Here's help on some of the key points you'll need before walking down the aisle.
Here's help on some of the key points you'll need before walking down the aisle.
By Debbie L. Sklar
Posted with permission of Image Magazine
and Debbie Sklar.
Congratulations!
You're getting married.
This is a special time in your life and that means you're going to be busy planning your pending nuptials making sure everything's perfect. But where on earth do you begin? Should you plan the honeymoon first or figure out if you want a chocolate wedding cake with chocoPate frosting? Maybe you need to start collecting those travel brochures or maybe you just need to hire a wedding planner.
Regardless of where you might want to begin, Image Magazine has done some footwork on your behalf and unearthed some interesting information to help you start thinking about your wedding.
Expert Advice
According to Kevin Covey of Kevin Covey Wedding & Event Coordination, based in Brea, budget is the first and most important challenge to tackle before any bride and groom start planning.
“Most of my brides and grooms hire me to create a wedding they have always dreamed of, as most women have fantasized about their wedding since they were five or six,” he said. “I speak to flower girls all the time that say 'I want my wedding to be just like this one!' A lot of dreams get crushed when they find out they can't afford that wedding on a luxurious yacht or a wedding in an estate overlooking Laguna Beach.”
Covey said the bride and groom should agree on the budget first. Luckily, there are several planning kits on the market to help. Covey said one of his favorites is The Ultimate Wedding Planner & Organizer by WeddingSolutions.com. In this planning book, you can get organized quickly and create a budget that works for your specific wedding. Organizing a budget and sticking with it can be a challenge, but it avoids a lot of fights and wasting valuable time, he added.
But is it best to hire a planner or are you better off doing it yourself? Covey said some brides and grooms truly enjoy the process of planning their own wedding, but most will hire a planner to come in for about a month before and take care of any issues that might come up and take care of managing the wedding day.
“If you hire a good planner, you will soon find out that you can't put a price tag on the service a true wedding consultant can provide. How can you put a price on insuring that your wedding will run smoothly and be flawless? When I am planning weddings, I treat them as if I was getting married. I fight for the best deals, I search for bargains, and I put 120 percent of myself into the planning,” he said. “I am meticulous and very picky, and that is what I would want from someone coordinating my wedding.”
He added that of course, there are the obvious reasons as well to hiring a coordinator: Bringing peace of mind, advice from someone that is not your fiancé or relative and just having someone that will be honest with you about your wedding plans. A planner can also provide instant referrals from professionals with solid relationships to create a fabulous wedding for the client without the bride having to spend time searching for the perfect vendor, Covey said.
Last, but not least, some brides don't have a vision for their wedding and need help finding it. “As a coordinator, I find myself being a motivator, a visionary and sometimes, even a counselor. How can you put a price tag on all that?” he asked.
Covey stressed to start planning now because most weddings take about nine months to one year to plan. First, you start by announcing your engagement and then select a month and year that you would like to get married. Don't pick out a particular date just yet, though. You may find that you will have to change the date because some popular venues book up quickly.
Then hire a coordinator. Determine the type of wedding you want, location, formality, time of day, and create your wedding guest list. After you determine your budget, then determine how the expenses will be paid.
Reserve a ceremony site first and officiate, and then reserve the reception site. Nine months before the wedding, select a bridal gown and headpiece. After you pick out your gown, then determine your color scheme and select your wedding party attendants. As you go along the planning process, you start narrowing down vendors you would like to use and go through several appointments such as cake and food tastings. When you use a professional to assist you, everything falls into place very smoothly.