YOUR BIG DAY

The long wait is over! After all the grueling days and nights of preparations, meetings, seminars, et al, it’s here! This is the day that you’ve been dreaming of. Your prince & princess days are over. You should be ready to be a crowned king and queen. What do you do on this day? What has to be done? Shall you just wait and let everything be on God’s hand? Let’s find out.

1.       Get some good sleep. Rest well the night before your big day. You don’t want to look like a mess on your big day right? Believe it or not, no one looked pretty whenever he/she has no sleep. Think of it as your gift to yourself for a job well done on the preparation. Your body has to be relaxed.

2.       Be calm. Calmness in terms of feelings. This is not the day to shout anymore. This is not the day to raise your eyebrows. We all are aware of the phrase “nothing is perfect” so somehow, something unexpected might happen so, don’t forget, be CALM! You should know by now how to handle things with elegance.

3.       Makeup artists? BE ON TIME! Before thinking of your good-looking photos, you have to make sure first that your makeup team arrives on time. Otherwise, everything will be delayed. Your pre-nu shoots on the day itself, your SDE coverage, your photo ops with the entourage, EVERYTHING (and I mean it), will be delayed. Since everything starts with a makeup, book your makeup artist 30 mins before the actual scheduled time. You know, they’ll arrive 30 mins late, so, better be smart than sorry.

4.       Eat. We strongly suggest that you have a heavy breakfast. Heavy not to the extent that your gown won’t be zipped anymore. Heavy so to say because, you will find it hard to have a complete meal afterwards. Prepare that your next food intake will be after the reception.

5.       Orient your entourage. It would be best to keep your entourage into one single place a night before your big day if possible. This will enable you to have a quick meeting with them so they will be reminded by their tasks on the big day. It works!

6.       Surrender the day to HIM. This day was actually your partner and you, who is making a compromise to Him. Let him handle each and every single thing on your big day. He will never let you down (as always)! Let His will happen and offer it all to. Surrender it.

Bear in mind that again, nothing is perfect. Human flaws will be redundant but, don’t mind them. The most important thing to do on your big day is just one thing: have FUN!

YOUR WEDDING BUDGET

Budgeting in business is a “process of preparing detailed statement of financial results that are expected for a given period of time in the future. But what is budgeting to a wedding? It is simply who you are, and who you want to be. Budgeting allows you to measure your capabilities/resources as against your expected outcome on the said event. It is a sure not-to-miss part of your wedding plan (see previous blog- wedding planning tips) as it helps you picture out almost everything that will happen on that day. But how are you going to do your budget?

Before we give you the guides, let me be clear on a norm that people often have, I should say “misconceptions”. There is no RULE on who should shoulder the wedding cost (let me be clear on that, especially to men), BUT, as a practice, the groom use to do that. As a couple, while making your wedding plans, you should both be clear to where will the funds will be taken from. Marriage is a UNION of two people thus, “sharing” is also a good idea to venture to (just saying). Again, this will all depend on you and your partner. This might require some negotiation skills though especially to men, yeah?

Anyway, on your budgeting process, below are some points to ponder upon:

1.       Food- believe it or not, there are people who goes to weddings only for this. And normally, these are also the people as to where you will hear complaints if their plates turned up empty.  Long queue to serve the food, water is not cold, food servers aren’t courteous, and the likes. But guess what, there is some good news! Rice, drinks, and the normal dishes, almost taste the same! No matter what twists you make, the food will always have a standard taste. All you have to do is find a decent caterer who knows their role, who also meet your required food items, which will be enough to fill the “tummies” of ALL your guests. The only thing you should beware on here: food should be ENOUGH.

2.       Flowers- grooms, please let your bride decide on this. We were attracted to girls that’s why we are getting married so, there is a big chance that you don’t have a pink toy, or so to say, flower arranging skills/knowledge or whatsoever. Paper flowers, fresh flowers, or any type of flower will do, based on the brides desires, as long as the allocation on your budget is met.

3.       Church/Officiants/Choir/Carpet/Candles- I almost ran out of space but these are mostly the fees that you pay to the church where the ceremony will be held. This is assuming that you will have a standard Catholic Church wedding. These costs varies from parish to another so better pick up that phone now and dial the parish’ admin to know them.

