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Planning Your

Wedding

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Planning a Wedding - Hints & Tips... So you've decided to "tie the knot" and now there is the small matter of a wedding to organise - so

where do you start? what are the really important things that you need to do and what things are

actually quite trivial, but if you are not careful can end up being a distraction and possibly stressful?

These hints & tips do not claim to be an exhaustive check list in any way, but hopefully you will find a

few little gems here that will prove useful as either something you hadn't already considered, or

maybe just a little piece of advice that puts things into some form of perspective about your big day.

We understand that budgets can differ greatly, so as far as possible we will not be talking money, but

just about the start to finish process, so whether you are on a tight budget or money no-object, you

should find most of the information below to be relevant to you.

We have broken down the whole process into a number of sections as shown below:

The Big Picture!

Planning Tips

The Night Before

The Morning!

The Ceremony

The Photos

The Wedding Breakfast

The Evening Reception

The Honeymoon

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The Big Picture Your wedding is actually a celebration of your love and commitment for each other. It is about

expressing you a couple as you take your first steps together as a married couple, but it is not

necessarily about perfection.

You will find that some of the best moments of the day are actually the ones you didn't plan!

So don't be phased by the unexpected, just go with it; after all, together you can take on the world.

Accept that you might not be able to please absolutely everyone - so don't get too stressed trying!

This day is about you, not anyone else, so keep that in mind and everything will be just fine.

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Planning Tips If possible, start to plan as far ahead as you can, around 14~16 months is a fairly good time-scale.

By starting to plan well in advance it really helps to keep the stress levels down. Try to get as much

done early on, so as the big day gets closer you really don't have that much to finish and as a result you

will approach the wedding in a far more relaxed manner. The other advantage to getting things

booked early is you will normally fix the price at the time of booking your suppliers and we all know

that prices tend to rise with time, so the longer you wait the higher the price is likely to be.

We are not going to cover what type of venue you should book, this is obviously a very personal thing

and needs to match the aspirations and personalities of you and to some extent your guests!

Whilst you obviously need to set the wedding date as early as possible, you really then need to have a

fairly good idea about the number of guests you are expecting; as you will need this information to

help you decide upon a suitable venue to accommodate your guest numbers.

You will want a venue large enough to accommodate your guests without being cramped, but not too

big otherwise the reception in particular can look "empty" and as a result will possibly be lacking in

atmosphere. Don't forget that your guest numbers can also have a large impact on the overall cost of

the wedding in venue and catering costs.

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One quick thing to consider - if you are getting married between October and March - Think carefully

about what time the sun sets and how light or dark it will be when you emerge as the new Mr & Mrs!!

For example in mid November it gets dark around 4pm,

meaning if have a church wedding at 3pm, your photographs

afterwards are going to be taken in the dark, with flash - really

not ideal!!!

Once you have decided upon guest numbers and booked the

ceremony / reception venues (and have booked the registrars

if required), you can then move onto the other things /

suppliers that tend to get booked up quite early like the

photographer / videographer. This section is not here to sell

you our photography services, but to simply say you should be

comfortable with your photographer, love their style / work

and decide if the overall package they offer represents good value for money.

If you have decided on a particular DJ / evening entertainment, then try to get this booked as soon as

possible, as just like the photographer they can get booked up quite early (certainly for the popular

summer dates).

Once you have got the above finalised then it is probably time to take a breath and review what you

have achieved already - which is a lot!

There is still much to be done, but give yourselves a little time out and congratulate yourselves - you're

getting married!!

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So what remains to be done? - Well, in no particular order the main things still to be sorted are:-

The Dress / Veil

Groom's outfit

Bridesmaids / Mother of the brides dresses

Groomsmen / Father of the bride / Ushers outfits

Hair / Makeup

Car

Wedding Rings - (January sales?)

Flowers

Cake

Reception room Decorations / Favours

Gift List - What prezzies will you ask for?

Shoes - (if new, make sure you "break them in")

Stationery

Honeymoon

Seating plan - once exact numbers are confirmed

Some couples find it best to get some of the "smaller" things like Stationery / Favours out the way at

this point. Otherwise these smaller things can get left “too late” and they then become quite stressful,

trying to sort them out as the big day gets ever closer.

Keep all your wedding vendor telephone numbers stored in your

mobile, so you can always make contact with the minimum of

fuss. This way when they call you - you know who is calling,

without wondering if it is a dreaded spam call and ignore

them!!!

