Planning your Wedding Day

Survival checklist

Hotel and destination travelling tips

As you are planning your wedding day, an item often overlooked is the time allocated for travelling to and from the wedding destination. When planning travel time, add an additional 50 per cent to your schedule. If you invited many friends and relatives from out of state, ask local hotels for a group discount. A group discount will save you considerable time and money. If everyone stays at one location, transportation problems will be minimized.

Renting a bus can sidestep an enormous amount of potential issues that always seem to arise when transporting people. A bus can pick up guests from the hotel, transport everyone to the wedding and even afterwards to the reception. This prevents guests from getting lost, misunderstanding directions, having car trouble and so on. With a bus, all of the designated drivers can finally enjoy a drink at the reception!

Contingency travel plans

Include a contingency plan. If you decide to rent transportation, book with a reputable company, which will usually provide backup transportation in the case of an emergency. Ask friends or neighbours to provide backup transportation. If someone is late or sick, that backup transportation will come in very handy. If you’re driving to the wedding and your car breaks down, you will have a backup to rely on.

Wedding venue preparation

Every detail counts, including the wedding venue. For starters, using nametags will help everyone involved. Writing down the person’s name and function will not only help your guests, but wedding staff as well. If you’re going to drive off in a convertible, check that the roof functions correctly. In the event of a rainstorm, the last thing you need is to be soaked in water. Equip the wedding ushers with umbrellas. As you leave the ceremony, you’ll have some protection from the elements.

Rowdy family and playful children

There is always that drunken family member or friend at the wedding — hilarious perhaps but not if it’s your wedding. You want to enjoy your precious wedding day, so the last thing you need is some overly boisterous, loud, obnoxious person ruining everything. It’s not worth taking a chance, so planning ahead will probably save your sanity on your wedding day. Ask a friend or relative to observe your guest, so you can put an end to any problem before it spirals out of control. As a secondary precaution, ask the bar staff to water down your guest’s drinks. Your designated friend or relative should also act as a bouncer if the situation worsens. Escort the guest outside or somewhere private so they’re able to sober up and return to the reception. Children can be troublesome at times, but that’s to be expected with such a long day. There should be a separate section and menu for children. Children then can eat comfortably and relax with the other children. Hiring a magician will work miracles! You can also try a daycare service to watch the kids. The key thing to remember is to plan ahead and have all sorts of activities to keep the children occupied. Divorced parents are a touchy subject. Before the wedding, sit down with them (probably separately) and remind them to behave themselves on your wedding day. When planning seating and table arrangements, keep divorced parents and anyone else who might clash together far away from one another. This is also a perfect situation to recruit another relative or friend to act as a referee of sorts.

Emergency bride survival kit

You may not need to arm yourself to the teeth as Jennifer Lopez did in the movie The Wedding Planner, but don’t underestimate the importance of preparing for your emergency bride survival kit: a lifesaver, makeup artist, tailor and more is designed to get you through your wedding day in the event of those minor mishaps that seem to happen at the worst times.

Pack all these items and anything else you can think of in a big duffel bag:

• Hair: hairspray, combs, brushes, hairpins;

• Makeup: clear nail polish, liquid concealer, lipstick, foundation, rouge;

• Shoes and Clothing: dancing shoes, extra panty hose, underwear, socks; and

• Hygiene: band aids, toothpaste, toothbrush, floss, breath mints.

Here are two examples of situations that occur often, but fortunately your survival kit can provide you with some help:

• Sudden Stains — To get rid of a stain, blot it dry with a napkin and be sure not to rub as rubbing embeds the stain even more. Another emergency fix is to delve into your wedding survival kit and reach for the white chalk. Once the stain is dry, white chalk can be gently applied to conceal the stain.

• A Surprise Blemish — In the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Toula Portokalos’ bridesmaids covered up her blemish with skill on her wedding day. Although the film didn’t divulge the actual makeup techniques, here are some tips on what you can do. Don’t squeeze the spot and avoid using foundation, which can easily cause your skin to have a caked look. A cleaner (and more natural) alternative to foundation is liquid concealer. This will allow you to smooth over that annoying blemish without causing your skin to look caked. Once the concealer has set, touch up with some loose powder.