7 Tips to a Happy and Yes, Uneventful Wedding Day!

1.  Have a wedding rehearsal.  It's also nice if everyone who is going to be in the wedding party will be there.  I'd recommend it happen the day before the wedding and not more than 2 days before the wedding.

2.  Don't booze it up before your wedding.  People have been getting married for ages and everyone thinks that people pass out during the ceremony because of nervousness. More often than not it's from a poor judgement call made regarding alcohol consumption before the wedding the night before or the day of the wedding!  I find that many couples really don't want alcohol at their wedding and sometimes there is alcohol at a wedding because family members or friends pressure them into it.  My response would be, "It is your wedding and if someone can't handle a few hours without alcohol, they have bigger problems than you can take care of.  Create your day the way you want it.  Consider toasting with sparkling cider for everyone as an alternative and everyone will actually remember your wedding the next day!  You can consider finding a venue that won't allow alcohol and that will take some of the pressure off of you.

3.  Include a map in with your wedding invitation and make directional signs guiding your guests to your wedding.  So often weddings start late because of late arrivals and we hear this "wait for this person or that person".

4.  Keep hot food hot and cold food cold.  You don't want to be blamed for everyone getting sick.  Leave the food and cake up to the professionals to help eliminate this potential problem.  For instance, I heard of bride who's guests all got very ill and it was traced back to the cake.  The bakery knew it had nothing to do with them.  The mistake was that the bride didn't want to pay anyone to put flowers on the cake.  The guests found out the hard way that you can't just stick any flower into a cake!  Some flowers are toxic and at best should only be inserted into the cake with floral tubes to avoid contact with the cake.  Don't risk it!

5.  Know the venue rules well.  You're probably safe if you just make it a policy to leave it in better condition that you found it!  Have someone else go with you to visit the venue that you trust will be your eyes on the wedding day looking out for your interest and the venue's interest.  Don't be afraid to use signs that can be put in picture frames to set on a counter, or on a table where everyone will see the rules.  The venue should do this, but often they don't!

6.  Plan ahead and anticipate everything you will need for your wedding.  It's very frustrating to find that something crucial has not been purchased.  Listen to suggestions and act on them as soon as possible to avoid any last minute rushes.

7.  Handle those chronically late people differently (and gently).  Tell them you need them 30 minutes to an hour earlier than you tell your other guests!  You know better than anyone who these people are.  If they do show up early, that's okay.

Wishing you the greatest of days!


Greatest of Days 
Event/Wedding Planning
Decor Design and Officiating




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Wedding Gift Theft and Other Problems with Wedding Gifts

The wedding gift area at a reception is often located in the area where your guests first enter at your reception. So what's the problem with that? If you are at any place where the public can walk in and blend in as an impostor guest, you are taking your chances of the wrong person taking your gifts home. Even if the gift area isn't by the entrance you are taking a risk. Ideally, you would be able to hire someone who offers coat check services who will not only watch your guests' belongings but also the gifts and you can then keep the gifts secured near the entrance. Imagine the disappointment you would feel to find out that someone made off with your gifts or cards containing cash or their best wishes for you when someone had the audacity to pose as the person responsible for loading your gifts. The gift area needs to be assigned to a very responsible person who knows to look for this type of behavior.

Remember that your wedding is a day of blending both of your families who perhaps have not even met each other until that day. As unthinkable as it is, there are people who prey on weddings to steal even from a bride and groom by merely pretending to know the bride and groom. This is wedding crashing at its worst!

There is a major mishap that is much more common regarding the gifts you receive. I'll start with the end result first. Change roles for a moment. You have just received a thank you note thanking you for the crystal goblets. That is all great and wonderful, but you happen to know that you gave them camping gear! How could this happen? It's as simple as cards not being taped securely to a gift!  If this has happened to you, now you know why.

Also, if you have someone bringing in two gifts, have a system in place for the person in charge of your gifts to color code both gifts so that you know that they came from the same person.  You could also use corresponding colored stickers or write a number on both of the boxes. There are systems with numbered stickers, but I've found some of them to be way too small to recognize easily. Don't rely on wrapping paper to always be a clue. People often will bring a gift wrapped in identical paper that someone else has chosen to wrap a gift. Perhaps people bring one gift from one of your registries and another gift they had wrapped somewhere else or at their home. Either way you just can't be too careful!  Do whatever you have to do to assure that the corresponding gift is matched with the correct guest.

Most important of all is to write those thank you notes and actually mail them.  You don't want to appear ungrateful.

Thank you notes..that is another blog in itself!   As much as you want an RSVP, your guests want to know that you actually got their gift!  It's all about common courtesy!


Wishing you the greatest of days!