Family (and their duties)

While planning for a wedding, it is always advisable to include family members every step of the way. This helps ease a lot of matters because older family members may be accustomed to making arrangements for wedding and other large events. They may also be in a position to make suggestions based on their own wedding experience. Including family members in making decisions helps to delegate responsibilities without having to spell them out. Apart from parents, aunts and uncles, involving cousins and siblings in the process allows you to discuss matters freely with someone closer to your age which helps keep your nerves down. Since the actual wedding ceremony is only of a short duration, it's important that the ceremony is micro-managed in terms of details because you may not have enough avenues to make up for last minute issues, as is possible with longer celebrations.

Delegation of Responsibilities

When people are invited to share your responsibilities, they feel important and identify with your needs. Since family members are typically bound by an affinity, it's important to make each one of them feel special about their own capabilities. When you have a tentative wedding program ready, it's time to divide tasks. You may want to begin by assessing what each member's special qualities are and how they can be relevant to the myriad requirements during a wedding. For instance, a family member who is skilled at calligraphy can be vested with the responsibility of creating personalized wedding invitations. Similarly, there could be someone in charge of arranging transportation, maintaining communications with the florists and arranging for bridal hairstyle appointments. It is to be expected that executing a wedding ceremony is never simple; it includes planning for a litany of key aspects such as planning for wedding invitations, wedding pictures, banquet, and entertainment. A step-by-step distribution of these duties amongst close friends and relatives helps ease the stress that invariably crops up during a wedding.

Some common wedding duties that could be distributed amongst family members are:

• Arrangement of caterers
• Selection of venue.
• Finding a bridal registry.
• Sending out wedding invitations
• Organizing wedding favors
• Shopping for the wedding ring, wedding gown, veil and wedding band
• Hiring a wedding singer
• Arrange wedding flowers, bouquets and decorations.
• Wedding gift registry.
• Arrange for security to prevent wedding crashers.
• Call and conduct discussions with a wedding planner
• Prepare wedding vows.
• Select a wedding photographer, pictures and album selection
• Arrange for the wedding toast and wine.
• Plan a wedding reception
• Find a practical wedding supply source
• Purchase wedding jewelry
• Order the wedding cake, look for a cake design and cake toppers
• Shop for wedding shoes
• Arrange for the actual wedding ceremony
• Plan the wedding invitation wording.
• Organize for wedding bells, shower, tiara and the announcements.
• Make applications for marriage license / certificates
• Design a wedding web site
• Get a wedding guest book
• Plan a wedding theme
• Identify an appropriate bridal store

The list above is not an exhaustive list of duties and in order to have a smooth and memorable wedding, it is important to ensure that every minute requirement is planned well in advance and delegated to responsible family members for execution.