Wedding rings are the most visible signs of marriage. They have long been a part of history and they haven’t always been made out of metals. Ivory, leather, bone and glass, along with precious metals, have all been used to represent what wedding rings still represent today – eternal life together. Shopping for wedding rings is one of the more enjoyable tasks of planning the big event, but with so many beautiful styles to choose from, it can become overwhelming.

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Most soon-to-be-married couples don’t think outside the box when it comes to wedding transportation. They open the telephone directory, search for limousines and then start calling around to find out which company is the least expensive. While a limousine is quite appropriate, it’s also so very common. If you want your wedding day to stand out, you’ve got to get creative. Here are some transportation issues to consider beforehand and some alternative transportation ideas you may not have thought about.

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Probably no other part of wedding planning causes as much frustration and ill-will as the guest list. Just who will be present to bear witness to the big event is something that no family has ever been able to totally agree on. Sure there are those fairy-tale weddings where money is no object, but even those weddings have their limits. More often than not, it is the case that some of the prospective guests never actually make it onto the final guest list. And you know what? As devastating as it may seem at the time, it really isn’t the end of the world for those who don’t get invited.

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When planning the wedding, work backwards from the ‘big day’ according to the timeline presented below.

Six to twelve months before your wedding date is the time when you need to make most of your reservations and put down deposits. You’ve got to get a rough but fairly accurate estimate of the number of guests you’ll have because each wedding location can accommodate a certain number of people and you want a location that can comfortably accommodate everyone. Here’s what needs to be accomplished during this timeframe.

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The day you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. Your partner has proposed marriage and you’ve emphatically said ‘YES’! Now what do you do? The answer to that simple question will make a tremendous difference in how the real ‘big day’ plays out. Gone are the days when weddings were simple affairs that took place on family farms with all the neighbors pitching in to help. Today the bride and the groom are the ones calling all the shots. Others will try to get involved, but overall, it’s the two people getting married who decide what’s going to happen, when and how.

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Long after the last guest has left the reception you and your spouse will have your wedding photography or videography to look at when you want to re-live the joyous occasion – hopefully, that is! When it comes to planning your wedding photography or videography, the most important aspect is to have an idea of the wedding memories you want to capture. And then you’ve got to work on finding someone with the right experience and who has a personality you can work with.

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Wedding invitations do more than tell who, what, where and when. Wedding invitations set the overall tone of the event. From the way the invitation is addressed on the outside to the font used for the text inside, a wedding invitation says whether the event will be formal, casual, grand, intimate, themed, traditional, or something entirely different. Who could have imagined that an invitation to a wedding could say so much?

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There’s a saying about gifts and that is, ‘It’s better to give than it is to receive.’ Now if you ask couples who have had weddings, they’ll probably tell you that on their special day, they received some of the nicest gifts ever, so these people might not agree with this saying. But whether it’s for better or for worse, gifts given by the bride-and groom-to-be are certainly part of the wedding tradition.

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To eat, drink and be merry! That’s the real reason guests love attending wedding receptions. Because food and fun go hand in hand, many couples plan their wedding food and wedding drinks at the same time they’re planning the reception.

And even though the majority of wedding receptions are held during the evening, this doesn’t have to be the case with yours. If you’re working on a tight budget, instead of planning a nighttime sit down-style reception, consider arranging a morning, brunch, lunch, or cocktail reception. They can be just as festive, but at a fraction of the cost. To set the tone, select a location with a pleasant daytime view. If you prefer an evening reception, a buffet dinner will cost less than a sit-down dinner as will a paid bar versus an open bar.

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A wedding is first and foremost about the celebration of two people uniting for eternity. It’s always been this way and will continue to be this way. Guests are invited to share in the joyous occasion but also to bear witness to the union. There is something about standing before all those who are special to you and making lifelong commitments for others to hear. And that is really what transforms two people into a married couple.

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