Wedding Tips from Vermont Bride Magazine
10 Steps
{to your Perfect Vermont Wedding}
IT TAKES PLANNING to carry through to a perfect wedding, and to make sure that you are able to enjoy planning for your special day, follow these basic steps from Vermont Bride Magazine to help you organize all of the details and keep it manageable.
1. AGREE ON THE DATE AND TIME Will your guests include young children? If so, ask yourself: Do you need to accommodate a kid-friendly time for your guests? Daytime weddings work best for little ones, but if you are going to have an adult group, an evening time (like 6:00 P.M.) can start the night right and allow for dancing and carousing with your family and friends. Will many of your guests be traveling more than 50 miles to the event? Do you need a good weekend or a close holiday to make it easier for your wedding party to take time off from their regular schedules? Here’s a tip that can help your schedule and your pocket book: If you look at the calendar and consider the costs of travel at certain vacation-heavy times of the year, you can avoid setting a date that coincides with higher travel costs.
2. CHOOSE YOUR STYLE Formal, informal, semi-formal ? You and your fiancé should consider your guests, but also know what it is you’re going to be comfortable with and happy about once the event is over. What sort of party do you want to throw? Does a sit-down affair with linen and china settings for the entire group sound exciting, or tiring? Are you more of a buffet or BBQ person? Once you can decide on the level of formality you’re hoping for, you can immediately begin ignoring the hundreds, if not thousands of options that are available to you, so that you can narrow the choices to the type of affair that will best fit you and your partner.
3. BUDGETS AND MONEY Don’t pick a number out of the air. Nothing will make you crazier faster than trying to shoe-horn your plans into a fixed number. Of course you need to know your limits; but you also need to know what is essential for your happy day. Arriving at that number is easier once you know the main essentials of your day, and what those costs are. From there you can establish the minimum expenses. You’ll also see what the big ticket items are – and if that’s where you want your money to be directed.
PARENTS: Are they going to participate in the costs? Will each family have certain items which they will each pay for, thus distributing the costs fairly according to means?
It can be uncomfortable for two separate families to discuss such intimate financial details, but you need to remember that the dollar–amounts are not the lead item on your list. Instead, know how much lead time you have until the special day, and consequently time to save and prepare for the financial costs. Weddings can be very expensive, but everyday a successful wedding at a reasonable cost is accomplished because careful planning was done. Building a list of your necessary expenses is the way to make sure you’re going to spend money on the right items that you need, and not something that will prove unnecessary.
BUDGET TIP: If you were to sock away $50 a week toward your wedding costs, you will have saved up $5,200 in 12 months.
4. THE RING For many, this is a question that is already handled well before the planning is begun, but the method for handling the question of “which ring” can also be applied to other items. Drop hints, point out what rings you have seen that you admire, do some window shopping. Inform other people with whom he may be talking about it with. If you are able, come right out and raise the subject. If by some chance he presents a ring that you simply do not like, suggest having the setting for the stone changed to something you will enjoy.
5. DESTINATIONS Vermont is one of the most important wedding capitols in the United States, and you will have many choices available to you. A big plus is that by having your event locally, you are in a better position to estimate costs carefully. If you have guests coming in from further away, consider asking travel agents for help in recommending the best methods for getting them to you. Your information might help a distant guest who is unable to work out the details themselves, and so make it easier for them to be with you on your special day.
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Related Pages:
Wedding Check List - 52 Steps
Getting Married in Vermont
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