4.       Transportation & Accommodation- not all grooms and brides are from the same place. Sometimes, a guy from North Pole fell in loved to a girl from South Pole. Imagine? And both sides has to be represented right? These type of costs has to be carefully studied upon. Book your plane tickets early (cost will always be cheaper if booked way advanced). Make hotel reservations early as well. Look for promos. And most importantly, manage your head count well. Add up all these costs and compare the same to your budget allocation.

5.       Souvenirs- these doesn’t actually need to be extravagant. What matters on a souvenir is its uniqueness and craftsmanship. Of course, this has to be something related to you and your brides “history” for it to linger. J

6.       Coordinators- believe it or not, it is now a career! People make money out of this. Anyway, we don’t want to absorb all the stress that’s why these people exists. Depending on your budget, you can hire them but as an advice, take those whom you know that CARES. Someone who will be dedicated to make sure everything is under control and take out that extra burden upon you.

7.       Attires- depending on your financial flexibility, you can buy your entourage their respective dresses. Having it done from a single place/tailor means, perfect uniformity in styles which we all aim for your entourage. It is a great gift as well to everyone if they can own the gowns/tux afterwards (just saying).

8.       Documentation- this is where you put most of your budget. Again, put that extra $$$$ here so your wedding will look fab and professionally made. Don’t settle for less. This is one of those memories that will remain forever and having it done professionally will always matter.

Your budget is who you are, and who you want to be. Prepare for it financially but don’t resort to loans. You are planning your budget in advance so you can manage your cash flows accordingly. Do not go beyond your limit. You may put millions on your wedding but at the end of the day, people will always have an opinion as to how your wedding went. Don’t bother. It’s YOUR wedding anyway and not THEIRS.

Ciao!

WEDDING PLANNING TIPS

It’s been a while since we had our latest blog. No excuses but sometimes, lying into bed thinking of nothing to do next (laziness-in short) is something to ponder upon (high five!). But since we’re back, we have to gather again pieces of our gained knowledge with regards to your dream day ceremony. Today, we will be tackling about your blue print: your wedding plan.

Everybody has a “plan”. We all do make plans. The next big question is: did your plan really happened “as planned”? I don’t think so. People do normally plan but seems to miss one key factor: execution. This is actually the main reason why you make a plan. For you to have something to execute. For you to know what to do. For you to have a guide. Don’t misplace though planning with execution. I just put an emphasis on execution as your plan is useless, if there will be no one to make that plan happen.

Wedding planning is one of the most excruciating part of all. Your plan has to be based on several factors: budget (of course), time availability, location, religion, traditions etc to name a few. But no matter how specific your upcoming “predictions” are, here are few tips which should be part of your wedding plan for you to ponder upon.

1.      Be certain- have a fixed date on your mind. You and your wife-to-be has to agree on the date “beyond reasonable doubt”! The date is actually the day where all the arrow will be aimed at so, better be certain and please, agree on it first.

2.    Your dream- people varies. We all have different perceptions on what is our dream wedding. The wedding has to be in parallel with your personality. Something that people can really relate to, based on you as a person. Something that you can really call, your own.

3.     Be on target- identify the church and your reception area as early as possible. Book it! Weddings nowadays especially in Philippines needs lead time as they got year-long bookings in advance so beware. You might be imagining yourself walking down the aisle in Manila Cathedral, only to find out that the next available date is 2 years from now!

4.     Know your vendors- videography, flowers and décor, caterer, coordinators etc. These are the people who you will entrust your few hours greatness so better know them. Do a research and look for feed backs. Know their old clients if possible. In this world where google knows better than anyone else, you should find what you are looking for. But don’t forget: stay within budget.

5.     Entourage- people amongst people within you and your partner. These are mostly family members and real close friends. Those people who shared a special part on your heart. Has nothing to do with the looks (wink) but, prefer those who were really extra especial.

6.     Attires- Who will shoulder our entourage dresses? How long can the tailor finish the order? To where will these be delivered? Who can do on the day repairs? What is your motif????? Tons of questions to be certain about.

7.     How to send invites- People often miss this process. You should know who amongst your attendees will receive the invites from yourself. Make sure to prioritize the primary sponsors too. Even relatives nowadays awaits a formal invitation copy from you! Take note of that.

8.       Manage your budget- your budget is something that you always have to refer on every time you make a decision. This is something that needs careful analysis on things that you can forego and keep. Make sure to keep it updated.

Again, a plan is useless without execution. Don’t forget the main reason of your plan which is to make things less complicated and should serve as a guide, not as an added pressure. 

Till next time.