Author: Valentina Ibeachum

In Part 1 we said,
1 - Find out what you need to do
2 - What’s your budget?

That wasn’t too hard, was it? Now let’s continue…

3 Build yourself a team.

What makes the whole wedding process so expensive is that you’re paying for man-power even more than the products they supply. Labour is usually more expensive than products. So if you can build yourself a team, you would have saved yourself at least 25% of the total cost of the whole wedding planning from start to glorious finish.
I remember my husband's cousin who took up the burden of her wedding from start to finish. She even did the catering herself. What a mistake. After the wedding, she was too ill to enjoy the honeymoon. That's an extreme example. But some of us do too much by ourselves when planning our wedding till we’re too stressed out to actually enjoy it.
So build a team of people who will help you achieve the wedding of your dreams.

Here is how:

• List out what needs to be done
  Download a wedding planner checklist to find out what needs to be done

• Name your team members
  Now think about this carefully. Do you have any friends or family who will be willing to help you? Who are your bridesmaids and groomsmen/ushers going to be? By the very definition of their names, they’re meant to serve you during the wedding. Most people don’t utilise them to their full potential. In most cases, they’re only used on the wedding day. That’s a poor utilisation of the human resources available to you.

• Write down the names of the women and the name of the men in separate columns.
  This is because women and men usually have different kinds of skills and contacts and you want to utilise people according to their strengths. Assign to each their responsibilities according to their strengths and availability. The key is dependability. Don’t rely on someone to do something that you can’t depend on or, who isn’t available. But don't assign responsibilities yet. Our wedding team builder is useful free resources to enable you do this in conjunction with the step below.

• You could save yourself the service costs of waiters, waitresses, and coat-takers if you could recruit some of the more responsible of your relatives to perform these roles on your wedding. This could save you up to £10 per worker per hour. 6 of your young cousins could save you about £300 for 5 hours.

SAVINGS - circa £300 ($550)

4 Assign responsibilities

Call a bridesmaid and groomsmen/ushers meeting before you do this. Be gracious and grateful. Remember that they’re doing you a favour. Most people only use their bridesmaids and groomsmen on the wedding day. That’s a waste of labour. Let them know that you want them to help you with various aspects of the wedding apart from the actual day. You need to have this meeting before assigning responsibilities. This is because you shouldn't assign a task to anyone whom you haven’t first spoken to and found out if they’re willing or able to do what you would want them to do. Also when you assign responsibilities, make sure that you give each person a date by which it should be completed.

• Tell each person what they need to do
  Discuss with each person what that responsibility entails and what they should look out for. Use our suppliers’ checklist to help your team make decisions that you can trust. Make sure they shop around and discuss your budget with them.

• Set yourself reminders in your calendar for when you or your spouse-to-be should get updates from your team

5 Reduce the MOST expensive cost - Food and drinks!

The most expensive cost for weddings is the food and drinks. A typical estimate for a big wedding comes up to about £5000 ($9000). Most caterers charge by head and most venues will not allow you to bring an outside caterer or your own drinks. If you could reduce the cost of food and drinks, you can potentially save yourself 100s or even 1000s of ££££s.

So how do you achieve this?

• Pick the right venue.
  Do you want your food and drinks supplied by the venue, or do you want to provide your own catering? Most venues would want to supply at least the drinks.

But getting a venue that will let supply your own catering could save you a lot. Think about it. This is because they may typically charge you £40 per guest not including alcoholic beverage. But you can get a good deal from the caterer at £20 per head reducing your catering cost by £2000 for a 100-strong guest list.

• The next thing to do is list all your guests including children
  Since a typical wedding lunch may cost from £20, you need to know how many people you’re expecting. Will they have a separate menu for kids in order to reduce costs, or will you ask guests not to come with children?

If you can have the menu reduced by half for the kids, you would save about £10.00 for each child. If you have 20 kids present, that’s a saving of £200. But, if you’re venue insists on providing the catering, then you need to do some negotiating.

• Buy your own drinks
  For a guest list of 100 people, each drink may cost £2.50. They would each have at least 3 drinks. Many of them would make on average 5 trips to the bar. (I’m being conservative in my estimation here - people go crazy over free drinks!) If they each had one glass of champagne at £8 per head, that would add another £800 to your bill. This could bring your bar tab up to £2050.

How much would it cost you to buy your own drinks from your local supermarket or an online drinks supplier? At your local supplier, 60 cartons of juice will cost a measly £50, while a case of Bollinger champagne would cost less than £300, even if you get 2 cases for £100 guests, that's still about £200 less than what the bar tab will cost you for low-range house champagne.

