Bridal Club Magazine

Planning Your Wedding From Long Distance

Get your act together. Get a good grip on things early on. Be organised. Pre-think everything. Get on the phone first before you take any trips to the city you are having your wedding in. See if your telephone network can offer you a special deal on toll calls while you are planning. Every trip should be one big to-do list of appointments with wedding people. Don't dawdle or procrastinate -- you have limited time actually in the wedding city. You need to be twice as organised as a local couple. Make a diary and pen closer to you than your fiancé.

Distance - the perfect opportunity to discriminate wisely
Distance can be used to your advantage. You won't have the luxury of taking forever to make up your mind. You've got a strict time frame to work within, and you need to make decisions quickly. You'll find that if you give yourselves one weekend to find a reception site, you'll find one. Distance makes you decisive.

Let those you love and trust help you for your special day
Don't be funny about accepting help, and delegate work to anyone who offers -- especially those you trust that live in your wedding city. If they are going to be at the wedding, they'll be proud that they helped make it happen for you. If they have an opinion, they can help you make wise decisions in a town you may no longer have local knowledge of. Put each bridesmaid on a mission: One can find your florist, another your DJ, and another your photographer.

The whole kit and caboodle
There's a heap of paraphernalia that goes with your wedding and it can be more than a mission to lug it to and from your wedding. Gifts, guest books and lists, dresses ... the list is exhaustive. You can help solve this by taking and storing bits and pieces with friends and family on each planning trip to your wedding city. The more you have there - the less you have to worry about on the week leading up to your wedding. Pack smart and don't forget to allow plenty of room for your dress. Whatever you buy to bring with you, you have to lug along. If you've got a ton to take home, maybe there's someone going back to the city you live in that can take them there and keep them for you until after the honeymoon.

The finishing touches
You may feel like you have twice as much to plan being long distance. Make sure you don't forget about yourselves - plan your own space to hide in for when the going gets tough prior to the big day. Make sure you've booked your hair and makeup well in advance and the groom gets his haircut before you leave your hometown. Like everything else, this takes forethought. Of all the things on your list, make your big-day look a high priority. No matter how many people rave about how smoothly everything went, all you'll really want to hear is how great you looked!