There is little doubt that the internet has revolutionized the world we live in. The way we work, shop & socialize have all changed in recent years & now wedding planning is getting in on the act.Traditionally your RSVP’s would come in the form of mailed back response cards which you would have included with your invitations. Your wedding planning then saw you sifting through the many responses deciphering handwriting & trying to calculate exactly who is coming & who isn’t. But nowadays you can approach your RSVP’s in a completely different way, thanks to the world of cyberspace! Having your RSVP’s handled online is a fairly new development in wedding planning but one which couple’s are getting to grips very quickly. So much so that the use of such a service has surged in popularity as couples find better & more efficient ways to organize their weddings. Unlike the traditional method of posting reply cards, online RSVP’s in an inexpensive method of collecting your guest’s replies & many of these online services will offer extra functions also.But how do you go about setting up one of these RSVP sites? It so easy to set one up & you can find various sites offering free basic services or for a fee sites which will offer a more complete wedding website package. Which ever option you choose you can have it set up & running in minutes. So what features can you expect from an online RSVP service?Please note that not all sites will offer all of these features, so check what they do offer before signing up.1) Multiple Events – You can collect replies for other events which you may be holding as part of your wedding celebrations. These could include Bridal Shower, bachelor/bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinner etc. 2) Print Capabilities – You can create your own lists of RSVP’s collected & customize them as you wish. These can then be handed out to people such as your wedding coordinator, caterer, wedding party members etc. 3) Downloadable Capabilities – You can create a spreadsheet of all your replies by downloading the information into a spreadsheet format or you can simply download it to any format you wish. 4) Live, Real-Time Data – You can be notified of RSVP’s as soon as your guests have submitted them. The beauty of the internet is the fast turnaround it offers & unlike the traditional method you won’t be waiting days on end for replies to drop the letterbox. 5) 24/7 Access to all Reports – You online RSVP service is available 24/7 so you can view it at any time of day or night. RSVP’s can be submitted at any time & you will be notified immediately, unlike the postal service which doesn’t run 24/7! 6) Share and Collect Additional Information – You can customize your site to collect other information from your guests such as dietary requirements, accommodation preferences, your gift registry & much more. 7) Meal Tracking – If you are offering a selection of dish choices for a sit down dinner, you can customize the site to collect your guests preferences as well. This is a great time saver as you can then submit these quickly to your caterer.
Auto Confirmation Email – After your guests have completed the acceptance or decline of your invitation & have entered their email address, they will receive a confirmation email confirming their response. This can be reassuring to many guests who will want to know that their RSVP has been delivered. 9) Secure Storage – All your personal & private information, along with your entire RSVP’s & guest information are stored in a secure account which can only be accessed by use of a username & password. 10) Password Protection – For further security you can send your guests a unique password which they will need to access the site & submit their reply. 11) Special Messages – You can customize the site to accept personal messages from your guests. 12) Accurate Totals – The site will always produce live totals for your guest head count & you can customize your reports to view those that have declined & those that have accepted separately. 2 Benefits of using an online wedding RSVP site:1) It is cheaper than mailing cards.2) Your replies will not be lost in the post or be subject to long delivery times. There is a wide choice of sites available to choose from, some are free, others will offer various features for a fee. Whichever you choose make sure you pick a site which will give your all the features you need to aid your wedding planning & help your wedding day run as smoothly as possible.
Planning your wedding can be stressful, don’t feel alone. There are many couples who succumb to the stresses of wedding planning.
The best advice is to make a plan and make it as early as possible.
It’s a good idea to follow wedding etiquette but not to a point where it will make you crazy or cause you to go broke. There are plenty of books and articles on wedding etiquette but their suggestions are not written in stone.
If it is the number of things that have to be done that wears on you, find friends and family who will be willing to help and assign them projects to complete. Don’t feel that you have to pay them in any way for this service. If you can afford it though, a small gift may be appropriate but it is definitely not required.
Your plan should include all of the major things that have to be taken care of like where to hold the ceremony, where to hold the reception, how many guests and things of this sort.
Taking care of just these three items will put you into a position to think about what else has to be done.
Oh, in your wedding planning, don’t forget about the wedding officiant early on. This is especially important if the wedding ceremony isn’t being held at a church that has a minister to officiate the ceremony.
Many officiants fill their schedules way in advance and it is sometimes hard to find someone who meets your expectations is you wait until the last minute.
If it is the costs that you have you frazzled, set a budget and stick to it. Keep in mind that anything that is preceded by the word wedding (wedding planning, wedding flowers, wedding favors) is marked up 100% to 300%.
This is not to say that there are not vendors in the wedding industry that will give you a good product for a good price, there are plenty of them. It does take some work to make sure you are getting what you expect. You need to check them out and get references.
There are some items that can be bought for your wedding without having the wedding label.
Find ways to save by doing some out of the ordinary things.
