Whether it's dreams of castles and princesses or whimsical fairy tale fantasies, most brides have envisioned their wedding day right from an early age. They have such big hopes for their wedding day. However, as newly engaged couples start pricing out ballrooms and caterers, many of those dreams seem to come crashing down around them. Their once elegant plans dashed and the budget slashed as reality and the true cost of things comes brutally crashing down around them.
So often I talk with couples who want a beautiful wedding, but don't know how to go about it. They have sacrificed on the venue and cut down the guest list. The meal has been changed from five-courses to four. They have simplified as much as they can to the point that it seems like all of their wedding dreams have slipped away, leaving them with a big headache versus a unique and special celebration of their love. How then do you get the wedding that you want?
It is essential to start by making a list of what you envision your wedding to be. Write it down on paper. List what words you would use to describe your event. What would it look like if money wasn't an object? Where your wedding be? What would the venue look like? What would you look like? Be specific about as many items as possible - flowers, cake, food, centerpieces... What special touches do you envision? Look at "real weddings" in bridal magazines and wedding websites to get ideas that appeal to you. When making your list, don't worry about whether things are possible or not. Just focus on thinking big at this point as big ideas can inspire us. Your descriptive list will create a vision to work with, a starting place for go from. Just like building a house, your list will provide you with a foundation to build from.
During this process, I would strongly encourage you to work with a wedding coordinator that can also design and decorate for your wedding. Initially, it may seem like a big cost, but think about what you are getting out of it. A good decorator can take a basic, simple community hall room, and with the proper lighting and decor, transform the space into something else entirely, saving you big dollars on what you would have spent on a luxury hotel ballroom rental. She can take your vision and find affordable ways to incorporate your ideas. She may not be able to recreate your entire vision, but she can emphasize enough elements to create the ambiance that you're after. Often times, she can even suggest cost-effective special touches that you may not have even considered. She knows which venues will probably work best and knows the florist that can give you exactly what you're looking for. She may have ideas about rental props and decorating tips that you may not have even considered. The money you spend on the wedding planner/decorator will often end up stretching your dollar further than if you went out and contracted these services on your own, getting you more value for each dollar you spend. Furthermore, she also has the ideas and expertise to add the special little touches that will be able to transform your space into something spectacular.
Regardless of whether use a wedding coordinator/decorator or not, selecting a theme is essential as it pulls together all of the various elements of a wedding celebration. The theme can be subtle, such as simply choosing coordinating colours that will be used throughout, to completely over-the-top, where the theme is incorporated into every aspect of the wedding. It can be as simple as pinning paper butterflies on the back of chair covers to as grandiose as bringing in a literal forest of trees and fairy lights. The important things is that whatever theme you decide on, it should reflect you and ideas from the list that you originally came up with.
Always remember that your wedding has the potential to be great without costing an absolute fortune. With careful planning and consultation, you can create an event that your guests will still be talking about long after the wedding is over.
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Cathy MacRae is a certified wedding and event planner, and owner of Creative Weddings and Occasionsand Del Sol Destination Weddings. Located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she plans wedding for couples in and around the Calgary and Banff area. She is also a destination wedding and honeymoon travel specialist. For more information about planning your own wedding or for advice from Cathy, please contact her at info@creativeweddingsandoccasions.com.
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