photo: happyphotopeople/instagram
1. No money, no talk
Do your budget first! It’s natural for couples to want a grand wedding but there’s no point in landing in debt because of it. Decide how much you have and want to spend on the wedding before planning anything. Then stick to it. – Lee Keng Soon, accounts manager
2. Guest early
Start on your guest list early – about six months before the bg day! It’s a time-consuming process that only gets worse with a big reception. You’ll need to think about who to invite, how many seats you want assigned to different groups of people (office, friends, parents’ friends etc) and where to seat them – all of which needs time. Last-minute timeline stress isn’t going to help you plan well. – Cindy Loy, designer
photo: bobbykiranyeo/instagram
3. Choose well
Have more than one bridesmaid? Then let them choose their own dress style. You just decide on the colour or theme. It will make your life easier and you won’t make enemies out of your bridesmaids since each can choose the style that she is most comfortable with. – Jacintha Loh, marketing manager
4. Prioritised budgets
A bride always finds it hard to sacrifice any part of the wedding but sometimes you just have to for the bigger picture. I refused to spend less on my flowers at the expense of my reception budget. The flowers looked fabulous but the food was so-so. It must’ve been disappointing for my guests. – Tay Siew Cheng, office administrator
5. Control the situation
If you want a simple wedding while your parents want a lavish one, you’ll need to discuss. We gave in to our parents because we thought it was the filial thing to do. In the end, the whole affair became so big, that we spent the whole night, being pleasant and making small talk with people we didn’t even know! We didn’t enjoy that. – Madeline Teo, homemaker
6. Memo please
Always take notes during your meetings with vendors – the points that were discussed, sketches of floral arrangements and especially price negotiations. This will clear up any dispute with vendors if things don’t turn out as agreed upon. – Tan Sok Ching, corporate relations
photo: pixioo/instagram
7. Don’t forget your finace
Plan your wedding together – your significant other may have ideas that he wants to see realised. Make it a rule too, to spend time doing other things together. It will take your minds off the wedding and any fights that you might already have had. – Ben Choo, legal secretary
photo: redtapeprojects/instagram
8. Kodak moments
Tell your photographer to take various types of pictures besides the mandatory posed ones. Stills of your table decor, flowers, or even guests caught enjoying a joke add up to beautiful wedding day memories. My album’s so full of posed pictures that it’s a little meaningless after the fifth page. – Ong Lay Ying, marketing executive
9. Looks do…and don’ts
It’s fine to want to experiment with your looks, but make sure you give ample time for mistakes to be fixed. I cut my hair for my wedding for a different look. The cut was fine, but it was layered too much. My wedding day was a flat hair day! I looked miserable in the pictures. – Angelina Lau, sales
photo: samuelgoh/instagram
10. Smell the roses!
Relax and enjoy – every bride doesn’t do that enough. It’s so easy to get lost in agonising over every detail and killing yourself with the stress. But is that how you want to remember your big day? I wish I had enjoyed mine more. I lost so much weight – I looked wasted. – Anne Koh, advertising.
See also: Wedding regrets! 8 brides spill their big day mistakes, 8 time-saving wedding planning tips for busy brides-to-be, 12 wedding planning mistakes and how to solve them!