Here are a few ideas:
1. Buy a cake from a local food store, add wedding decorations yourself
2. Shop online for flowers, dresses, accessories etc.
3. Do you know a seamstress? Buy a dress that needs some work at a reduced price
4. Limit the number of band members or get a DJ instead
5. Cut your own music cds and have a friend man the act as DJ
6. Have a friend who is a good photographer? videographer?
7. Use your own caterer not the facilities’ (many hire outside caterers anyway)
8. Small wedding, have family and friends provide the food and beverages
9. Buy your own alcoholic beverages with an agreement to get a refund for unopened bottles
One word of caution, always check out those you are going to buy from or hire to perform a service. Do or have someone do a little research for you to make sure you are getting what you are paying for.
Don’t let the wedding planning get you down. Remember it is your wedding and you are the one making the decisions. You are in charge. Get what you want. You can do it. You can have the dream wedding that you’ve always wanted without being overwhelmed.
Don’t stress, have fun with the whole experience.
When planning your wedding it can sometimes be a chore to plan and to organize as to what should come first. It can also be confusing as to what steps in which direction I need to go when organizing events of my wedding day. Here you will find helpful wedding tips that you will surely find beneficial. The first thing you should do when starting your plans to put together a wedding is to set your budget, this is extremely important. Before you make any decisions you must first check your finances and decide how much you are willing and can spend on your wedding.
To me the next thing that should come to mind is choosing a wedding date, this may sound silly but believe it or not he can make a difference for instance, time of year and season will determine not only your budget but also friends and family who can attend. With setting a date and time of year for the wedding comes choosing a theme is going to be at beach theme, fall theme, some are winter? All these decisions are equally important.
Another important factor that goes along with your budget would be deciding on the size of your wedding party and guess that you plan to invite. If you decide to have a large wedding bridal party this can sometimes lead to big expense with gifts and rehearsal dinners, you get the idea. Also you want to be careful about who exactly you are going to invite. This will help keep the costs down.
Once you have decided on a theme the size of your bridal party reception guests and your budget now we can move forward. Some things may be easy when planning a wedding such as the Church where you plan to wed. Next a good idea would be for the bride and groom to go out and purchase wedding rings, follow closely by picking and booking your photographer, DJ and someone to film the video.
Where almost home! You will need to schedule and participate in a premarital counseling classes, I have done it myself and actually it’s quite fun! From there you will need to decide on what food and refreshments you will have at your wedding reception hall and of course along with that would be choosing your wedding favor souvenirs for your special guest who attended your wedding reception celebration.
More on the home stretch now! From there it actually gets quite easy. At this point the bride and groom will get fitted for their gown and tuxedo, followed thereafter by choosing a wedding cake. Once you have all this in order to last thing would be to pick out your wedding invitations and prepare them for mailing.
As you can clearly see that wedding planning does take time and extreme effort, but if you give yourself enough time and careful thought putting together a big event, as well as a memorable event like a big wedding things can go rather smoothly.
Wedding Favors are to symbolize the true celebration of ever lasting love and marriage. Even more its a part of a standing tradition, an acceptance of a wedding tradition where reception guest party favors are as much a part of the wedding ceremony as the marriage and legality itself. Wedding favors are a part of marriage as is marriage a part of unique wedding favors.
Anyone who has ever planned a wedding knows that, no matter how much or how little help they received, the joys and tears are definitely a part of the experience.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about planning a wedding comes in the financial arena. As a soon-to-be bride, florists, wedding planners, photographers are known to jack up the prices. It’s not simply a case of getting everyone in place with their dresses and tuxes done up just right. It’s really a budget battle all the way through, especially if you are on a tight budget in the first place.
One area of wedding planning that seems to get a lot of negative hype is with photography. Most anybody is willing to pay the extra money to have their special day turn out just right. And unfortunately, most photographers know it. Many will charge a lump sum to simply show up, that could be as high as $5,000, in some cases higher. Solid advice is to avoid those who claim to have reasonably priced services yet still tack on a hefty fee like this. Prices for a photographer’s services can range drastically, and references from people you know could be a welcomed piece of mind in your wedding planning.
Caterers, dresses, tuxedos – the three call rule is definitely solid advice here. Getting three estimates and talking to people who have used these companies’ services is the way to go. But beyond finances, wedding planning also involves the bringing together of both families. Now more than ever, the bride and the groom’s families are involved in wedding planning, and having too many cooks in the kitchen giving their input on the way things “should” be at your wedding can cause unneeded stress for both bride and groom. The two things to remember here are to keep a cool head, remember what “you” want for your special day and a little compromise probably won’t kill you.
For many, hiring a wedding planner to plan their wedding can be a saving grace. For others, a wedding planner has been a nightmare, and they feel they threw away money for services they could have done themselves. When wedding planning, you may want to ask yourself if you really need a wedding planner. If so, think ahead of what you will need them to do, and be clear then hold them to your expectations.
Some have found that, with the Internet, there is so much information for wedding planning and so many resources available, regardless of the budget, that planning a wedding can easily done without an actual wedding planner. However, some who may be having a very large, or high profile, wedding may need one.