These days, one thing you may notice about weddings is that the focus tends to veer off course from the purpose of the big day (the joining of two people).
The fact of the matter is that most of today’s trends overdo the wedding planning process.
If you truly want a traditional wedding, then you might want to ignore much of what you’ve seen or heard on TV or that you received advice from others.
Here are five tips you should consider if you want to avoid going all “Bridezilla” while planning your big day.
1. Understand Planning Fundamentals
There’s certainly a reason why members of the bridal party and family traditionally hold some of the responsibilities of planning a wedding. In fact, it’s not uncommon when planning a wedding to experience skin breakouts, hair loss, insomnia, headaches, or other stress-related symptoms. That’s why it’s so important for you to remember to follow etiquette and let certain members of your procession help you out on some of the planning, so you can focus on making some of the more big decisions.
2. Follow Ceremony Order of Events
The general order of a traditional wedding ceremony in the U.S. starts with the wedding party walking down the aisle; the officiant making opening remarks and addressing the couple; the exchanging of vows and rings; the declaration of marriage; the kiss; closing remarks; and a recessional. Since most wedding planning is done online, you’ll want to avoid trends and speak to a marriage officiant for planning advice.
3. Wedding Photo Checklist
If you’re planning a traditional wedding, that doesn’t mean you can’t capture the very best of each moment, and we recommend you do. Among many wedding photo opportunities, a few must-haves include a photo of the bride and groom with the cake, the bride and groom dancing with their parents, the bouquet toss, and the happy couple at the altar. Planning a traditional wedding gives you more of a budget to spend on photography, allowing you to have more memories to keep forever.
4. Match Your Decorative Theme with Your Venue
Although you could spend months or even years planning intricate and out-of-the-box decorations for your wedding reception, there are a few things you should keep in mind if the rest of the event is traditional. For starters, when you leave the ceremony, you want to spend the least amount of time transitioning since you’ll possibly have 100 people to serve. If you want your venue to ease the shuffle, consider the aesthetics inside the venue and decorate with tables and lights to match.
5. Send Out Thank You Cards After Your Honeymoon
Even though you know your loved ones will treasure your wedding forever, there’s always something about keeping a wedding invitation and seeing it that brings back a flood of beautiful memories. Wedding invitations and thank you cards also show your appreciation for the people who are present and for any gifts that you received. Before you rush off on your honeymoon, make sure you’re prepared ahead of time to send out thank you cards to all the guests in order to follow traditional wedding etiquette.
Make What Matters Most About Traditional Love Stand Out
However stressful planning a wedding may seem, know that less is more, and you’ll be happy you kept it simple. You can hold a beautiful wedding with any of these five tips, but one of the key items you shouldn’t forget is the invitation and thank you cards. Guests are sure to keep these tucked away in their photo albums so they can revisit the memories for years to come.