PACKING YOUR BAG FOR THE WEDDING CEREMONY

Many a time, in spite of the best preparation and immaculate arrangement, that very last week ahead of the wedding gets chaotic and things get mislaid or left behind. As a wedding in-charge, in spite of frequent intimations, I have had couples who fail to remember the rings, the marriage license and the candles for the unity candle ritual as well as other things not so crucial.

At a certain Friday evening run through I intimated the couple to be certain to bring their marriage license to the Saturday afternoon wedding and they stared at each other and at me with a taken aback look. In the enthusiasm of the coming of family and friends and with the last minute arrangements, they merely did not remember to get their marriage license. There was a brief absolute state of alarm. I told them I would do research of the law and call them early Saturday morning. The consequence was that we had the full ceremonial wedding on Saturday. And on Monday, after they got hold of a license, we had an informal wedding with just their parents and me. The law does not consent to a ceremony to be carried out prior to acquiring the license and I did not want them ever to doubt if their marriage was legitimate.

I can assure that not remembering to bring important things leads to all kinds of anticipation and anxiety and time and again postpones the start of the ceremony. This is mainly problematic when the couple lives a long way from the ceremony location and we have to pass the time while somebody goes to get the marriage license.

So, what is the way out?

Put together a listing of everything you require for the ritual e.g. license, rings, candles, roses for the mothers, etc.

Pack each article in a bag well in advance of the ritual and put it in a location that it cannot be unrecalled. For those last minute objects like wine or roses, put down a big note on the outer surface of the bag. You might be able to appoint a family member you can rely on to be in charge for inspecting the items with the checklist and fetching the bag to the service location. Be sure you can rely on them.

Believe me, something go off in the mind that last week ahead of the wedding. So get the whole thing completed well ahead of time before the mind goes into that place of “wedding-mind-fog.” A “Wedding Ceremony Bag” helps you get there with all that you require and averts the “distress and dread” of misplaced wedding rings and marriage license.

Wedding planning: Big Discounts, Gifts And More

WEDDINGS: Most people look forward to getting married for almost the whole of their lives preceding the event and therefore have almost every specific detail, starting from the dress to the flowers to the cutlery the music and even the menu etched out in our minds. Unfortunately, when the time comes to finally turn these dreams to reality, practicality checks in, knocks us on our heads and reminds us of exactly how many dollars we have in the bank account!

Unlike what it used to be in the good old days, the modern day parents have learnt to ease their way out of bearing the financial burden of their son’s or daughter’s wedding. The logic used in this case is quite infallible really, most of us wait to tie the knot long enough to bear children, teach them how to walk and start helping them with their math homework. So, since we don’t do our share therefore the potential grandparents don’t do theirs. So finally when it comes to our wedding we are left out in the cold, joining bits and pieces of our earnings to build up the most important day of our lives.

For all of us who are bogged down by this sudden astounding realization, or the ones who will get similarly bogged down in a not so distant future date, here is a list of the average costs that you will have to incur in order to get married. Once you have the groom (or the Bride, as the case maybe), which tends to be the most expensive of the purchases, you are sure to save up enough to have a glorious wedding ceremony.

First up, flowers. Believe it or not, at any average wedding ceremony flowers can cost anything around or even above $800! Yes yes I know what you are thinking, you are probably itching to remind me how they finally add to the grandeur and emotion of the whole ceremony, but cap your outburst because ultimately this will probably be the one area you can cut your expenditure down in. If your budget is tight try something creative, scan issues of bridal magazines or the net for ideas.

Photography/Videography also takes up a large amount of your budget. Based on the kind of mementos you would want to keep from your wedding day you can end up spending anywhere between $900- $2500. Even though you probably think it’s a good idea it is best to not try and cut down your costs here, cause these will after all be one of the only things you will have to really re-live your wedding at a later date, and if saving a few dollars means you will end up looking like a fat hag or be ill-lit in your own wedding photographs then there is no point being a complete Scrooge about it.

Now if you are having a wedding ceremony, you will have to send out those few essential invitations, announcements and then the thank you notes, so there is no getting around the few hundred dollars it will set you back by, but you might try. Coax a friend with neat handwriting to take this load of your shoulders, get her to write your invitations for you, and keep it simple, so as to trim down the overall costs.

Finally of course there is the music. No wedding is complete without good music setting the right mood for the celebrations. Set apart about $1500 to fulfill your musical requirements.
Further costs include the price for the site of the ceremony. This you may safely estimate at around $400. of course you will also have to arrange for means to get to the site itself, this should cost around $450, all together. If you want to show your appreciation for the attendants with a little token of love, set apart another 400 bucks. The rehearsal dinner, which you must have, will be around $1000, the reception anywhere between $5000-$8000.

Expect your super special wedding dress to cost at least 1000 bucks and even if the groom settles for a rented tuxedo there is no getting away from the neat $500 you will have to flash out for it. So all in all, everything put together, added and multiplied, you have a whopping $25,000 bill tagged clean with your plan to get married. If marriages are really made in heaven then the God’s sure have expensive taste! However this isn’t by any means the final word in planning your wedding cheap, there are of course thousands of other ways of cutting your expenditure as per your personal means and fancies, this is just one of the very many ways of going about it. Figure out what suits you, and have a great wedding.