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Make sure your Wedding runs smoothly
Whether planning your wedding within the coming months or the coming year,
the secret to a successful Asian wedding is to PLAN AHEAD! Swapna Jutley of
Rhapsody Events drops some words of wisdom.
You can either do this
yourself if you have the time, patience and the energy, or you can go through
the process of employing the services of a wedding planner who is an expert in
this field and has already gone through the process numerous times. At times
this can be a very difficult task since there are so many planners out there who
promise the world and a lot more, regardless of them understanding the
underlying goals and dreams you want to achieve.
If it is the case that
you are too busy and unable to put a large amount of your time into researching
the different options and services available within the Asian wedding market,
then it is highly recommended that you introduce a wedding planner to the
proceedings, who can coordinate the activities of selecting suppliers and
negotiating the prices for you. At the end of the day although the wedding
planner provides you with a plethora of options, the final decisions are yours
to make. The planner makes sure that your expectations are met and your
requirements are executed to the last detail in order to ensure that that the
wedding day runs smoothly.
For this to happen, it is important that the
wedding planner not only understands your ideas and vision, but also
demonstrates their dedication and commitment towards achieving your
dream.
This commitment from the wedding planner is something that needs
to be seen from your very first consultation. Some of the things to observe
whilst selecting the right wedding planner are:
Is the wedding planner appropriately prepared for your meeting?
Are they asking the right questions?
Are they being systematic with their information gathering?
Are they knowledgeable and well informed about the wedding
 industry?
Are they displaying good qualities in terms of planning, organisation and
project management skills?
Do you feel a sense of comfort from how the consultation is progressing and
the level of detail that is being discussed?
Are they clear with the actions they are taking away from the consultation
and committing to come back to you with any unanswered questions?
All
these things should reflect on the overall commitment from the wedding planner
and should give you a clear idea of whether the planner can deliver on this
commitment.
The secret to ensuring your wedding day runs smoothly comes
down to the amount of planning that has gone into the preparations beforehand.
The more prepared you are, the smoother the wedding day – it is as simple as
that. People may think that how much planning and preparation does one need for
a Asian wedding, why do we need to build in contingencies, what could go wrong?
The basic answer to this is nothing guarantees success, but a lack of planning
will guarantee dismal failure. So if you have not planned and run through all
the scenarios for the day, then the chances are that the big day is in risk of
not going according to plan.
As you will find out, there is a long list
of all the aspects that need to be checked off when preparing for a Asian
wedding such as the wedding budget, venue, caterer, registrar, guest numbers,
photographer/videographer, florist/decorations, transport, entertainment and the
honeymoon. The venue and the caterer is probably the most important attribute of
the wedding day and so it is crucial that once the date has been finalised, the
couple carefully select the venue and caterer well in advance of the big day.
The couple will need to decide whether the choice of the caterer is more of an
important factor than the venue, as many venues are tied-in with a specific
caterer.
Your wedding planner should help you with co-ordinating all
these aspects as well as act as a sound board for any questions that you have
throughout the planning and preparation phase of the wedding. It is important
that all decisions are documented, captured and incorporated into the wedding
day schedule.
The more thorough the run-through of the days’ events, the
smoother the actual day will be. Even with all the planning and preparation,
events can happen on the day that can never be rehearsed or you can never be
prepared for. For this reason, it is important that you check with your wedding
planner about their coverage services on the actual day. Some wedding planners
do not provide this service without an additional fee, so make sure you check
this. It is definitely a good idea to make sure the wedding planner is present
as they will be most familiar with the days’ events and will ensure that
everything runs according to the plans and as smooth as possible. Even if
something were to happen, they are trained to improvise and provide real-time
solutions to cover up any unpredictable incidents.
Should you decide that
you do have the time, patience and energy to plan your special day yourself,
then these are just some of the tips that you should follow to help you along
the way:
1. Estimate a wedding budget considering the guest numbers.
2. When planning the actual date, consider the weather, commitments of the
most important people to you and events and holidays around your proposed date.
3. Decide the type of ceremony and the number of functions you would like to
hold.
4. Find the right venue which is within your budget and consider your
catering options. Ensure that you have clarification on the equipment and
facilities available to the caterer.
5. Research all your options for your
suppliers such as florists, entertainment, transportation, photographer,
videographer, bridal beauty, wedding attire etc.6. Make a scrapbook and research
what is in-season, style etc. Detail all your research and decisions and draft a
plan.
7. Delegate tasks within your friends and family and draw up timelines
for completion.
8. As the date approaches, finalise checklists with
suppliers ensuring you have carried out your menu tasting and done your trials
e.g., ceremonies, attire and bridal makeup/hair etc.
9. Ensure you have
wedding insurance in case things were to go wrong.
10. To summarise, be
patient, plan ahead, have a checklist to tick off as you go along, delegate
work, don’t be afraid to make compromises you will be amazed how sensible it
feels later on. Give yourself time to organise and enjoy the planning process.
Do not make any assumptions and check and re-check for all contingencies and
possible snags and emergencies. Plan ahead on how you would deal with them if
and when they were to happen.
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