This could save you up to £1400 if you choose to serve only juice and champagne.
However, if they do allow you to bring in your own drinks, they may charge you a corkage for every alcoholic bottle opened. In that case, find out what it is and negotiate the price with them.

TOTAL SAVINGS (if you can supply your own food and drinks) - over £3150 ($5670)

About the Author:
Valentina Ibeachum has a passion for helping couples resolve relationship problems by providing effective guidelines for building happy and strong marriages.
If you have any questions, visit her website www.relationshipwrks.com now.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/9-secrets-that-could-reduce-wedding-costs-by-over-6000-10000-part-2-25900.html

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A wedding can be an intimidating event to plan. Not only is there the anticipation of the big day and what it represents, there is also the stress of having everything go smoothly, be beautiful, and an event that both you and your guests will enjoy. Take some of the pressure off of your planning by tackling the big items on your list first. The next thing you know, your wedding day will be right around the corner, and you will be prepared to enjoy it to its fullest.

Choosing a Place For Your Wedding

Before you start looking for a place to hold your wedding, try to envision your perfect day. Do you want an outdoor ceremony among lush gardens, or a more traditional setting at a hotel or function hall? How many people do you want to invite, and what type of place can accommodate them? Having a vision of your perfect wedding in mind will help you significantly narrow down your choices. Once you have a list of places that my accommodate your vision, choose four or five to visit, then make appointments that fit within your schedule. Once you�ve made your final decision, nail down the date and give them a deposit. This will be one important item that you can cross off your list.

Picking a DJ

You will likely have people tell you that the DJ you choose will make or break your wedding. This can add a lot of pressure to your wedding planning, so it is a good idea to start looking for a DJ early. Contact a few different agencies that provide DJ services, and request a DVD of past performances. This will help you choose a musical style for your wedding. Also, before you sign a contract, make arrangements to meet the DJ in person. They may look great on DVD, but if your personalities clash you may have difficulty working with them in the coming months. In my opinion, if a DJ is not willing to meet and discuss your wedding prior to being hired, look elsewhere. You don�t want any surprises the day of your wedding, so having the opportunity to meet them face to face and understand their musical style can greatly reduce the stress of planning the music for your big day.

Officiant

The person who performs your ceremony, whether it is a minister, or justice of the peace, should be someone that you can work well with. Decide first on the type of officiant that you would like for your wedding, and then start looking for officiants that perform ceremonies in your area. When you have narrowed down your search to three or four officiants that are of interest to you, make an appointment to meet with them to get a feel for their style, experience, and overall personality. Your ceremony should be a reflection of you and your fianc�, so you want to hire an officiant that will work closely with you to help make your ceremony exactly the way you want it to be. Also, if you are planning to prepare a custom ceremony for your wedding, it can be extremely helpful if the officiant can provide you with sample ceremonies that you can review and choose from. This can save you the time and frustration of researching ceremonies and/or trying to come up with the words on your own.

Photographer

This is an area where you can spend a lot of money, so you definitely want to shop around. In addition to their level of experience, it is a good idea to get an overall feel for their photographic style. How do they plan to capture your special moments during the ceremony and reception, and where do they normally place their focus? Remember that this is the person that is going to capture a day that you want to remember fondly for the rest of your life, so sometimes choosing the right photographer is more important than choosing the photographer who offers the lowest price.

Also, before you sign a contract with a photographer, make sure you understand exactly what their services include. Will they be present before the ceremony to take pictures of you getting ready? Is a professional photo album included in the price they have quoted? Photography can be expensive, so make sure you have a clear understanding of the services they will provide before you sign the contract.

Florist

Flowers have a personality all their own, so you want to make sure that the flowers you choose reflect the mood you want for your wedding. Therefore it is important to choose a florist who is attentive to your needs and is supportive of the vision you have for your wedding day. You definitely want to choose someone that you can trust. Do you feel confident that they will accomplish your goal, or will they ignore your requests and prepare arrangements according to their own style? Their willingness to work with you will be important as the wedding gets closer, so choose a florist that you communicate well with, and that provides you with the greatest sense of security.

Planning a wedding can be stressful, but it doesn�t have to be. It can be a lot of fun if you get yourself organized ahead of time and give yourself plenty of time to plan. Take the stress off of planning this big event by tackling the big items first. Once these items are complete, you can move on to the more enjoyable tasks, like picking out your perfect gown, and arranging centerpieces and favors. Your wedding day will be as special as you make it. Bask in the joy that this day will bring by taking your time and enjoying the choices you make along the way.

