Save your wedding day
A wedding is a series of events that can easily get out of hand. You, as the bride and groom, may not have any experience in event planning and now, you are responsible for throwing the biggest party you will ever host. There are many variables to be wary of that you will not be accustomed to dealing with from unprofessional vendors to tantrum-filled family members, and some variables you can’t control, like the weather.
Here are some things to keep in mind to help you save your wedding day:
Always have a plan B
Be prepared for anything and everything that can go wrong on your wedding day: weather, traffic, delays in your agenda, or missing family members.Think about your wedding as a series of small events: getting reading; commuting to the venue; the wedding; photo shoot; reception.Now think about the things that would go wrong for each of these events individually and how you would resolve those issues. Alfaaz Photography contracts include a copy of your itinerary with all addresses and timelines. In addition, we ask for the contract information of at least four (4) family members or friends from both sides of the wedding party.
Keep your contracts handy for the day of the wedding
Make sure you have your contracts on you on the day of the wedding. You never know when you might need it, especially if you are paying a particular vendor on the day of the event.
Try to avoid making payments on the day of the wedding; conversations may go awry after you’ve had a couple glasses of champagne. But if these conversations need to happen, it would be good to have your agreements on hand and in writing to avoid any disputes.
Make sure your vendors know your schedule
A week before your wedding date, be sure to send all your vendors a copy of your itinerary with the date, timing and address. This way, your vendors will be well aware of where they need to be and how they will get there.
In some cases, vendors will hire multiple individuals for assistance (for example, a second photographer, or extra hands on the catering team). Giving your vendor the schedule ahead of time allows them to share this information and remain organized.
(Tip: If there are additional people being hired by your vendor, be sure to get their contact information as well.)
Expectations
Be clear with your vendors about your expectations Discuss with your vendors what your expectations are for the day of the wedding such as the time when you expect your vendor to arrive. If this vendor is critical to your wedding day, make sure to leave some buffer time and make sure you keep a plan B.
The weather
Keep an eye on The Weather Network. If it might rain or snow, keep extra time for travel and make sure to pack an umbrella.
Distances, commute and traffic
If your wedding, photo shoot and reception are all at different locations, be mindful of traffic and driving conditions. There may be construction on the roads or accidents that you cannot predict.
Set priorities
Evaluate the different pieces of your wedding day and determine what the critical pieces are. If you are running late on your schedule, you need to know which events and items can be left out in order for you to stay on track. Be sure to communicate any changes with your wedding planner and wedding photographer so everyone is aware and on board of these changes.
Identify your wedding runners
Both the bride and groom should identify family members or friends to act as runners for the day of the wedding. These individuals will be the ones to carry your contract and emergency kit or deliver messages to your wedding planner or photographer. This may be your bridesmaids or groomsmen, or it might be others; whoever they are, these are the people who want to make sure that your wedding day goes through without any glitches.
Make sure that these individuals are well connected with your vendors, especially your wedding planner and photographer.
The contracts at Alfaaz Photography are designed such that you are obligated to provide the names and phone numbers for these individuals. This makes it easy for your photographer to get their work done without having to take you away from your special moments.
If two vendors have interrelated jobs, be sure to connect them ahead of time
Your photographer, videographer, DJ, decorator, and makeup artist all rely on one another to get their jobs done and remain on schedule. It’s always a good idea to check the schedules of when each vendor will be completing their task, and check with each vendor if they’d like to be connected with another in order to remain coordinated.
Priest
Talk to your priest to know how long will the whole ceremony take and if there is any restrictions on taking pictures or making video or moving around during the ceremony. Often we assume the ceremony will last only 30 minutes although it might not be the case for each religious practice.
Almost 80% of brides have told us that they couldn’t enjoy their wedding day due to stress caused by unprofessional vendors or due to unplanned circumstances disrupting the timeline.
Alfaaz Photography offers a schedule template that you can download off the resource page of the website. We hope this can be of use to you when you are speaking with your vendors and planning your special day.
“Because every picture is worth a million words”
Note – Images are not owned by alfaazphotography if not mentioned