Wedding Planning Advice and Tips and why book a planner..

Good morning, to all my lovely wedding lovers and blog readers. Yesterday I had a lovely relaxing drive around the Cotswolds, viewing lots of beautiful, potential venues and enjoying the stunning scenery. It was such a sunny day, the sunshine reflecting off all the leaves, beautiful cream and purple hedge parsley framing the country lanes and a sea of amazing greens, as we drove through field after field.. P assing many lovely little hamlets / villages and the odd manor house.

To all those beautiful brides to be, who are sweet enough to read my wedding rambles on my blog and follow me on twitter, a huge thankyou to you all. I have decided to dedicate this blog to you all and share with you some sound wedding advice / wedding tips and why its important to book a planner. I hope you find everything extremely useful..

Getting married is a hugely excting time, full of love / laughter / emotions and most probably a few tears. It all starts with the preperation and planning, making sure your wedding day is perfect and truly unique.

I have put together a few important tips and a little advice on the planning of your big day. The answers to all these things will most definately help you / guide you in the right direction for planning the perfect day and what needs to be included. So sit down with a cup of tea.....

1) What is your dream? Sit down with your fiance and both make lists of all the important things you want on the day. Devide everything into 2 small lists, essentials and optionals, this will help give you a clear idea of your dream day. Compare your lists and compromise where neccesary. Essential (venue / dress / flowers ) and Optional ( Limo / chcoclate fountain / choir )

2) What is your style? Religious or civil ceremony? How big is your guest list? Will you want a traditional or relaxed reception? Would a wedding abroad suit you?

3) What is your wedding budget? How are you going to be paying for the wedding? Will family be helping? If not work out how much you can save during your engagement.

4) Do you have a date set in mind? Are you wanting a short or long engagement? Are there any big family occasions which may dictate when you can / can't get married. Are there any specific dates which are sentimental to you? Do you want to get married at a certain time of year?

Do you share the same ideas of importance about your wedding day as your fiance? I have given you a small list of some of the elements to a wedding day, its a good idea to both put them in a priority list. You may think the venue / food is hugely important, wanting only the best food and drink and a very formal sit down meal. Whereas he may want as many guests / accessories / decorations as possible and with your budget the 2 may not be 'do'able'.

The Attire. Designer wear? or something from a sale or local boutique

A spectacular venue or a smaller venue with more personal touches and details?

The ceremony. Religious or civil?

Serving a gourmet meal and fine wines or a buffet style meal?

Unusual transport, like horse and carriage or something 'nice' maybe borrowed from a friend?

An open bar all night or a couple of bottles of wine on each table?

Why choose a planner? This is the most special day of your lives, the beginning of your furture together. Hiring a wedding planner can save you both time and money. Allowing you both to enjoy your engagement and look forward to your special day. A planner will eliminate any worries allowing your minds to be at ease, making sure it's a beautiful representation of your relationship, personalities and love for each other, whilst keeping your budget on track and fulfilling all of your wishes.

Here I have put together a short list of all the wonderful benefits from hiring a wedding planner / Ladyamy as your wedding planner

Ultimately saving you money and time (usually more than my fee)

Designing you a creative and beautiful wedding day which perfectly represents you as a couple / your vows / love for each other and combining your personalities

A planner does all the legwork for you, dealing with all the logistics and administration and paper work, saving you time and stress, allow you to enjoy a stree free engagement together

Liase between suppliers and professionals within the wedding industry, ensuring you recieve the highest quality of standard and the most perfect service for you

Where I have built strong and trusting relationships with wonderful professionals within the wedding industry I can offer you discounts and recommendations

Make sure that everything is organised and done in the right order on time and within your budget

To be there with you on your wedding day to not only ensure everything runs smoothly, you are feeling relaxed and at your best but that your venue is decorated to perfection and all the personal touched are in place

A wedding planner does not take over everything, you can still be very heavily involved in the design and all the details. Ladyamy offers a wide range of services from, Full Wedding Planning to Hourly Consultations, Wedding Day Co-ordination to Wedding / Bridal hair or even a Bespoke package, this allows you to choose exactly where you need a professional.

Please take a look at my services on my website for more details on these http://www.ladyamyweddingdesign.co.uk/services.htm

Your Budget!! Who is paying for the wedding? Traditionally this would be the Brides father, but as time has moved on usually, nowadays both sets of parents contribute and so do the bride and groom. Your budget will help guide you as to what is feasable and what is unrealistic.

Are you going to need to compremise on your vision and prioritise your wish list?

It is possible to have an amzing / spectacular wedding on a budget, you just need to be organised from the start and stay focused through-out the journey.

Grab a bargain, look out for sample sales and negotiate with suppliers (these are all things that a planner is for) Maybe design and make your own invitations, table plan and table decorations.

Opening up a Wedding Account is a super idea. This will make keeping track of what is coming in to the pot, being spent from the pot and what is left much easier.

Here is the average wedding budget, based on your budget of £20,000 This obviously depends on what is most important to you

Reception inc food / drink  40%

Venue /ceremony / music  15%

Wedding Attire 15% (if you have a budget of £20,000 spend approx £3,000 on the wedding attire)

Flowers  5%

Entertainment  5%

Transport  5%

Photography  7%

Stationery  3%

Unexpected Extras  5%

Total  100% £20,000

Not including Honey-moon and Rings 

Here are a few suggestions to help stretch your budget further..

Aim for a shorter day. The longer your wedding day, the more you'll need to pay for the venue / food and drink for your guests

A weekday wedding / sunday wedding (on a bank holiday) These days tend to be slightly cheaper, so you get more for your money

Have only your nearest and dearest to the dinner and all the other guests to the evening do

Think about making and hiring rather than buying

Less is more when choosing decorations / flowers etc

Remeber how many guests you have when choosing your cake. You will not need a 5 tier cake if you only have 50 guests

If there is another wedding at your venue on your wedding day, maybe you could share flower costs

Serve sparkling wine instead of champagne

Make your own music / Cds. This is a lovely personal touch and saves you money on live entertainment

I hope you have found this post extremely helpful, dont hesitate to get intouch for a complimentary consultation

Best Wishes

Love

Lauren

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