"PRACTICALLY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY" WEDDING

Written by, Cheryl Harwell Bailey

1. Begin planning your wedding the day you are engaged.

2. Set your wedding date with consideration of the amount of time,
 necessary to plan the marriage ceremony and celebration of your dreams.

3. Help to orchestrate a meeting of your parents and your future-in-law’s.
 Typically, the groom’s family makes the first move
 to become acquainted with the bride’s family.

4. Have a serious conversation with your fiancé to determine
 the kind of wedding you both want. 
Will it be formal or informal? 
Traditional or contemporary?

5. Send announcements for your engagement to your fiancé’s newspapers,
 as well as the newspaper in the town or towns where you both now live.

6. Meet with your clergyman, to learn the religious and legal requirements
 you must fulfill prior to the marriage ceremony. 
Discuss the kind of wedding you want.

7. Shop for the bridesmaid’s gowns with the help if your attendants.
 Be sure to obtain a fabric sample of your selection.

8. Seek the advice of your florist in designing the perfect bouquets
 for you and your bridesmaids.
 Consider the style and color of the dresses as well as the availability
 of your favorite blooms.

9. Study the tradition of the unity candle and consider incorporating it
 in your marriage ceremony. 
Two candles are placed at the front of the church to represent the joining of two families. After the exchange of vows, the bride and groom take their respective candles
 and together light the unity candle. 
There are other unity options as well. Like the "Sand Ceremony."

10. Discuss a realistic budget for your wedding with your groom, your parents and his parents. Remember to account for every aspect of the celebration, fees for hired professionals, and appropriate taxes and gratuities.

11. Consider writing some parts of your own wedding ceremony, or select a favorite reading, hymn or song to be included in the service.

12. Establish you’re wedding budget and decide who will pay for what, including contributions from both of your families.

13. Check with the state agency that grants marriage licenses and learn of the legal requirements you must fulfill prior to the marriage ceremony.

14. Order appropriate jewelry and fashion accessories for all the bridesmaids and include it as our of your gifts to them.

15. Consider hiring a professional wedding consultant to assist in planning your wedding.

16. Schedule appointments for personal fitting of the bridesmaids’ gowns.

17. Interview caterers to select the best individual to provide your food services. Establish a contract that confirms all details and prices.

18. Order wedding invitations, announcements and personal stationery that reflect the formality of your wedding celebration.

19. Consider the services of a calligrapher to address your wedding invitations and announcements. Establish a contract that confirms all details and prices.

20. Consider the service of a videographer to preserve the scenes of your wedding ceremony and reception. Interview professional videographers and D.J's. Establish a contract that confirms all details and prices.

21. Study the pages of bridal magazines to find the wedding grown of your dreams as well as beautiful dresses for the bridesmaids, and the perfect formal wear for the men of the wedding party.

22. Select a wedding gown and veil that reflect your own fashion style and flatter your figure. Place your order and deposit with a full-service bridal specialty store or bridal salon.

23. Order a pretty nosegay to toss among your single female friends as you leave for your honeymoon, if you plan to preserve your wedding bouquet.

24. Plan a coordinated color scheme for your weeding that is translated through the bridesmaid’s gown, wedding flowers, reception table linens and centerpieces.

25. Design a printed place card as a memento of your wedding reception.

26. Interview professional photographers to select the best individual 
to provide your wedding photography.
 Establish a contract that confirms all details and prices.

27. Determine if liquor will be served at your reception.

28 Select a baker to create the wedding cake to be served at your reception and design a special top tier that you will preserve to savor at your first anniversary.
 Design a groom’s cake to be served at the rehearsal dinner or the wedding reception.

29. Interview florists to select the best individual to provide your wedding flowers. Establish a contract that confirms all details and prices.

30. Interview professional musicians t performs the 
kind of music you want for your reception.
 Choose a style of music that complements the theme
 of your wedding reception.

