Generally speaking, different wedding planning tasks will fall into a timeline that you can of course adjust depending on your own schedule and needs. For most brides and grooms, choosing a wedding date and location is normally on the top of the wedding planning list, followed by choosing a wedding dress and thinking about the inital guest list. Attending a bridal show or two in the early stages is also a good idea. You can use the following plan to guide you through your own planning process. Most importantly, keep things simple, and enjoy the journey!

The following guide should give you an overview of the planning process, from the proposal through to the honeymoon. As you make your way through each “how to” topic below, you can also refer to our detailed wedding checklist to learn more and make sure you’re not forgetting some of the smaller details along the way.

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An afternoon activity that would provide lighthearted fun and competitiveness between the two sides of the bridal party could include a “sand castle building” competition at your local beach. This unique and exciting activity would provide a great opportunity for everyone to meet and get to know one another and express their creative side along the way. Additional activities that could be included in the day’s itinerary could include a game of beach volleyball and a bonfire. However, if you intend to build a fire on a public beach it is often a good idea to check with your city council to discover if any special permits are necessary prior to hosting your event.

Taking time to locate beach themed wedding attendant gifts for each member of your wedding party is actually easier than you might think; many online and retail wedding planning outlets have unique and creative wedding party favors to give to your friends and family on this special day.

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Consider the following when deciding on your summer wedding dress:

As with any consideration for your big day, the best advice is always to be as prepared as possible – and then to relax and enjoy!

TIP: For those who don’t already their hands on the HOT TIPS found in the Amazing Wedding Planning guide, check out Wedding Planning Makes Perfect, and learn how to save both time and money on your wedding planning. Enjoy!

Choosing a photographer

Your first task is naturally to select a wedding photographer. Most expensive doesn’t always translate into “best”, so it can pay off doubly to check out several companies and photographers. Also, you should be aware of that some photographers only offer the traditional wedding photography style, or strictly a photojournalistic style. It is best to find a versatile photographer that can do both.

When visiting the photo company you should inquire who will actually be taking the pictures. Salespersons often pose as actual photographers and try to woo customers. If at all possible you should speak directly with the photographer and make sure companies deal openly. You should also ask them to show several complete weddings from each of the photographers they offer you, so you can choose. Make sure the one chosen is the one that will cover your wedding. Otherwise, it is better to find a photographer that personally shoots weddings. A two-person team is an even better package because two points of view of the wedding can be taken.

In any case, the photographer should be able to show more than one complete set of wedding photos. Couples should not accept someone who shows only selected prints of their best photographs from different weddings. A photographer who can exhibit three or four complete sets of good quality pictures, all from different weddings, will probably be a very good choice for your special occasion.

Do not be afraid to come across as “too picky”. Because asking intelligent questions will encourage photographers to deal openly with customers. Remember, it’s your special day, and you should make sure that the wedding photography is something that will help you and your loved ones relive those wonderful memories.

The big day – one big photo-op

Once a great photographer has been appointed to the task, most of your job is already done. However, there are a few things to keep in mind in order to make your wedding as good a photo opportunity as possible.

The first thing to do is to give the most opportunities for the photographer when scheduling activities during the wedding day. When planning the time of the wedding ceremony and of the reception, couples should incorporate the time that the photographer requires to capture all of the couple’s special moments. There should be a gap between the end of the ceremony and beginning of the reception, to allow for more photographs for the bride, groom and wedding entourage, especially if they are in two different locations. The photographers and subjects will have a more relaxed shoot and will enjoy all the parts of the wedding if the events are well spaced out.

Selecting a photographer that will provide unlimited coverage for the whole day is also a good way to ensure that none of the photography will be rushed.

The check list

As you see, the most important part with successful wedding photography lies in selecting the right photographer. So, to conclude this article, here is a short check list of things you should ask all potential photographers.

- What kinds of cameras does he use? Does he use medium format equipment and have a back up? Does have a “leaf” shutter or “focal plane”?

- What lenses does he use? Does he use only one, or will he change lenses? Make him show you photo effects that he is able to achieve with different lenses and choose the ones which you like to appear with your photographs.

- Will he provide photographs in both color and black and white, or would he charge extra for B/W? Dramatic effects can be made with black and white photographs, so ask if this is a premium.