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Weddings are always associated with joy and happiness, which is perhaps the reason why there exist so many celebrations before and after the actual wedding ceremony. Wedding shower is one such pre-wedding celebration. A wedding shower is nothing but a party where all the guests shower their best wishes and love upon the bride-to-be. The wedding shower, also known as a bridal shower, is a much-awaited party that precedes the wedding, and is conventionally attended by the bride and all her female friends and family members only. However, nowadays people have modified the conventional ways and you might come across a few guys at a wedding shower.

A friend or a sister of the bride, who takes care of all the wedding shower preparations starting from the beginning to the end, is generally in charge of all the arrangements of the wedding shower. Wedding shower invitations are the most important and primary part of the wedding shower preparations. Starting from finalizing the guest list to selecting wedding shower invitations, and getting back the RSVPs and having a confirmed guest list - the job is difficult to say the least!

Wedding Shower Invitations - Finalizing the Guest List

There are a lot of things to consider before you finalize the guest list. In case you are planning for a surprise wedding shower party, then it is obvious that you cannot consult the bride-to-be to finalize the guest list. In such cases make sure you invite all the people who are close to the would-be-bride. Her mother, sister, her female in-laws, and all such people, who you think are close to the would-be-bride. In case you really want to make sure you don�t end up inviting unwanted people at the wedding shower, you can always have a word with the groom and finalize the guest list. Make sure you do not miss out the bride�s colleagues from work or her friends from college; she needs to see everyone at the wedding shower!

Wedding Shower Invitations - Picking out the Right Invitations

There exist a lot of ways to invite people for a party - post, email and telephone are the three main options. Sending wedding shower invitations via email can be quite convenient only if you know that people you are about to invite are completely internet-savvy. There also exist a wide range of invitation e-cards, which can be just perfect for your wedding shower invitations. You can choose from a range of paid or non-paid websites that offer e-invitations. If that seems like hassles, there is nothing like the humble email. You can also use colorful templates and pictures in the e-invitations to make them more interesting. Many people say that inviting people on the phone can be considered quite rude however inviting people on the phone makes it very convenient for the person who is organizing the shower as well as the guests. You can call up people and know whether or not they will be attending the wedding shower. This speeds up the process of finalizing the guest list for the wedding shower, since you immediately know who is going to come and who�s not.

However, in spite of the technological advances there are many people who like to stick to the conventional practice of sending out the wedding shower invitations on paper and getting the replies for the RSVP cards. Sending out the invitations by post is by far the safest and most preferred option till date, since it also has a certain amount of warmth associated with it. While picking out wedding shower invitations have a wide range of ready made invitation cards with amazing themes and color schemes. In case you don�t want ready made invitation cards, you can call a bunch of friends to help you out and make the wedding shower invitations yourself, with the DIY wedding shower invitation kits.

Wedding Shower Invitations - Things to Remember

Once you have decided what type of invitations you are going to send, you need to finalize the things that need to be mentioned in the invitations. First of all, mention the bride�s name, then the venue of the wedding shower party and obviously the time of the party. In case the road to the wedding shower venue is complicated, it is advisable to include a map illustrating the directions. Once the guests receive the invitations, ask the guests to confirm whether or not they would be coming to the wedding shower. In case the couple has gotten themselves a gift registry, make sure to mention it to the guests, which will make them pick appropriate gifts for the couple.

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It may sound strange to you, but a man wedding ring was not common until recently. It has been ages that women have find of jewelry and rings, but men remained aloof from jewelry. The use of a wedding ring is to establish the symbol of everlasting love, which is carefully enshrined in the constitution of marriage.

Once engaged, the first thing to look for is a wedding ring. The wearing of a man wedding ring is a relatively modern phenomenon, so is the use of different concepts like man gold ring, man diamond ring and man titanium rings.

Despite the popularity of modern jewelry, choicest man wedding rings can be easily found at your local jewelry store. Amongst these, man titanium ring has not still made into the conscious of the local jewelry merchant and are not easily available.

A faithful suggestion is to look around the online resource for a man wedding ring so that you can easily search for some of the best designs with most contemporary looks. There is a huge collection, where anybody can easily pick up his or her choice. There was a huge range of man diamond rings available with some of the best-designed man gold rings as well.

Therefore, if you want to find the ultimate in modern male jewelry, including men�s titanium rings, you can locate the store to enter the world of your choice. There were many couples who found their ideal contemporary design in man diamond rings and man gold rings. Moreover, there is also a new section devoted to man promise rings and bands.

The man wedding rings look great and particularly the new trend is with the man platinum ring, which can be shaped into a wide variety of styles. It can also be colored into a stunning range of colors, which can be mixed and matched.

