Planning a wedding can be stressful for everyone involved. Sure, there are plenty of books, pamphlets and online guides available that claim to be helpful, but they are not always realistic.
It takes a wedding professional, someone who has worked with hundreds of couples, to identify the common pitfalls that can occur on your wedding day. These mistakes can lead to stressful situations, awkward moments and hurt feelings.
Here are ten insider tips that someone who creates Wedding Magic for a living can share. Following them will help your wedding day to be full of love, happiness and good cheer.

1. Plan for everything, not just the obvious, and reduce stress.
Have you ever heard that for every minute you plan you save 10 in execution? Well, it’s not true, you save even more! The best part is that you will save valuable time (#2 will explain that). Think about all of the stories you have heard about the stress and anxiety the week before someone’s wedding day. Stress and anxiety come from lack of planning and preparation. Think back to a test in school that made you sick to your stomach as you were handed the test. Now think of a time when you were prepared for the test. What was the difference; your level of preparedness.
Everyone has heard the story How to Eat an Elephant, right? The lesson in the story is one bite at a time. You are planning a complex event that has lots of moving parts, with you in the center of all of them. Don’t get overwhelmed, take it “one bite” at a time, planning for everything and anything.

2. The “Time is Money” tool.
Let’s image that your wedding will cost $21,000 (just a number that works well mathematically for this example). If we divide that by 210, (not a random number) with 30 minutes for a ceremony and 180 minutes for your reception (3 hours), we get $100 per minute.
With that example stated, let me explain how to use this “Time is Money” tool. Let’s say your sister comes to you during the reception and says, “Come with me to the court yard. I have something really funny I want to show you”. Your thoughts should be, “This will take at least five minutes. That’s $500 and I don’t think anything my sister can show me is worth $500.” Your answer should be a polite “no”. With that said, you can explain to your family and closest friends your plan in advance so that there are no hurt feelings and they can help implement this tool.
This is such a powerful tool in all areas of your wedding. Think about the time you will be “spending” taking pictures. Plan out the special photo’s you would like to have taken at your reception and stick to it. Often photographers or family members will not realize they are cutting into your “reception time” and will get caught “in the moment”, requesting unplanned photos. Again, explain in advance your photo plans to all involved.

 
3. Start with the end in mind. It can add $ to your budget.
As an engineer, I was trained in the value of reverse engineering, which simply means to start from the place you want to end up and design how to get there. What or where is the end of the wedding process? The Honeymoon of course! Couples usually do not consider how much money they can save with some research. Travel websites like Tripadvisor or Cruise Critic can save you hundreds. Have you ever heard of “shoulder season”? If not, you’re not a savvy traveler. The good news is, lots of savvy traveler’s love to share all the tips and tricks learned from years of travel and the best part, its free!

 
4. Start looking for your dress in the beginning of November and buy your dress BEFORE Christmas (best before 12/5).
Why you ask? Well, think about what everyone is thinking about once its starts getting cold? CHRISTMAS! Do bridal stores sell any Christmas gifts? Nope, and the new lines are ready for the New Year, inventory is high, and sales are low. Why buy before 12/5? The high season for engagements starts at Thanksgiving and ends by Valentine’s Day, with the perk being Christmas. Be a savvy dress shopper and let all the newly engaged, less informed brides shop during the high season.

 
5. Check local calendar of event for conventions, parades, festivals and other big events that may interfere with traffic and hotel arrangements before setting an official date for your wedding.
Tourism in the entire Greater New Orleans area is booming! Companies and organizations see New Orleans as a great place to host a convention. There is nothing worse than planning your wedding and then finding out that your loved ones cannot get hotel rooms and if they can, prices are at a premium. Even worse, you might discover that your guests’ hotel rooms are sandwiched in between attendees of the National Association of Accordion Players. Rather than subject your guests to several sleepless nights filled with polka music, investigate local events on your wedding day well in advance. Call local hotels to see if availability is limited due to an event or conference. If so, choose another weekend for your festivities.
It won’t be much fun if you’re forced to have your guests bunk with you or when you have guests arriving late for your ceremony due to traffic snarls and road rerouting.

