If planning a wedding were easy, we wouldn’t see quite so many elopements to Vegas. Everyone knows planning a wedding can be complex and confusing; some planning tools recommend beginning two years from the date, some say you can do it in twelve or even six months; it requires attention to details you never heard of before (a ring needs its own pillow?!) and can demand the skills of a trained diplomat. Here we present some do’s and don’ts that every couple should take note of when planning their wedding.

Do

• Be inclusive. Let your family and friends offer their input! Just because they give advice doesn’t mean you have to take it, but getting different opinions and ideas will open your mind to what you want for your wedding, and what you don’t.
• Don’t just go with the first caterer, wedding planner or destination wedding company you find on the internet. Read reviews, call the companies, and ask them for references.
• Do it together. Your wedding should reflect your personality as a couple; doing it all alone, without input from your fiancé, is a no-go even if he says he trusts you to handle everything.
• Begin a fitness program six months before your wedding. It’s okay to start (or end) with a boot camp, but it’s important to implement healthy diet and lifestyle changes for the long term rather than going on an unhealthy crash diet to fit into the dress.
• Get professional hair and makeup done rather than relying on a friend, however close you are. She will likely be in your wedding party and will have her own duties to attend to.
• Practice your first dance. If there will be dancing and one or both of you can’t dance, it’s worth investing in some basic lessons, not just so you’ll look good on the video, but so you will feel good that you have properly honoured the day.
• Have an indoor backup plan if you’re having an outdoor ceremony or reception. At the very least, have a tent or gazebo on hand that will shelter the wedding party in case of sudden storms.
• Make sure your attendants know how to bustle your dress and have an emergency kit on hand with things like safety pins, tissues and band-aids for all the little scrapes you might get into.
• Invest in Spanx. You want to feel good from the skin on out.
• Feed your vendors, the band, and anyone else who is going to be at your wedding for 8 hours.

Don’t

• Stay up late the night before your wedding, no matter how tempting it is to stay up drinking with friends or your fiancé reminiscing.
• Go without a seating plan, unless you have under 50 guests who mostly know each other, or an extremely informal setting. For larger weddings, a well thought out seating plan is essential.
• Neglect personal grooming like tans, waxing, nails and other maintenance. All eyes will be on the couple today.
• Lose control of the wedding planning – this is YOUR special day, not your mother in law’s.
• Pick a reception location that is too distant from the ceremony. A long commute isn’t fun for anyone.
• Forget to include sufficient vegetarian options in your menu.
• Forget to eat. A couple of glasses of champagne on an empty stomach is all it takes for some people to crash and burn.
• Have your wedding registry at a place that few if any of your guests can afford.
• Neglect your guests at the reception. It may be annoying that you can’t just spend the whole time gazing into each other’s eyes, but there will be plenty of time for that later.
• Last but not least…don’t forget to have fun! The day will fly by so enjoy it to the fullest!

With all the different wedding planning guides out there, which run on 12, 24 or even 36-month timelines, it can be super confusing to figure out when you should book your wedding vendors. If you have gone to a bridal show or bridal expo, your conundrum might be complicated by the fact that the vendors there insisted that you book immediately in order to take advantage of certain special offers available only at the show. That means you might have some services booked well in advance, and others not so much.

There is a general rule of thumb that if it’s a service, like the entertainment or the religious officiant, you should book right away, and if it’s a product (like stationery, gown, cake) you have some leeway, because the vendors of these products have enough product to go around to you and all the other couples getting married on that day. Too early, and you have tied up a lot of deposit money in the hands of vendors. Too late, and you run the risk of missing out on essential wedding services – or having to choose your second, third or fourth choice! Here we try to de-mystify precisely when you should book all your services.

Wedding Planner/Coordinator – 12 months out

If this person is going to be coordinating your entire wedding, it just makes sense to hire them right at the beginning, right? That way, they have plenty of time to organize your big day.

Venue/Reception Hall/Banquet Hall – 12 months out

Couples planning to get married in the popular spring and summer months (May to August) should take this a step further and book as soon as they have a wedding date, even if this is 2 years out. Having your preferred location booked means you can then start hiring all your other vendors.

Officiant: 9-12 months out

Some popular Toronto wedding venues, like the Old Mill, come with a ceremony officiant already, but if you want to hire a specific religious, spiritual or significant person to deliver the ceremony, you need to book them right away.

