The winter holiday season is unofficially known as “engagement season,” and with good reason; engagement rings often come out as couples across the country take advantage of a time when family and friends are gathered near. Over 25% of proposals occur in November and December. Many people are, as a result, now planning their wedding. Here are three things to keep in mind so that you and your guests have a great experience.
Keep Your Finances Realistic
According to a wedding survey from The Knot, the average wedding now costs $28,000. Your wedding should be a balance between splurging on a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime event, and keeping the future in mind. You don’t want to have a bare bones day, but you also don’t want to prevent yourself from upgrading your furniture for the next 20 years. Did you know that you can save money by having your wedding on Sunday rather than Saturday? You can also save by renting, rather than buying. Table linen rentals for weddings are a good idea, because you’re unlikely to need 200 linen napkins at any other point in your life.
Avoid Last Minute Disasters
Abby Larson, editor of Style Me Pretty, advises couples to always use a wedding planner. They can help save you time and money while planning, and they can make sure everything goes smoothly on the big day. Wedding planners have ample experience with local merchants, and can advise you away from using those with a bad reputation. You don’t want to be like Kate Finley, who ordered her dress from a shifty retailer. It never arrived, so right before the ceremony, she “pulled out a 10 year old prom dress, and wore that instead.”
Plan for The Location
According to The Knot, outdoor weddings are increasingly popular as fewer people decide to get married in a religious institution. About 43% of weddings in 2010 were held outdoors. For these occasions, it’s important to plan ahead. Don’t just hope that it doesn’t rain– plan as if it will, by paying for wedding tent rentals that have side panels. Be familiar with your location so that you don’t end up like one unfortunate bride featured recently in The Huffington Post, who ended up standing on an anthill by mistake.
Have you ordered your table linen rentals yet?