General Tips For Your Wedding

1) Be sure to have a master checklist and separate file folder for each wedding service provider.

2) Be sure all of your service providers have excellent maps and directions to the church and wedding reception facility.

3) Be sure to have your florist, entertainer and caterer visit the reception facility beforehand.  Arrange for them to have access to the room at least two hours before the reception for setup.

4) When arranging for a sitting with your photographer for your engagement and bridal portrait, bear in mind that the newspapers require a vertical format proof for the announcement.

5) It would be best not to schedule photos more than one hour before the wedding ceremony so the flowers can stay in the coolers until the last minute.

6) Ask your guests to leave for the reception immediately after the wedding.  Your photographer will need 30-45 minutes with family only.

7) Have a set of fake rings in case the real ones get inadvertently left behind at hotel, etc. (it does happen)

8) If you are writing your own vows, you can consider adding these:  Have the minister ask the family members to rise and answer the following vow: "I shall." "Will you do everything in your power to love, honor and support this union and this couple in their journey through life together"? Repeat the process for friends present.

9) Dispense with the receiving line. People will be hungry and your elderly relatives cannot stand up for long periods of time.  Be assured they will all come up and say hello to you sometime during the reception.

10) If you are decorating the wedding cake with flowers, decide ahead of time who will do the actual arrangement, the florist or the bakery staff.

11) Don't announce you are cutting the cake, just do it. That avoids a feeding frenzy.  Also, determine beforehand who will be responsible for cutting and serving the cake, bakery staff or reception facility.

12) Make sure your out-of-town guests have very good detailed maps and/or assign local friends to ride with them between church and the reception.

13) Consider getting married on Friday or Sunday and/or during the winter months to get better prices from your service providers.

14) On your invitation reply cards, use a coding like a discreet number on the inside flap of return envelope and keep a list.  Some guests will inadvertently return their response cards with no name.

15) You need at least four cake-slicers; two for each cake.  Find out ahead of time if your reception facility does not provide them;  ask friends, neighbors or co-workers to be "servers".  They are considered wedding party and should have a corsage (or boutonnière).

16) Have an extra roll of scotch tape at the reception to securely attach greeting cards to presents before loading them into the car at the end of the reception.

17) Suggest guests put an "enclosure card" inside of the package.  (Have your mom or bridesmaids make this suggestion.)

18) Assume your guests will bring their children regardless of how you addressed or styled the invitation.  Telling them specifically in person not to bring their children will ensure they do not come at all.  The reception facility will charge full price for food for each child, regardless of age.  Crying babies in the church will ruin the sound portion of the video, as the microphones have to be very sensitive to hear the vows.  Ask women with babies to sit near the rear and leave with the baby if it starts crying.  (They might and they might not.)

19) Get a specific list from the reception facility of services that NOT INCLUDED.  Helping you load wedding presents into cars at the end of the evening is a good experience.  They may or may not store items you rented elsewhere to be picked up on Monday.  In that case, you must remove them to your home.  Ask your groomsmen to stay and help with these matters.

20) Select stores for your registry that have very organized Bridal Departments like Foleys, JC Penney and Nieman Marcus, etc.  This will help later if you cannot determine who gave you which gift or if you need to exchange one.

21) If you do not serve a full meal at your reception, your attendance will be much lower than if you did. (fact of life)

22) Have a game plan if too many people show up for the reception and there is not enough food or seating.  Ask a select group of close friends or relatives who will volunteer to go eat elsewhere and then return for the festivities.  Or you can deliberately order 10-30 extra place settings and pay for them.

23) If you have reserved tables for family and the bridal party, be sure prominently raised "RESERVED" signs are on the tables along with a place card (with names) at each place setting.

24) If you are having a head table for bridal party (Bridesmaids and Groomsmen) make sure their spouse or dates understand they will not be sitting to eat with them. (Single people tend to be bothered more by this than married people.)

25) Have someone in the Bridal party whose only job it is to completely go through the reception facility at the end of the evening, including rest rooms, to be sure nothing was left behind.  This should be done along with a facility employee to be sure their property is not inadvertently taken.

26) Put fresh batteries in cameras and strobes so they will not go out in the middle of the reception or honeymoon.

27) Have someone besides the best man who can make a toast in the event the best man has to leave for some reason.  Every key person should have someone else prepared to do their job in case they are called away.  The show must go on.

28) If the reception is at a hotel or public facility, assign someone to stand at the door ask someone to check his or her name against the Guest List.  "Gate crashers" could enter the room, eat your food, and possibly take cameras or purses, etc.  It's a good idea to be generally cautious.

29) When selecting vendors, check all of them using the automated phone system of the Better Business Bureau.

30) Your safest choices in vendors (in Houston area), are those who have been in the Bridal Extravaganza at least two years in a row.

31) Ask the jeweler to put your engagement diamond under a black light. It should stay clear, not turn blue.  Ask if he will buy it back at the same price within 30 days, then have the ring checked by another jeweler.  Once you have determined your jeweler is doing right by you, cut your best deal on the engagement ring and both bands at the same time.

32) You should have a Bride's Emergency Kit ready for the wedding day. Have your Maid of Honor take charge of it.  It should have necessities such as: a hair dryer, hair gel, lipstick, sewing kit, breath mints, blister pads for tight shoes, safety pins, scissors, bobby pins, nail file and clippers, super glue, tweezers, Tums, tooth picks, makeup sponge, hair scrunchies, notepad and pen, eye drops, Tylenol, Velcro and lint brush.

33) The bride and groom should eat a good meal and drink plenty of water early on the wedding day.  This is not a good time for low blood sugar levels.

34) Ice Carvings add a nice touch to the room.  Your bridal portrait and flower arrangements will be in the foyer.  The ice carving is really the only decorative touch you can add to the dining area.  The best presentation is to have it on a revolving pedestal with a blue floodlight shining on it at an angle.

35) All Groomsmen should try on their tuxes before leaving the store.  Letting someone else pick them up for them is courting disaster.

36) Having the Bridal Shower and the Bachelor/Bachelorette parties the weekend BEFORE the wedding is a good idea.  Doing this after the rehearsal dinner will render people groggy on the wedding day when they need to be able to function at their absolute best.

37) The best book on weddings is the Wedding Guide by Emily Post.

38) The best website on weddings is www.theknot.com .

39) Keeping all records, receipts, contracts and being organized during the planning of your wedding goes very far in ensuring a smooth wedding day.

40) In the history of the world, there has never been a large, formal wedding that went off totally without a single problem.  If you assign people with specific jobs and have them prepared to do the jobs of two others on very short notice, you will probably be able to contain problems before they spin out of control.  Once the reception gets going, the guests will be socializing and probably not notice the details of the event anyway.  Relax, enjoy, be married……………………….