Wedding Plan Secrets » Etiquette

Who Should I Invite To My Wedding?

Jane Martin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:25:06 +0000

Choosing who to invite to your wedding is no easy task. Some couples find they don’t have enough money budgeted to invite everyone on their list. This leaves room for people to become offended and this can cause serious rifts in relationships, even amongst close relatives. Then there’s the issue of whether or not to invite co-workers, certain friends who may just be acquaintances, or maybe you’re stuck with the dilemma of whether or not to invite your boss even though you’d really rather not. Would the latter cause tension at work?

Don’t worry. This doesn’t have to be as stressful as it looks. The first thing you should do when trying to decide who to invite to your wedding is write down everyone you can think of who you may consider inviting. Then, put them in order of importance.

It may seem cruel to grade some people in your life as more important than others. However, when it comes to your budget, this is very necessary. It’s not as hard as you think. Your parents, for instance, will likely come before your co-workers. And your sister or brother will probably come before your best friend. When you’ve created your list, decide how much it’s going to cost for each head. You’re going to be feeding and entertaining these people. That takes money. Once you have a figure in mind, divide it amongst all the people on your list and you’ll soon see whether or not you have to cut anyone.

When it comes to cutting, start at the bottom of the list and move your way up. If you’re worried about offending those people, just tell them the truth; you didn’t have that big of a budget or that you just wanted a small wedding. They never have to know. You can also perhaps just invite these people to any evening celebrations, and just have close family to the ceremony and wedding breakfast.

When it comes to invitations, etiquette says that you should invite everyone in your family and your friends. You don’t need to invite co-workers if you don’t want to, and you certainly don’t have to invite your acquaintances if you don’t want to. Most people will understand wanting a small ceremony or even budget problems, as most of them have probably faced the same dilemma themselves.

Children

One other hurdle you’ll likely face is whether or not to allow children to be present at your wedding. Children can become unruly and can quickly interrupt one of the most important days of your life. However, you may end up offending parents who may think you’re assuming their kid will be unruly. On the other side they can also bring light and life to the proceedings, making it a real family affair. The basic rule with this is to remain consistent. Don’t allow one person to bring their child if their child is normally docile and then not allow another person to bring theirs. Make one rule and stick to it. On the other hand, kids make great flower girls and ring bearers.

These are just a few ideas to keep in mind when deciding on who to invite to your wedding; a task that doesn’t have to be as hard as it seems.

How to Keep Children Entertained At Your Wedding

How Many Speeches Is Too Many?

Jane Martin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:20:03 +0000

When you are planning your wedding there are many details to attend to. You have to coordinate the ceremony, the reception, and all of the details involved. In structuring your even you will want to give some thought to the speeches that you are going to have at your wedding. Traditionally, there are a few speeches given at a wedding, but the current trend is to have more than just the traditional speeches. So how do you accurately plan for speeches at your wedding while still being cognisant of the pace and timing of your event?

The Rehearsal Dinner

The rehearsal dinner is a great place for those individuals who might not usually give a speech to have an opportunity to do so. Traditionally the father of the groom, why typically hosts the rehearsal dinner, opens the event with a speech. Usually in this speech he will welcome the guests and express his happiness regarding the next day’s events. After the father of the groom has finished his speech this is a great time to open the floor to others who may feel as though they would like to say something special to the couple to be. Additionally, this is a fantastic opportunity to allow members of the bridal party beside the honor attendants to say a few words. The key to any of these speeches is that they be heartfelt and personal. Lastly, the special couple may take a moment to thank everyone for attending and for helping to make their special day happen.

The Wedding Reception

At your reception there are a few traditional speeches that you will want to plan on having. Usually it falls to the father of the bride to open up the reception with a few words if he is the one hosting the event. If not then it might be a nice moment for the happy couple to thank everyone for joining them on their special day. From there it is tradition to allow the best man to make a toast. Really, that is all that tradition dictates that you should have at your wedding reception, but in recent years it has become widely expected that in addition to the best man’s toast the maid of honor have a chance to say a few words. The key to all of these speeches is to remind those giving them to keep them short and sweet.

The truth is that there is no real set number of speeches that one has to have at their wedding. What you need to do is remember that even though your wedding is special and personal you still have guests to take into account. You will want to be sure that the flow of the event goes smoothly and they are not stuck listening to endless speeches throughout the night. Instead, place those important speeches during appropriate times, like dinner, and you and your guests will get to enjoy them while still leaving time to celebrate together.

Second Wedding Etiquette: Announcing The Engagement

Jane Martin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:26:47 +0000

Guest Author: Francina Smit

Although you have been through all the details involved in planning a wedding before, there are some etiquette and ideas that are different for a second wedding. My next few articles will get you up to date with the correct etiquette on different aspects of a second marriage.

The next step will then be to make it known to all your friends and other family about your important decision. Some ways to make this announcement will be via newspaper, email, by phone or by having an engagement party. The choice is yours as to which method or methods you want to use.

Some friends or family may want to host the second engagement party since the parents are not responsible for this. Perhaps they want to celebrate with you since they were the matchmakers. Chances are they will let you know upfront if they are willing to host the party.

It is not etiquette for the couple to be hosting an engagement party but you can have a party and then announce that you are engaged. Because it is not etiquette to host gift-giving events for ourselves there should be no gifts at this celebration. As you can see there are some differences in second wedding ideas and etiquette.

Since either or both of you have been married before, you will already have most items necessary for running a household and besides you may feel uncertain about registering for gifts. You are most welcome to register for gifts for a second or encore wedding. Even though you may not need a lot for your household, many people will feel like celebrating with you by giving you something and they would appreciate the guidance as to your taste and what you may need or would just like to have.

Your happiness should not be marred by anything that happened in the past. Your family and true friends will be happy for you and will certainly be delighted to help you discover new ideas and the correct etiquette for your second wedding.

About the author:
Maybe you are still just hoping to get married and that’s okay. You can find ideas for unique wedding proposals, dresses, flowers, invitations, the cake, the ring and the honeymoon on my site. Basically everything you will need for your wedding planning. A lot of creative wedding ideas in one spot – even second wedding ideas and etiquette.
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