Wedding Planning

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You  have  a  ring  on  your  finger,  excitement  is  in  the  air  and  the  count  down  is  on  ‘til  your party  of  a lifetime. Wow! So much wedding planning to be done, where do you start?

Firstly BREATHE. Now allow yourself to enjoy being engaged with your fiancé. Wedding planning does not have to be stressful, if you take it step by step and keep a level head you will get through it beautifully and avoid bridezilla-dom.

Now down to business – where to go from here…
Spread the news! Buy the engagement ring if your finger isn’t already ‘blinged-up’. Placing a notice in the newspaper  is  a  classic  way  of  announcing  your  engagement  and  provides  a  valuable keepsake  for  your wedding album, but most couples will spread the word quickly via Facebook, twitter and instagram. Just be sure those closest to you know before they see it on their newsfeed!

Buy  a  dedicated  wedding  diary/planner  like  Modern  Wedding  Planner  so  you  can  keep  track of  all  your upcoming  appointments, quotes, phone numbers  and  ideas. Sign  up to our free wedding planning tools for  a  comprehensive  interactive  checklist,  budget  manager,  guest  list manager,  seating  planner and supplier shortlist so you can make a record of all your favourite suppliers.

Even  though  everyone  has  been  informed  there’s  nothing  that  will  bring  it  home  quite  like  a party  to celebrate your engagement

Before  you decide on budget, discuss the style of wedding with your fiancé… yes he should have  a say! It’s  a  good  idea  to  start  the  engagement  off  on  the  right  foot,  so  arm  yourself  with  an open  mind  and perhaps  a  bottle  of  bubbly.  It  is  one  of  the  most  important  days  of  your  life and  also  one of  the  most expensive. The only way to survive is to work out a detailed wedding budget. Read through our tips for setting a budget. Discuss who is paying for what and what you or your families can afford before booking anything.

Settling on a date is not easy either – there are many considerations to take into account, and remember that pleasing everyone is near impossible!

Grab  a  pen,  some  paper  and  your  man  and  get  brainstorming.  Flip  through  Modern  Wedding magazine and  browse  through  real  wedding  features  to  get  ideas.  Discuss  the  style  of wedding  you  want,  talk about  the guest list and time of year as these will in turn determine budget and other wedding planning considerations.  Decide  on  what  is  important  to  you  both  and wedding  planning  will  be  a  much smoother ride.

Pinterest is an absolute wedding planning MUST for brides. If you don’t already have a Pinterest account then  now  is  the  time  to  create  one.  Pinterest  is  the  best  way  to  collect  all  your visual  inspiration  and ideas. 

Groom Facts

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Q1. What are the responsibilities of the groom?
The groom can take on as much (or as little) as he wants. Normally, they choose their best man and groomsmen, pick out their suits (with some help from the bride!), organise transport to and from the church, write and deliver a speech and book the first night accommodation. Some other options may be to organise the honeymoon logistics and plan, and stick to, the wedding budget.

Q2. My groom wants to choose his own suit – how can I tactfully help him?
This is a tricky one as you want to make sure he’ll be in keeping with the rest of the wedding attire without letting him know what your gown looks like.
Why don’t you suggest an initial shopping trip together to check out all the options and colours? Then you can agree on several different alternatives. Your man can then make the final choice.

Q3. My hubby-to-be isn’t very keen on making a speech. What’s the etiquette with this?
If your man doesn’t want to make a speech and doing so will make him nervous all day, then throw tradition to the wind and let someone else take over this responsibility. In fact if you think you might like to, why not do it yourself and speak from the heart for both of you?

Q4. My groom has to organise transport for us from the church to the reception but wants to
use his friend’s car. Is this a good idea?
Without having seen his friend’s car I would strongly recommend using a professional transport company. They transport newly married couples all the time and have tailored packages just for these occasions. You can also be reassured the car will be clean and you will be getting a discreet and usually, uniformed chauffeur. The last point, which might just sway you, will be the size of your gown. If you’re having a full ball gown think about how it will fit into the back of a Ford as opposed to fitting it into the back of a Rolls Royce!

Q5. My groom has a close-knit group of friends and he’s having trouble choosing a best man.
Can I help him out?
This is a big decision and one which may hurt some people’s feelings. But he must choose then guy he will still be watching footy with in twenty years time. The one who he can trust to help him out when he needs it and who will do a good job of looking after the families. The role of best man has lots of duties ranging from organising the buck’s night to making sure everyone is having a good time at the reception. The other alternative is to choose a family member as his best man and have his group of friends as groomsmen.

Oscars Inspiration for Wedding Gowns and Bridesmaids

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We had a media blackout at the MW office yesterday. Where possible we avoided the perils of nine msn, twitter and facebook which at any time could annouce the winners of best actor, actress or best picture through a careless status update, tweet or newsflash. We wanted to go home and feel genuine surprise, disappointment or joy when that little red seal was peeled off and those famous words uttered ‘and the winner is…’ Really though, as much we love watching a good movie we’re not in the business of movies for us the excitement is on the red carpet. We’re not judging #bestdressed or condemning the worst, we’re asking ‘Does that come in white?’ 

The Oscars is the perfect place to look for your wedding dress or bridesmaids inspiration. The key is to find  the  elements  you  love  in  these  stunning  gowns  and  imagine  the  bits  you  want.  Here are  our  top picks for Oscar gowns/ that could be a wedding dress or bridesmaid dress! 

