Of course it shouldn’t feel like a job at all! It’s one of the happiest days of your life and with a few simple steps you can make the planning *almost* pain free…

Wedding Planning Timeline Checklist

Congratulations on your engagement. Now it’s time to go to work and plan the wedding of your dreams. With a little preparation (and a sense of Humour!) there is no need to act like a bridezilla.

Here is a checklist to help you keep your sanity.

9-12 Months before the wedding

* Announce your engagement.

* Plan what type of wedding you want- formal, informal, day or evening, number of guests

* Choose a wedding date.

* Determine your budget- Discuss who is responsible for what expenses before making any plans. You should include your parents and future in-laws in this discussion. Remember to treat them with respect. Any money they provide is a gift!

* Make guest list – Don’t forget to include your parents and future in-laws in this discussion.

* Speak to officiant- Priest, Minister, Rabbi, Justice of the Peace etc.

* Reserve your ceremony and Reception Sites.

6-9 Months Before Wedding

* Select Bridal Gown

* Choose your attendants- Maid/Matron of Honour, Best Man, Bridesmaids, Ushers, Flowergirls, and Ring Bearer

* Choose a Photographer

* Select bridesmaids dresses & accessories (Remember to be Kind and listen to their suggestions and concerns).

* Select a caterer (if needed)

* Hire a band or DJ

* Book your florist

4-5 Months Before Wedding

* Schedule fittings for yourself and attendants (don’t forget your flower-girl)

* Reserve any rental items needed for ceremony and reception

* Finalize guest list

* Order Stationery – wedding invitations, thank you notes, and wedding programs

* Address invitations or hire a professional calligrapher

* Plan rehearsal dinner – set date, time and location. (This dinner is usually given by the grooms’ parents.)

* Arrange for accommodations for out-of-town guests.

* Start planning honeymoon (Groom usually makes these arrangements after you BOTH decide where to go.) Don’t forget to get any passports or travel documents you may need.

* Register for gifts.

* Purchase shoes and accessories (Remember to break your shoes in before the wedding)

2-3 Months Before Wedding

* Order wedding cake

* Order party favours

* Order all necessary decorations

* Book all transportation for wedding day (if necessary)

* Buy wedding rings

* Visit lawyer to write any necessary wills or prenuptial agreements

5-8 Weeks Before Wedding

* Purchase gifts for wedding attendants

* Mail invitations (A map to assist your guests in finding the ceremony and reception sites is a nice idea).

* Visit hairstylist to determine what style you want for your hair. (Hint: Never change haircolour or change your style right before your wedding. Any changes should be made at least 3-4 weeks in advance).

* Have a formal wedding portrait taken

* Send wedding announcements to newspapers (if necessary)

* Change name and address on driver’s license, social security cards, insurance policies, and bank accounts

* Reserve wedding attire for groom, ushers, ring bearer (Usually done by the groom).

* Mail invitations to rehearsal dinner (if necessary)

* Obtain marriage license

* Get blood tests if necessary in your state

* Plan a bridesmaid luncheon

2-4 Weeks Before Wedding

* Confirm ceremony details with officiant

* Arrange final fittings for your gown and bridesmaids dresses

* Make final floral selections

* Finalize rehearsal dinner plans

* Confirm details with all service providers – It is a good idea to give them a written list of your wedding day timeline.

* Contact guests who have not yet responded to your invitation

* Pick up wedding rings

* Meet with your photographer to discuss special photos you want taken.

* Meet with your DJ or band to confirm the music you want played

* Remind all attendants (male & female) when to pick up their wedding attire.

* Purchase any special accessories or make-up you want your attendants to wear.

* Determine ceremony seating for any special guests (give the list to the ushers).

* Plan reception seating-write names on place cards.

Hold On….Your Almost Done! Last Week

* Pick up wedding attire

* Figure final guest count and notify cater

* Arrange for “get-a-way” car from the reception

* Review the schedule of events and last minute arrangements with all service providers.

* Confirm honeymoon reservations

* Pack for your honeymoon

Take a Breath…..It’s Finally Here….Your Wedding Day!!!!

* Give rings to the best man and maid of honour (If no ring Bearer)

* Give the best man money to pay the officiant after the ceremony

* Relax and have fun!!! All your hard work and planning has paid off.

Jasmine Macdonald is a web designer of several wedding websites: http://www.fun.createswebsites.com, and http://windsor.weddingwindow.com.

You can visit her daily wedding blog at: http://funweddings.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jasmine_Macdonald

Author: Jasmine Macdonald

via Wedding Planning Timeline Checklist.

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I always make sure that I work closely with my clients to ensure the photography portion of your wedding is a stress free and happy time (after all, shouldn’t every part of your wedding day be happy?).

If you’d like to find out more about my service then please, contact me at my wedding photography site.

Here is an excellent article from the “weddingsbyzoelingard“‘ blog.

Over the last few weeks as I’ve been looking back at 2008 and going over each of our weddings with a fine tooth comb, I’ve been considering the traditional timings of group and portrait photography at weddings. Most couples tend to arrange for these kind of photos during their drinks reception but there are a number of reasons why this doesn’t work perfectly and so I’ve been wondering whether doing the classic images prior to the ceremony (as is frequently done in the US and elsewhere) is actually a better alternative.

