This Blog is based on my personal experiences and many discussions and chats with brides, grooms and their families both before and after their wedding. So previously I wrote about timings and how getting the basic planning wrong can impact on your whole day. I am going to touch on a few mistakes that can occur, or more importantly, bring situations to your attention so that you can make a judgement based on your own personal wedding plans.

Bridal showers have become popular over the past 10 years or so and I was chatting with a bride who had invited all her friends to her bridal shower instead of only her closest friends and family. Consequently, they were not all on the wedding guest list due to budget etc. and therefore it created a considerable amount of bad feeling as one might expect. Therefore, a lesson learned may be to think ahead as to who may be invited to the wedding breakfast and invite them, but if there’s no intention of inviting certain friends to the wedding breakfast, then maybe not a good idea to invite them to the ‘Bridal Shower’?

We all want the best of everything, but the one thing that can scupper those dreams is money, so, and I know I may be preaching to the converted, budgeting is paramount. It’s always a tricky juggling act as you want the best for your wedding, you will always get what you pay for, so the amount you have to throw at your wedding day will dictate how extravagant you can be. I always say that if you cannot afford the wedding you dream of, don’t compromise. Leave it another year and save up so you don’t have regrets and you can then fulfil those wedding dreams and aspirations. A wedding can cost many thousands of pounds and with a big budget to start, it is very easy to go mad and book things you don’t really need, only to discover that the really important things that may emerge later have to be compromised as money has been wasted. It’s important for the bride & groom to discuss what they want for their wedding and get that all important budget and list of priorities planned.

A classic mistake many couples make when planning their wedding is to try to save a few quid by compromising, see below paragraphs, but then end up booking things like sparkly dancefloors, photo booths, light up letters, chocolate fountains, etc, which, although nice, will not make any difference to the success of your wedding day or evening wedding party.

Hiring a ‘friend of the family’ instead of hiring a professional is a recipe for disaster. Remember, again, in life, it is a fact that we will always get what we pay for. Think about this and you won’t go far wrong. If a wedding service provider is cheap, then there is probably a reason for this and that provider only values the service he or she provides at that level, and fair enough, they have set their level, but is this good enough for one of the biggest days of your life, is it good enough for you? Nearly everyone can take photographs and there’s always someone with a half decent camera who will offer to ‘do the wedding photos for you’. But, will it be good enough and at a standard that you expect? No chance!!

You won’t believe how many calls I receive on a Monday morning from a worried bride because her DJ has let her down and just cancelled by text!! When I ask the date of the wedding, it’s usually only days away, like ‘THIS SATURDAY’. When I enquire who she booked, it’s nearly always a friend or a relation who has let her down. Or, it’s another DJ and when I enquire how much he was charging, it’s ALWAYS a low low fee, he’s not been professional enough to take a deposit and send written confirmation and has thought nothing of letting down a couple so close to their big day, probably because he’s been offered a gig for a few quid more than the agreed price with the bride. ‘Family friend DJ’s’ usually let the couple down last minute because initially they have offered to do it, the bride has said, “yes please”, then he realises he has bitten off more than he can chew, but is too scared to inform the bride and groom that he’s not up to the job and he puts off telling them until the last minute.

Be careful. You get one chance. Make sure there are no mistakes on the day as it will be too late for regrets. Research your wedding service providers well. Are they professional enough to have their own website and not just a free Facebook page? Check out their reviews, word of mouth, venue recommendations and personal recommendations from previous clients are the best. Don’t do a generic Facebook search for a wedding service provider as every Tom, Dick and Harry will be recommended by friends & family. Use Google first. It will immediately separate the quality from the lesser quality and don’t go with an agency as many are not based locally and pay a fortune to Google to gain top rankings, but they will take your money and still send Tom, Dick or Harry. Always look at a wedding service provider who trades on his or her own name and doesn’t hide behind a generic company name like ‘So and so Entertainments’ or ‘DJ’s / we can provide everything R Us’ types of websites.