- Are hand and digital coloring or digital color separation included in the package or would he charge extra for these? Better pictures are developed when the photograph colors are separated first, improved, and then printed.

- Is he willing to customize a package that is within your budget?

There seems to be no such thing as a disaster proof wedding. It is not uncommon for couples to find their wedding day to be plagued with one or two significant disaster. This article isn’t really so much about how to avoid your wedding disaster, or even how to minimize the wedding disaster potential, but how to handle one so that the disaster does not have to ruin, or even heavily impact, your wedding day.

Planning a wedding is one half optimistic jubilation and dream realization and one half delegation. Division of labor or proper delegation on your wedding day plans may result to a fabulous wedding. If, however, you become too demanding, delegate too heavily and heap piles of responsibilities onto just one or two people, or try to master every chore yourself, you are definitely asking for wedding day disasters to show up and make themselves well known on the big day.

Small Disasters, Large Disasters, and Opportunities

Disasters are going to range from small to large. Anything can happen on a wedding day. The flower girl might wet her pants or the groom might faint, forget his vows, or forget where the church is and what time he is supposed to be there. Using your potential disasters as an opportunity requires a very special mind set, but one that anyone is able to achieve. Weddings become so important, especially to women, because they earmark an event that is “supposed to happen” in a very “specific manner.”

When we can start to let go of the “supposed to” and “should” theories, then we can focus in a more determined fashion on what is most vital to us, why we are going through with this highly expensive and taxing endeavor, and how we can make sure we enjoy our own wedding day. For all the money, time, energy, and thought that we put into a wedding, so many men and women alike find that they either barely even remember the day or didn’t have time to enjoy the day. We usually spend more money, time, and energy on wedding planning than we do for vacations and yet we don’t completely enjoy them or at least remember them? How logical is that?

Turning a problem into an opportunity is not easy, but it is very simple. The primary step is learning to recognize any chance or room for improvement or change from the traditional wedding ceremony. The second is learning to allow yourself an ideal emotional day and let the details fall as close to as you hoped as possible. If your emotional experience is beautiful and life affirming, the physical experience around you will be better.

A Change in Priorities Breathes New Life into Weddings

A simple change in your priorities may be just what you need in order to achieve your perfect wedding. Simple changes in your priorities or minor shift in your perspective might as well change your entire wedding day experience. The ability to be flexible no matter what happens is just the beginning. Nothing will change and it will not make you less joyful while you exchange wedding vows if you allow your flower girl to change into different clothes after she wets her pants. Watching your abouttobehusband go on the fly when it is his turn to recite his wedding vows allows you to witness honest beauty rather than watching him blow it. These small but vital changes in perspective are a strong piece of bringing together the perfect wedding day. Ditching the ideas of “could be” and “should be” and “want it to be” and transforming your day into an honest celebration of love, family, friends, and the future creates a while new vibe for the entire wedding.

With enough perspective alterations your wedding day can go from that story book fantasy that ends with a notated disaster that stands to ruin the whole day to a beautiful day without pretense, without judgment, and without emotional distress.

The web has become the dominant way to shop for electronics, travel, cars, housing, even education.  But you can just as easily use the web to find caterers, event halls, dressmakers, DJs, photographers, videographers–even a wedding planner if you decide to take a break from doing it all yourself.

Here’s how the web helps you plan a wedding:

Local search.  No, you don’t have to sort through vendors from here to Timbuktu.  Local search technology now makes finding someone downtown as easy as finding someone anywhere.  If you use Google, you only have to enter a place name along with your keyword to get a list of local businesses.  Try “wedding planner fargo” (without the quotes) and see for yourself.Real people.  The people you are buying from online aren’t “virtual.”  They’re as real as the people you’d meet in person.  In fact, especially with local business, the website is just a first contact.  You can always call them up or arrange to meet in person.Dedicated wedding information websites.  There are now websites solely devoted not just to planning a wedding, but to catering, wedding cakes, even dying shoes for weddings.  These same websites often have directories of wedding vendors arranged by location.Message boards and customer reviews.  You wouldn’t buy a book on Amazon without reading a review a customer had left.  Now you don’t have to buy decorations that way, either.Web Wedding Planning AlternativesThe web has a lot of advantages over most other ways of discovering and evaluating wedding vendors.  Just look at what your other options are:

In short, the web makes it much easier to get a perfect wedding.