Caterer – 9-12 months out

Caterers appreciate the lead time, as they might be booked for multiple weddings on the same day if you’re getting married on a weekend in a popular month.

**Wedding decorator – 9-12 months out

Really, as soon as you have the venue, don’t you want to make sure it’s going to look wonderful on the special day?

Photographer – 6-9 months out

If you want a top tier photographer, we suggest booking even sooner; but there are many wedding photographers in the GTA, so this is one area where, if you’re not extremely fussy about having the best of the best, you do have some leeway. The same goes for the videographer, if you will be using one.

Band/DJ/Entertainment – 6-12 months out

Again, this is one of those subjective ones: if you have your heart set on a particular band, musician or DJ, you need to book earlier rather than later; otherwise, there are many capable acts in Toronto that you can book a bit closer to your date.

Flowers & Cake – 6 months out

While you might think you can get away with putting this off, if you want certain seasonal flowers – or certain elaborate cakes – you want to book 6 months before your date, just to be safe.

Limo – 6 months out

Seems ridiculous when the Yellow Pages are full of limousine services, but if you’re getting married in the summer, it’s also prom season – you might have trouble finding a reputable limo driver (or several) on a Friday or Saturday night.

Stationery – 4-6 months out

You can do an electronic ‘save the date’ the second you have a firm date and venue, especially since the summer months book up so quickly with planned vacations. But the actual invites can wait a bit.

Looks like you’ve got some phone calls to make!

There are few things that get brides as excited about their wedding décor as fresh, beautiful flowers. In most weddings, floral décor helps set the tone for the entire theme and provides a big dose of the elegance, but for sheer ahhhh factor, nothing can compare to the bridal bouquet itself. The problem is, when it comes to flowers, Mother Nature has given us so much to choose from that it can be hard to know where to start.

It’s always good to know what other people are doing, so you can choose whether to embrace the trends or buck them. So what colours and styles of bridal bouquets are trending in 2016?

International Floral Distributors, a consortium of leading floral distributors in the US, has released their 2016 forecast for what’s trending now. According to the IFD forecast, there are several major bridal flowers trends we’ll see this year that will provide gorgeous inspiration and emotional impact for couples and guests alike.

Simple White

With white being by far the most popular wedding dress colour for North American brides, it’s no surprise that a monochromatic theme has always been a preferred choice. This year, expect white bridal bouquets to hit the mainstream. But white doesn’t have to be stark and severe: soft, creamy pastels such as peonies in the palest possible shades of peach, lemon and pink are also trending, or for a winter wedding, try experimenting with the winter wool floral trend which involves wrapping the bouquet in wool. The key to a white bouquet is to mass just one flower variety, such as the afore-mentioned peonies, or more traditional ivory roses or calla lilies.

Majestic Purple

What bride wouldn’t want to carry the royal colour? Purple – in all its incarnations, from deep plum to pale lavender – is hot this year, valued as a magical, regal colour with romantic sophistication. Flowers to use in the majestic purple bridal bouquet include orchids, roses and carnations.

Beautiful Blue

The Lapis palette is defined by blues and whites, a classic combination that is crisp and cool. This bouquet is constructed with roses, calla lilies, peonies and the deep blues of hydrangea or delphinium.

Colourful Kaleidoscope

Brides looking to make a bold statement this year will love the trend towards bright colours and shapes that really pop. Expect colours to be big and exciting; don’t shy away from orange, coral, hot pink and even turquoise. Blooms of choice include the brightest daisies, roses, dahlias and ranunculus.

Earth Angel

Inspired by romantic English garden weddings, this wedding bouquet trend features a soft, unstructured feel and shades of blush and peach as well as natural tones. The look includes roses (of course) combined with succulents and lamb’s ear foliage for a look that’s not quite vintage. The idea is to use various types of flowers that could have been freshly picked from the garden, rather than using just one or two varieties.

Huge budget? It’s all about the luxury blooms this year, with orchids trending for those who can afford them. But with all the choice available to this year’s brides, there’s sure to be a trend that works for any budget and taste.

Hanging blooms

Don’t forget about your floral reception decorations! “If your venue has lovely grounds, choose a statement tree and have bottles hanging from branches filled with pretty blooms,” suggests Gemma. “These can make a wonderful backdrop for photos. You could also use the whole tree as an alternative wedding guest book, asking guests to write their messages on luggage tags and to tie them to the hanging bottles.

