Being one of the first among my friends to get
married, I had no clue what I was supposed to do.
Will I really fit into that gown? Do we even need a
cake? What in the world is an arrhae?
License? WHAT LICENSE?
I was never the type of girl who had her wedding all
planned out since she was 12, so you can just imagine my panic.
Still, my husband and I planned our wedding in 10
months, and thankfully, after the hectic schedules and the crazed trips to all
the suppliers, we pulled it off and got hitched smoothly. It was a hell of a
ride, one that isn’t without its flaws. Looking back, as we both fondly
recalled everything that happened, we found some things that we could have done
differently, if only we knew them ahead of time. Like if someone from
the future went back in time and warned us and stuff. Or something not ripped
off from every sci-fi movie in the 80s.
1. Join the Female
Network GirlTalk forum.
I cannot stress how incredibly helpful the forum was when I was planning the wedding. I didn’t even have to sign up or
anything, but everything I've ever wanted to know about planning a wedding is
all there, based on real experiences of real women. Most guides online are
pretty generic and some aren’t even applicable to us Pinays, but the GirlTalk
forum is legit. From wedding ideas to supplier reviews, they’ve got it all.
WARNING: Checking the forums will eat up your entire day without you realizing it.
2. Church requirements: DO
THEM FIRST.
They’re the most tedious requirements but are also the most
important. It took us countless trips here and there and some of them turned
out to be useless, just because we couldn’t get our papers straight. The most
annoying ones of all are the marriage banns. These are basically strips of
paper announcing that you’ll be marrying so and so and stuff. So this just
means that your COMPLETE INFO and PICTURE will be posted on some random
barangay bulletin board for all the world to see. I honestly don’t understand
why the heck they’d do such an unsafe thing, but hey, church says so.
3. Get a separate
supplier for your photographer and videographer.
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| Image Credit: http://www.fototazo.com/ |
I know it sounds nice to have
a package deal from only one supplier, but take heed! Separate them. If something goes wrong
with one supplier, at least you still have another. I’m not saying you should
get two suppliers who will do your photo and video coverage—this is usually not
allowed because most suppliers want themselves to be the only official
photo/video of your wedding day (to prevent the occasional Auntie who will get
in the way of a perfect shot just because she wants to take her own photo of
you). What I’m saying is that you should get one supplier as your photographer
ONLY, and another supplier as your videographer ONLY. That way, if, let’s say,
your videographer turns out to be a douche, then at least you still have photos
to keep and remind you never to hire that videographer ever again (HINT: a certain S.P. videographer sucks. More on this on my supplier reviews soon).
4. Don’t go overboard with
the flowers.
No flowers? Gasp! I know some of you girls think I’m committing a
capital crime here, but really, who’s gonna benefit from those heaps of flowers
wasted on your wedding day? You can’t really bring everything home, plus, they
die anyway. You’re only making it worse by killing off those happy little
flowers and separating them from their mother branches. In my opinion, leave
the flowers where they are—your budget will thank you for it.
5. Go big on the food.
Instead of splurging on the flowers, shell out some extra cash on the food
instead. At the end of the day, the thing that your guests will take home with
them is their happy tummy. And when they look back fondly at your wedding,
they’ll remember just how divine the shrimp was.
6. Introduce your family
to the photo/video crew.
I really wish I'd done this. You wouldn’t want the
crew snapping away at some random guest you barely know instead of capturing your
tender moments with your older brother.
7. Have an attendance
list for your suppliers, too.
Word to the wise: some of them might not show up
because of “sudden family emergencies” and stuff (HINT: that certain S.P. videographer again). So have all your suppliers
sign on an attendance sheet, just to prove whether or not they really came.
8. Keep a strict playlist
of songs at your reception.
My husband and I hate novelty party songs, and we’re
very particular about our music. We specifically requested the sound system
crew to keep to our given playlist and NOT play any other song outside of that
list. Alas, when one of the games came, they ignored our list and started
playing that stupid Psy song that’s basically in every party just because it’s “hip”.
My hubby was LIVID. That was exactly the song we wanted to avoid. Be wary of
generic party songs, my friends.
9. Sleep? What sleep?
Everyone
will tell you to get some sleep, but it is a physically impossible feat due to
all your nerves screaming their excitement. You will not be able to sleep properly
the night before. Best to just deal with it.
10. Savor.
It’s your big
day! There will be many things that’ll slip no matter how flawless you think
your planning is. So just grin and bear it, and say, “Meh!” Remember, you’re
marrying the love of your life that day, and from here on out, everything is gonna
be awesome.
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