Last Updated on 28/10/2022 by Above Diamond
Hosting a wedding is no easy task. It is considered an important step into planning a prosperous love life, many couples try to find their way through the dark in planning their own wedding, some make it and some do not. Not all weddings will come out as planned, would it not be better if you had a “Wedding Checklist” to help ensure your wedding dreams are fulfilled, giving you peace of mind.
A “Wedding Checklist” is considered an important part of planning the biggest event of your life because there are many details and steps in planning for a wedding. You may need a systematic planning format, and if you had the helping hands of an organizer, the heavyweight on your hand will feel significantly lighter.
But if you want to save the organizer’s budget to save it as a family starting fund, and choose to plan the wedding on your own, you will have to go through the worry on the topic of whether or not the wedding will come out as planned.
Because most couples will only have one opportunity to plan for their once in a lifetime wedding, as it is a big event, it is difficult to find out where to start their checklist on.
Even though weddings can have many forms, themes, and methods – the main principles and steps are still similar. Today we have brought to you the steps in planning a wedding in the form of a wedding checklist that will help you and your lover be on point in every step of the way towards your special day.
1. “The Talk” Between Both Families
Before you and your lover move on to planning the wedding in other sections, let us start on the first step. It can be said that this is a simple step, but in that simplicity, it could also be said tha
t there are complicated nuances hidden within.
Once you and your lover have agreed to marry, the first thing on the wedding checklist is to talk to the parents, set a meeting date for both families to discuss the different details of the wedding because Thai wedding traditions differ from the international or Western wedding traditions where the couple will be the ones deciding the format of their wedding, unlike in Thailand where a lot of the elders’ comments will be taken into consideration.
Because Thai people will have a considerably conservative tradition, especially in regards to our elders and following traditions. We should pay respect to the parents of both sides, letting them know the direction you plan to take for your wedding.
The direction of the wedding that is discussed by both families will be in the form of a large scope plan, to help the bride and the groom see the big picture so that they may know what details they will have to prepare for the wedding. For example, the time of the wedding, the type of ceremony – Thai, Chinese, Western, or the other beliefs and traditions each family upholds.
If both sides of the family are conflicted in the format of the wedding and are not seeing the same picture – the bride and the groom may have to give some time so that both families settle on something they both agree to before setting a wedding date and moving onto the next items on the wedding checklist.
2. An Auspicious Wedding Date
Once you have set an estimated wedding time from the agreements of both families, the next step on the wedding checklist is to set a specific wedding date. By Thai traditions, advice can be asked from a monk or seers to find an appropriate and auspicious date for the wedding to be set in.
Even though it may seem to be “just a belief” but we see it as an important aspect of a wedding because it is considered an action which will give ease to both sides of the family. However, you should prepare yourself as often as other couples may choose the same auspicious wedding date as you, so on that specific date, there may be many weddings happening as well.
What that means is that the location costs or overall wedding costs may go up because of the high demand and low supply of location, this could be a major problem if you reserve the location too slowly.
But if you and your partner does not necessarily care about an auspicious date and want to avoid hosting your wedding on the same day as other people, you can choose a date which is most convenient to you – a date in which the bride, the groom, the elders, and the esteemed guests are all available. Some couples could also choose a date that is meaningful to them.
3. Set an Overall Budget
Setting a budget is one of the most important items on the wedding checklist and you should practice these skills right now, as a beginning to planning your family’s finances, so that in the future you will not face any hiccups.
What you should do is set a budget for the wedding, dictating what the final cost will be. With this in mind, you can try calculating an estimate of the wedding – what is the size of your wedding and how much that will cost. Once done, compare the costs to the financial situation of you and your lover, how are your savings like, will the families be supporting the wedding and when do you plan to give back the wedding costs. You should try to plan your budget so that it will not affect your married life later on.
If your financial status is not liquid but a wedding is on the way, if the wedding date is several months or a year away, the bride and the groom could create a savings plan to accommodate for the costs of the wedding.
Read more: The wedding costs manual for couples across all budgets
4. Select the Venue
The next item on the wedding checklist is finding the right location. Once you have set the overall budget, you should haste to reserve a location early on so that you will not need to be in a long queue, being unable to find a wedding venue. Doing this will also enable you to inform the esteemed guests in advance.
Other than this, the location costs will take the biggest portion of the budget and is considered the most important step of the wedding checklist. That is why finding a location that has great value and is of liking to both the bride and the groom is important. Keep the budget in mind as your number priority, followed by the convenience and the appropriateness of the location to your wedding.
If you plan to have a large-sized wedding, you could set it at a luxurious hotel but if your wedding is medium to small-zed, the venue may not need to be set at a luxurious hotel. It could instead be set at a club, a restaurant, or other small events venues as well as the homes of the bride or the groom – all is possible.
5.Prepare for the Pre-Wedding Shoot
Even though the pre-wedding shoot may seem like a small item on the checklist, it is actually a major component in making the components of the wedding complete. Its purpose is to show photographs of the bride and groom showing their love for each other romantically and heartwarmingly.
Your pre-wedding photos can be used in many ways, it could be used anywhere from a part of your wedding invitation cards to a part of your wedding presentation.