Choosing your wedding flowers is probably one of more enjoyable aspects of wedding planning – certainly a lot more fun than, say, trying to figure out how to seat your feuding families so the reception doesn’t turn into a scene from Springer. Yet even deciding on fragrant, gorgeous blooms can become more chore than pleasure if you just don’t know where to start. Many brides have a favorite flower or color scheme in mind, but even then, the floral choices can be endless and overwhelming.

A good place to start is with the centerpieces – the floral arrangements that will grace every table at the reception. While they don’t have to be identical to the rest of your floral décor, they should certainly complement it. In fact, centerpieces may constitute the bulk of your wedding flowers.

Choosing your Centerpieces

There are many things to consider when planning your centerpieces. Some of the main points to think about are:

• Colour scheme
• Flower type/combination
• Vase colour
• Vase height
• Whether the centerpieces will be taken home by your guests or not

A good place to start is with the fourth point, vase height. What is better, a tall centerpiece, or a short one? That is almost like asking what kind of bride is better, tall or short! The varieties are literally just as infinite. But there are some guiding principles that should help you decide whether to go tall or short for your wedding flower centerpieces.

Long and Tall

Your flowers say a lot about your personality. Tall wedding centerpieces tend to be more dramatic and fancier than short ones. You’ve probably heard the injunction against having tall centerpieces: the fact that your guests might not be able to see each other over the towering flower arrangements. But there are two simple fixes for that: the first is to have glass vases that your guests can see right through, and the second is to make sure that the vases are slender, and more than 24 inches tall. That way, your guests will be able to talk to each other ‘under’ the arrangements. Just make sure no blooms are at head-height.

Short and Sweet

Your options increase with short centerpieces, just because there are so many different types of short vases (or other receptacles, such as teapots, flower pots, hurricane lamps, and the like) that can be used. Generally with shorter centerpieces, the flowers within will require more arranging than with a tall centerpiece (you can’t really get away with sticking a single radiant tulip into a short vase).

Bit of Both

Don’t forget, it’s your party! There is nothing wrong with mixing it up. You can have more than one centerpiece per table, mixing tall and short creations; place short centerpieces on some tables, and tall ones on others; or change some feature of the centerpieces, such as playing with different coloured vases. A popular idea is to add shells, coloured stones, or flower petals to the tablecloth itself, to complement and enhance your centerpieces.

When it comes to your centerpieces, the sky’s the limit – tall or short or anything in between, your centerpieces should be a beautiful representation of your special day.

For more Centerpiece ideas & Inspiration – www.gpsdecors.com

Whether you read your marriage proposal on a JumboTron or saw it written in the sky, or simply shed a tear when your fiancé went down on one knee, the day he popped the question is probably one of the most memorable in your life. And the ring you wear is a reminder of that wonderful day. You might not have had a say when it came to the style, but the same can’t be said of your wedding rings – which most couples like to choose together. Here we look at the year ahead in terms of what’s trending for wedding band styles. Most jewelers agree that there are a handful of wedding ring styles we’ll see again and again in 2016.

Rose Gold

Ritani, a top New York jeweler, forecasts that rose gold will make a big appearance this year, perhaps even rivalling the white metals that have been popular in past decades. Why is the warmer colour making a comeback? Tradition goes around and comes around; yellow and rose gold are warm, romantic traditional favourites that really make a diamond pop, plus they complement more skin tones than starker white gold. Feel free to contrast them with your white gold engagement ring; after all, bling is bling.

Eternity Bands

Let’s face it: there’s nothing wrong with more diamonds. Why go for one when you can have a whole ring of diamonds?

Stackable Gemstone Wedding Rings

See above re: what’s wrong with more gems? Stackable wedding rings are generally slimmer and lighter than traditional rings, but there are more of them, so it works out. Brides can create a personal, dazzling look by stacking diamond and gemstone rings in different combinations of precious metals. The rings can further be personalized to commemorate special moments, like the birth of a child, or nod to special meanings, such as the couple’s birthstones.

Forged Men’s Wedding Bands

Let’s not leave out the gentleman. Rather than opting for classic smooth and satin finishes, rustic hammered men’s wedding bands are expected to be popular in 2015 for their artisan appeal, which has been popular since ancient times.

If you’re a lady who wants a say in your engagement ring as well as your wedding ring, you’ll be happy to know that today’s focus on finding a unique and different ring has brought many more styles to the forefront, including ‘fancy cut’ (as opposed to round) diamonds and petite settings that are both more delicate, and less expensive, than their flashier counterparts.