Don't get caught out with any “hidden extras" from any of your

vendors.

Make sure you are clear on exactly what is being supplied and

most importantly, what you DON'T get for your money. For example does the photography package

actually include the album? or is this extra? Or will the venue charge you extra for corkage or even for

the use of their cake knife for the cutting of the cake - it has been known!

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The Night Before So you have done all the planning and the big day is just round the corner.

Now is the time to relax and get a good night’s sleep - possibly easier said than done, but do try your best to

remain stress free and calm.

The Bride could maybe relax with the bridesmaids and, watch a couple of nice romantic films; whilst the Groom

should avoid too much alcohol and to help focus his mind he should make a final list of the things he needs to

do in the morning.

The Morning The big day is finally here!!!!! You will probably wake early and hopefully without a hangover!

You could be getting ready at home or at the venue, but in either case the single biggest tip we could give you, is

do not have too many people with you! We have seen instances where the bride has had up to 12 people with

her in a single hotel room - and as you can imagine it was absolute chaos, with the end result being a very very

stressed bride.

Yes you need to have your hair and makeup done, and you will

need some help with your dress, but you don't need 12 people

getting in your way - keep it simple. Mum, the bridesmaids, hair

and makeup and the photographer (who if they are good will

know when to leave you alone and come back later) are really all

you need, with Dad arriving at the last minute.

It sounds obvious, but don't forget to wear a button up top to

have your hair and makeup done, otherwise you risk ruining all

the good work by later having to pull a top over your head!

Onesies are a great choice for this!

The Wedding Dress normally takes around 15~20 minutes to get into and laced up, but our advice is not to put it

on too soon! We have seen brides with their dress on and ready, up to 90 minutes before the ceremony and

they simply got too hot and uncomfortable, so don't rush to get the dress on too early!

This is also a good time to go through any last minute instructions with your bridesmaids - confirming the order

for walking down the aisle for example.

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The Ceremony It's time - all the months of planning have been the

countdown for this - your marriage.

Now is the time to smile and savour every moment, now is the

time to slow down, don't rush. For example - don't rush to get

out of the car, let the photographer get some wonderful

photos of you in the car and then with your bridesmaids and

father by the car.

When you walk down the aisle take it slow. Yes we know you can't wait to get married, but seriously

walk slowly! savour the smiles from your guests as you pass

them by, let the photographer get some lovely shots of you, let

your groom turn his head to sneak his first glance of his

beautiful bride.

One final tip as you walk down the aisle - if you go first then just

walk slow as described above, but if you are going last behind

the bridesmaids then leave a large gap before you start your

journey down the aisle - if you don't leave a large gap the

photographer will simply not be able to get a clear photograph of you as you walk forward, there will

be bridesmaids in the way. Leave a large gap and get great photos!

You've done it - you're married!!!!!

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The Photos Shortly after the ceremony you will probably have some formal group photographs of family and

friends. It's a great opportunity for families who are not often all together in one place to have some

lovely photographs together.

But, before you even booked your photographer you really should have decided on one very important

consideration. Do you want the photographer to largely record the day as it unfolds, to capture all the

wonderful natural moments, with as many family group photos as you desire, OR do you want a

photographer who will take far greater control of your day to get the shots they maybe feel showcases

their style better.

This may even involve staging certain photographs with props and special lighting and could even

mean they require you at a certain time when the sunlight is just right; even if this is mid-way through

your meal!

Just to be clear, at Glenn Mather Photographers we prefer to tell the story of your day through natural

shots of you and your guests, (with maybe just a few little arranged romantic shots of the bride and

groom) with as many formal group shots as you want - Our philosophy is simple - this is your wedding,

not our photo shoot!! We don't control you, rather it's the other way round, whatever you want is

what you get - it's your day!

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So, back to the family / friends group shots - The main tip is definitely do a list of all the group shots

you want; including any you might feel are obvious, like groom and best man or bride and bridesmaids

- list them all, then on the day it helps to make sure no-one gets forgotten!

After the formal group shots, it is often immediately

followed by bride and groom photographs with the

photographer, whilst the guests relax with a few drinks.

The bride and groom photographs can be a good time

for them to spend a few minutes together often for the

first time as Mr & Mrs.