Elements  we  love: We’re loving the angular lines and the risqué split on Kelly Rowland’s gown by 
Donna Karan Atelier. 
Things we’re imagining: This gown in all white would make an absolutely smoking wedding dress! 

Elements we love: Kerry  Washington’s Miu Miu gown is simple and girly. The watermelon colour and glistening beads are a perfect complement to any dazzling bride. 
Things we’re imagining: We’re picturing a row of these gowns on gorgeous bridesmaids! 

Elements  we love: Charlize  Theron  knows  how  to  wear  a  white  gown – perfect for brides who don’t want the traditional ball gown this gown is cut in all the right places. 
Things we’re imagining: We’re thinking she should be carrying a bunch of white David Austin roses and we’d also like to add a Viktoria Novak headpiece. 

Elements we love: This take on the classic ball gown is so right. The beauty lies in the volume of the skirt and simplicity of the bodice. 
Things we’re imagining: We’d love to see this one in ivory ! 

Elements we love: We love pink so love for this gown is a given, but it’s the figure hugging shape that really makes this gown stand out from the rest and all the typical empire line bridesmaid gowns. 
Things we’re imagining: To make this one a little more wedding ceremony friendly we’d like to see a little less cleavage on show. 

Elements we love: The texture, the colour and the neckline. It all just works. Even her hair is a perfect match. 
Things we’re imagining: This  makes  a  perfect  wedding  dress – we’d love to try it with a vintage 
brooch bouquet. 

Elements we love: The deep plum colour is amazing. 
Things we’re imagining: This colour screams winter wedding and we’re seeing this dress on your 
bridesmaids at a candle lit wedding reception. 

Elements we love: Elegant and understated – this dress can do no wrong. 
Things we’re imagining: A mantilla veil will take this gown from red carpet to petal strewn aisle. 

Elements we love: Amy Adams looks every bit the modern day princess in this Oscar de la Renta gown and we can’t get enough of that textured skirt. 
Things we’re imagining: We’d love to see this one in blush. 

Elements we love: This is a jaw dropper and the detail makes this gown. Teemed with an up do this 
whole look has our tick of approval. 
Things we’re imagining: We can’t imagine anything better than walking down the aisle in this gown, but for traditional brides we’d replace that black with white – ta da! 

Elements we love: There’s not much we don’t love about this gown – the detail on the bust, gorgeous silhouette and varying shades of black. 
Things we’re imagining: Take away that belt and replace with a plain white sash for bridal gown bliss. 

Elements we love: Winner of ‘the Oscar dress that could be a wedding dress’ award! 
Things we’re imagining: Ourselves…in this dress…on our wedding day. 

What elements do you love and what are you imagining on any of the above dresses or others from the Oscars red carpet? Let us know, we’d love to hear your designer thoughts! 




Source : Modern Wedding


Honeymoon Facts

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Q1. I’ve heard of people who receive money from their guests for their honeymoon. What’s the etiquette for this?
Some  travel  agents  and  other  outlets  now  offer  honeymoon  registries.  It  works  just  like  a  gift registry where you have an itemised list of experiences from which guests can choose something to give you. For example if you want to jet off to Italy, your registry could include a lovely meal out, a trip on a gondola in Venice and a room upgrade in your hotel.

Q2. We want to slip off after our reception and go on our honeymoon. Is this OK?
Of  course.  It’s  really  up  to  you  when  you  leave  for  your  honeymoon.  Some  couples  like  to  stay  a  few days  after  their  wedding  if  they  have  overseas  guests  to  continue  the  celebrations.  But  if  you want  to leave  straight  after  your  reception  you  can  do  this  too.  It  may  be  a  good  idea  to  enlist the  help  of  a trusted family member to lend a hand with your luggage and perhaps driving you to the airport.

Q3. We would like to combine our wedding with our honeymoon. Is it possible?
There  are  many  places  both  here  and  overseas  which  can  now  cater  for  the  weddingmoon.  An obvious example is Fiji. Why not take a few close family and friends and jet off to a luxury island in Fiji hold your ceremony and then relax poolside or even jet off to another island for  some well-earned privacy? There are specialist companies that can cater for this, or you can organise it yourself.

Q4. I’m not a very good flyer, what are the options closer to home for our honeymoon?
We  are  lucky  enough  to  live  in  Australia  with  a  huge  diversity  of  culture  and  landscapes.  What about  a retreat in the snow, a gourmet  vineyard honeymoon  or relax by some  of our fantastic coastline? Try  an interstate  city  break  and  spoil  yourselves  in  a  luxury  hotel  for  a  few  nights.  What  about crossing  the country on a luxury train or taking a driving trip –  you could drive to Melbourne or Adelaide from Sydney via the Great Ocean Road.  You don’t have to get  on  an aeroplane to have  a truly luxurious honeymoon right on your doorstep.

Q5. My hubby-to-be and I have completely different holiday tastes. How can we come up with a compromise?
Ah  yes  –  an extremely common problem  and  an easy  one to fix. Just choose  somewhere that can cater for the two  of  you. For example if he likes trekking through mountains  and  you like lying on the beach, choose a destination that has both of these things. Many places in Asia could fit the bill. 
What if you like shopping  and  he  doesn’t?  Again,  choose  somewhere  with  lots  of  fab  shopping  and  other  activities like snorkeling, game fishing, wine tasting or even scooter hire while he can explore and leave you to shop in peace!
Of course, if he likes snowboarding and you want to work on your tan, poolside then one of you might just have to compromise a bit…well, after all, that’s what all good marriages are about!