31. Select a serving style that is most compatible with the type of reception your have planned and the number of guests to be served. 
Consider a sit-down meal or buffet.

32. Consider the services of a professional vocalist or musician as part of your ceremony.

33. Seek the advice of our wedding director or proper floral arrangements for 
the interior of the church or synagogue.

34. Seek the advice of your wedding director on appropriate wedding music.

35. Compile a guest list to determine the amount of space necessary to accommodate attendees at the wedding and the reception.

36. Tour each of the better hotels in the town where you’ll be married and select a property to suggest to your out-of-town guests. Many hotels will provide  a group rate as well as reserve a block of adjacent rooms for our guests.

36. Consider the number of small children in you immediate family and determine the need for baby-sitting service during your wedding weekend.

38 Help your mother, your fiancé’s mother and your grandmothers 
in the selection of their dresses for your wedding. 
Determine the best flowers to accessorize their attire and order
 appropriate corsages from your florist.

39. Met with your caterer to design the menu to be served at your wedding reception. Agree upon the date you will confirm the final number of expected guests.

40. Shop at your favorite jewelry store with your groom to select your wedding bands. Design an inscription to be engraved on the inside of each ring.

41. Remember that word of mouth is the proper method
 of informing family and friends of your bridal registry.
 Ask your mother to help spread the word about where you’re registered.

42. Suggest several honeymoon dream destinations to your groom. 
Choose locations that offer things to do as well as a relaxing retreat.

43. Set up your own record keeping system to keep track of announcements and invitations you have sent, gifts you have received and thank-you notes you have written.

44. Shop at your favorite department store with your groom 
to select the items you will need to set up your first home.
 Set up your bridal registry of formal china, crystal and silver: everyday dinnerware, glassware and flatware: table linens and placements:
 bed and bath linens: cookware and appliances.

45. Seek your parents’ help in creating a seating plan for the reception.

46. Meet with the wedding director of your church or synagogue to learn the proper procedures for your marriage ceremony. Is there a room where your and the bridesmaids can dress for the ceremony?

47. Research all possible locations for your marriage ceremony and provide a written confirmation of your wedding date and time of service.

48. Research all possible locations for your reception and provide a 
written confirmation of your requested date and time of service.

49. Offer assistance to future in-laws who live out-of-town 
for planning the rehearsal dinner. 
Your fiancé’s mother may appreciate knowing of several 
suitable locations for the preceding celebration.

50. Extend personal invitations
 to your closest friends to serve as members of your wedding party. 
Be sure to discuss the logistical details of their participation in your wedding celebration.

54. Choose a petty picture stamp for your wedding initiations and response cards.

55. Plan to mail your wedding invitations at least four to six weeks in advance. 
Present both your mothers with extra invitations for their memorabilia.

56. Shop at a full service formal wear shop with your groom to choose 
proper attire for the men of the wedding party. 
Consider the formality of the wedding and the time of day of 
the celebration in making a selection.

57. Remember that all men in the wedding party are dressed 
in identical styles for formal wear.
 Obtain measurement cards from your formal wear specialist and ask
 each groomsman to return a completed card that reserves his clothing.

58. Choose a flower, perhaps a variety from your wedding bouquet, 
for the groomsmen’s’ boutonnieres.

59. Consult with your hairstyles and makeup artist 
to determine your wedding beauty needs.
 Schedule one appointment to have your hair trimmed two to three 
weeks before your wedding and a second appointment
 on the day of your wedding for professional styling.

60. Schedule a sitting with your photographer for a formal wedding portrait 
at least two months before your wedding.

61. Schedule several formal photographs of the bridesmaids and groomsmen before the wedding to minimize the amount of time required to
 pose wedding party photos after the ceremony.

62. Design a hospitality gift to be placed in the hotel room of 
each out-of-town guest of your wedding.
 Include a map and directions to the wedding site and reception.

