When you first start planning a wedding, the couple may get caught up in the exciting details such as a venue, date, flowers, and clothing. Or they could become fraught with worry over the more stressful elements such as invite lists, seating charts, and vendor coordination. Try to keep them calm and on track, while taking care of the smaller things for them. Here are some helpful tips for planning a wedding that you and your clients may not have considered.
Prioritize guest comfort
Anticipating day-of guest needs eliminates a lot of the stressors for the couple on their big day. They have enough to worry about—they don’t need to be sent into full panic mode because Aunt Bertha stained her dress at the reception and can’t handle the situation on her own. Here are some guest comforts that will be appreciated, add extra care, and prevent needless “emergencies” from popping up.
- People cry at weddings, so provide cute custom printed tissue packsto accommodate the tears of joy. Not only is this useful, but it will elevate the event’s aesthetic.
- Out-of-town guests made a lot of effort to get there and won’t know their way around town as well as others—give them a welcome bag with full directions, addresses, schedules, and local recommendations for anything they may need such as restaurants, tailors, shops, etc.
- Keep “emergency” kits in the venue bathrooms. Some good items to place in them are stain remover, bandages, safety pins, hand sanitizer, combs, and more.
Throw away tradition
Throw away needless traditions—or keep them! Ask the spouses-to-be what they do and do not want at their wedding. Remind them the day is about them and symbolizing their love for each other. If they don’t want to shove cake in each other’s faces, remind them that they don’t have to. Many couples stress out about making sure somebody walks the bride down the aisle, or that the bride’s dress is perfect and white. If the bride wants a red dress, she should get what she wants. Communicate openly about traditions such as the garter removal and bouquet throwing. That way, the couple can express which traditions they love, and which can be left out entirely.
Make the couple’s life easier
The couple has enough to worry about; getting bombarding with wedding planning disasters every can really extinguish their excitement for the big day. Make small adjustments to lessen their stress wherever you can. Here are some examples of how to do so:
- Number the RSVP card and keep a spreadsheet of which guest is which number card. This way, when some guests inevitably forget to write their name on the card, you can easily match the number with a name to know exactly who will and will not be in attendance.
- On this same note, get comfortable with spreadsheets. Keep a spreadsheet for everything and give the soon-to-be newlyweds access to them. Have spreadsheets for “to-dos,” vendors and their contact information, exactly who is coming and who has a plus one in attendance, and more. If it’s vital information, put it in a spreadsheet.