bridal party

Consider These Easily Forgotten Wedding Concerns
Keeping these wedding concerns in mind and planning ahead can help make your wedding run more smoothly and make both your guests and the vendors happy.

Keeping these wedding concerns in mind and planning ahead can help make your wedding run more smoothly and make both your guests and the vendors happy.

No one ever said planning a wedding would be easy. In fact, even the simplest and most intimate of gatherings can require a lot of work on your end. Though you’ve spent countless hours looking over all the details of your big day, there could very well be potential issues that you’ve not yet considered. Luckily, now is a great time to think about last-minute concerns and potential solutions.

From broke bridesmaids to disappearing guests, there are lots of issues you could be facing with your wedding. Explore these suggestions and find solutions that can help you keep your sanity, knowing all your effort will pay off in the form of a beautiful and seamless event.

Bridesmaids Who Don’t Budget

The members of your wedding party take on a lot of responsibilities for your big day. You’re likely asking them to help plan your wedding, run errands, throw small events like showers, and take on a million little duties that you can’t handle yourself. Unfortunately, your friends and relatives also have their own lives and can’t always rise to the occasion. This is especially true when it comes to bridesmaids or groomsmen who are dealing with money problems. Broke wedding party members can easily cause concerns or even derail all of your carefully laid plans.

You might not be able to pay for everything, but you can definitely prepare in advance for a bridesmaid who can’t foot the bill. Your best option in this scenario is to show compassion and be as considerate as possible. Don’t forget, you’re the one putting these demands on your friends. If your solution to a bridesmaid or groomsman who can’t pay is to cut them from the wedding, then you might need to do damage control on your friendships when all is said and done.

RSVP Delays

Among other concerns is the issue of RSVPs. Though you likely have given guests ample time to reply to your invitations, you’re still going to deal with people who forgot to respond or lost their RSVP cards and all sorts of other issues. In almost all cases, someone who replied “yes” to your invitation is definitely going to show on your big day. Unfortunately, you also are probably going to deal with guests who show up but never even bothered to respond to your RSVP.

The worst thing you can do is assume that anyone who didn’t respond by the RSVP deadline is not coming to the event. Give yourself extra time after the RSVPs are due, and you’ll notice how many late responses start flooding in. Since you might still have to deal with people who show up without responding to the invitations, the best way to handle this is by planning for more guests than responded. Account for a few extra chairs and meals, and you should have no problem fitting everyone into the venue without having to turn people away.

Feed Your Vendors

Finally, many couples forget to show proper thanks when it concerns the hard-working men and women who cater their weddings. While you might already be planning on tipping your vendors, you also should give these individuals a set time where they can sit and eat.  You can even mention this to the caterers early so that they can prepare additional meals for the DJ, photographers, and anyone else working your event who will need to stop and recharge at some point. Typically, allowing the vendors to eat at the same time as the guests can keep the night flowing without any frustrating delays.

Try as you might to cover all your bases, there are always going to be unforeseen concerns that you didn’t anticipate. The best you can do to keep your wedding free from mistakes is to take the right precautionary steps and try to plan for whatever you think could be an issue.

 

Delegating Responsibilities to Your Wedding Party
Choosing the members of your wedding party can be exciting, but some brides and grooms make the mistake of asking too much of their wedding party.

Choosing the members of your wedding party can be exciting, but some brides and grooms make the mistake of asking too much of their wedding party.

Selecting the members of your wedding party can be a fun and rewarding experience. This is the chance to get sentimental with the friends and family members who have been with you through thick and thin. Of course, it also can be asking a whole lot of the people in your life. Some brides and grooms make the mistake of putting far more on the shoulders of their parties than they should. You want to still be close friends with these people after the wedding has finished, so it is important to take caution.

To get a better feel for what is reasonable to ask of your wedding party members, it is a good idea to take a look at what other people have established over the years. By following a blend of customary techniques and personal adjustments, you and your partner should be able to come up with a balanced plan for the members of your wedding party.

Showers and Outings

Marriage can cost a small fortune. Since you have a lot of financial responsibilities on your plate, it is traditional to turn to the members of your bridal party to foot the bill when necessary. Any finances related to the wedding itself will fall on you and your partner to take care of. However, preliminary events like showers and bachelor or bachelorette parties are a very different story. For the most part, members of the party will be responsible for covering the expenses related to these extra events.

While it is customary for the party members to plan, execute, and cover the costs of these aspects of the wedding, you need to make sure you aren’t asking more than you should. A bachelorette party is one thing, but asking your party members to fly to another country to go on a wine tour for a week is a bit more intense. Stay reasonable in your requests, or cover the costs of the expenses you are demanding. Asking your party members to cover lavish costs for your farfetched ideas can be insensitive.

Covering Your Own Finances 

The men and women who make up your party are going to need to take care of many expenses for your special day. Still, you will need to make sure you are taking care of other costs. Any financial obligations related to hair and makeup on the day of the wedding, for example, will fall onto the happy couple. This is also true of costs centering around transportation to and from the venue, floral accessories like a bouquet, and lodging for the night before the actual ceremony.

Knowing what costs you should be covering can help you to keep the members of your wedding party happy and ready for anything you throw at them. Buying gifts for the men and women in your party will also show your appreciation. Try to get a gift that is both sentimental and effective at showcasing how happy you are to have each individual involved with your wedding.

Travel Concerns 

Finally, travel can be tricky to figure out with your party members. In most cases, people in your wedding party are responsible for arriving at your venue on their own. You also might consider covering some of the costs for members of the party who are traveling a far distance to get to your special event.

The people who comprise your wedding party are going to have a big impact on how your day turns out. When the time comes to start asking members of the party to take care of certain duties, it can be helpful to have a grasp on what you should and should not ask. Use your discretion, and you will be able to take the best course of action.