 
6. Book your honeymoon travel in your maiden name rather than your married name.
I know, you’re anxious to show off your brand new Mrs. Status, however, this might mean you end up with no honeymoon at all! It can take several weeks to get a new passport and social security card in your marriage name. When arranging flights and international travel plans, reserve everything in your maiden name. Another thing to keep in mind is your name change itself. In some states there is a required waiting period between applying for and receiving your marriage license. This can delay the date on which you are able to be legally married. This can vary depending on where you live, so be sure to look up local statutes and get your license well in advance.

 
7. Allow extra time for everything on your wedding day and “fake out” your guests with an early start time.
While you may put an exact start time on your invitations, don’t expect everyone to take it seriously. Someone is always late. You need to plan for this by making the time on your invitations at least 15 minutes prior to the time when you actually plan to begin. This is the only way to ensure that you begin on time. Do the same thing with the other events on your wedding day timeline. Pad the amount of time you think it will take to get your hair done, put your dress on, and complete your make up, especially when doing all of this with your bridesmaids. Tell everyone involved when to arrive dressed and ready for photos or when to arrive at the salon with all of the necessary accoutrements. Plan in extra time to allow for someone who is running late, which will inevitably happen. If you are starting photos at 5:00pm, tell them to arrive at the church at 4:30, and whatever you do, don’t let anyone know that this is not the “real” start time. Otherwise, you may end up wasting time and money because you have to adjust your ceremony and reception to someone else’s schedule.

 
8. Assign someone the important task of wrangling out of town guests on your wedding weekend.
It’s your wedding day. You have better things to worry about besides figuring out how to get your lost Uncle Bernie to the ceremony on time. Yet, if you don’t plan ahead, everyone will be calling you with their numerous questions and problems. Solve this by designating a contact person. Make sure this person isn’t a member of the wedding party because they have enough to do on your wedding day. Besides, the last thing you need is for your pictures to be delayed because your Best Man is too busy giving directions to your second cousin twice removed. Put this person’s name and cell phone number in with your wedding invitations. Ideally, this person should know your local area backwards and forward and be good with smart phone GPS and map apps. He or she can be your point man for all questions, giving you one less thing to worry about.

 
9. Make a list of all contact information for each member of your wedding team and distribute several copies to friends and family.
Murphy’s Law states that whatever can go wrong, will. Your cake might be late, the church doors might be locked, or the limos might not arrive on time. Any number of emergencies can occur, and you need to be prepared. Record the names, phone numbers, street addresses, and email address for every vendor that you hire. Have this information programmed into more than one phone and hand out hard copies as well. On the day of your wedding, keep your emergency contact list in your purse and give a copy to your Maid of Honor, along with other responsible people you can trust.

 
10. Instead of spending time at each table thanking guests at your reception, prioritize your “thank you’s” to allow more time to relax and enjoy your wedding.
The old tradition of visiting tables at the reception to thank each guest is just that, an old tradition. Wedding etiquette handbooks and family members may insist that you do this properly and successfully. While in theory, this seems like a good idea and it’s certainly a nice thing to do, but carrying out this well intention plan can single-handedly ruin your reception. Let’s look at an example. Let’s say you invite 250 people to your wedding and your venue sets up 25 table with 10 chairs. If you walk around to each table, allowing only two minutes per table to greet everyone (which breaks down to an implausible 12 seconds per person), it will take 50 minutes to welcome your guests. When you allow for the reality of much longer conversations, that time can easily double. The bottom line is, some guests will get carried away and want to “catch up”. You could get caught into a conversation that seems like it will never end, cutting into precious reception time spent on obligation instead of enjoying yourself. Add to this the time necessary for formal events such as the cake cutting, special dances and the bouquet toss, and your reception is over in a flash and you haven’t even hit the dance floor.
The truth is, you don’t have to visit tables at all. But if you do choose to greet your guests individually, here is a tip that will keep this task from dominating your special day: Reserve tables for your older guests and family members around the dance floor so that you can easily greet them while dancing the night away. These are the people who are most likely to throw a fit if you don’t spend individual time with them.
As far as your friends are concerned, you can greet them on the dance floor, at the bar or at the after party. Otherwise, you will be visiting tables until the very end of the reception and miss out on all of the fun that comes with it.

Conclusion
Planning a wedding isn’t easy. It takes time, effort, and a lot of patience. With these ten insider secrets under your belt, your planning will be off to a great start.
Congratulations and good luck with your wedding plans! Please contact me with any questions and to find out if I’m a good match for your wedding day.