More traditional, the man gold ring and the man diamond ring seems to be the all time favorite. Although gold can be altered to offer a small range of different colors, it is basically gold colored. Diamond and titanium man ring can be in a much wider range of choices. Titanium also offers a choice of finish, most commonly satin, matt or refined.

You can search for many different ring materials which suit to your personality and at the same time also reflect the character of an individual. Man titanium ring and man diamond ring are both becoming much more popular.

According to a study made, whilst man diamond wedding ring were not very popular with men as with women, but they have started to make some clear statements, which attract men who choose them.

Lastly, there are no set rules about choosing a man wedding ring. It depends upon the couple together to make a decision at the last.

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The bridal veil is prominent in history and offers the bride an elegance and grace as she walks down the aisle. It completes the gown. There are numerous styles of veils and they should be selected depending upon the style of your wedding dress and the formality of your ceremony.

Bridal veil is one of the most significant parts of your bridal outfit that gives a perfect compliment to your wedding gown. Bridal veils come in single, two and sometimes three tiers (layers). The two tier veils can be worn as a foundation or covering over the face until the end of the ceremony. Our bridal veils generally come attached to a plastic comb that can effortlessly be placed in the hair in the desired area. If you are wearing a tiara, you may want to wear the bridal veil a little lower on the back of your head. Lengths of veils vary from shoulder 54 inches, waist 72 inches, fingertip and knee length. More dramatic lengths include floor, chapel and cathedral lengths up to 125 inches long. Usually more formal gowns benefit from a longer veil.

As with the wedding gown, the choices of a veil are many. You should also keep in mind that you want to fit everything in with your decorations and the atmosphere of your wedding, so pick something bold to fit your theme, or something softer to be more conventional. There are a lot of delicate touches on a veil that can enhance the appearance of the dress immeasurably as long as you pick it correctly.

A bridal veil can convert the simplest dress into a dazzling bridal outfit. Don’t forget to take your veil with you when you have your hair trial. Our elite collection of bridal veil includes an array of designs including :

Bouffant Veil: The bouffant veil is delightful with a modern or traditional dress it can either be plain or with a choice of AB crystals, pearls or diamantes.

Kiss Veil: Kiss veil is hand made for you and has two tiers with a scalloped edge & one row of looped stitching in gold or silver and the second row of stitching to match veil colour: ivory, white, off white. It has a clear comb attached to secure and is available in 72 inch (hip length) or 54 inch (waist length).

Angelic Veil: Hand made especially for you this 305 Angelic veil has two tiers and comes either plain or with a mixture of AB crystal and pearls on the back tier only (this looks better on photos to prevent spots on face).

Dazzle Beaded Veil: The Dazzle Veil is hand made just for you with a choice of diamante, AB crystal, pearl or just plain. It has two tiers (beads are on both layers with a straight edge and a clear comb attached to secure.

Pearl Sparkle Veil: Hand made Pearl Sparkle Veil is a two tier scalloped edge veil with a single line of stitching finish at the edge with a pearl and crystals.

Magical Beaded Veil: This handmade magical beaded veil is a scalloped edge veil with a single row of stitching to match. 2 tiers are both scattered with a mixture of glass pearls and AB swarovski crystals.

Dream Veil: The dream veil is made especially for you with two tiers & a straight edge with a pretty line of squiggly stitching to match veil colour.

Sweetness Veil: The Sweetness Veil is especially hand made with a scalloped edge and has a choice of no beads, glass pearls or AB crystals.

Loopy Veil: This hand made loopy veil is a two tier plain veil with a scalloped edge and pretty looped stitching to match veil in ivory, white or off white.

Aye Do invites you to experience our bespoke service from the comfort of your own home. For more details on Bridal veils, please feel free to get in touch with us.

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_689899_41.html

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Copyright 2006 Andrew Horan

Some of your wedding guests may be traveling great distances to get to your wedding. Some may even be flying to get to your wedding. Should you serve them the same type of meal that they got on the plane or should you serve them something better? I have included a menu below which is presented as an alternative to the usual wedding menu of baked chicken or broiled fish, vegetable, and roll.

This menu was served at a great price. Our caterer is exceptional. He has experience in some of the best restaurants in Washington, DC. Because of this, he likes to prepare more complicated meals than the usual wedding menu. He worked with my future wife to prepare this menu. I am hoping that you will find some great ideas from it. For example, we are having cupcakes presented on a tiered fashion that looks like a wedding cake instead of the wedding cake. Why? Our wedding is outdoors. We have many children in attendance. Finally, we wanted to end the meal in a less formal manner.

Enjoy the menu.

