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- Lifestyle · Lifehacks · Weddings Organisation

Give good no­tice and book well in ad­vance, par­tic­u­larly if the wed­ding is in peak sea­son

Many com­pa­nies re­quire de­posits to se­cure ser­vices, so en­sure funds are avail­able

Check back-up plans with all sup­pli­ers in case of mishaps Make sure all sup­pli­ers know where the venue is, es­pe­cially for out­door wed­dings

Choose your favourite blooms and tex­tures for your bou­quet and bear in mind when flow­ers are in sea­son Or­der but­ton­holes and brides­maids’ bou­quets to match De­cide if you want trail­ing ta­ble dec­o­ra­tions or clas­sic cen­tre­pieces for your re­cep­tion

Think about flo­ral in­stal­la­tions: arches, hang­ing fea­tures, flower walls... Some sup­pli­ers hire out th­ese items, so be sure to ask when get­ting quotes

Pick a cake style to suit your wed­ding. Cake ta­bles or tiers of cheese are pop­u­lar al­ter­na­tives

If you want a themed or spe­cial­ist cake, you may need to give the baker more time

Ar­range a tast­ing ses­sion to get the flavours just right Check trans­port ar­range­ments for the de­liv­ery of your cake

Con­sider how to dis­play your cake and en­sure this is set up be­fore it is de­liv­ered

Pick a caterer that suits your wed­ding style and venue Check they can pre­pare the food at your venue or if they’ll be pre­par­ing it off site

Ar­range tast­ings to fi­nalise your menu and be clear about any changes

Make them aware of di­etary re­quire­ments

If the venue comes with a bar, con­sider your tab bud­get or ar­range wel­come drinks. If not, hire a mo­bile bar or speak to cater­ers about their drinks op­tions

De­cide how to make your per­fect en­trance and speak to lo­cal sup­pli­ers about the op­tions

Check if sup­pli­ers charge by mileage or by a flat hire charge

Think about the lo­gis­tics of get­ting guests from A to B, par­tic­u­larly if your cer­e­mony and re­cep­tion are in dif­fer­ent venues

Make sure there’s enough planned to keep ev­ery­one en­ter­tained, in­clud­ing chil­dren. Hire an en­ter­tainer for the post-cer­e­mony drinks or at the re­cep­tion De­cide whether you want a band or DJ for evening mu­sic. Ask for ex­am­ples of playlists or sup­ply your own Make sure your DJ knows what your first dance song is and the cor­rect ver­sion

If you’re hir­ing sev­eral en­ter­tain­ment sup­pli­ers, co-or­di­nate set up and pack down times

Ar­range a make-up trial for you and the brides­maids. Don’t forget to make ar­range­ments for the moth­ers of the bride and groom Book man­i­cures and pedi­cures for a few days be­fore the wed­ding day Put to­gether a touch-up kit with lip­stick, pow­der and con­cealer, along with es­sen­tials such as sew­ing kit, hair­pins, plas­ters, breath fresh­en­ers and headache tablets

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