Wedding Tactics

I’ve just started hearing about a few engagements that took place around Valentine’s Day. If you are one of those people, a sincere congratulations to you!

One couple in particular is getting married at the end of the summer. A wedding, in exactly six months. I can hear the style guides and high-glam planners cringing with absolute fright. But I assure you, it is possible to have the wedding you want in six months or less. All it takes is some careful planning in the beginning and some diligent team work. By team work I am absolutely implying that if you have a mother or mother-in-law who wants to man the controls, by all means, this is the time they are needed. You really do need someone working on plans more than just on weekends.

Many vendors book up months and even years in advance so it may not be possible to have your choice of vendors. You do compromise some degree of choosiness but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on quality. Employ your friends and family to help you, you will need it for making phone calls and lining up vendors.

I have also written a detailed beauty checklist to follow leading up to your wedding. Many of these activities can be abbreviated when time is limited.

Here is an abbreviated to do list in you are planning to get married in less than six months:

Immediately:
Decide on your budget, color/theme, and make a thorough list of all the things you wish to incorporate into the wedding, include EVERYTHING, even things like newspaper announcement or embossed personalized napkins because for one it will help you decide what is really important to you, it will force you to prioritize and most importantly, delegate and ask for help. With this short of a time frame, you have to ask others, unless of course you don’t work and can spend forty plus hours a week planning your own wedding, in which case, you shouldn’t be reading my website.

Questions to ask yourself:
1. Will you hire a coordinator?
2. Will you have a separate ceremony/reception site, or will it be the same location?
3. Start looking for a gown, most likely, unless you buy off the rack or at a close-out sale, it will take a few months for the dress to be made and be shipped to you.
4. Create your guest list because this will determine what kind of venue size you need.
5. Register for gifts.

Vendors:
1. Book an officiant, NOW.
2. DJ or Band? You have a much better bet finding a DJ on shorter notice.
3. Caterer.
4. Florist.
5. Photographer.
6. Do them all now. Make phone calls and your first question needs to be: ARE YOU AVAILABLE ON MY WEDDING DATE? If they are, then talk specifics and decide if you want them.

Other important things to do:
1. Order invitations.
2. Book a honeymoon.
3. Select a cake.
4. Shop for rings.

Okay! Phew! That’s the short list of what you need to think about and do RIGHT NOW if you are getting married this summer and haven’t done anything yet.

And don’t stress too much, remember, weddings are happy times and should be FUN.

I’ve been writing for Wedding Tactics for a full year now. When I started maintaining this site I didn’t know what it would become and how long I’d be writing. In fact, at the time, 451 Press was still just getting off the ground. In fact, its been pretty amazing watching the network grow along with my site.

My first posting discussed the differences between a marriage and a wedding. The first few months following this entry I used the planning of my own wedding as a guide for what to write about.

A few times I mentioned the issues in gaining a new set of parents and specifically, the mother-in-law.

I wrote a lot about dresses and veils and accessories.
And for a few months I had featured columns on certain days of the week, Trends on Tuesday and Traditions Thursday. I used these headlines as a means to explain traditions like the tossing of the garter.

April was a very popular month on this site. My stats went thru the roof, but that was a very popular wedding time of year. I get asked frequently about the Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue thing. The meaning and its history are detailed here.

One of my all-time favorite posting was about what guests should wear to a wedding. I noticed during the Spring months that several clothing stores were featuring lines of dresses for wedding guests. This is a good guide to style options depending on the wedding venue.

I got married in May. Then, I started a new job in June and my postings got a bit less frequent for awhile. Meanwhile, I did profile some great summer wedding themes.

As the year went on I tried to focus on all the different issues surrounding weddings, including mens clothing, or, tuxedos and a few funny stories too, like this one about a guy who lost his wedding ring.

And, finally, the most recent repeating column, Wedding Tactics: On Location, features vendors and venues in random cities. By featuring actual wedding business providers across the nation, I hope that readers from all states will be attracted to read and follow along and also to ask questions and participate in the Wedding Tactics dialogue. The On-Location feature can be seen here, here and here. And also here.

Thanks to all the readers who made this a successful year for me and 451 Press. I look forward to another even better year here.

Happy New Year!

One of the most important vendors you may choose for your wedding day is the photographer. Your photographer will document your wedding day from morning until night. They will capture moments you won’t even recall and they will gather your entire family for group portraits you may never be able to replicate. The photographer is a very important person in your wedding day. You must feel comfortable enough with them to communicate all of your wants and plans for your big day, and then, you have to trust them to get the job done. And, done well.

Recently some photographers are able to offer a different kind of wedding album. As an alternative to the traditional photo album, you can now upgrade for a few extra hundred dollars to a coffee table album. The coffee table album is just that, a larger book that is usually arranged in a more photojournalistic manner rather than the traditional matted photo album.

When it comes time to find your photographer there are some good introductory questions to ask. Also, before meeting them, if they have a website, read it. If you have brochures, read them too. Sometimes many of your answers will be here and when a vendor knows that you have read up on them, it will allow you to really talk to them about your wedding and not just the basics like what kind of camera they use and the number of proofs you get.

1. Find out who will be taking the pictures at the wedding. Some large vendors have a few photographers who do the work on-site, others are husband and wife teams or independent folks. You want to be sure to meet with the person who will be doing the actual photo taking.

2. These days, most photographers use digital but some still use film. Be sure to ask because this effects your cost and photo turn around time.

3. Do they have any back-up equipment?

4. *important* Who has the copyrights to your photos? Some photographers will provide you with a CD of all the wedding photos so that you can duplicate them on your own. You may also want to ask for a letter stating that they are turning the rights over to you.

5. How much time are they available for? If you wedding goes later than expected will they stay and charge more? If you want to cut costs and only want them for a short period of time, will they negotiate an abbreviated package?

6. Price! Most photographers have a few different packages they offer that feature different numbers of photos and upgrades and all the different costs. Be sure to discuss costs up front. In most large cities, wedding photography can range from a few hundred dollars up to eight thousand dollars. There is not photo package that should cost eight thousand dollars. If a photographer is going to spend upwards of ten hours with you, consider, the time you are getting ready, the posed portraits prior to the ceremony, the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception, consider their time. They usually put in a lot of work afterwards getting photos printed and uploaded to websites. The price should also include an initial meeting and a thorough consultation prior to the wedding to discuss the event flow. All of this can be easily accomplished for as low as fifteen hundred dollars and up to four thousand dollars. Keep these figures in mind if you are willing to spend that much money. Otherwise, look to cut costs and compare vendors.

wedding, photography, vendors