Archive for December, 2009

Wedding Planning- How to Choose a Wedding Site Location

Posted by admin on Wednesday, 30 December, 2009

General information

We recommend that if possible, both bride and groom will attend all interviews.

Always carry a note pad and pen to write down important information and questions that may arise during your interview.

Actually, choosing the wedding site location that is just right for you, is a lot of fun.

Before you start looking, you should brainstorm. As you do, take to consideration your wedding budget, your wedding theme, the atmosphere you want at your wedding, your interests, and your guests.

The location is one of the most important aspects of your wedding, so consider carefully what will make yours a special, one-of-a-kind wedding event. You have many option including a do it yourself wedding (friends and family contributing of course.) Following is a list to get you started.

Ideas for wedding sites include:

A Home – do it yourself wedding,

Auditoriums – usually on a rental basis,

Beach – public domain may need permit and or license,

Bed and Breakfast – full service,

Camp Grounds – do it yourself wedding,

Club Houses – do it yourself wedding,

Country Clubs – most offer full service,

Conference Centers- some offer full service, some are on a rental basis,

Convention Centers – some offer full service, some are on a rental basis,

Hotel – Ball Rooms – Grounds or – Gardens. A Gazebo makes a wonderful setting for a wedding ceremony- full service

Houses of Worship – Churches – Synagogues – Temples – Mosques – etc…some offer full service, some are on a rental basis, some can only facilitate the ceremony,

Mansions – full service,

Museums -some museums offer celebration rooms and may even help with special wedding themes, especially historical – usually on a rental basis,

Parks – Great – do it yourself wedding,

Patio – Gardens – do it yourself wedding,

ranches – usually on a rental basis,

Resorts, full service,

Rented Halls – usually on a rental basis,

Stadiums – usually on a rental basis,

Yachts or Cruise Ships – full service,

You can probably come up with some more ideas.

Unless the location is your top priority, choose the dream location and a few alternative sites that will be just right for you, so that if necessary you can be flexible. Some location are natural for weddings and offer all the amanities you need. Others rent the space and leave the rest to you, still others are free but you have to make all the arrangements. So, consider your wedding budget, consider the work involved, consider your guests and choose the site that will afford you your dream wedding. The information you gathered, is actually a wonderful preparation for your interviews.

FULL SERVICE WEDDING SITE and FACILITIES

These are venues that can take care of every little detail regarding your ceremony and reception. You’ll still need to attend to your personal needs. You’ll need to attend to the attire, wedding accessories and wedding gifts for each other, family, and wedding attendants.

SITES AVAILABLE on a RENTAL BASIS

Many wedding sites that are available on a rental basis. Some provide the space, others provide tables and chairs too, while still others provide linens, tableware, flatware and glassware as well. There are also rental based sites that have a working relationship with selected caterers and are familiar with other wedding service providers and vendors.

PUBLIC SITES

Public parks, beaches, gardens etc… make great wedding sites and are perfect for do it yourself weddings. They offer you the opportunity to express yourselves in an unconfined atmosphere. Most are free to use but you’ll need to do the majority of the planning and contracting. Your first step is to find if you need any permits and or licenses. If you do, obtain them.

HOME

Many apartment complexes, condominums, mobil home parke and gated communities have club houses available for residents to use. So whether you choose to have your wedding in a home or a club house, you’ll need to be in charge. Do recruit your family and friends and assign them appropriate tasks. Most will be honored to be asked and excited to be a contributing part of your wedding.

HOW to FIND WEDDING SITES

Once you have chosen the type of wedding site you want for your wedding, do the following:

Ask your family, friends and acqaintances for recommendations.

Attend bridal shows.

search the yellow pages under the appropriate category.

Either call or visit the facility and request a brochure specific to weddings.

You want only the best! Be selective! Before you commit consider the following:

When visiting or calling, were you greeted cordially?

Were you able to obtain the information you requested in a timely manner?

Were the people you spoke with helpful? Too helpful and eager?

Now, check the internet for local wedding sites and go to their websites.

Do you like the look and feel?

Does it provide you with the information you are looking for?

