Congratulations to all of you newly engaged couples out there who may or may not have started your Calgary wedding planning! I’m sure your heads are just swimming with so many things right now. Things like: “Who are we going to invite?”, and “Where should we have the wedding?” (If you’re local, you have the extra decision of having a Calgary wedding or a wedding in the Mountains too). And, of course, “No, we haven’t set a date yet”.
Enjoy this time just being engaged before you start jumping into wedding planning. For your reading reference though, I have some tips on what to do now that you are engaged and an in-depth series about The Top 5 Things You Need to Do When Planning Your Wedding.
But you’re too excited to wait and are ready to get started with your wedding planning! Great, so here are some things you can expect…
Calgary wedding planning: Things you should know
1. Traditions will come out of nowhere
Oh, your family is very laid-back, and it won’t be a big deal to have traditional elements into your wedding? Hmm…better double check that. Based on my wedding planning experience (and as a bride!), if ever there is a time where you must do something (and in a certain way/order/timeline), it’s on the wedding day. Weddings bring out a lot of emotions, so while you may think that your family won’t care…chances are, someone, somewhere will care, so it’s best to have the discussion nice and early.
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Photo credit: Steven Michael Photography via scratchweddings.com
2. People will give you unsolicited advice
Co-workers, friends, relatives will come out of the woodwork to give you wedding advice. This is a good thing, as people want to relate to you and are not trying to question your decisions. However, sometimes it may feel that way. When someone is offering you advice, listen politely and thank them — whether you agree or not. Not every bit of advice is going to be right for you and your wedding and that’s okay.
3. Yes, flowers can cost a lot. And, yes, they really do make a difference to your wedding.
Flowers are flown from all over the world and florists have to pay high costs to order flowers in (hello, jet fuel). There are, unfortunately, just not many local flowers grown in Calgary suitable for weddings. Because flowers are living elements, florists have to deal with unpredictable issues too. Issues like poor weather for a poor growing season, which affects availability, quality and, therefore, cost. All this and we’re not even at labour costs yet! Because flower arrangements are not manufactured and mass-produced by a machine, labour can be quite intense as everything is made “from scratch”. No wonder the costs can be more steep than you think.
However, as any good designer (including this Calgary wedding planner) will tell you, flowers transform your wedding space because you are, literally, bringing life into the room. Sure, the average person may not remember what colour of flower you had in your centrepiece, but they will remember walking into the room and getting a feeling of completeness in the décor and atmosphere. Worth it? I think so.
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Photo credit: Pamela Scott Photography via Karen Tran Floral Designs
4. Sometimes, you will feel like eloping or cancelling the wedding
It’s perfectly normal. Even if you work with a wedding planner to take care of the logistics and communication in wedding planning, you still need to deal with emotions. This will likely be the biggest event you will ever plan. An event that involves inviting family and friends, treating them to fantastic food and a beautiful environment, incorporating tradition and trying to make everyone happy within a budget. And, you know, publicly declaring that you are vowing to love your bride/groom until death do you part. How can anyone not become emotional? Just know that you are not alone in this, and that you will work it out.
5. It’s okay to hire a wedding planner for help
I know, I know. You think I am biased. But I am basing this on experience. I meet a lot of couples and/or brides that are “type A” and want to be proud of the fact that they did everything in their wedding by themselves (that was me as a bride).
That’s great! And it’s an accomplishment you should be happy about. But at what cost?
Based on my own wedding planning experience, I found myself so stressed out keeping up with family demands (which only gets more intense closer to the wedding day) and organizing all the final details that I ended up doing things half-way…very not like me. No surprise, I was annoyed when things didn’t come out the way I thought they would. I also wasn’t able to spend very much time with friends and family that traveled from afar, and that is probably my biggest regret.
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Photo credit: Amanda LaChapelle Photography
What you need to know is that when you work with me for wedding planning, there is no intention of taking over your wedding and making it about me. I am not trying to relive moments as a bride and plan my own wedding vicariously through you. I want to guide you in creating your wedding vision and simplify the logistics of wedding planning for you because, well, I’ve been there (and you can give me a shout if want to talk). Don’t let your wedding planning become a nightmare when all you want to do is the fun stuff like picking out your wedding shoes and wedding hairstyle.
Join us next time for Part 2 of 10 Things You Need To Know About Planning Your Wedding.
Are you looking for help with your Calgary wedding planning (or Banff, Canmore, Lake Louise…)? Are you excited but a tad overwhelmed, or simply just too busy to do everything yourself? Drop me a line at 403.837.9667 or email me and let me know how I can help.
