When you are planning your wedding reception, you should start with a clear idea of what kind of a party you want to throw. The reception is the party where your loved ones get a chance to come together and celebrate your love and future, so it definitely needs to be a memorable one.

To begin with, make your wedding reception checklist. This checklist should include the wedding traditions and reception activities you would want at your reception. Make a clear timeline that you would want to follow. You should chat with your fiancé to get an idea of what he would enjoy or to make the planning even more fun, rope him in as well. Letting him be an active part of the planning would get you both closer as you will decide on common themes and ideas that both of you enjoy.

Think of the most memorable and enjoyable parties you have attended and imagine how you would like to recreate the best parts of those parties keeping in mind your own theme and level of formality. You also need to focus on the wedding traditions you would like to include in the reception. Deciding these factors early on in the planning helps allocate both budget as well as time very efficiently.

Timing the reception is important. Your wedding reception checklist should include a focus on the timing of all the ceremonies. Some religious ceremonies includes days of celebration! Usually most people keep aside an hour for cocktail hour, during which the wedding party gets photographed and mingles with their guests. This can be followed up with two or three hours of the reception. The timing also depends partially on the kind of meal that you will be serving.

The meal that you will be serving at the reception will probably hog most of your checklist of things to do! No wedding reception checklist is complete without details of the meal. You need to decide if it will be buffet or a formal sit down dinner. Budget constraints usually mean family style sit down dinners which are great fun for the guests as everyone can mingle and enjoy themselves uninhibitedly. Brunch is also a great option as it is light yet can be made very lavish at minimal cost.

If there is going to be dancing, make sure you include it in your checklist. The order of activities can be flexible, and you can be creative. There is a lot of room for personalization when planning the reception, but make sure you put down all the details on your wedding reception checklist!

Most people usually have ideas about what their perfect wedding should be like, and ‘unique’ figures in everyone’s checklist. If you already have a few ideas, you should brainstorm with your fiancé and decide on a theme that both of you, and your guests would enjoy.

Creativity comes with thinking out of the box and planning well, so make note of people’s preferences and check if they too would enjoy your unique wedding or just be confused throughout. If you cannot yet envision what your wedding should be like, focus on things both you and your fiancé enjoy and pick out your favorite. You could go for themes based on ideas like watching the stars from the rooftop, beaches, or even travel based themes if both of you enjoy exploring new places.

You should focus on the experience that people will enjoy, including both the bride and the groom. The theme of a unique wedding should be one that both enjoy. Would an adults-only be more enjoyable or would you prefer all the children in the family to be present as well. Decide on the number of people you would like to invite, and how many events you would like. Some like to keep it simple with a small ceremony while others believe being unique means having numerous activities for the family and friends to participate in. Either way, as long as it is stress free to organize, it should not matter much. Everyone should be enjoying themselves.

 The next step is to identify the perfect venue for your unique wedding. It could be any where; you just have to be creative. You could host on the beach, in a museum or even in the woods off your backyard! To find interesting venues, you could check with your local or state tourism board to get ideas, or even historical sites of importance to you and your fiancé. Sometimes, if you drive out of your city a few kilometers, you could find lovely scenic locations right there. You could even pick your favorite hotel or restaurant.

Ask your friends and family to chip in with ideas. The more the merrier. Most would be happy to help with additional chores like overseeing the food or helping you scout locations. Look for some local talent as cheap but great ways to make your wedding unique. So, if you have a friend with a great portrait photographer, go ahead and ask him to take photos at your wedding.

The trick to planning a unique wedding is to be as creative as possible. As long as the wedding is planned well and simple in style, your family and friends, and of course, most importantly, you, should all have fun.

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If you are planning a budget wedding you are probably hoping slash costs all around. To have a budget wedding, you have to plan well; else it’ll end up making your wedding look cheap and tasteless. Inexpensive doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. There are great ways to slash your budget without anyone even realizing it. Instead of cutting costs on the usual items like flowers or food, one commodity that you can definitely cut back on is stationery.  Here’s a list of ideas on how to save on wedding stationery.

Hire a professional. You might think this has to be the silliest suggestion, but believe me, you would not want to be stuck threading ribbons on all the place cards, the night before your wedding! Hiring a professional actually means that you can get some great advice on what will work best for you and your event. A professional will do the smallest thing starting from help you pick the best paper to sticking on bits of fluff on the card. Make sure you explain to the designer your budget limitations.

