Dating | Weddings

Wedding Planning

Weddings count among the all-time monumental events in a person's lifetime. In any culture, they represent hope, love and the promise of a happy and fulfilling future.

And in every culture, there are also mother-in-law jokes. That's because the same joy that goes with your desire to make a commitment to one another is usually accompanied by a set of... well, let's call them challenges, shall we? And making sure that your wedding, and the run up to it, is a time that you can cherish for all the right reasons takes some careful planning, patience and a good dollop of humour.

The current fashion for grand weddings of superstar proportions (and budgets to match) means that organising them can become a full-time job in its own right. And with other aspects to balance, such as your relationship, friends, work, family and social life, it's easy to lose perspective. (And a quick note here: a great wedding is not the same as an expensive wedding, as you will see.)

So what's the secret to getting the balance right? How do you get the fantasy wedding you want and still manage to enjoy yourself? Well, the secret is in the planning and timing, and remembering why you wanted to married in the first place. People who get married happily (as opposed to just being happily married) share the responsibilities, share the work, share the fun. And when things get tough, they keep their eye on the prize, namely that, at the end of it all, they get to be married to the person they love.

The process of planning a wedding is often also a time when you will have to cover some big issues that you haven't had to consider before, such as joint finances, family conflict and responsibility. We will help you get the basics right, such as communication and consideration, which will be the basis for making this wedding thing work for you. On a practical level, we will also take a look at all of the key elements for planning a wedding, and when and how to tackle them. We will take the mystery out of it for you, dividing a mammoth task into bite-size proportions.

One of the main complaints about wedding organisation relates to the pressure of the responsibility. There are many ways to deal with this. Among the key factors (which will also stand you in good stead for the rest of your life) are learning to say no and knowing when to ask for help. Handled artfully, sharing the stress can seem like bestowing honours and building bridges, improving your relationships rather then damaging them.

So why do the emotions surrounding a wedding get to such a fever pitch? And when should you start to regard it as a worrying sign? Well, just about everyone closely involved in the wedding will have been dreaming about this day for many years: mums imagining their daughters in wedding dresses; fathers rehearsing their speeches; sisters expecting their infant sons to be ring bearers. Many, many hopes and dreams are brought together by a wedding, and everyone will want you to grant them their little wish (usually one of many). Families are also dealing with change, something that brings up both fear and joy in equal measure. Parents can no longer pretend that you are children (even if you still get treated like one) and you will now be shifting your focus to your new partnership. So relax - panic is normal.

And when you are not panicking, you will get to enjoy all the great stuff that makes a wedding so much fun: choosing flowers; tasting cakes; trying on pretty frocks (that's mainly the girls); catching up with old friends and long lost family; and having lots of parties.

Best of all, your wedding will give you the opportunity to bring everyone you love together to watch you make a commitment to the person you intend to share the rest of life's exhilarating and bumpy journey with. It's an amazing way to start that journey off, whether you do it on a beach in the Maldives, a tiny county church or Westminster cathedral. Good luck and congratulations.

Disclaimer & Copyright © Infinite Ideas 2008