63. Confirm travel and honeymoon arrangements well in advance of departure.

64. Collect necessary passports and visas. Arrange for traveler’s checks.

65. Shop with your groom for truly unique gifts for your wedding party.
 Consider personal items that can be engraved with names and dates.

66. Select a meaningful personal wedding gift for your groom, to be presented 
during a quiet moment alone.

67. Consult with your insurance agent to determine that your wedding gifts are adequately protected by homeowner’s insurance.

68. Inform your employer and / or insurance agent of your weeding date and your desire to name your fiancé’ as beneficiary in your life insurance.

69. Consult with your lawyer to name your fiancé’ as beneficiary in your will.

70. Open joint savings and checking accounts.

71. Record each wedding gift as it arrives and write thank-you notes promptly.
 Be sure to make a thorough description of each item on your record cards.

72. Send announcements of your wedding to your fiancé’s and your hometown newspapers along with the newspaper where you will live.

73. Be sure personal invitations are extended to the wedding party and family for the rehearsal dinner, including a map and directions for out-of-town guests.

74. Make arrangements for a bridesmaids’ luncheon to be held within days of the wedding. Choose to present your attendants’ gifts at the
 bridesmaids’ luncheon or at the rehearsal dinner.

75. Pack your going away outfit and honeymoon luggage a few days before the wedding.

76. Consider the luxury of a limousine or horse-drawn carriage to transport you and your groom from the church or synagogue to the reception site.

77. Arrange for transportation for your honeymoon departure from the reception.

78. Prepare payment of your officiant’s fee or make a contribution 
to your church of synagogue.

79. Develop a wedding program that describes each part of the marriage ceremony and names the members of your wedding party.

80. Purchase a guest registry and ask a close relative or friend not in the wedding party to preside over the book at the reception.

81. Invite other close relatives and friends to help serve punch or cake
 at the wedding reception.

82. Wrap ribbon around several sugared almonds clustered in a square of tulle and create a memento fro your guests that symbolizes the bittersweet times of marriage.
 Ask a friend or relative to pass a favor to each guest.

83. Ask a close friend to gather all the personal belongings from the dressing room after the wedding and take them to the reception.

84. Assemble a bag with a needle and thread, safety pins and aspirin 
for wedding emergencies.

85. Obtain permission for birdseed, flower petals and the like to be tossed as you and your husband leave the reception for the honeymoon.

86. Celebrate the beginning of your new life together by planting a seedling 
that will grow with your marriage.

87. Practice dancing with your groom before your wedding day. 
Don’t be afraid to enlist instructions from a professional dance studio.

88. Discuss the formation of a receiving line with both sets of parents. 
The bride’s parents head the line, followed by the groom’s parents, 
the newlyweds and the honor attendants. 
The fathers can be excused to mingle with the guests and make sure the food service
 and entertainment are proceeding as planned.

89. Consider presenting both mothers with flowers from your bouquet
 as part of your marriage ceremony, 
or arrange for your florist to prepare two special stems for this purpose.
 Offer your mother a bloom before your take your fiancé’s hand. 
Offer your new mother-in-law a bloom as you exit the sanctuary after the ceremony.

90. Be sure to get plenty of rest the night before your wedding.

91. Plan a special way to say “ thank-you” to your parents on the morning or your wedding.

92. Mail announcements of your wedding to out-of-town family and friends who could not attend the festivities on the morning of the ceremony.

93. Don’t allow yourself to be rushed on the morning of your wedding.
 Consider asking your hair stylist, makeup artist and manicurist to travel to your home.

94. Eat something light before the wedding to avoid a headache or fainting.

95. Place your garter discreetly below your knee.

96. Add a sixpence to your shoe.

97. Tuck a lacy handkerchief under your bouquet.

98. Ask you’re maid-of-honor to carry a small comb and lipstick for you.

99. Dedicate a special song to your groom at the wedding reception.

100. Live "Happily Ever After!"