Another great way to save on wedding stationery is to order in bulk. Decide on different material that you require and order from the same place. Bulk orders usually come with heavy discount. Ensure that you pick out a little extra so that there is no running around in the last hour hunting for the right shade of ribbon. Manage the amount of printing you need for your ceremony program. Obviously, if there is more content, then more paper will be required. Remember to include thank you notes and place cards while placing your order.

Put your cards to double duty use. Use one card per family and you could be innovative and include table numbers on the back of the card. Instead of using place cards, you can use escort cards which could double up as menus. Guests would definitely enjoy personalized and simple cards more than a lavish one. If you have a group of talented friends willing to put in the time and effort perhaps you could personalize escort cards for each family and so on. In this day and age of environmental concerns maybe you too can make your wedding special as well as save on wedding stationery by going environmental friendly and doing away with varieties of cards for every occasion or use recycled paper.

Wedding stationery is supposed to complement your wedding, not drown it. Stay away from lavish feathers and crystals and save on wedding stationery. They just drag attention away from you.

Planning the perfect meal for the reception is about making the right choices and personalizing it to make it extra special. The trick to planning the perfect meal for the reception is to make smart menu choices. Making money saving menu choices does not necessarily mean compromising on the quality of food.

Choose main dish ingredients like chicken, ground beef or fish. The right spices and sauces can make them fantastic. Marinated grilled food served with spicy rice makes an exotic and budget friendly choice. Seafood like calamari and seasonal vegetables are good choices as well. Timing the meal is important because the menu depends on whether you are going to serve brunch or dinner. Brunches are lighter and more cost friendly. Also, you could personalize the meal based on the couples’ favorite food. Do not be afraid to experiment. Success of a good meal depends greatly on talent and presentation. Scout around amongst friends or rope in talented students of culinary schools or local restaurants to get a great deal and a fantastic meal.

The perfect meal for the reception would be one in which all the guests would think memorable and special. You need to look after the guests well, with personalized touches wherever possible. Venues should be disabled or senior citizen friendly, and be sure to include food that children will enjoy as well. The venue should also be decided based on whether the meal is a buffet or a sit down dinner either formal or family style. You should be able to accommodate all your guests comfortably.

Given your budget you could hire professional staff for the entire team else augment the professionals with friends or students. You should also keep in mind how much time the ceremony would take. If it is going to be short, about two hours, you could offer your guests a light meal. However, if the ceremony is longer, it would be nice if you could provide more options, perhaps different varieties of appetizers. Dinner stations usually have a theme and are great when you are experimenting with food. Family style eating adds a great personal touch as it creates a lovely warm atmosphere but is suggested only for receptions where the guest list is small.

Ultimately the meal should be memorable and you should enjoy planning the perfect meal for the reception. You could pick anything that suits your theme and budget. If planned and presented well, the meal can be very lavish and charming.

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A perfect wedding is one which is well planned with a great venue, tasty food, happy guests and of course, a stress free one. In short, memorable! Planning a memorable wedding is quite easy if you keep in mind some factors.

To ensure that the wedding is stress free, budget well. Most couples miss the actual costs by over 10% so if you budget well, you will make the actual process quite glitch free. To begin with, decide what the total budget is, and then split it up in overheads and decide how much would be appropriate for each. Remember that the wedding reception takes up almost half the budget, and make note to keep aside up to 15% of the budget for tips and miscellaneous costs.

A memorable wedding is one which is special, exceptional and personal to the bride and groom. Choose the venue carefully and recreate moments or special memories of the couple to add the personal touch. Be creative, and pick unique locations like backyards, beaches or the woods to have a scenic location. Remember that using public land would need clearance from the local council.

Formality is often what constricts an easy going stress free wedding, and to make the wedding fun, do away with unnecessary formality. Instead, use this occasion to acknowledge special people in the couples’ lives. So, perhaps both mom and dad can walk the bride down the aisle or the couple can face their guests. There can be a tribute to the families with the bride wearing wedding gowns or ornaments handed down generations, or family photographs decorating the cake table.

Make the meal exciting. You could plan a main meal comprises of the couples’ favorite dishes, or a significant theme. Try getting close friends to bake their favorite cakes instead of a staid and boring wedding cake. Decorate the cake or tables with wild flowers or flowers from your garden. Have a family style sit down meal, where guests can mingle in the informal atmosphere.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your family and friends would love to be closely associated and a part of a truly memorable wedding, so go ahead an ask everyone to chip in. Not only do people get to know each other, but it also relieves the stress off a single person trying to manage everything. As long as the focus is on the celebration of love and a memorable future, guests will definitely enjoy a memorable wedding.

