WEDDING PLANNING CHECKLIST

Now I know at times people have very short time frames  to plan their dream days so you may not have  12 months to spare.   Fear not it can all be done.  You jus need to prioritise what you get done first and make sure you follow up on the progress.
Some say pick budget later but I believe its important to do that first.  Nothing worse than seeing things that are way out of your budget and you only realize when its too late and this results in you finding yourself in serious debt.

12 months before

• Pick a wedding date - this determines a lot of other things unless you have a preferred venue and date is decided based what dates are available.
• Decide what type of wedding this can be a collection of all the things you have seen and loved.  make sure you are saving pictures in a systematic manner that is easy to refer back to,
• Decide whom you want to invite this is important as it determines the type of venue you pick also.
• Book church and reception site for the wedding

9 months before

• Draw up a budget
• The bride and groom: decide and order the wedding dress and suit  - Personally I believe in putting this at the top of the list.  The one thing a woman wants to be sure of is that her wedding gown is perfection so don't leave it until the end.
• Book hotel room for yourselves and reserve accommodations for out-of-town guests
• Book photographer   and videographer - These generally get booked up real fast, so you want to make sure you pay your deposit nice and early.
• Contact rental companies if you need to rent such as chairs, tables, music equipment, porcelain etc - Be sure to visit a number of service providers to get you best value for money.  also be sure to see actual venues they have done up so you know how they work and the standard they try to keep.
• Assemble your planning team. Perhaps a wedding consultant? ( maybe us :-)  )

6 months before

• Start planning the wedding party here you can refer to our previous post http://daliananala.blogspot.com/2014/01/picking-bridal-party.html
• Decide on master of ceremony - Here you want to balance between someone who can  keep things moving swiftly but also someone entertaining. 
• Order bridesmaid dresses and groomsmen suits - the sooner this is done the better and less stress you will have.
• Order the bridal bouquet and the floral decoration - The good florists generally get booked up fast so this would be good to have out of the way early.  be sure to take pictures of arrangements you like so you can brainstorm your vision to existence.  a mock arrangement would be advisable.
• Order printed matters as invitation and thank-you card - search online for good deals for things like this.  Think through the wording of your invites.
• Start planning the honeymoon - If funds are even permitting I would go as far as to say book your honeymoon.  You really need this time away after the hectic planning of the wedding to allow you to reconnect and start your lives as husband and wife in the most amazing way.

4 months before

• Plan the wedding ceremony and meet the wedding official - Some churches require you to attend counseling.  if this is not the norm at your church I would suggest you ask your pastor to take you through some counseling sessions to help prepare you for the road ahead.
• Book a DJ - This would also be a good time to start practicing dance routines especially if your wedding party is left footed ;-)
• Decide the menu and order food and drink - Be very careful when you book a caterer.  if there is a possibility that there will be more than the anticipated number at your wedding you need to be careful if you get a caterer that charges per plate.  Also note that not all guests will love the same food as you do so variety and some simplicity would be good.
• Book all transportations for the wedding day - This will include finding family willing to ferry people around.

3 months before

• Plan the wedding day in detail - time it will start, who will speak etc discuss with the master of ceremony so they are clear on the plan closer to the time.
• Select and order wedding rings - this you can also do earlier again to ensure that you get the ring you will love looking at everyday.
• Apply for marriage license - This is if you are not getting married by a Priest or if you want to do a destination wedding.
• Order wedding cake - Especially if you want a fruit cake.

2 months before

• Send invitations card
• Write a purchase list
• Write a wedding gift list or wedding gift registry  this will help family and friends to get you the gifts you really want.

1 month before

• Have final gown fittings
• Plan reception and seating chart
• Practice the wedding waltz

2 weeks before

• Pick up your wedding rings
• Contact the photographer and settle the details - ensure you take photographer and videographer to your venues
• Visit the ceremony and reception site and confirm arrangements
• Confirm arrangements with the rental company
• Inform all involved the wedding program
• Make last-minute adjustment of the seating

1 week before

• Rehearse the wedding ceremony with all involved
• Pack and arrange all practical details for the honeymoon

Day before

• Bring your clothes and luggage to the wherever you will be sleeping
• Decorate the site with flowers and other ceremony accessories
• Relax as much as you can and go to bed early!

