Now… Where Do I Start With Planning A Wedding?
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Getting married is often regarded as one of the most stressful events of our lives, so how can you make planning your wedding a pleasure, rather than a chore? Once you have set the date, your first considerations are probably going to be the theme of the wedding, the venue and the budget.
Let’s begin with the venue. These days you can get married just about anywhere, so you’ll have no shortage of wedding venues. In Dallas, Texas, for example, you can get married at the Arboretum – more than sixty acres of truly stunning gardens set on White Rock Lake. And, there are even more exotic wedding venues in Dallas. Take the neo-gothic beauty of The Black Gold Ballroom of the award-winning Joule Hotel. Or the heavenly 200 year old Belo Mansion along with its more recent addition, the Pavilion.
In the Dallas area, wedding venues in Dallas include Royal Affairs Ballroom. Take your special event to new heights with Royal Affairs Ballroom that accommodates up to 300 guests. Dressed in warm, neutral tones and lighting to accentuate the expansive space of the ballroom, check out the amenities we have to offer. The ballroom’s décor includes prestigious columns and an impressive full size crystal chandeliers that overlooks the dance floor and adds an inviting ambiance to any wedding reception or special event. Let us show you how your 5-star wedding and reception can be planned in grand style with traditional elegance and contemporary flair. Call Us Today! and we’ll give you a personalized tour.
Wherever you choose to hold your wedding, be sure to give consideration to the number of people that will be attending. A small venue can get very claustrophobic with too many guests, but neither will you want a more humble guest list of half a dozen close family members getting lost amongst the rafters of a sprawling mansion the size of King Ranch!
Talking of numbers, now would also be a great time to get to grips with the finances. Of all the things you will do towards planning your wedding, this may well be the least romantic. But even if you have a fairly substantial budget available to you, you will still want to be in control of it rather than have to suffer any unpleasant surprises later on.
The way to do this is to get quotes for all the major services – limousine hire, DJ and/or band, flowers, catering, etc. – and decide a set amount for each one. You will need to strike a balance between being strict and being flexible. No-one wants to nickel and dime over their wedding, but unchecked wedding budgets have a sadly predictable habit of spiralling ever upwards. It is often a good idea to include a 10% contingency fund in your budget for just such an occurrence!
One example I can point to is my mother who, unbeknownst to me had been saving bridal magazines which helped me immensely. A lot of tasks you can do on your own, but you need to consider delegating those to your Maid of Honor (MOH)–read separate blog post. In summary, Bridal Shows can be helpful when finding vendors, DJ, venues, photographer etc. Magazines help when deciding on decor, themes and general ideas for how you want your wedding and reception to look and how you want your ambiance to feel. Also important, keep a binder or written record with ALL your information about ideas, vendors, receipts etc. Then you’ll have one centralized location to go to in case you need to reference an order or verify things. Communicating by Smart Phone is handy, but Email may be a better management idea since you can easily print pages, and/or store them for later reference.
Choosing a theme for your wedding is a very personal thing and usually the theme will be something personal to the bride and groom, even if it appears to make no real sense to anybody else! That said, there are several themes that have been seen on more than one occasion. Amongst my personal favorites have been Caribbean and Pirate themes, although one of the most gentle and romantic I have witnessed was a wedding themed upon the Japanese Lotus Blossom flower. Whilst your theme should be personal, a little originality can create a WOW factor.
So now you know where to start in order to make certain that your wedding is the perfect day it was always meant to be, yet still keep within your budget by balancing the practical with the romantic.
Congratulations on your engagement! Now it is time get to work and plan meticulously to ensure that your wedding turns out the perfect day you always hoped it would be. For additional information, search out our other Blog Posts entitled, “A New Bride-To-Be!”.
Searching for a Wedding Venue in Dallas? Check us out on the web at RoyalAffairs.com. Let us show you how your 5-star wedding and wedding reception can be planned in grand style with traditional elegance and contemporary flair. Call Us Today! and we’ll give you a personalized tour.
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