Hot and Cold Hors d Oeuvres

Croque Monsieur Black forest Ham and Gruyere Cheese Baked finger Sandwiches

Smoked Salmon in Pastry cup with Cream cheese and capers

Cilantro Shrimp on Skewers

Crab meat spoons-drizzled with marry rose and mango, pear, peach, honey and sake salsa served in Chinese spoons

Creamed Roquefort and toasted walnuts on crostini

Petite Quiche Prosciutto and Florentine

BUFFET DISPLAY

SALADS

Harvest Salad

Poached Pears atop red baby mixed green, Belgium endive drizzled with honey mustard vinaigrette and sprinkled with walnuts and dried cranberries

Salad Louisette Wedges of Iceberg Lettuce and Radicchio topped with Gorgonzola Cheese Crumbles, crispy Bacon and Julienne of Red Peppers in French dressing

Dalmatino Caesar Salad Topped with freshly grated Parmesan and Garlic Croutons with home made dressing

COOKING CORNER

Display of Scottish smoked Salmon Served with the traditional Condiments

Grilled Chicken Marinated with Garlic, Olive Oil and fresh Thyme served with a Madeira Mushroom Sauce

Marinated Grilled Flank Steak Creamy horseradish sauce and Dijon Mustard

Roasted Leg of Lamb With Rosemary Au Jus

Pasta Station

Penne Pasta With your choice of toppings Meatless marinara, Bolognese or Basil Pesto made to order

VEGETABLES AND SIDES

Saffron flavored Rice Pilaf

Marinated Medley of Grilled Vegetables

Crisp Asparagus, Fresh baby Carrots, Yellow and green Squash, Italian Eggplant, Grilled baby Artichokes, Portabella Mushrooms and Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes topped with a Roasted Pepper Confetti

String Beans Almandine French Green beans saut饤 with Shaved Almonds

Assorted Breads, Rolls and Butter

CAKE: Cup Cakes (chocolate cup cakes made with dark chocolate white icing and slightly yellowish tinting each decorated separately)

Assortment of Home made Brownies, Lemon Squares and Chocolate chip cookies

Will be presented on separate table in a shape of wedding cake with floral decoration.

BAR SET UP

Beer

Non-Alcoholic Lemonade and Iced Tea

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay

Champagne for toast

——

The menu prepared for the wedding of Andrew Horan (http://www.myhoranwedding.com ) prepared by Vinko Marinkovic (http://www.dalmatinocatering.com )

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_104680_35.html

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Choosing your wedding cake can be stressful; Not only is the cake an important focal point for your reception but the cutting of the wedding cake is also one of the first things that many couples do together as a married couple! To make the process a whole lot easier follow this simple plan to help you organise the perfect wedding cake.

1. Inspired Wedding Cake Ideas

It should be fun researching ideas for your wedding cake; you�ll need to decide on flavors, size and shape as well as decoration! If you haven�t a theme already start by compiling a wedding scrapbook or mood board of wedding cakes that you love. Research ideas and inspiration for your perfect wedding cake style by searching online to find books or magazines about wedding cakes. Tear out wedding cake pictures from magazines.

2. Wedding Cake that tastes as good as it looks

We suggest you make an appointment with at least three wedding cake designers - comparison shopping helps you to get the best value for money as well someone who you will enjoy working with you to create the most beautiful cake for your Wedding, in your style and within your budget.

Schedule a tasting with your short listed cake makers - It�s a tough job but someone�s got to do it! Your cake should taste as good as it looks. This is a good opportunity to check out which cake maker will be able to turn your wedding cake dreams into a delicious reality!

3. Work that Wedding Cake Designer

If you feel a bit daunted by all of the choices then don�t forget your wedding cake designer who will be an invaluable source of ideas, advice and inspiration. A good wedding cake designer will be a great asset - interpreting your ideas and working within your budget to create the wedding cake of your dreams. Your wedding cake designer will be able to help you select the most appropriate cake to complement your style, your wedding theme and your budget.

To make sure that your designer understands your requirements perfectly you need to explain your themes, style and colors and give examples of wedding cake designs that you like.

• Take along your ideas, tear outs and mood board if you have them.
• You will also need to be able to give the cake designer a firm idea of how much you would like to spend, as this will guide the choices open to you.
• It�s ideal if the wedding cake maker already knows your wedding venue, as they will be familiar with the venue’s requirements.

4. Book Your Wedding Cake

Once you�ve chosen your favorite wedding cake designer book them up quickly to avoid disappointment. You may be expected to make a deposit at this stage to secure your booking - as with every supplier it�s a good idea to lay out in writing what is expected from each party.

For a detailed guide on wedding cakes, visit My Wedding Cake Ideas� complete Wedding Cake planning guide.

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