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Linda Kevich Interview Linda Kevich shares insights with reporter Marla Caceres about how couples can enhance their enjoyment of their wedding day for an article syndicated in newspapers across the United States by Tribune Media Services, the syndicate section of Chicago Tribune. |
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Tribune Media Services: What can brides and grooms do to ensure that they will enjoy their wedding day, avoid stress, and prevent disasters? I would appreciate any insights you can offer. Linda Kevich: My recipe for a stressless, enjoyable, and disaster-free wedding day can essentially be broken down into three key guidelines: planning, attitude, and professional supervision. I'll elaborate on these for you. Let's start with planning. To a great extent, how well a couple will enjoy the wedding day itself will depend on how well they have handled the planning that goes into it. When a wedding is well planned, the potential for disasters and stress on the big day is greatly diminished, and as a result, the couple is at ease and having a good time. In a very brief nutshell, there are a few things basic things that every couple should do to help ensure a well planned wedding. The first is to start planning as early as possible. Once a firm date has been set, the couple needs to get busy making decisions early on in the process. All the details, from the biggest the smallest, need to be considered and decided upon. This way they won't find themselves constantly scrambling to make important decisions under the gun because time has run out -- that is the best way to make the worst decision. Furthermore, there are so many details to take care of when planning a wedding, its easy to overlook something if you put it off or leave it to the last minute. The more you can take care of early on, the less likely it is that you will end up feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Couples should make an exhaustive list of everything that they will need to do to plan their wedding, and create a timeline as to when they will get it all done. Then the key is to stick religiously to the schedule to make sure that everything stays on track. Falling behind schedule in the planning process can lead to very stressful situations, and a couple who is stressed during the planning process is generally a couple who is stressed on the wedding day. After decisions have been made as to the style, type, theme, and size of wedding - as well as the size of budget - you want to get going with actually booking the necessary wedding vendors as soon as possible. The best ones tend to book up very early, so in order to avoid disappointment, and to ensure your wedding is in the hands of good service providers, finalize as many details as you can early on by booking services and placing orders. This will do wonders to ensure that all goes well on the big day itself. When booking wedding services, always make sure that you provide a deposit and sign a written contract with the vendor. Anything less isn't a legally binding booking. Never rely on verbal arrangements when planning the most important day of your life. You don't want to find youself a few weeks away from the wedding only to discover that the vendors you spoke to have no recollection of their verbal promise to hold your wedding date, and that they have released the date to another couple. That can never happen if you've provided a deposit and have a signed contract to solidify the booking. And while we are on the topic of contracts, the importance of getting everything in writing cannot be stressed enough, so insist that every service provider involved with your wedding provides you with a contract which reflects your expectations and documents their obligations. Always make sure that the contract is signed by both yourself and the service provider - and then be sure to retain a copy for your records. The chances of everything going according to plan on the wedding day, without disappointment and stress, are considerably better when a written contract is involved. Now, onto my next guideline - attitude. This is potentially the single most important key to a happy wedding day: Dont sweat the small stuff! Resign yourself to the fact that things ARE going to go wrong on the big day - and that's okay! It's a rare wedding where all goes off without a hitch. With so many details and logistics to coordinate, chances are very good that the odd thing won't go precisely as planned, but it's not worth worrying about. Relax and take it all with a sense of humor. By that point, its too late to do anything about it, but it IS still within your power to control your reaction. If you let the little things upset you, you will greatly decrease your enjoyment of the day. Regardless of what goes wrong on your wedding day there is still far too much to be happy about. Keep it all in perspective, and make the decision right from the start that, on this one day, nothing will have the power to upset you, because this day it is simply too precious to allow that to happen! Keep your priorities in check and remember what this day is all about. It's about the love you have for one another, and about celebrating that love with family and friends. This is the day when you become husband and wife, and your lives become joined as one. If the flowers on the cake don't quite match the color of the table linens as well as you expected, the bottom line is, does it really matter? Little details can not be given the power to eclipse the joy that should be in your heart on such a very special day. Don't let yourself get so caught up in the details that you lose sight of the real meaning and purpose of this day. Of all the brides I have encountered in my eleven years in this business, those who are the most easy going when little mishaps occur are also the ones who report having the most fun and the best memories! Its no coincidence that guests at these weddings often report having a better time than average as well. Keep in mind that the wedding day will fly by much faster than you ever expected, if you let it. Make a conscious effort to savor the moments. Experience the day, instead of just being there. Don't let it go by in a blurr.
And finally, my third guideline for a fun, stress free wedding day -
professional supervision. Consider hiring a wedding coordinator, at
least to oversee the wedding day, if not to assist with the entire
planning process. A good wedding coordinator will help alleviate
stress by ensuring that the details get carried out just as you
planned them. She will be available to trouble shoot and take care of
any problems which may arise, so that the the bride and groom never
even know there was a problem. You are left to relax and enjoy the
day, instead of working and worrying through it. Your friends and
family deserve to celebrate and enjoy this occasion to, so they
shouldn't be burdened with tasks on the wedding day either. Today
more and more couples are hiring wedding coordinators to supervise
the event so that they can relax, have a great time, and enjoy a
stress free wedding day, leaving the details in the hands of a
professional. Couples are discovering that the services of a wedding
coordinator are very practical, and the fees are very reasonable.
While once wedding coordinators were thought of as a luxury used
mainly by the elite, increasing numbers of 'average' couples today
are using wedding coordinators to assure their peace of mind and are
finding that it is money well spent. Couples looking for a trained
wedding consultant in their area can receive a free referral by
visiting the web site for The International Institute of Weddings,
www.instituteofweddings.com, and filling in the online request form. |
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