Beating Pre-Wedding Stress

So, you’re getting married soon. Chances are that you’re feeling pretty stressed out. After all, a wedding is a pretty big deal – for some people, the biggest day of their lives. Most of us get worried that something will go wrong, wonder if we can stay on top of the arrangements, and might even have to juggle some family intrusions too. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to reduce your stress before the big day. Here’s a look at a few of them.

Be Willing To Delegate

Related to perfectionism is the desire to do everything yourself. This one is sure to lead to disappointment and a nervous breakdown. If you’re having anything resembling a conventional ceremony with both families attending and a reception afterward, you’re going to have a lot to juggle. Be willing to delegate some of your responsibilities to trusted friends and relatives and you’ll have a much easier time getting the wedding together. It’s okay to let go – your best friend can probably handle the catering reservations without you looking over her shoulder.

Choose Your Battles

A lot of brides are going to have to deal with family interference when it comes to their weddings. It’s important to remember that this is your big day, and not let your mother, aunt, grandmother, or mother-in-law steamroll your wedding. However, to reduce stress, it’s also a good idea to pick your battles. Let some of the small stuff slide if you’ve got a pushy relative. That peace offering could be what it takes to help you reduce the stress that comes with planning your wedding.  And know that letting that pushy relative handle that small detail will make them very happy.

Stay Organised

Last, but possibly most important, is organisation. The less together you have things, the higher your stress level is going to be. Choose a wedding size and scale that you’re going to be able to handle and stay on top of it. Then you’ll know what’s happening and who’s doing what at any time. That’ll help you reduce your stress level and have a great wedding.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

Tips On How To Budget For Your Wedding

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If you have finally decided that you are going to take your year(s) of courtship to the next level, then congratulations, you’ve made the right decision. You deserve to have a wedding that will not only reflect your love but also one that will show appreciation to your friends and family for supporting you two. Unfortunately, the times that we are living in are financially hard and the reality of it all is might not have a choice but to budget for your wedding.

There was a time when the family of the couple would chip in and help with the finance of a wedding. This gesture is proving to be a thing of the past as more couples are finding themselves footing the bill. If you are one of those couples who are making your wedding happen with the savings you both have combined, it would be wise to keep within your budget and not be tempted to apply for a loan from a financial institution. The last thing you both need is to start your lives together with an outstanding debt. Make do with the money that you currently have and cut down in areas that are not necessary.

Wedding consultants will tell you that most couples refuse to compromise their guest list. If you want to keep the size of your guest list, then you can cut down on the cost for decorations, cost of venue etc. 

Here are other ways in which you can save money and keep within your budget:

1.    Plan your wedding way in advance so that you have enough time to shop around for great bargains on your wedding attire, party favours, etc. Having a huge window of time allows you to find bargains rather than taking/buying/using the first thing that comes along in desperation.

2.    The wedding reception area could be another huge wedding expense but it does not have to be. Think about places that you can either have your reception for free or for a low cost. The church in which you worship may have a reception area that you can use free of charge. Other money-saving reception locations include a social room at a hotel, a restaurant, or even at the home of a friend who has a large house.

3.    No one says that your wedding ring has to be a major expense. You can say “I love you” just as well with wedding bands. Have something special inscribed inside the bands. The diamonds can always come later, like on your first wedding anniversary as you celebrate your marriage and the fact that you didn’t go into debt when you had your wedding.

4.    Add your personal touch to some of the wedding necessities with do-it-yourself projects. If you can bake a cake, make decorations or have incredible graphic artist skills to make your invitations, by all means do that. Perhaps you have a skilled friend you could barter with. She bakes your wedding cake in exchange for you babysitting her kids while she and her husband get away for a weekend.

There are many ways to have a beautiful wedding on a budget. The trick is to get started early and be open to cost-conscious ideas.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

How To Control Wedding Jitters

Planning a wedding can take a long time and stress both you and your fiance beyond belief. Some wedding plans start a year before the actual ceremony and almost everyday is concerned with details that can unravel at any time and cause even more stress on both of you.

As the day grows closer and you are involved with the final details, your wedding jitters, or cold feet, might surface and start perverting your intention to get married. Some of it is normal as either one or both of you consider the huge step and change in your life you are about to commit to.

Feeling fear is a perfectly normal feeling to have. In fact, it is perfectly normal to bounce back and forth between intense euphoria or shaky fear. While you might feel like doing a rerun of “Runaway Bride,” a better idea would be to examine what you are feeling and why you might be feeling it.

When stress gets out of control, it would be easy to move that anxiety to the wedding when it might just be a product of all the details you still have to finish before the ceremony. Take a few deep breaths and critically look at what is bugging you the most. What task or detail is refusing to leave your mind? What can’t you stop worrying or thinking about? If you can calmly examine your own anxiety, the true reasons for your anxiety might surface.

If you cannot determine a real reason for your wedding jitters, imagine life without your fiance and without all the hopes and plans the two of you have promised each other. Ask yourself if you truly want to live your life without your fiance. Your answer might just be “No.”

Another sign of misplaced stress is irritation over little habits and small annoyances that you have overlooked for months or years and now can’t stand. You might feel like screaming or dumping the whole wedding, but this new lack of tolerance is just a product of your stress about wedding plans gone astray or realising that you are running out of time to get it all done. Ask your friends to help with details and take some of the stress off your mind.

You might be worrying about becoming a “wife” with some uncertainty that is causing you to doubt your commitment to your fiance. This transition is something you’ve never experienced before and, even if you have been living together, the responsibility and deep commitment is brand new to you.

