Tips on Planning Your Perfect Ceremony!

Ready…set….plan!

By Emily Griffith

Edited by Hannah Stamey

 

Tips on Planning Your Perfect Ceremony!

 

Preparing for your wedding ceremony can seem like a daunting task. With all of the pressure to make your special day absolutely perfect, planning can turn even the most composed individual into a stressed out mess. The best way to combat the chaos is to be as organized as possible. When planning your ceremony there are four major components to be aware of.

The first thing you’ll want to do is locate your ideal ceremony site. When choosing a location you should think about whether you want a religious or civil service as well as whether you want to be indoors or outdoors. If you’re leaning more towards the outdoor option, make sure you take into account seasons, availability of electrical equipment and what you’ll do in case of inclement weather. Regardless of your preferred setting you’ll want to make sure you find a venue that meets your needs capacity wise. You certainly don’t want to invite all of your family and friends only to arrive and find there’s nowhere for grandma to sit! Once you’ve booked your wedding venue you’re one step closer to ceremony perfection!

The next item you’ll probably want to take care of is finding someone to officiate the service. It’s important to choose someone reputable or someone you know personally. Once you’ve found a potential candidate you may want to conduct an interview to find out if you feel comfortable with this person uniting you and your spouse. If they’ve officiated a wedding ceremony before, you can ask them about whether they have standard vows if you don’t want to write your own, whether they allow photography or videos, and make sure you find out if they require you to attend pre marriage counseling. When you find someone you love make sure you confirm the date, time, and location of your ceremony and don’t leave without giving them your contact information and making sure you have theirs.

YAY! You’re halfway there!

Finding the perfect band and/or music selection to play during your ceremony is one of the most important aspects of wedding planning. With the right song choices you can really tie the whole service together. You’ll probably want to select a general genre around some specific songs that are meaningful to you. When choosing a musician, make sure you ask if there is any specific equipment they will need provided for them and find out if they have someone lined up to play if for some reason they had to cancel. If they don’t, then find one! It’s always a good idea to have a backup plan.

The very last thing on the to-do list is to plan out the ceremony itself. It really helps to create a timeline of events that you can refer to in order to ensure that everything goes according to plan. You’ll need to decide where you want people to sit, stand and when you want them to enter and exit. This is when you will also want to collect all of the materials you’ll need for the ceremony itself. This includes things like tables, chairs, decorations, seat markers, and programs. Once all of this is complete you can find someone to take care of post-wedding cleanup and start notifying people about rehearsal times! (You may also want to make the people involved in your wedding copies of that handy-dandy ceremony timeline for them to use during rehearsal.)

Congratulations! You now have everything you need to ensure that your special day is absolutely perfect! Thank you for taking the time to read and good luck!

P.S. If you’re still having trouble finding the perfect venue, consider Rex Allen Events! We have five beautiful locations to choose from as well as all of the tables, chairs, and decorations you could ever need! Not to mention a wonderful staff that will get everything set up exactly how you want it!

 

**Photo Credit- Samantha Laffoon Photography**

 

Continue Reading

Ready….set….plan! By Hannah Stamey- February 19th, 2018

Ready…set…plan!

By Hannah Stamey

Seating Chart…is it really important?

Receptions will be your most costly and time consuming part of your whole day.  That’s why you want to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. Seating charts for 50 or less guests? Not really needed. 100 or more guests? Yes! Why you may ask? Because you want to make sure everyone has a chair.  This is so important when you have a party of 4 and a party of 5 that want to sit together but the table only holds 8.  Then we have a situation where there is 4 chairs left empty and those guests end up wandering around the reception trying to find a place where they can sit together.  Having a seating chart eliminates all the confusion and chaos.
Here’s how to get started

You first need to create a “seating spreadsheet”.  Use columns to categorize all invitees by relationship then separate the lists into tables.

  • Bride’s Friends
  • Bride’s Family
  • Groom’s Friends
  • Groom’s Family

Next, draw out a diagram of your reception. It’s best if you get a big poster board and draw tables big enough so you can write their names or reference to numbers. It’s helpful before you send out your RSVPs that you MAKE SURE YOU WRITE A SMALL NUMBER TO THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER.  This will help you when they forget to write their name on the RSVP and you will still know who  said they were or were not coming.

Thirdly, decide who’s going to sit where.  On the layout you made on your poster board, use post-it notes with every guest’s name on it and place accordingly.  Here are some tips to take when placing people:

  1. Put an even number of people at each table! Most people tend to conversate in pairs.
  2. Put your “Partiers” near the dance floor.  They will definitely get things started right!
  3. Don’t put your single guests with a table full of Couples.  Awkward.
  4. Mix & Match your friends with your “soon to be “ spouse’s friends.
  5. If certain family members don’t get along, don’t seat them together- this is not a time to play peacemaker.
  6. Put people together with similar interests and ages.

Finally, decide who will sit at a table with you. Choices might include :

  • Just the two of you
  • You two and your bridal party
  • You two and your parents and family

 

Fun tip!

Instead of numbering your tables, add a layer of personalization by naming them. Choose something that fits your wedding theme or is symbolic of your relationship.

  • Places you have traveled
  • Sites in your city
  • Love words (bliss, romance, joy, etc)
  • Keywords from your relationship (the restaurant where you got engaged, etc )

To add another level of personalization, add a photo along with the name of your table of maybe the city you traveled , where you got engaged, etc.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read!!

Be sure to check out more blogs coming soon!

 

Hannah Stamey

Rex Allen Events

Event Manager

Continue Reading

sydney + elisha ⋅ saturday, november twenty-sixth

f418eba2-d63d-4859-a5b6-b51c3f44a514Sydney and Elisha had a beautiful ceremony at the River. Yes, it was very cold, but oh, was it worth it! This is the first wedding we have ever set up the ceremony on this side of the woods, and it quickly became our new favorite spot. They had beautiful floral arrangements and simple, elegant props that made for the perfect decorations. The inside of the Theater was set up for their reception with the cutest centerpieces. We wish this couple many years of love and happiness. Congratulations Sydney and Elisha!

Continue Reading
1 2 3 8