Does it show or tell about unique one-of-a-kind weddings?

Does it offer, Free wedding articles or Free wedding information?

Is the web site helpful?

Did you find a clearly posted name, address, phone and email contact?

If the answer is no to any of these questions, skip it and go to another web site.

Bookmark (favorite) the websites that are agreeable. Place the brochures from facilities you visited in a folder until you are ready to choose a few favorites.

WHAT to EXPECT of the REPRESENTATIVE of the FACILITY YOU VISIT:

A business card of each person you may work with within the facility,

A brochure that explains what is offered and any exclusions, rules, regulations and options,

References,

A tour of the facility so you may check their amenities.

* If you plan not to include children in your reception, do not alienate guests who’d rather bring children than miss your wedding. You should provide a babysitting service for such guests.

For ideas read the article PLEASE – NO KIDS IN OUR WEDDING

Once you made your choice, you need to receive a written contract signed by the person in charge, and dated. The contract must include all of your responsibilities and all of the responsibilities, warranties and guarantees offered by the facility.

Caveat Emptor – Buyer beware!Read each contract very carefully, on, under and above the line.

Be sure that you understand it fully and agree with all the terms.

If you have questions, concerns, or are uncertain, contact them for clarification.

Take into consideration that in most parts of the USA you have 3 days to examin the contract and if you need to, cancel with no penalties.

Copyrights © 2007 All Rights Reserved Nily Glaser

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How to Decorate a Church For a Wedding

Posted by admin on Wednesday, 23 December, 2009

Decorating a church for a wedding may not seem like such a difficult feat. However, there is some work involved. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you use up all of the decorations you have to only find that you need more. That can result in a disaster, especially if you can’t find anything that is the same color or the same thing that you’re out of.

You need to make sure that you can go to the church and assess the sanctuary before you even order your decorations. You need to know how many pews there are, how many windows, the width of the windows, details about the altar area, and so much more.

So when you are decorating a church for a wedding, ask yourself these three questions:

- What decorations can I use? This is an important question because some churches will not allow certain decorations. They have a rather traditional view of decorations. So make sure you consult with the church first. Tell them what you want to do and make sure that it is allowed. You don’t want to buy decorations and then find out that you can’t use what you have bought.

- Are the decorations necessary? Many churches are already very ornate, which means they may not need much in the way of decorations. So you have to evaluate how much you actually need based on the natural décor of the sanctuary. This can save you a lot of money on the decorations.

- What decorations are suitable? Again, you have to evaluate the sanctuary so that you know what decorations are suitable. If you don’t want to have an extremely formal event, some flowers here and there are great. You don’t have to overdo it. Although many flowers are nice, church sanctuaries have a natural beauty to them. And the bride is the focus of the wedding anyway. People pay closer attention to her dress.

Some tips

There are simple tips that you can use to make the ceremony look great. You may even be able to borrow some decorations from the church, especially if past wedding parties have left some of their things behind. Sometimes churches will store those things that have been left behind in case they can be used again.

Churches may also have candelabras that you can use. Most churches already have them and they will not have a problem letting you borrow them. In the meantime, you can use flowers in the windows, on the altar, and use flowers at the end of the pews so that the aisle is lined with flowers. Sometimes the simplest of decorations can be the most beautiful. Also, having flowers at the ends of the pews go great with the petals that are sprinkled along the aisle by the flower girl.

And when it comes to your flower arrangements, it is better to opt for larger arrangements than a series of smaller arrangements.

Research

So make sure you do the proper research. If you don’t, then you may find that you have too many decorations or not enough. Consult with anyone in the church who can help you with this so that you know what is appropriate and what isn’t appropriate. You might be amazed at how much time, effort, and money you save by doing the proper assessment before the wedding. In the end, you’ll be able to have a beautiful wedding that is charming and a lot of fun for everyone. It is the most important day of your life, so it is important that it is perfect.

Finding Your Perfect Wedding Venue

Posted by admin on Tuesday, 22 December, 2009

Planning a wedding can be a daunting experience. Most people won’t have organised a large event before, so it can be difficult to know where to begin.