Whatever style of wedding ring you opt for… congratulations are most certainly in order! Don’t forget to instruct your photographer to get a shot of your wedding ring as it’s being slipped on your finger for the very first time.

When it comes to wedding traditions, some things never go out of style. Alcohol seems to be one of them. Unless you’re getting married at the crack of dawn (maybe even then), liquor is traditionally a big part of the festivities. In recent years, liquor consumption at weddings has actually increased in importance, with 92% of American weddings having some type of bar, toast or signature cocktail – and surprisingly, the majority of modern receptions (58%) are now featuring a formal cocktail hour with nibbles, in lieu of a sit-down meal.

So, about those drinks…do you really need a signature cocktail? Well, no, but it’s a great way to add a personal touch to your menu or festivities, and it can save you money if you forego the open bar and simply serve beer, wine, and just your signature cocktail. Couples who choose to go this route are then faced with the dilemma of how to find or create a signature drink that speaks to their personality, but that everyone will enjoy. Here are 3 ways to pick your drink.

Match Wedding Style

If you’re having a destination wedding, your task just got easier: there are a plethora of tropical drinks that will go well with all the warm-weather props, like coconuts and pineapples. You could probably get away with putting rum in a mason jar and calling it your signature cocktail. But if you’re staying local, the task is a bit trickier. Having an Indian wedding? Why not try a cardamom berry smash or a matcha green tea gimlet? Try matching your drink to the season, to the theme (such as a spin on the martini for a glamorous Hollywood wedding) or to your personality; we love the Blushing Bride as a simple, classy, aesthetically appealing drink that will go with any elegant wedding.

Match Wedding Colours or Flowers

Forgot something blue? Don’t worry, there’s a drink for that. With skillful use of liqueurs, you can easily match your signature drink to virtually any colour under the sun; if your drink has a neutral-coloured base, like champagne, you can add the wedding colours in the form of citrus twists, mint sprigs, berries or fruits. A signature wedding cocktail is also the perfect place to showcase the same rose petals or miniature orchids that appear in your floral wedding décor. Your guests will remark at the attention to detail.

Feature a Favourite Liqueur

Maybe you and your spouse-to-be are just wild for gin or Cointreau or crème de menthe. You can work with that! Incorporate your favourite liquor into the signature drink and create a small card that lets guests know why the drink is so special to you both, providing the recipe on the other side. Definitely a great conversation starter for your guests.

Not unlike picking paint colours, choosing a wedding palette can seem nearly impossible. With thousands of colour shades and possible combinations, it’s no wonder some brides throw up their hands and base everything around what will look good on the bridesmaids. The good news is that with a little guidance, every bride can pick gorgeous wedding colours that are on trend with what’s hot in 2016 and still stay true to her heart.

How to Choose Wedding Colours

The reason it’s important to choose your colour scheme up front is that it will ensure every decision you make from then on – from the décor to the cake to the boutonnieres – is in alignment with your colours. Regardless of the 2016 trends, there are some things a couple should always consider when choosing their wedding colours:

• Favourite colours: it just makes sense to try to incorporate your faves, if you have any.
• Favourite flowers
• What the season is: if it’s Christmas, you don’t have to automatically use colours like red, green and white – but be aware that many churches, banquet halls and reception areas will already be decked out for the season, so you might have to contend with colour clashes
• Venue: you generally have a lot more colour leeway with an outdoor wedding than with indoor spaces that may already have strongly coloured draperies, carpeting and décor

While brides of yore were limited to 3 complimentary wedding colours, Wikihow advises that modern brides can choose up to 5 colours for their wedding palette.

2016 Wedding Colours

• Rose Quartz And Serenity
• Pale Pink and Grey
• Champagne and Gold
• Navy Blue and Silver
• Peach and Gold
• Lilac and yellow
• Plum and Green

If you just can’t picture how your chosen wedding colours will work with your entire theme and décor, spend some time online looking at more trending 2016 colour palettes.

How to Use your Wedding Colours

Now that you know what wedding colours are trending for 2016, don’t forget to be careful how you use them. Your colours should:

-Complement, not overwhelm, your wedding

-Be subtle; don’t try and match everything but use variations of complementary shades

-Be tasteful. A little touch, like the flowers on the wedding cake and in the flower girl’s hair, goes a long way

-Be affordable. If you want a particular flower that’s way over your budget, go with a neutral flower colour such as cream, and match the colour to the ribbon instead.