If you have a small wedding budget, don’t panic. Planning a wedding on a small budget is very simple if you implement a few tips to cut costs at your wedding. Remember, your family and friends will be at your wedding to celebrate your love and happiness and won’t really care about how much you spend. If planned well, your wedding can be a gorgeous and stylish extravaganza without really spending much money.

-         Decide on how many people you want to invite. You could invite those closest to the couple and throw a house party for the rest of the friends.

-         Cut out frivolities like invitations or huge floral centerpieces. The invitations and centerpieces are supposed to complement the wedding theme, not draw attention away from the couple. Instead, be creative and use personalized hand written cards or wild flowers to decorate.

-         Get friends to bake their favorite cakes instead of a traditional wedding cake. Not only will this help you cut costs at your wedding but it will add a lot of variety as well.

-         An open bar is not a necessity and is the first thing that should be ignored at a budget wedding.

-         Plan the reception meal well. You can replace lobster with the equally exotic and cheaper calamari. Use seasonal vegetables instead of importing fancy ingredients.

-         Have the wedding and reception in the morning. Keep the ceremony short.

-         Serve brunch, which can be made very stylish and exotic by the right chef.

-         Pay a tribute to your grandma and wear her wedding dress on your special day.

-         Have a casual wedding. The more formal the wedding is the more expensive it would be. If it is a casual one, then your guests will be relaxed and you will be able to budget better.

-         Be creative. Have fun locations which are scenic and special to the couple.

-         Never be too shy to ask for help. Your loved ones will be more than happy to be a part of the wedding preparations. Friends with cars can ferry your guests, the talented cook can suggest great new food to try and the children can help gathering fresh wildflowers for your centerpieces.

A wedding is all about fun, not the amount of money spent. Do remember, you should never skimp on the photographer, thank you notes and gifts for all the people who helped you out. Also don’t forget the comfort of your guests in an attempt to cut costs at the wedding. Ensure that the valet service is adequate, comfortable seating, adequate food and a great clean up service after the ceremonies.

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Bachelorette parties are the female equivalent of the wild bachelor parties that guys have to celebrate as the end of their singlehood. Movies like ‘Hangover’ would probably give you the idea of how wild can ‘wild’ get! Many believe that the more you spend, the wilder the party. That is not true. Here are a few tips on how to throw your girlfriend a really wicked budget bachelorette party despite being on a fixed budget.

Round up the close friends of the bride and fix your budget. Make sure everyone can afford to pay the decided amount. Take a call on the theme of the party. The more people planning, the more crazy ideas you will have on the table. If the party is not a surprise, do run the guest list by the bride once.

A great way to save on the alcohol costs at your budget bachelorette is to start the night by drinking at home. Make some fun shots and cocktails and give the bride a special treat. Once all of you are drunk, you could go visit the hottest night spots in the city. Dress wild and act crazy. It is the only time your girlfriend is ‘bride-to-be’. Be sure to have a designated or hired driver. Strippers and adult clubs are best avoided as they are very expensive. Instead, find and play some risqué games at home while drinking. These are usually more fun as people are more relaxed than at a club.

Slumber parties are great especially if you are childhood friends with the bride. Rent those goofy horror movies which terrified you as kids, or some nice romantic comedies, order some pizza and grab enough wine for everyone and your budget bachelorette is set. Unlike bridal showers where gifts usually mean household appliances, maybe you and your girlfriends can put together a bunch of naughty gifts for the bride-to-be to enjoy.

You could plan a road trip like your childhood outings. Hire a bus, get the girls together, head to a lake and spend a long lazy day by the water. You could end the night by playing games. Or, you could do it by the lake! Better still; take the bride to her favorite childhood amusement park. A gaggle of girls screaming their heads can be a lot of fun. Organize a wicked and hilarious scavenger hunt. Items to be completed could include getting a complete stranger to ask you out to dancing on the bar. Take photos of every success and make a special scrapbook for the bride-to-be that she’ll treasure forever!

Remember, being on a budget doesn’t mean you cannot have fun. You could even include the groom and his buddies to join you girls and have a great night out together.