My daughter got married recently. The wedding went off quite well.
A few observations
Hotel venues are the most difficult to work with. Followed by non Hotel venues. This is where one ends up spending most time negotiating, following up, navigating stupid policies, waiting for responses and plainly getting frustrated. Hotels especially add junk fees. Don’t underestimate this.
Even if one has a planner, one needs to be involved with the details. A planner will not cover everything from A to Z. If they promise to do so, they should have a big team and you must pay them handsomely.
A lot of things happen in last 20 days. If you have a long planning phase, there will be periods where nothing seems to happen. It’s hard not to feel anxious during these phases. Absorb the anxiety in and let it all out.
Finally, you have to use some tools to manage a wedding . There are many options from simple spreadsheets, spreadsheet templates, Trello cards and templates. Setting timely reminders for tasks is important as one ends up juggling quite a bit.
Guest list management takes a lot of time. Lucky is the family that can nail the guest list in a few tries. Its not feasible to invite all of one’s friends and family to the Wedding and so one has to make choices and be comfortable with it
Involve your family and friends and let them participate in planning and as entertainment. It’s a lot more fun that way.
Good luck!
