When planning a wedding it can help to see or read what others have done. You can get inspiration from books, magazines, movies, and bridal fairs. It can help immensely to get inspiration from somewhere or something, being that a wedding will likely be the largest and most expensive celebration you will have planned in your life. For many brides, it is the first and only large event they have ever planned.
Ever wonder how wedding planners, party planners, and party stylists get their ideas? Is it that they are just blessed to know everything they need to know about weddings to help each and every bride create their dream event? Or perhaps some of them just know something that brides don’t. Here are some ways to make your wedding planning go smoother, become more polished, and celebrate the couple of the day versus trying to bring together parts and pieces of other weddings that just don’t fit together to “feel like” the couple of the day. Instead of a “cookie cutter” wedding, yours should be uniquely representative of you and your groom (or bride – many grooms do planning these days) and your guests will talk for years about how spectacular your wedding turned out.
In the first part of this post we will offer tips on where to find inspiration to help you in your planning. In the second part, being published on Wednesday, we will offer how to become better organized, how to find the experts you need and what parts of your wedding you need to definitely hand over to professionals. If you get to work on the first part of this two part series, then by Wednesday, when the second part is published, you will be ready to move forward and will be feeling very confident about your progress.
Of course every bride needs to have in her “toolbox” of wedding planning a few obvious things such as an etiquette book (you can find used ones very cheap and you can also do research online but by all means don’t skip this resource), a few bridal magazines, and of course a wedding planner with indexes and subject dividers as well as a count-down to-do list.
With those items in hand it is time to figure out how to now take all the aspects of a wedding and bring them together. Picking parts and ideas from one wedding and putting them together with another part from a different wedding can sometimes work but many times it just seems jumbled and off-center to those that are looking from outside the bride’s vision.
A good place to start for inspiration is to think of what you and your soon-to-be spouse love to do together, how you like to spend your time and what makes you happy. If you like spending time outdoors then even if you are having an indoor wedding there are ways to bring the outdoors to the indoors. If you like visiting museums or traveling together then that is a great consideration for inspiration. Be committed to making your wedding an expression of you and your fiancé and not something to impress others. The best weddings celebrate the couple. Guests know and feel when the wedding is special – that always happens when the wedding is a real reflection of the couple.
Other places to get inspiration are family members. Talk to parents, grandparents, and other family members that are special to you and ask them for a unique idea from their wedding. Give them plenty of time to think and consider what they want to share with you. By sitting down and going through old wedding mementos, wedding photo albums and video you may see something to ask about or it may spark a memory. After all is said and done, the time spent with the family members reminiscing will be priceless as the years pass.
Don’t miss the opportunity to watch old movies to get ideas. Think Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rita Hayworth. Some of the gowns and clothes worn could give you an idea for a bridesmaid’s gown or your own. Hairstyles were more glamorous and can be updated to help you find the exact look you want for your day. Old wedding movies are also a great way to get an idea. Make sure you watch some of the older ones like “Father of the Bride” with Spencer Tracy as well as the remake “Father of the Bride” with Steve Martin. A quick search online for “wedding movies” or “movies with weddings” will give you a long list. Not only will you be doing research but you will be giving yourself a little distraction time to sit and rest from the planning.
Go to libraries and check out books that haven’t had much attention in the past years such as older bridal planning books, wedding planners and older issues of bridal magazines. Also look at older issues of fashion, bridal, wedding, and event planning magazines. Don’t miss the opportunity to look through published wedding books by Martha Stewart. Her rise to fame was centered on her catering and wedding planning expertise and some books of hers are more than 25 years old but are still relevant today and are full of ideas that could inspire a bride of any wedding budget or wedding theme.
Go visit museums and favorite places, watch movies, go through old magazines, talk to family members, look at old family wedding photographs, watch family wedding videos, and look through older wedding books. Then go through your to-do list of what needs to be planned for your wedding. All of the things you have seen, watched and heard will come together to offer you a unique idea and new found inspiration as you go over your list. Colors, styles, foods, arrangements, music, and family wedding traditions will come to mind to help you make your wedding one of a kind.
Now, go, get your inspiration and then come back in a few days and we’ll have tips to help you further as you complete your wedding plans.
When it is time to plan your reception keep CAISO in mind. We are true professionals with a long history of performance events and our skills, experience and professionalism will come together to make your reception fabulous. For book information, check here: CAISO Booking Information.
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