Tips to help you stay afloat wedding plans mishap

Your wedding ceremony is like a three-tier cake imitation. Hilarious? Well, it will interest you to know that the days or months before your wedding, and the days after, are just as important as the d day. That is why I have drawn up some tips to watch out for, in preparing for this life-changing event.

1.  Blowing off your wedding budget.

It costs a lot of money to throw a wedding. Many times, excited brides start booking vendors and making purchases without having a real budget and then are shocked to discover they’ve already spent all of their money and don’t yet have half the things they need. If you bounce checks or don’t have the money to pay your deposits or make your final payments on the wedding day, your wedding will not happen. Planning a wedding is serious business. Make a budget and keep track of your expenditures so you won’t be walking naked down the aisle. Need help? Sign up for an interactive session for the package that does it all for you.

2. Ordering your wedding dress too late.

If your heart is set on a couture wedding dress, be sure to order by the six-month mark since your dress will be custom-made and, many times, made overseas or locally. In addition, most off-the-rack wedding dresses will require alterations, so make certain that you have enough time to get the gown fitted properly. You’ll want to leave plenty of time for shipping and for your fittings if it’s done oversea. The same goes for the bridesmaid dresses.

3.Booking hotel rooms too late.

Brides often leave blocking out hotel rooms for out-of-town wedding guests until the last minute. If you’re marrying during a busy time and you don’t investigate hotel availability in advance, you can end up with literally not a single room for your guests to stay. Reserve rooms as early as possible. Begin your research a month or two in advance, though you are not likely to run into problems with this if you hire a good wedding planner.

4.Inviting too many wedding guests.

You need to be realistic with yourself. If you know you are from the large family or influential clan, be sure of extent of family involvement to avoid mishaps.    Make sure your guest list and your reception hall capacity match up numbers-wise. You can’t invite 400 people assuming only 250 will accept, because if you end up with 300 acceptances, you may have to turn 50 guests away at the door. Most wedding venues can’t just add 10 more tables — fire laws limit the maximum number of people allowed in any room at one time. Analyse your guest list from the get-go, assume 80% will respond yes, and limit your guest list accordingly.

5. Partaking in last-minute beauty treatments and crash diets.

Don’t be too hard on yourself.  Fitness goals are not always a quick- fix method. It may take a period of 6-8 weeks for you to achieve reasonable fitness outcomes. Please don’t starve yourself all in the name of weight lost. Many brides think that scheduling a facial the day before the wedding will leave their skin looking angelic on their big days. Last-minute beauty treatments can lead to breakouts, mistakes or, even worse, serious infections. Same goes for crash dieting in the weeks leading up to the wedding — after those entire gown fittings, your dress may not fit! Stick to a long-term beauty regimen with lots of rest, and a good diet. Save the heavy-duty beauty treatments for at least two weeks before the big day or you could risk ruining all the hard work you’ve done to make your wedding — and your photos — perfect (never mind putting your health and happiness at risk for the most important day of your life)!

6.Ignoring religious restrictions.

Yes we know there is a place for westernization; however you cannot trade religious rules for that. Even if you have to use your family/parents place of worship be sure to ask pertinent questions regarding the dos and don’ts. Never assume that they would overlook some of their doctrines or belief because of you. So in order to have a seamless worship experiences just simply adhere to their rules.

Inappropriate attire for the church or temple, or skipping the wedding rehearsal (if applicable) may keep the officiating ministers from marrying you when the big day comes around. Take your religious restrictions seriously. To avoid any day-of disasters, be sure to meet with your officiate early enough to know about the steps to take from engagement to wedding day. Your house of worship may perform ceremonies only on specific days, so settle on a date with your clergyman before you start to book vendors and put down deposits. Be sure to ask him or her about religious rules, such as: Do you need to complete a pre-courtship course? Can you write your own wedding vows? Do you need to cover your shoulders? Is secular music permitted? . And so on and so forth.


7. Booking your vendors late.

Don’t ever join the last minute wagon of assuming that you can always get a (good) caterer, florist, décor manager, security agency, photographer, and most importantly, wedding planner at the snap of your fingers. That could be very costly, especially if you look forward to getting quality service. Search and seize! Make research and seize good vendors you plan to patronize, early enough. It would amaze you how many clients these vendors have to service, especially during peak periods, and may not be disposed to add on any spur-of-the-moment deliveries. More so, you get charged extra for short notice services. We call it ‘’express service’’ in Nigeria.



8. Forgetting to focus on what’s important.

Keep in mind that you are getting married and starting a life together, not just planning a wedding. Brides, be good to your grooms. And grooms, be good to your brides! Some tension between the two of you (and among members of your family) is inevitable due to the sticky topics that weddings stir up, but don’t ever let things get out of control. Wedding ceremony is a one or two days affair but marriage is a lifetime journey. Remember why you decided to take this leap in the first place!