How To Choose Your Wedding Coordinator

So you have decided that hiring a wedding coordinator would be to your advantage. It is in fact a good decision. Yet before you can actually enjoy the benefits of having a good wedding coordinator, you would have to go through a selection process that will ensure headache-free planning. There is really no point in hiring a wedding coordinator if you turn out to hire one that would give you headaches later down the road. What should you do in order to get the most suitable wedding coordinator?

First of all, make sure that the wedding coordinator that you are considering is backed up with credentials and experience. How do you make sure of this? If you start looking online, check out their supposed credentials on their web site. Then do not hesitate to check them out. You can do this by visiting their offices if they have one. You also have to check whether they have a license to operate as such.

In addition to the “official” credentials, you can also check out their work by actually talking to their previous customers. You can ask the wedding coordinators themselves for references. If they do not have anything to hide, they will be more than happy to share with you their previous work. In fact, they would bank on satisfied customers to help sell their services to you.

Once you can rest assured that your potential wedding coordinator is legit, reliable, and comes up with good results, you then have to look into compatibility. Good wedding coordinators need to have a great personality that jives perfectly with yours and your partner’s. If there is a personality problem, this might pose some complications during the planning process. As such, try to look out for these tiny details during your interviews.

One last thing, you should also check the cost of hiring the wedding coordinator. I am sure that you have a budget for your wedding. Do not hesitate to ask outright what the prices for their services would be. If it is too much, see if there is any way that you can compromise. If not, then try looking for someone else. Remember that there is more than one wedding coordinator vying for your custom. It would actually be to your advantage to talk with several coordinators and then compare their prices.

Again, the bottom line is that you should get what you want for the price that you want. In the end, it is your satisfaction and peace of mind that you should take into consideration.

Do You Need A Wedding Coordinator?

Movies like the Wedding Planner have shown the general public the need for wedding coordinators. In the most basic sense, these people are the one who take care of everything related to your wedding. The question is, though, does a couple really need a wedding coordinator? Can’t they just do everything themselves?

To answer this question, let’s look at a scenario, which, though hypothetical at this point, is probably true for many couples planning their wedding. The moment a couple gets engaged, they start to become inundated with all sorts of details needed to come up with the perfect wedding. From the bridal shower to the invitations to the venue to the gown to the reception, a couple about to get married needs to deal with all these things.

If you are the average couple, with both partners working and having to deal with a whole host of other responsibilities, you just might find yourself overwhelmed with all the planning. Take for example the simple matter of choosing a company to take care of the photos and videos during the wedding day. There is definitely no shortage of companies that can take care of this for you. The problem actually lies in the fact that you have too many choices. So how do you choose? The same thing goes for the entertainment for the reception, the caterer, the florist, and a lot of other things.

This is where the wedding coordinator can actually contribute most. A wedding coordinator only needs to know your preferences and needs and budget. He or she can then do all the legwork and negotiate with various caterers and providers. Of course, he or she would need to coordinate closely with you and your partner in order to ensure that what you will be getting is what you want.

More than this, experienced wedding coordinators would have lots of contacts already. They would have established relationships with florists, caterers, photographers and the like. This would mean that they can probably get better rates than if you were to do the negotiating yourself. This translates into savings for you and your partner.

Of course you would have to be careful in choosing your wedding coordinator. Not all wedding coordinators will get along with you. This is simply a matter of personality and the way one works. So you would have to take this into consideration. In the next post, we will talk about how to choose the perfect wedding coordinator to match your needs.

Is Pre-marital Counseling Necessary?

Before we answer that question, it would be good to talk about what pre-marital counseling is exactly. Maybe a lot of people would not really know what it is all about. Based on the term itself, though, you would get a rough idea – obviously it is a counseling or guidance session that a couple undergoes before they get married. The main focus of a pre-marital counseling session is the period AFTER the wedding.

I know what you are thinking, you have been together for so long that you practically know each other in and out. You complete each other’s sentences! You do stuff for your partner without him or her saying it out loud! Maybe so, yet the truth of the matter is that not everyone can boldly state the same thing. More so, even if you think that you know each other very well, there are some things that would be fleshed out in pre-marital counseling that might be of good help to you when you get married.

For many secular couples, pre-marital counseling is just an option. It is not really a requirement. For certain religions, though, it is part of the whole wedding arrangement. Catholics, for example, cannot be married without having to go through marriage classes. Some Protestant and Evangelical churches also require their members to undergo counseling before getting married.