Very often group and portrait photography is the first thing to overrun at weddings and although keeping to time might sound simple, invariably it is not. Following the ceremony, couples are excited to see their guests and reluctant to leave the party just as it’s getting started whilst guests begin to disperse themselves across the venue.  Ensuring ushers get the right people in the right place at the right time can be a tricky exercise (especially when they don’t know who’s who) and asking a friend to bellow out the names of those needed for each shot is functional but can give your wedding a school-trip meets boot camp feel.

Shooting images before the ceremony not only means you bypass all of these problems but you also gain some significant benefits:

•    You’re photographed looking your absolute best, sans smudged eyeliner and crumpled buttonholes.
•    You get to spend the entire of your drinks reception chatting to your guests and soaking up the atmosphere rather than watching from afar as all the champagne gets guzzled.
•    Your drinks reception will be more relaxed and enjoyable as you’ll be free from the worry that you need to get those all-important shots before dinner is served.
•    You’ll get better photographs. Not only can you dedicate longer to getting some really creative images, without the pressure of time you’ll be more relaxed so look better and happier in the shots.
•    Your drinks reception needn’t be hours long in order to accommodate a long photo session; you reduce the risk of bored guests and a flat atmosphere.
•    You get the chance to start celebrations early, spending some quality time with your closest friends and family before the ceremony.

The major drawback to scheduling photography prior to the ceremony is that the first time you see each other won’t be as the bride walks down the aisle. However, this needn’t mean loosing the magic of seeing each other for the first time and does in fact have its own advantages. Seeing each other prior to the ceremony means you get the chance to talk to each other, calming your nerves and giving you the chance to really soak up the ‘we’re getting married feeling’ without being distracted by the wedding planning or ceremony proceedings.

Meeting each other before the ceremony needn’t be a negative thing either – you can make it into a really special moment, perhaps meet somewhere really special or get the chance for 5 minutes alone.

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Good advice there.

I’ve have shot a number of weddings where the classic images were shot before the ceremony. Obviously it’s not everyones cup of tea, but if you are worried about the timing of your wedding day, it’s something to consider when discussing your plans with your wedding photographer.

It’s always at the forefront of my mind, that the bride and groom should be as relaxed as possible on their big day. Please give me a call or drop me a line if you have any questions about hiring a suffolk photographer.

Seeing as the wedding season is taking a little bit of a breather, I thought I’d talk about some of the venues it’s been my privilege to shoot weddings at here in wonderful Suffolk.

I’m going to start off with the Grange Hotel in Thurston – A wonderful late Victorian house (well, I say house, it’s more of a mansion!) in the Tudor style, which is a very popular wedding venue here in Suffolk between Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket.

I’ve shot a number of weddings here recently and I’ve always found the staff at Thurston Grange very helpful (essential in ensuring your wedding day goes without a hitch!) and the venue is both intimate and grand. It’s got all the airs and graces you would expect from a grand country house, but with a personal touch that I know many brides like. During the summer, the doors are thrown open and your wedding guests can enjoy the wonderful garden, and in the cooler months, there are wonderfully appointed rooms inside where they will be entertained in style.

Thurston Grange is also a licensed wedding venue which means that you can have all of your wedding under one roof if you like. For those of you who aren’t getting married in a church, this can be a Godsend. English law requires that venues are licensed to have civil marriage ceremonies performed on their grounds and Thurston Grange is an approved wedding venue.

Click here to see more of my work as a Suffolk photographer.

I’ll leave you with some images taken from recent weddings I photographed at the Thurston Grange Hotel.

It seems that not that long ago, a wedding photographer having a blog on his or hers website was something unusual, novel and interesting.

Then they exploded, along with Facebook accounts, Digg it buttons and the twittering of tweets. It seemed that everwhere you looked there was yet another wedding photographer who had a blog with one or two posts, a few pictures, and masses of buttons begging you to ‘follow me on <insert social networking of choice here>’.

It was very rare that these blogs actually had anything useful on them for a Bride and Groom to read. Mostly it was just another medium to post pictures on. Us photographers love that – something to post our pictures on – but we can also miss the point sometimes. If you are reading this blog post, you are, hopefully – for the sake of my business – a bride to be, or a lucky man who has had the woman of his dreams say yes to his proposal. Either way you are taking your first steps into a world that you most likely haven’t been part of before – PLANNING FOR YOUR WEDDING.

I’m sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you there!

You love your partner, you want to spend the rest of your life with them and for others to share in your love and happiness on your special day. For you your wedding is about this love and sense of occasion, and so it should be, but you are going to be dealing with businesses to make your special day a day to remember, and they are, well, they are businesses.

I’m hoping that by reading this blog you’ll get a better idea about what to look for when choosing, not only a wedding photographer, but also one of the many specialist suppliers who will help make your dreams become a reality on your wedding day.

Obviously the focus will be on photography, but along the way there will be plenty of hints and tips on how to make the planning of your wedding go as smoothly as possible which will allow you to enjoy the lead up to your big day rather than it be like work (ugh!).

Of course I’m still going to show you pictures, I mean after all, I am a photographer!

You’ll find plenty more examples of my images on my brand spanking new suffolk wedding photography site