Wedding Planning Tips. Jessica + Mark

Plan a stress free wedding with insightful tips from real couples who have already walked down that aisle. Wedding photography by Mona Ali Photography .

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Couple : Jessica + Mark
Location : Surrey
Wedding Photographer Website : Mona Ali Photography
Ceremony Location : St Giles Church, Ashtead
Reception : Ridge Farm, Capel, Surrey
Wedding Date : -

Wedding Planning Tips

1. If you are undecided about venues, go back to look at your favourites again, ideally on the same day, the right one will show itself.

2. If you are supplying your own alcohol, set up an alert for your chosen booze online (wines direct, mysupermarket etc) to let you know when prices are low.

3. Make the most of your talented friends. We had our flowers supplied and beautifully arranged, and our cake created by very good friends. This made the day more special and personal.

4. Choose where you want to save and where you want to spend. Make the use of online printing companies and create your own invites, orders of service and table plans for much cheaper and you can make them exactly how you would like them.

5. Ask your friends to choose a song each that they would like to have a dance to, then download and make a playlist for after your band/DJ.

6. This seems obvious but time rushes by, allow time during the day to mingle with your guests as they are the ones you want to enjoy your day with.

7. We chose to buy our own suits for the ushers. When you add up the price of hiring a suit and then a separate gift, the cost of buying a suit can be equivalent. Get the lads measurements and keep an eye out on the sales/outlets.

8. Check out local breweries. We were getting married away from home and felt it was a nice touch to bring our local beer and cider with us, buying direct to keep costs down.

9. As well as looking beautiful on the day it is important to feel comfortable. When trying dresses try to keep this in mind as you will be able to relax and enjoy things even more.

10. Consider using a close friend to act as MC. Ours helped to make things run smoothly and was a great addition to the day. Give him/her and the ushers a list of rough timings and introduce them to the venue staff, caterers and photographer. That way there is a contact point that can deal with any issues on the day.

Mona, our wedding photographer, was recommended by another photographer and when we met she was very easy going and we liked her approach to wedding photography a few formal shots but otherwise to blend in with the buzz of the wedding and capture the true feeling of the day. We absolutely loved the photos! Mark went through them all with his 94 year old grandmother who was sadly unable to attend and she commented afterwards that she felt like she had been there with us on the day. We have since recommended Mona to our friends who are using her for their upcoming wedding in July. We booked Mona 5 months before our wedding day. You should ensure you book your wedding photographer as early as you can.

When choosing a wedding photographer try to take as many recommendations as you can and to look through the photos they have taken of other weddings, ideally weddings with different styles to get a feel for how the photographer works. Also important to meet with the photographer before making the decision to check that you get on well as they are a big part of your wedding day even if you are wanting just natural shots.