The wedding day

• Bring the bridal bouquet
• Do you have the wedding rings – double check!
• Get married!  And love each other forever

Picking the bridal party

Lol I'm sure my hubby is still in denial that we really ended up with a bridal party of 32 excluding lil kids.  the crux of the matter is I LOVE ALOT OF PEOPLE lol.  honestly I can not imagine my day without anyone of my girlies.

The key to picking bridesmaids is
Pick people who love you and want only the best for you.
Pick people who are proactive and helpful.
Pick people whose personalities wont clash with the groomsmen or at least people who are easy to get on with. 
Pick people who are fun to be with love to laugh and have good times.
Being able to dance should not be a deal breaker trust me :-)  but atleast one couple should have their dancing shoes to lead the rest.
Pick people who know how to deal with you when you are stressed, depressed, angry, upset, Livid.  These people will stop you from killing someone or saying something you will later regret.
Pick someone who will have time to discuss with you all the intricate details of your wedding from making sure the groom has socks to making sure you have the right spanx to wear under your dress.

Your maid of honour should tick atlest 80% of the boxes because she will be your go to person to make sure your day is great.

If you are fortunate enough to have one like mine hehehehe you are trully blessed.  She was so serious that she took all the stress on herself and i was the calm one :-)   I love you taffy.  you will never know how much chokwadi.


xoxo

PS.  i beg please dont make your girls look like old maids.  its really not a good look.  and you are jus ruining your wedding pics in the hope they dnt outshine you.

Oh and if the groomsmen are lovers of women you may need to get ur girls ready to deal with alot of affection LOL.  

ROORA / LOBOLA / TRADITIONAL WEDDING

So I don't know if i am the only one that was struck with shock at the whole tiresome process that is getting traditionally married.

I will share in brief what we had to do.

So when we got engaged i told ERBODY YAY IM ENGAGED YAY YAY YAY.  obviously the excitement was high.  Then my mom explained to me that we need to speak with my dad's sisters (tete) about us wanting to get married.  so we called and made a plan to visit my aunt in chinhoyi.  so we get there and everyone is super happy and excited blah blah.   then they get all serious saying so tell us why you are here. LOL ah hello we spoke about this.  But anyway so we say we wanna get married and we need help with the process etc.  So then they ask is there anything we need to know ie are you preggos.  then they start saying you dnt have to be shy you can tell tete anythn. lol.   So they basically then told us that my hubs would need to find a munyai (spokesperson) who will take the gwans from my family to my then fiance. so once that was done they explained that we have to go to my  uncle (my dad's brother)  and i have to tell him i have brought my fiance and his munyai because they would like to speak with you.
It sucks that my family is spread through so many towns so visiting my uncle entailed going to masvingo.  when we got there we were then told that they have to give him some cash que jaw dropping.  I cnt remember exactly how much we left him but yikes we were broke now lol.

so he basically explained that he has to take the word that i wanna get roorwad to the rest of my uncles kumusha in mberengwa. then he will take the word to my mom, brothers and my moms brothers.

so once that was done we had to decide on a day where everyone would be able to come.  then the part where the uncles the brothers and fathers decide on the bride price.  I found it odd that noone even consults you as to what you think is a fair price.  Lol i guess i was more naive than most :-)  but once it was decided my brothers gave the figure to the munyai and so broke city approached heheehhehehhehe.  Honestly i think its so necessary to start saving early unless you are loaded or your folks are funding your traditional marriage.

what came after was jus stress and worry.  as a woman when you know how well your man's pocket is lined you will obviously have BP when someone says Rusambo $6000.  LIKE REALLY???????? lol  but if there is anything i took from the process Kuroora hakuperi.  its ok to have a lil something still owing lolest.   And dont ever take for granted a man who will be quiet whilst he is being taken for every penny he has because if he still smiles at the end of it just know that this man loves me enough to be broke so I can be his wife.  If that means I will cook and clean for him its a small price to pay to be with the one you love forever.

I will try do some more research to give breakdowns of the matekenyandebvu's and the kupinda musha things so you are more in the picture with what will come your way.


ciao for now


 

Flowers

I remember when we were looking for florists at first we were thinking super simple. But my mom kept insisting we go see a specific florist.  As far as we we re concerned he was probably out of our budget lol but mother must have her way.  

The florist is an artist who takes pride in his work.  At the time we just thought dude hows about stop acting like you are cooler than you really are.

