At the point when the wedding is six months away, you’ll likely find yourself stuck within one of two disparate situations: either you’re going to find yourself with a great deal of breathing room or will be swamped with appointments. No other time in the planning phase is so difficult to pin down for an individual. Some people book all of the vendors, get their top wedding venue set and then enjoy the calm before the storm; others, will not have such a peaceful time.
There’s a plethora of reasons why this may be the case –almost all of them involve the budget and who’s paying for what. Let’s say your parents are paying for the wedding dress, but want you to choose one before they pay for anything, but boutiques sometimes charge for fittings and even consultations. So now you find yourself at an impasse between two parties. This may only take a few phone calls and some rescheduling to fix, but it still absorbs time.
Things like this can end of stacking. One appointment is rescheduled into another. All of a sudden there are extra costs and you find yourself going off track and off-budget.
Sun Tzu once wrote: “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”
This is separate from positive thinking, at least in popular connotation. Positive thinking says, “don’t worry, everything will turn out alright.”. This says, “okay, I’m in this situation. What options are available to me?” For a clever general (wedding planner), there is no certain defeat, only windows for ingenuity and changing of tactics.
Boutique and parents at financial impasse? Ask the boutique if they accept fitting charges as part of the contract, if you agree to only but from their store. Groomsmen out of town when tux fittings need to be done? Men’s Warehouse is a chain. Look up if the nearest one will the groomsmen live and ask them if they’ll do fittings for your wedding. The band calls to cancel the event, citing an emergency; tap your DJ friend and send them a list of desired tracks. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: wedding planning is more marathon running than Olympic sprinting. Calm and the ability to pace yourself will allow for ingenious thinking and the ability to problem solve. That seems obvious right now, but when you are looking at your schedule and wondering how you’re going to get everything done, even if everything goes right¸ these mantras will be a comfort, we promise. Things will go wrong. Hiccups will occur. No event as big as a wedding has flawless planning and execution. It is being ready for hiccups and then adapting that separates the decent wedding planner from the great ones.
Here’s the usual to-do list for the six-to-four month mark:
- Schedule dress fittings
- Choose venue
- Meet with officiant
- Choose wedding cake and schedule tastings
- Book entertainment
- Prepare the thank you cards
- Reserve transportation (flights, limos, etc)
- Book or at least plan the honeymoon in earnest
- Book room for wedding night
- Finalize wedding shower plans (if not already celebrated)
Next week, we conclude The Art of Wedding Planning series with offering advice on the last stretch before the Big Day. Until then, remember: When you know yourself, and you know the wedding, you’ll find victory in every ceremony.
