Wedding Preparations - Where to Start?

In the light of the anniversary of one of the best things that happened in my life, our wedding, I would like to give some wedding preparation tips to all bride-to-be’s out there as they’re planning for their wedding because I know that wedding preparations are one of the most daunting tasks any 2 persons (I assume the groom is going to help the bride) can take on.  I’ll break my posts down into parts because I’m sure it’s going to be a long series of tips.

Where to begin?  What are the first steps?

Once you’ve said yes to one of the most famous questions in the world, “Will you marry me?” or even if you skipped that and just decided you’ll tie the knot, you can start your wedding plans with either of the 2 options:

A. Choosing the Date

This is for couples who have set a date in stone and don’t ever want to change that wedding date for personal reasons like favorite number, favorite date, significant date, tradition or cultural beliefs.  This means, that everything else, like the venue availability and guest availability, will have to work around this.  So, set a date first before going forward.  This will be your guiding star throughout the planning stage.  The best preparation time is a year or more before the wedding so it’s best to set a date a year or more ahead.  Making reservations or services will be a lot cheaper, your guests will have more time to plan their trip if they will be coming from outside the country and you won’t have to rush things and get all tensed on the wedding day.

The Anne in Red Experience:

Personally, we had 2 years to plan for ours, and that’s just fine because we had a habit of relaxing a bit and getting side-tracked when planning.  ^_^  We originally wanted a Christmas season wedding because the hotels and the churches are wonderfully decorated at that time of the year.  But, due to other factors, specifically my dad’s availability, that didn’t happen.  So clearly, this wasn’t our guiding star.


B. Choose the Church (or Ceremony Venue) and/or Reception Venue

This is for couples who have a specific church or venue in mind and everything else will have to work around that venue.  That means, it’s more important for you to get that venue and you’re flexible with the date of the wedding.  Decide if it’s your dream church or a dream reception venue, either way, make sure that both locations, where you’re going to have your wedding rites and the reception, are close to each other.  This is going to be your North star, and your plans will generally revolve around this.

The Anne in Red Experience:

This is exactly the path we went on.  We, well, I had a church in mind and have wanted to get married in it since I was in high school, love at first sight.  When I was in high school, It was a church in the middle of a reclamation area in Pasay and it was the only structure there.  It was like a church disconnected from the city but still very close to it.  Fast forward 10 or so years after, one of the biggest malls in the Philippines (Mall of Asia) was right in front of it and soon many other huge structures around the area that turned it into a metropolis!  Well, I still wanted to get married there so I had to put up with all the buildings and the crowd from the mall.  Later on, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

 Here's The church from the outside.  Clean lines, really neat and just breathtaking in a simple elegant way.  I love how simple and clean it looks.  It's like all outlines and no rough lines.

  Here's the church from the inside.  I love it even if it's huge and really not ideal for small intimate weddings.  Our wedding was small with 100-150 guests, but still, I wanted this big church not for the prestige but because I've laid my eyes on it for a long long time, and I just wanted my dream to come true.  Love it!

And here's how it looked in December.  Yes, the lights change!:






There certainly are other ways you can start your wedding preparations.  It really depends on your priorities and your technique or style as a couple.  Wedding is a big project in which the bride and groom are the project managers.  Create your own style of approach but if you’re lost and find yourself not knowing where to start, you can choose from either one of the options I enumerated.  I know that when it comes to wedding preparations, you'll need all the help you can get!


Happy planning and don’t get stressed out!  Have fun while preparing for the big day!  A reminder from Anne in Red.


* By the way, you can find more details about our wedding on our wedsite that you might be able to get ideas from at http://www.mywedding.com/mariolovesanne/.  You can also create your own free wedsite account to document your wedding preparations!