So, is pre-marital counseling really necessary? Unfortunately, there is no clear cut answer to this question. Pre-marital counseling exists to guide a couple in talking about their future. One important issue that is tackled during sessions is the expectation of both partners. What do they expect of each other as a married couple? Financial issues and responsibilities are also touched upon.

Personally, I think that it would be a good idea to undergo at least one pre-marital counseling session. Whether you ask a priest, a pastor, or a secular guidance counselor to conduct it for you, it does not matter. Take it from the experience couples – they will tell you that no matter how much you think you know each other and no matter how ready you think you are to get married, you will meet a lot of surprises along the way. It is way better to be equipped and prepared for the changes that you will be encountering than to just feel your way around the situation. Then again, it is completely your decision whether or not to undergo counseling before you get married.

[tags]wedding, pre-marital counseling, pre-marital guidance, religious wedding, secular guidance counselor[/tags]

Pre-Wedding Activities You Can Host At Home

Have any of you seen the movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding?” I bet a large number of you have – it is one of the funniest yet emotional movies I have seen about weddings. The reason I asked is because of the number of pre-wedding activities they showed in the movie. That wedding was a big one – a grand one, even. You would notice that everything was done by the professionals and that all the bride-to-be had to do was to be there and watch.

For most people, however, the luxury of having all that cash to pay someone else to do all the work and to pay for different venues is not present. With the not-so-easy economic situation these days, one has to look for more practical solutions which do not compromise one’s dream wedding. So what does one have to do?

You just might have the solution right in front of your very eyes! Have you ever thought of hosting various pre-wedding activities in your home? Yes, in your home! Though maybe you have not thought about that, why not consider it now?

The wedding shower is perhaps the most commonly hosted pre-wedding event at home – and why not? It is usually attended by close friends and family members who you would not think twice about inviting to your home. Another event that you may want to hold at home would be the rehearsal dinner. Holding the rehearsal dinner at home would provide a relaxed setting and would not require everyone to hurry because of time limitations.

Now bear in mind that when I say home, it does not necessarily mean YOUR home. You may not have enough space in your own place to do that. Still, you have a wide variety of options. Maybe your parents will let you use their property. How about your friends? If all else fails, there are homes which are rented out for such events – at very reasonable prices. All you have to do is look at your options.

When planning a home pre-wedding event, consider the space – is there enough room for all your guests? Also consider the location. Are there neighbors who might be affected by the noise during the event? If you want an outdoor event, then check out the landscaping. Are there potential problems such as bugs, mosquitoes, and even sprinkler heads and other obstructions in the lawn?

With enough planning, you can set up the perfect bridal shower or rehearsal dinner in a home without costing you an arm and a leg.

[tags]weddings, pre-wedding activities, wedding shower, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, outdoor events[/tags]

Some Tips When Choosing Your Invitation

Wedding invitations stand for more than merely asking people to join you on your wedding day. Invitations, in fact, are a strong statement and carry a message to your guests. That is why in choosing your wedding invitation, it is necessary that you take your time and pay attention to the tiniest details. A wedding invitation is more than a piece of paper, it is a taste of what is in store for your guests on your wedding day.

Think about all that you have put into the planning of your whole wedding. Think about the time and effort you put into the determination of the location of the ceremony. How about how you decided on the reception hall? Also think on what it took you to finalize the theme and decorations. The same effort should be put into the determination of your wedding invitation.

In the past, wedding invitations took on a traditional note. It was easier, perhaps, to choose as you would have limited options. White paper, curly fonts, and the like were the norms for wedding invitations. Today, you have a wide range of options to choose from. In the last post, we talked about the different things you could do to make your invitation unique. To help you further in choosing your wedding invitation, here are some questions that you should ask yourself.

What kind of wedding are you having? This question pertains to the setting. For example, are you getting married in a church? Or maybe since it is spring you are opting for a garden wedding? Or maybe a beach wedding?

Next ask yourself, what is your color theme for the wedding? It would be a good idea to follow the color scheme when it comes to your invites. At the very least, you can choose a color that goes well with your theme.

Are you considering incorporating an ethnic or religious theme into your invitation? If so, then you could go into the specifics. What ethnic or religious elements do you want to incorporate?

Do you have a favorite quote or poem? Or maybe a religious verse? Talk about it with your partner and decide if you want to have a line or two printed on your invitations.

Last, but not the least, decide on your wedding invitation budget. It is very easy to overlook this and find out later that you have spent too much on your invites. So before you start, determine an acceptable amount and stick to it.

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