Your anxieties about your future life as a “wife” are normal. You are about to become someone you’ve never been before, a wife and potential mother. And you are about to make that transition in front of your family and all your friends. Anyone would be stressing over visions of that future, but that is not reason to call off the wedding.

If your reservations and doubts get stronger, rather than weaker, it might be time to examine your true feelings about your fiance. Are you really in love? Can you envision a life without your fiance? Did you agree to get married to make your family happy? Did you believe that this was your only or last chance at getting married?

If you decide you are getting married for any other reason than deep and passionate love, your marriage will probably not survive. Marrying someone is not a rescue mission to get you out of a less than fulfilling life. Examine your heart and then decide what you should do. You’ll know.

A few relationship problems and misunderstandings when both of you are under stress is normal. But anything more negative, like any type of abuse or deception, addictions, conflicts about future children, money or religion is a red flag waving in your face. If you marry under those dangerous conditions, you are asking for trouble and should think about calling off the wedding.

If your anxieties are getting stronger, talk to your fiance about them. Maybe both of you are sharing the same anxieties and can help each other relax. Your mother might have some good advice for you, since she’s been there.

If you can relax and make it to your wedding day, enjoy your new life and start your family with confidence.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

The Funniest Best Man Speech – EVER

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

Mistakes To Avoid When Giving The Best Man Speech

You’ve been given the chance of a lifetime to speak at your friend’s wedding as the best man, and although you are excited about having such an important task in your friend’s wedding, you know you might suddenly become lost for words… literally.

Preparing a best man speech can be a tough job for most, especially for those who are not good at expressing themselves in words. If you are one of these people, then your next best bet would be to hire a writer who can get the job done by writing you a speech that would remain indelible on people’s minds. Sure, the pre-written script may ease your burdens but would it actually be heartfelt and effective with a personalised touch as if you were doing it yourself?

Take these things into consideration before deciding what to do. If you are new to this, there are a lot of mistakes that you are going to make as a best man and one of the most glaring is having to show up to the ceremony unprepared.

As soon as you are informed that you may have to be responsible for “best man” duties, you should start writing your speech right away. This would give you enough time to memorise what you have to say. Even if your memory fails, you should always have cue cards handy so that you can read from them. As you write your speech; refrain from making tacky and disrespectful comments about the couple. Really embarrassing stories about the couple should also be discouraged.

And while we are on the topic of talking, if your wedding speech is shaping up to be a long one, then you should be thinking about chopping down your words. Wedding experts would tell you that your speech should be no more than 5 minutes long or people will start tuning you out. Here are a few more wedding speech mistakes that you should avoid.

1.    Don’t let your nerves get the best of you while you are in front of the audience because ultimately it will distract everyone in the room. Remain cool, calm and collected and project to your audience.

2.    “Fashionably late” is not cool when you are the best man at a wedding. Make sure that you are at the ceremony on time and that you are ready to go on stage as soon as you are called upon.

3.    Although there are several guidelines as to how to write the perfect best man’s speech online, try not to copy the wording verbatim. Instead, personalise the speech as much as you can as you balance the pertinent points with tasteful humour.

4. Do not drink much alcohol before your speech. Alcohol tends to cloud your good judgement and loosens your tongue, which can lead to embarrassment for you and the bride and groom.

Giving the best man speech is an important honour and as long as you take your job seriously and deliver a heart-felt, yet short, speech, you should do just fine.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings

Tips on How to Cut Your Wedding Costs

Your wedding day is one of the most anticipated moments of your life. If you are looking to have a memorable wedding without an expensive price tag attached to it then we will show you how you can do this without sacrificing quality.

It’s no secret that the present state of economy has ushered in a “saving frenzy” where people are no longer buying things that they want but things that they need. The same rule should apply when making plans for your wedding. You should only plan to get the things that are “must haves” for your wedding and nothing more. Come up with a realistic budget and prepare a wish list of the things you would like at your wedding, in order of priority. If you don’t stop and think about what is a priority for you with your wedding, then you’re more like to spend more than you need to. There is no right or wrong here, it’s about what YOU want… that will make it the special day of your dreams.

The next step would be to start shopping around for services that you can get at affordable prices. The yellow pages and the Internet are good places to start when looking for a caterer, decorator and photographer for your wedding.

To allow your money to stretch even further, you can employ the services of a family member or friend who may also be able to offer you some of these services at a reasonable price. Or you could even do it yourself. Whatever you decide, do not be too hasty to go with the first vendor that offers a bargain. Check out the quality of their work beforehand via a portfolio and ideally get customer’s referrals as well. Ask them questions about guaranteeing their work, if they will actually be doing the work themselves, and if they have a backup plan should a personal emergency arise.

Traditionally, weekends are synonymous with weddings but you will most likely find yourself coming out on the less expensive end if you were to have your wedding during the week. Since not too many people get married during the week your venue of choice will definitely be more reasonable on these days.

However, if you must have a traditional weekend wedding, then rent a site that can double as a ceremony and reception hall. That way you get two for the price of one. For the wedding ceremony, wedding planning experts would advise that you choose a less formal theme for your wedding since it can also save you some money.

Avoid planning a holiday wedding as you will find yourself competing with other businesses that are renting locations, DJ services and more for holiday parties.

Finally, for every transaction that you make for your wedding, make sure that you get everything in writing so there won’t be any surprises before or after the big day.

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings