make Sure the Venue is Clean
Ensuring your wedding venue is spotlessly clean is a crucial part of your wedding logistics. Even your most ardent fans will be turned off by a dirty, unkempt venue. You want everything clean and polished to the highest standards, even if that means hiring a carpet cleaning service to ensure the carpets are clean and devoid of stains.
Besides ensuring the venue is clean on the wedding day, leaving it spotlessly clean after the event is also important. This can take longer than what most couples expect. You’ll likely be expected to remove all your items on the same night or as soon as possible the following day.
Cleaning a wedding venue is crucial as there could be another wedding slated for just after yours, so you’ll need to clean up immediately after the event. Find out the venue managers’ rules and expectations about cleaning and stick to them. Have a competent cleaning service on standby, ready to clean the venue as soon as your event ends.
7. Don’t Forget the Outdoors
If your wedding will be outdoors, there are a few things you’ll need to consider, the most critical being the weather. Besides that, you’ll encounter many moving parts in your outdoor wedding logistics. One of these is hiring a landscape supplier to ensure the outdoors is as aesthetically appealing and functional as possible.
While contracting outdoor service providers isn’t dissimilar to indoor wedding events, you’ll need to be a little more demanding in ensuring they can meet outdoor demands, including outside catering and decor. The weather can change abruptly, so ensure you have contingency plans, such as booking a tent should the weather people forecast rain. Even if the forecast changes close to your wedding day, it’s better to book one and not need one than not have one.
8. Have Fun Activities!
There are more fun wedding activities you can engage your guests in besides dancing. Let’s face it: some people can’t dance, however much they try. To keep everyone engaged and excited at your wedding, consider visiting a game store for activities they can participate in without leaving the dinner table. The last thing you want is for the event to earn the unenviable reputation of a snooze fest.
Entertainment is an essential part of your wedding logistics, and printed game cards are highly successful at keeping people awake and interested in whatever is going on. Consider printed game cards for couples trivia, wedding word searches, or crossword puzzles. These games are great at livening up the guests while waiting for their drinks and food. The shoe game is a favorite at most wedding events as couples raise each other’s shoes in response to questions such as who proposed to the other.
9. Plan an After Party
Your wedding doesn’t have to end after the reception. You can be sure most of the guests will be eagerly waiting for the afterparty. The goal of this event is to let loose and keep the excitement going without the reception protocols. So, it’s an essential part of your wedding logistics.
You can have as many fun activities at the afterparty as you want, such as karaoke sessions for your guests to show off their beautiful and not-so-beautiful voices. When planning a wedding afterparty your guests will talk about for days or months, consider the ambiance and decor of the venue. Other factors to consider are the venue, the start and close time, and the invitees. In your afterparty planning, it’s also important to indicate who’ll pay for the drinks, especially the alcohol.
10. Remember Food and Drink
Among the things your guests will remember is what they ate and drank at your wedding event. As such, assigning catering services to a reputable provider is an essential component of your wedding logistics. You want your wedding menu to impress the guests, and for this, you’ll need to offer options, such as vegetarian foods for those averse to meats.
Know your guests’ food and drink tastes; some can’t eat certain foods due to medical conditions requiring special diets, such as diabetes. Other factors to consider when creating a wedding menu include in-season foods and fruits, serving style, and pairing foods with drinks. The key to the wedding menu is to make it memorable!
Planning a wedding is an exciting exercise, but it can be overwhelming if you do it wrong. The best approach is to hire a wedding planner as they have experience organizing all manner of weddings. However, if you and your partner decide to DIY, the above tips and guidelines will give you a head start. Following the above tips, you can and will have a memorable wedding without busting your budget. Here’s to your extraordinary day!