So when we got home and mom says i paid him so go tell him what you want we were like hmmmm really lol.  But that was the best decision we ever made.  He put alot of thought into every single arrangement.  And for that i was super happy.

I know people underestimate how flowers can change the feel of a room but take my word for it.  Make sure you get the prettiest and freshest flowers.  Pay to have a demo arrangement done and possibly also view arrangements at another function to be satisfied with the standard of work the florist will provide.

Happy planning

Dresses Dresses Dresses

Its become very obvious that differents tyles work for different people.  So be sure that you try try try try dresses of all shapes and sizes.  Some dresses will look so awful you just cant stop laughing.  others will look so great on you but you just do not feel like yourself in the dress.  Then there will be the ones that are PERFECTION and are WAY out of your budget.  Its hard to put a price on a gown but the sad truth is that very few people can afford a original vera wang or mori lee for that matter.

So also try keep an open mind and find ways to get the look you want but at a lower cost.

The sad truth of the matter is that a lot of dress companies advertise dresses of other designers that they get replicated over seas at a lower cost.  there really is no guarantee that the dress will look like the pictures provided so also assess dresses in stock so you get a good idea of what the dress you will order will look like.

Custom made dresses are really the best way to go if you can push your budget up.  this is mainly because the dress will be corrected to fit your body as it is.  not the standard size 10 or 18 mannequin.

Dresses also have different forms shapes and textures.  So again its not a one type fits all, the general theme of your wedding should also go hand in hand with the type of dress you will wear.  Dresses can be made with anything from lace, satin, organza, chiffon, taffeta it all really depends on the structure of the dress you want and how the dress must fall.  Wedding seamstresses are the best people to get advice on what fabrics works best and the benefits of wearing one type over another.

Always be sure to wear the right under garments and shoes when you go for dress fittings, so you have the exact picture of what you will look like on your day.

As this is an area we hope to continue specializing in feel free to get in touch with us, so we can help you get your perfect dress.


bye for now

In the mean time visit www.theknot.com create a profile and view some amazing designer dresses.  and tell us which one is your favourite.

 

VENUES

There are a large number of wedding websites available on the net that give brides an idea of venues along with reviews.  These can be very useful but I always prefer that one goes and reviews a venue on their own.  this allows for one to be able to see whether the place would work for the wedding esthetic they are looking for.

A number of venues also now have their own websites.  Websites can be deceitful also as photographers a very good at making places look a lot nicer in real life than the place really is.  So I say go and see all the nooks cracks and smells you have to look forward to at the place you will be getting married.

Key things to always remember with regards to venues:

Discuss your budget with your fiancé and parents.  This will determine whether a place is doable or out of reach.  A lot of venues are opting for preferred suppliers such as rooneys, tonjis etc.  problem with some of these suppliers is their services are super pricey though I must say quality is guaranteed.  When a venue does say this to you, do not be disheartened.  Try negotiate with the manager until you reach an agreeable compromise.  There really is no harm in trying, you have nothing to lose with asking.

Another consideration when thinking of venue is trying to find a place that can be a 3 in 1.  By this I mean a venue where you can have your ceremony, photographs and reception all in one place.  So venue would need to be quite big with a lot of nice spots for photos.  Be sure to take your photographer to the venue so they also offer professional advice.

Always ensure you have a signed contract stipulating what you expect the venue to provide and what the venues expectations from you would be.  this includes who is responsible for keeping ablution blocks clean, what time you are allowed to begin setting up and what time things must be cleared by.  security over the venue, car parks and service providers property prior to the event.


There are so many things I could speak about and I could go on for days, but let us leave it hear for now.


For contact details of venues that we have visited or communicated with feel free to leave us a message and we will be sure to get right back to you.


That's all for today folks

stay
 

WELCOME

 

I always watch in awe as others post on blogs daily.  I have tried numerous other blogs of my own without much success but im staying hopeful that this may be the one that survives :-)

I am a happy go lucky kinda girl who loves to laugh and have fun.  I enjoy spending time with my friends helping them make their dreams a reality.  I have had the pleasure of helping a number of friends brainstorm their big day and I must say my own wedding was the happiest of planning moments :-)

On this blog I will hopefully share some fun ideas be it for a wedding, bridal shower, bbq or dinner party.  I will have posts on diy projects, recipes to try amongst an array of other fun things.

So sit back relax and lets enjoy the ride together.