The best photographs of the bride and groom are often

natural ones as they talk and walk together with the

photographer using a long lens to capture their first walk

together.

There are two main tips to give you during this time. The first is

to listen to the photographer, who should have plenty of

experience in helping the couple to feel relaxed in front of the

camera and the second is to treat the front of the lens as a best

friend.

If the photographer asks you to look at the camera, then simply

look directly at the lens in a relaxed manner. The difference in

the finished photograph by looking directly at the front of the

lens as opposed to just looking somewhere nearby can be

staggering. Love the lens and you will love your photographs.

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The Wedding Breakfast Okay, so you're married, you've had your formal photographs, now it's time for you and your guests to

sit down, relax and enjoy some nice food and drink.

Most venues will normally arrange for the guests to be seated first, and then will announce you into

the room as the new Mr & Mrs to rapturous applause.

Apart from the food and drink, the other main element to the wedding breakfast is of course the

speeches. Traditionally these take place at the end of the meal, possibly during the coffee; however a

significant number of weddings we attend do have the speeches before the food. So why have the

speeches at the end of the meal - well, people may feel more relaxed

having had a few more to drink? And people may find the "jokes" a little

funnier having had more to drink.

Having the speeches before the food could be best if any of the speakers

are "nervous" about standing up and speaking in front of a large number

of people. This way they get it out the way and can then hopefully enjoy

their food without worrying about still having to get up to speak.

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The speeches can be anything from a few simple "Thank you's" right through to multimedia

presentations with slides, videos, handouts etc.

They can be serious, funny or somewhere in between. All are

fine, but do try to ensure they do not offend anyone in the

room, the best man embarrassing the groom is pretty normal,

but keep it clean if there are young children in the room. If you

have any "thank you" gifts to hand out then these are normally

done during the groom’s speech.

Some of the best photographs of the speeches are not actually

the speaker, but the reaction shots of guests or members of the

wedding party as they laugh or cry and just to mix it up a little,

why not involve everyone with a game or two after the meal?

The Evening Reception After the Wedding Breakfast there is normally a bit of a lull before the evening reception gets going.

The venue and DJ will normally need around 60~90 minutes to get the room layout turned around

from Wedding Breakfast to Evening Reception.

During this time you and your guests have time to relax and catch up together over a few drinks. As

photographers we often use this time to get a few nice portrait photographs of any couples who may

want to; sometimes with the Bride and Groom, but often just the two of them (or possibly a nice

family shot with their children).

So what are the main elements of the evening reception? The main one is to party, celebrate your

marriage and for everyone to have fun.

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You will possibly have a few extra evening only guests arriving, so you will want to spend some time

with them as

they arrive.

The other things

that will normally

occur during the

evening are the

cutting of the

cake and of

course your first

dance.

We find that

normally these

two things are

best done

together, so the

DJ will normally announce that the Bride and Groom are about to cut the cake; so everyone will be

ready with their cameras and phones to take pictures as you cut the cake, after which the Bride and

Groom will then head straight on to the dance floor for their first dance together.

Very occasionally couples have worked on a choreographed dance routine, but mostly they will

lovingly and slowly glide around the dance floor to their favourite music.

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As photographers we find this is a wonderful opportunity to get some lovely romantic photographs for

the happy couple and the one tip we have for you here is to make sure the venue DOESNT turn the

room lights up. Keep them low, with the DJ using his full coloured lighting. Crazy as this may appear,

this can result in some fantastic first dance shots.

Often as the first dance comes to an end the Bride and Groom will invite everyone else onto the dance

floor and this can signal the start of the evening celebrations as the guests join in to party the night

away!

The Honeymoon Only a couple of thoughts for you to consider here. Firstly are you having a Honeymoon? With today's

economic climate it is not always possible and secondly if you are taking a Honeymoon, when will you

go?

We have spoken to couples after the Wedding, who said getting up early the morning after the

wedding, having to travel to the airport and then spend hours on a flight was no fun!

So, if you feel you may be a little worse for wear the next morning, then you may possibly want to

arrange your Honeymoon for sometime later.

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Final Thoughts

"You've made the serious decision to get married; so on the day......

....relax, go with the flow & savour every moment”

Very Best Wishes,

As you start the next chapter of your life together x

PS) If there is something we didn't cover then please do contact us

(It doesn't matter if you haven't booked us!) We love to talk weddings

and would be more than happy to give you the benefit of our years of experience.