Once you’ve decided on a date for the big day and booked the venue for your wedding or civil ceremony, the very next thing you need to do is book your reception venue.

The more popular wedding get booked up as far ahead as 3 years in advance; so to guarantee the fairytale wedding venue that you’ve always dreamed of it’s best to make this a priority from the start. In many cases you’ll find that if you’re not overly particular about the exact date you enter in to married life, then 6 months is often plenty of time to book the venue of your choice.

The majority of wedding venues will ask for a deposit as soon as you book and for the balance of the hire fee well in advance of your wedding day. The venue hire fee, which often includes many other costs for your wedding such as catering and entertainment, is often one of the largest investments of your day and people can feel uncomfortable parting with such a large sum of money so far in advance of the big day.

This is where wedding insurance is important. From the moment you start spending money on your wedding you should have a good wedding insurance policy in place. Wedding insurance doesn’t just cover financial losses incurred on the big day itself, but can help protect many costs incurred in the run up to your wedding including Wedding Dress cover , Wedding Rings and Transport cover and importantly Failure of Suppliers cover.

Specifically thinking about your venue, wedding insurance can help protect you in a number of ways in the run up to your wedding and on the day itself, including:

Cancellation Cover and Rearrangement Cover – Could help protect you from some of the significant costs that could be incurred if for instance your venue was unable to hold your wedding reception due to damage to the venue or if perhaps an important supplier such as your caterer didn’t turn up on the day. The Cancellation Cover in your wedding insurance could even help with some irrecoverable costs, such as deposits, in the event that yourself or your partner were made redundant before your wedding day.

Personal Liability and optional Public Liability Cover – With a large number of people gathered together to celebrate with you on your wedding day, accidents can sometimes happen. In today’s litigious environment it is wise to protect yourself against the cost of civil claims, for example, accidental loss or damage to a 3rd party’s property at the Wedding or reception venue. Wedding insurance can help protect you against such costs.

When they first start the search for their venue, many couples head straight for the big hotels. These hotels often offer a variety of packages for your big day covering everything from the catering and of course accommodation to flowers and even wedding cars. These packages can offer good savings compared to booking all the elements separately yourself. Often good value and undoubtedly convenient, be aware that some hotels run more than one wedding a day, so you could find yourself bumping in to another equally blushing bride in Reception, potentially taking some of the shine off your wedding.

 

For something a little different, have a look at stately homes and historical buildings. Many of these venues allow you to hire them exclusively giving you a more intimate feel to the day. Some people are put off by the fact you often need to book the catering etc yourself, but more and more of these potentially beautiful wedding venues will offer to help you plan your big day for those brides who would prefer someone else to take the strain.

Stately homes and historical buildings often come with beautiful grounds and therefore the opportunity for a romantic marquee wedding. Marquees come in all shapes and sizes, but for 200 people you could be looking at around £10,000 to hire a marquee that included everything you’d need such as carpets furniture, power and heating.

Although very pretty you must remember that marquee’s are only temporary structures so it is not unheard of for marquees to suffer damage while they are being hired out. Some marquee companies will expect you to cover all the costs of any damage, which could turn out to be considerable so it would be prudent to have in place wedding insurance with the additional Marquee cover option if a marquee is your ideal choice for you wedding venue.

Also don’t forget to check out local society buildings and halls as potential wedding venues; these can often offer far more interesting and memorable surroundings than a hotel or a stately home as they often hold special personal memories for couples and families alike and can be more convenient for friends and family travelling to your big day.

Start the search for your wedding venue online. There are a whole host of websites that allow you to search for the venue by area, by price and type of venue. An excellent feature of many of these sites is reviews of the venues by couples and guests that have experienced them first-hand. Make sure you read these reviews; a venue can give a really good impression when you go to have a look around, but it may be a very different story on your wedding day or vice-versa.

So remember, start looking early to make sure you find the venue that’s right for you, listen to what other people say and of course, make sure you have a good wedding insurance policy in place before you start spending a thing as you never know what will happen before your big day.

Wedding insurance from WeddingPlan Insurance