Singaporebrides | Weddings 101
May 2021
5 Things Every Couple Underestimates about Wedding Planning
Think wedding planning is a walk in the park? Jurassic Park, maybe! Don’t fall into the trap of underestimating these wedding planning must-dos.
Remember that scene in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. when Phoebe was yelling into the phone trying to figure out what “lorkins” her Swedish florist was talking about, and an ice sculpture shows up at the front door of the apartment? It looked like her wedding was about to fall apart unless she re-hired her hyper-organised wedding planner (a.k.a. Monica).
Newly engaged couples are often blissfully unaware of how much of a huge logistical production a wedding actually is. With stars in their eyes, they happily spend hours saving images of gorgeous wedding gowns and ethereal floral arches, or can’t stop talking about their dream wedding destination.
While the excitement of being newly engaged should certainly be savoured, Pinterest boards and scribbled notes do not a wedding make. As any wedding planner or graduated couple will tell you, like any event, a wedding requires a ton of planning, involves lots of nitty-gritty details, and needs a lot of organisation to execute well. Here are the five things you need to know for a smooth-sailing wedding.
1. You Need a Wedding Planning Checklist
Free Wedding Checklist Spreadsheet for All Your Wedding Planning To-Dos
Saving images of gorgeous wedding gowns and ethereal floral arches is one thing, and finding your vendors and organising your wedding is a whole other thing. Your wedding is probably the biggest event you’ll ever put together yourself, and if you’re not hiring a wedding planner, there are going to be a LOT of nitty gritty details to think about.
A wedding planning checklist is an important tool to help you keep track of all the items you need to prepare before your big day. Tailored to Singapore weddings, our free wedding planning checklist comes in a spreadsheet you can save and customise to suit your needs. We break down to-dos into manageable sections, lists tasks in order of importance, so you can prioritise no matter how long you have to plan your wedding.
2. You Need a Detailed Wedding Day Timeline
8a.m.: Hair and makeup
10a.m.: Solemnisation
7p.m.: Dinner reception
10p.m.: Afterparty!
If your wedding day timeline currently consists of a few times and events jotted down on a Post-It, we’re sorry to have to inform you that you have grossly underestimated the logistics and planning required for your wedding day to run smoothly. Who is going to make these events happen? What décor/documents/clothes/music do you need to bring to each venue, and who is transporting it there? Who is coordinating with the vendors about arrival times, loading bays, and setup locations? Who will play your videos and music at the right times? What time do you need to leave for your wedding portraits to beat traffic? Check out our free customisable wedding day timeline template for these and other questions you should think about when planning your day.
Free Customisable Wedding Day Schedule Template for Singapore Weddings
To create your wedding day timeline, plot out the start times of your ceremony and reception, then work backwards to figure out the rest of the event timings. For example, when your makeup artist needs to arrive depends on when your gatecrash starts, which depends on when you need to leave for the ceremony, which depends on how long it takes to get there, and so on.
The wedding day timeline also includes all the important logistical information to make your wedding events happen. Ask yourself what you need when you plan for “Set up and décor at 4 p.m.” What decorations need to brought? By whom? Where should they be set up? Note down all these details so that they can handed over to the person in charge on your wedding day.
When your big day finally arrives, you don’t want to be stressing out over who last saw the rings, or when the minister will arrive. While you don’t need to schedule bathroom breaks in military time, you should ensure you’ve planned and organised your wedding day and all of its events in a neat wedding day timeline, so that you can focus on the most important thing that day—getting married to the love of your life!
3. You Need to Appoint a Wedding Day Coordinator
You may have planned every little detail of your wedding, including crafting all the décor and saving the playlist, but you can’t style your own wedding or be the DJ because you’ll be too busy getting married! You don’t want to be handling phone calls about parking or the order of the processional; you want to be able to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime process of getting married and have the emotional and mental space to feel all the feelings.
Get a wedding day coordinator to run the show for you. This can be a professional day-of coordinator or an organised Type-A friend. Go through your spreadsheets and wedding day timeline with your coordinator and spend some time explaining all the details so they don’t need to bother you with questions while you’re getting your makeup done. Make sure you’ve included all of the contact information, locations, and item details they could possibly need. Ask your coordinator to run through your wedding rehearsal so that they can fine tune any issues that crop up, then pass the baton over to them and focus on getting married!
Amanda and Joseph’s Fun Pre-Wedding Shoot at Universal Studios Singapore by Knotties Frame
4. You Need to Delegate Tasks Clearly
Organising the whole day in advance means you’re able to delegate tasks to your bridesmaids and groomsmen, and leave yourself free to experience the deep significance of beginning a new chapter in your life. Well in advance of your wedding day, speak to each person and tell them what you need help with. Before your wedding, hand them your spreadsheets and wedding day timeline and make sure they have the relevant vendor contact information, item lists, and everything else. Try not to ask one person to be in charge of too many items; your maid of honour can’t play the march-in music and take care of the rings if she’s also walking down the aisle.
5. You Need to Share the Information
You’ve crafted the wedding day timeline, noted down the vendor contact details and arrival times, and delegated tasks to your wedding helpers. Now make sure you share all of that information with everyone involved in making your wedding happen! The easiest way to share your information is to put it all neatly in spreadsheets that you can print and hand out, and provide access to your sheets online.
Planning and executing a smooth wedding is a mammoth task that shouldn’t be underestimated. Start early, dig into the details, and organise everything well in advance so that you can hand it all over to your hired or voluntary help on your wedding day, and focus on getting married!
Feature image from Evangeline and Joel’s Ethereal Impressionist Monti Wedding by Trouve Photography
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