Steps to Planning a Wedding

A wedding is (hopefully) a once in a lifetime experience and therefore, it's essential that you plan in advance to make it memorable. This article discusses steps to planning a wedding for guys.

Having gotten over your commitment issues and having made the decision to get married (read gotten engaged), you think that all the major decisions of life have been finally made and all that remains is to plan the wedding. Having gotten over and overcome your 'Fear of Commitment' which is probably one of the toughest things ever, guys like me think that planning for a wedding will be easy (a cake walk to be precise). How difficult can that be? Right? Wait till you start planning for the wedding cake! This viewpoint gets a drastic jolt when you sit with your fiancee and calculate the estimate of the 'dream wedding' planned by her and get to know the complexity of the task! This article will elucidate the steps to planning a wedding for guys, who intend to play a proactive role in this largely female dominated job!

I can see that question crystallizing in your mind. Why subject yourself to the tedious job of planning a wedding, when your fiancee and her troupe of bridesmaids have taken over the job so willingly? The reason is, it's your wedding too, you know! Though you will have to eventually given in to the stubbornness and guile of the female mind, at least you can try to wrest things a little bit and do some things your way that day! This is the first of several things that you will plan together in the future as a couple. Your initiative in taking an active part (may) lessen the stress on your fiancee who will spend half her time in worrying about her wedding dress! So, let us see what are the steps to planning a wedding especially for guys!

Steps to Planning a Wedding for Guys

The first and foremost among the steps to plan a wedding for guys is preparing yourself for the wedding. You have decided to go for it and you are going for it but as the day approaches, you may start feeling the jitters. Don't worry, this happens with everybody. It is a final resounding end to your single life forever. Things will be different now. Be ready to think as 'We', rather than 'I', as your fiancee and your wife-to-be must have abundantly made clear already. Also be ready for a huge financial drubbing which will probably drain a big part of your savings till date! However, thankfully, it's definitely worth it! Here I mention the steps to wedding planning, in which the guy can actually be involved and play a major role and exclude the steps which generally fall into the domain of your fiancee's expertise.

Deciding on the Venue

This is one of the major decisions when it comes to planning a wedding, which you must participate in. You could plan a beach wedding if that is what you have always dreamed of. Explore all the possibilities and options and narrow down a list of venues. Then your wedding budget plans and other logistical necessities will narrow your choice down further. Advanced wedding planning can make most scenarios possible and venues available!

Food Menu

This is the aspect of a wedding where your opinion definitely will be taken in to consideration. If you don't get to decide your wedding menu, who decides? See to it that your favorite dishes are included!

The Band

This is something which will be a simple decision if you two share the same kind of taste in music. If you don't, be ready for the battle! However, it's best if you go for a band that appeals to both of you, as the wedding dance and music set the tone of the whole event. Make sure that you book your band as early as possible, as they usually have busy schedules.

The Guests

The seating arrangement of the guests is something which will be best decided by your better half. Only women can understand the subtleties of who should be put next to whom and for what reason. Don't forget the 'ex-factor'. See to it that her ex-boyfriend or boyfriends get invited so that they know whom she chose and why!

Wedding Vows

The most important thing! If you get nothing else right, you may be forgiven but not if you are not up to the mark when it comes to wedding vows! Your vows need not be spectacular. Sincerity and simplicity of the vows are the two things that will appeal to her!

Best Man

This choice is entirely yours. The best man has to be the most trusted of your friends, that is your best friend, who knows you like the back of his hand. He is the one who will be the guy you talk to when you get the jitters or feel like running away on the wedding day!

So, this was some advice on steps to planning a wedding, which you will be talking about for the rest of your lifetime. One last piece of advice. Look at the big picture and the smaller pieces will fall into place. Be ready for one of the most enriching experiences of your life!

By Gray Pilgrim