Hello ladies! I’ve been attending so many weddings lately that I thought i’d write about some observations and tips if you’re planning to get married in the near future. This post is just to share my views about how to make the most of your wedding celebrations.

Scale of your wedding

I’ve attended big fat indian weddings as well as more intimate family ceremonies. And, I’ve come to the conclusion that the ideal scale of your wedding depends on how many close relatives and friends you have, because no one likes the idea of inviting random relatives and acquaintances to wedding celebrations.

The best way to go about this is to draft a list of all the people that you would want to celebrate this important journey with. Getting the guest list ready is the most cumbersome task and should be done at the very beginning so that you can decide a venue that can comfortably accommodate all your guests.

Booking venues for the all the functions well in advance

Indian weddings have pre-wedding and post-wedding functions in addition to the main wedding event. The first step is to decide on what functions you’d like to have. Usually, there is an engagement, sangeet, cocktail party, mehendi and haldi before the wedding and a reception dinner after the wedding.

It’s wise to book venues for all the events well in advance in order to avoid unnecessary stress later. Nowadays, most of the wedding venues have in-house catering, decor, DJ and other arrangements. So, once you’ve booked the venue, the most important task is done.

Catering: Be clear on what food you want to serve for each function. Decide on the cuisines, the variety of appetisers, main course, dessert and drinks.

Decor: Decor includes flower arrangements, table and seating arrangements, mandap design, interiors for sangeet, mehendi, cocktail and reception.

DJ and choreographer: If your venue doesn’t have an in-house DJ and choreographer, you must book them well in advance. Make a list of all your favourite songs you want the DJ to play on your cocktail/mehendi. Also, make a list of the songs you want your choreographer to help you with for the sangeet. Although selection of songs may seem very trivial, trust me it’s better to finalise your playlist early on, rather than giving the DJ a chance to ruin your party.

Photography

Booking your favourite photographer is so important. These days, you can find many candid photographers who specialise in pre wedding photoshoots and candid wedding photography. Don’t shy away from shelling out a significant amount of money on your pre wedding shoot and wedding photography, because these are the only memories you’ll have of your wedding – all the photos, videos, social media posts will be your cherished reminders of one of the most special days of your life.

If you’re social media savvy, think of the hashtag you’d want your guests to tag for all posts related to your wedding.

Deciding your outfits for all the functions

Now, this one can be a daunting task and requires a lot of prep. You can start by noting down all the functions you are planning to have and then deciding on what kind of outfit to wear for each function in terms of style, colour scheme, or according to a pre-decided theme for a particular event. The bride and groom can even choose to wear colour coordinated outfits.

Scroll through instagram and browse through wedding magazines for bridal trends and outfit ideas. If you’d like to wear your favourite designer or would want a customised outfit for each function, it’s best to order well in advance, so that you can schedule fittings and can get alterations done in time.

Once your outfits are finalised, you can decide on jewellery, shoes and accessories that will complete your look.

Makeup artist 

Every bride wants to look like a million dollars on her wedding day and all the other pre and post wedding functions. Go through the work of all the acclaimed make up artists in your city and zero-in on the MUA you want for your wedding functions.

Once the make up artist is booked for the bride, don’t forget to book make-up packages for the family and friends too.

Sending out the invites

Once the major chunk of the prep is done, you should start sending out the invites so that people can RSVP in time. Be it the traditional wedding cards or the more modern email invites or ‘save the date’ invites on whatsapp; whatever your choice of invitation, make sure to give the recipient enough time to RSVP.

And, whenever possible, do take some time out to personally invite or at least make a call to your guest, to add a personalised touch to the invitation. Sending across a box of goodies along with the card is always a good idea. Instead of the traditional sweets or chocolates, why not send in some healthy teas and organic honey!

Accommodation and travel

Make the necessary accommodation and travel arrangements for your guests as soon as they confirm their attendance, to avoid any last minute stress. Also, make arrangements for travel to and from the venue for all the functions, to ensure that everything goes on smoothly and everyone is on time and no one misses out on the fun.

Memories for a lifetime

A wedding celebration creates memories for a lifetime for all the guests and it’ll be a sweet gesture to give out personalised polaroid pictures with cute captions to each guest, to remind them of the fun time they had, which they can cherish for years to come.

 

Hope this will give you all a few ideas and tips to help organise your wedding a little better. Do leave a comment on what you think about wedding preps.