What to expect with a wedding coordinator

Perhaps a wedding planner is out of your budget. Perhaps you have enough time to organise and plan your wedding yourself. If this is the case, then a coordination team will be able to assist you in putting together your vision. Wedding planning is more than just booking vendors and making payments. There are logistics involved such as set up times, take down, managing the wedding guests and making sure everything runs on time. A good coordination team will make sure everything goes without a “hitch” and you and your family are not rushing around sorting out last minute things. Think of a wedding coordination team as your support network; a group of hardworking professionals who have your best interests at heart and will be there to take on the task of managing any issues that arise on your wedding. Even the most well-planned weddings will face a few hurdles, and the role of a coordinating team is to solve any problems that arise to ensure your Big Day runs smoothly.

Remember that your family and friends are not wedding coordinators and are attending your wedding as guests. Assigning a specific task to a cousin or aunt is one thing, but (and I tell you this from experience), giving a guest the job of coordinating your wedding rarely works out. I certainly would not advise risking it. (Again, I speak from experience!)

You can expect your wedding coordinator to do all the heavy lifting with Vendor logistics and the wedding day timeline.

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Budgeting 101

Wedding planning Guide

Your budget: this depends entirely on the type of wedding you want and is one of the most important (and difficult) parts of planning your Big Day. As your dreams of dresses, decorations, and all things delightful come closer to coming true, costs can quickly spiral out of control. Now you may have your money-organising skills down to a fine art, but here is a reality that even the most budget-conscious bride-to-be has to face: whatever you plan on spending, you will probably end up spending more, build in a 10% contingency buffer to your budget.

Within African and multicultural weddings, where essentially you have two separate weddings to pay for, it is important to keep track and know how much you will allocate for the traditional wedding and how much for the White Wedding.

Not managing your finances accordingly can have a big impact on your wedding and your planning journey. After you have completed the five questions on page (xxx) and you have decided on your budget and what kind of wedding you want, you can start to look at the different aspects of your wedding and how you are going to allocate the funds. At this point, you may want to speak to anyone who is paying for specific things (e.g. your cake) as they may want a say on the final decision and how their money is spent.

Remember: Money you hope to receive as a wedding gift should NOT be part of your budget.

How to choose your dress

As a 21st Century bride, you have the luxury of a huge selection of gowns to choose from. With inspiration spanning hundreds of years, you can be whoever you want to be on your Big Day. You can be the Princess Bride, the Modern Bride, or the Classic Bride. You can be sexy, elegant or even edgy. This is your life, your happy-ever-after, and you have all the freedom in the world to reflect your personality and diversity.

As an African bride, in particular, You have even more than the white wedding dress: There is the traditional dress for the Knocking, an outfit for the traditional wedding and even an outfit that follows the white wedding dress in the evening be it a reception dress or a traditional dress depending on the culture. Here are my top tips when it comes to your white wedding dress shopping

Time

Give yourself plenty of time to find the perfect dress; you don't want to be limited by timing. With that said, there is such a thing as too much time; start shopping around 10 months in advance to get a feel for what you love, and plan to place your order approximately 7-8 months before the wedding date.

Personal Style

Choose a gown based on hhow you feel wearing it rather than trends and Follow your instincts; women look their best when they feel comfortable and confident.make sure to stay true to your personal style and frame.

Keep an open Mind

Keep an open mind; start by trying on all the silhouettes to see what looks best. Don't be convinced something is unflattering until you try it on; you may be surprised by what you think will and won't work.

Take a small but trusted group shopping

Skip the large entourage when shopping and limit the outside influences. Less is more; ultimately, how you look and feel in your wedding dress is your decision to make.

For more help finding your dream dress. Contact the team today to disuss your upcoming Luxury wedding.

Wedding Invitation Wording

Once the style of the invitation has been chosen, there is still the matter of what to say on the invitations and how to word it.

Below is a guide that applies to both your Traditional and White Wedding.

Who's hosting the wedding

With both families involved in paying for and hosting the White Wedding, the invitations are worded with the names of both families. When it comes to the Traditional Wedding, the Bride’s family who host would be named on the invitation.

The request to come to the wedding

Traditional and religious ceremonies call for formal wording e.g. ‘request the pleasure of your company…’.

The names of the couple

Usually, the bride’s name comes before the groom’s. The location of the wedding Formal invitations tend to list the entire address, including postcode.

The date and times

Stick to standard time and date formatting for a traditional feel or be a little more creative by writing out your dates in full, e.g. First of August Two Thousand and Eighteen.

Reception information

Let your guests know where the reception will be held and what time they can expect it to finish.

RSVP details

You can include instructions on how and when to RSVP at the bottom of your invitation, your info card or a separate RSVP card. Keep the RSVP cut-off of 4 weeks before the wedding.