A pre-wedding shoot can be done at any time, it does not need to be set on a specific date. You and your partner only need to find a photographer that fits the theme and format of your wedding, agree on the price and date, and then break the ice with your photographer so that on the date of the shoot you will not end up being camera shy.
As for the location of the pre-wedding shoot, you should refer to the format of the wedding. You can also find a pre-wedding shoot package where you can shoot both outdoors and studio versions or if you have an adequate budget, you could set a pre-wedding trip to another exotic to make your pre-wedding photos even more romantic and elaborate.
For the pre-wedding outfits, do not fret over it too much because according to the wedding checklist you will not have to wear your actual wedding outfits. You only need to rent them or you could also wear normal clothing.
อ่านต่อ: 7 steps to selecting perfect pre-wedding shoot locations
6. Prepare the Invitations
You can start inviting your guests after selecting the date and reserving the location. Some couples with a limited budget may have to reduce the size of their wedding and in turn the number of guests. If that happens, you will need to plan with your partner who you should invite – who is important in our lives and how do we break the news to the uninvited guest so that they may not feel disheartened.
The invitation can be done in many ways, it is entirely up to the bride and the groom. For example, if the guest will play the role of the witness to the wedding or will play an important role in the ceremony, you may have to inform them ahead of time to make sure that they may join our wedding.
The bride and the groom can also invite guests personally to give out wedding cards as a gesture of respect to the guests who are coming to the wedding. This method can work for both elders, relatives, and close friends of the couple.
As for other guests, if your relationship with them is not seen as close, you can invite them by sending a wedding card to their house.
7. Wedding Attire, Makeup Artist and Hairdresser
This is considered a very important step because this is the step that will announce to the world that you and your partner, the bride and the groom of the wedding, are indeed the highlight of the wedding. You both should look the most brilliant and outstanding at the wedding, with this being said, do not forget to consider how much of the budget you reserved for the wedding attires and what the arrangements are like.
You should start your search for your wedding attires early on so that you may try on many versions and styles to see which is the best fit for you and your wedding.
It is important that you and your partner try to retain your current weight, or better yet, try to slim down before the wedding date so that you may wear your chosen wedding outfit even more elegantly.
Other than this, if there is a change to your body shape, you should hurry to consult the wedding tailor so that they may change the outfit to fit your current body. As for the makeup artist and the hairdresser, if you want a renowned top-of-the-field expert, you may have to book them early on so that they may reserve a queue for you.
8. Selecting the Wedding Rings
Wedding rings are a tradition which is essential to the wedding. It is an evidence of you and your partner’s love, it is an agreement that you both will love each other until the very end – and to cement those sentiments, completing the wedding, you should select wedding rings that will truly stand for the love you share for each other. In this search, you should be meticulous whilst also keeping in mind the budget you have so that you may find diamond rings with a quality worthy of its prices.
You should begin the search at least 3 months prior to the wedding date so that you may have adequate time to agree on a diamond ring style, select the diamond carat and quality, and then order the ring so that it will be finished in time for the wedding.
But the more time you have, the better – because we will be able to plan and select a diamond engagement ring style that you and your partner like best.
Initially, we want to recommend you to use the 4Cs of diamonds to examine and select a diamond that comes with a diamond certificate to ensure that the diamond you end up wearing will be of high quality and exact to the specifications you want.
Read more: Wedding rings: the only guide you and your partner should read
9. Select the Format and Details of the Wedding – Food, Ceremony, and Decorations
As for the steps after this, there will be quite a lot of minor details. If you have chosen a hotel or other location that comes with a package deal, it will help you save a lot of time because you will have many options regarding the details of the wedding. Such as the decoration, the food or menu, and the music band. It saves you a lot of valuable time because you will not have to speak to many service vendors.
But if you have chosen to stray away from the package deals, you will have to pay great attention to the details – ensuring that no major components are left out. You could try asking the best man or the bridesmaids that have had experiences dealing with a wedding to help you with planning the wedding and making sure everything goes smoothly on the day of the wedding.
10. Prepare Body and Mind
Once everything is planned out and ready. It is time for the bride and the groom to prepare themselves, enroll in a bride’s course so that the bride may be the most beautiful and outstanding one of her wedding. Or if any couples are planning to have children right after the wedding, they can choose to perform a health check-up at a hospital so that they may begin to plan on how to safely start a family.
Conclusion: Don’t worry, have fun at your Wedding
Even though everything we have mentioned in this article may seem to have many details and subtleties, making it seem like there are many tasks to be done in only a limited amount of time.
But if you do not overthink everything and try to stay with the present, you will be able to see a picture of your perfect wedding in your own style and how close it is to becoming reality. Even though it is only a small event that is not the most luxurious or extravagant, you will still be able to create many smiles, plenty of laughter, and even more memorable moments for both you and your lover as well as your proud parents whose heart is filled with joy to see their children start the next chapter of life.
And just like that, the most important day of you and your partner will be inscribed into an undying and eternal memory.
If there is an opportunity, we will gladly take part in helping you create this undying memory by crafting a diamond ring for you. Specially designed by your vision, decorated meticulously with only the diamonds that have gone through our selection, and brilliant in every way – so that it will truly be worthy as a symbol of your love. It is a ring that will be by your side anywhere you go, acting as a reminder that you and your partners’ love will always be there no matter what.
Our congratulations are in order for you and your partner, we wish you the greatest of times in your married life.
