The ceremony is the core part of a wedding. In a traditional Hindu wedding, a wedding ceremony is a base on which the entire structure of a marriage is built. It solemnizes the vows a person takes and the promises he makes to his partner and vice versa through a well-coordinated set of rituals. These rituals are also symbolic, and they represent the love and trust between a man and his wife that are required to build a successful marriage. Therefore, planning the wedding ceremony to pinpoint precision is of utmost importance to execute everything to perfection and keep yourself tension–free on your D-day.
This article is a handy guide to help you effectively plan your wedding ceremony with precision. It provides simple tips and easy-to-implement ideas that not only add a practical timeline to each of the tasks at hand, but also help you prioritise the most important ones and tick off the rest from the list so that you can focus only on your partner and nothing else on the most special day of your life. So, follow these step-by-step guidelines and make your wedding memorable.
Prioritize the most important tasks
A wedding ceremony is a mix of events that requires the collective efforts of vendors, relatives, family members and everyone who is associated with the wedding. And to make this grand event successful and hassle-free, you have to break the entire set of events into small performable tasks so that they are easy to accomplish. Breaking them up into small tasks helps you find out which among them are the most important ones and have to be completed first. Once you prepare the list of the most important tasks, it becomes easier for you to finish them in time. For example, the most important task related to the wedding ceremony is fixing an auspicious wedding date. Then comes the preparation of the overall wedding budget and deciding on how much you want to set aside for the ceremony. The next task is to select the venue for the wedding ceremony. Thus, list all tasks related to the wedding ceremony one by one depending on their relevance and importance.
Schedule every task related to your wedding ceremony
If your wedding date is fixed and you have already prioritized the most important tasks, it is time to prepare a timeline and divide it into two or three parts like one month, 3 months and six months from the wedding. Now, assign each task mentioned above a completion schedule or a deadline by which you must accomplish those tasks. Be it the venue booking for your wedding ceremony or booking the vendors like a decorator, caterer, make-up artist, photographer or videographer/filmmaker, or florist or even buying the wedding jewellery – finish every task within the set deadline. This would ease off the pressure on you as D-day approaches and save you from the maddening rush and unnecessary headache at the last moment.
Choose the right location
Choosing the right location is very important for a wedding ceremony. It not only helps you find and select your dream wedding venue faster, but also lets you save on transportation and other costs. The ideal location for the ceremony should neither be too far from the residence of the bride nor from the local market, as lots of arrangements have to be made for the pooja and rituals. If the groom is from another city, and a train or a flight is the most convenient form of transport, then the location for the wedding ceremony should better be chosen in an area that is near the airport or the nearby railway station. Similarly, if it is convenient for the groom and most of your wedding invitees to reach your city by car or any other form of road transport, then choosing a location near the highway should be a better choice for you. Accessibility is the key factor here.
Give a thought to the theme and décor
Unlike the wedding reception where you can be on your own and true to yourself, the wedding ceremony is a graceful occasion that demands a little bit of seriousness and adherence to the customs. The rituals are based on religious activities and age-old traditions that require a lot of concentration, effort and full-fledged participation on the bride and groom’s part. The same should be reflected in the theme and décor you choose to deck up the wedding venue. It should not be funky or showy like the reception, rather the theme and décor for the wedding ceremony should be classy and elegant that shows respect to the traditions. Talk to your wedding planner or decorator well in advance and choose floral themes for the pooja and wedding mandap.
Involve seniors in the family and the relatives
A wedding is a joyful occasion that celebrates family bonding. And if the wedding reception is all about friends and roaring celebrations, your wedding ceremony is about vows, promises and self-control. So, involve the senior members of the family and your relatives in your wedding ceremony. Being aware of the traditions and customs, they would be in a better position to plan the rituals than you and guide you on the nitty-gritty involved. Delegating the task to them would not only reduce the pressure on you, but would also make these people feel valuable, important and wanted. And their immense experience on the subject would help you get all arrangements done in time.
Prepare a final checklist
No matter how well you plan and execute everything related to your wedding, there would still be one or two things that would remain incomplete in the end. So, preparing a final checklist is very important. Note down all the tasks related to your wedding ceremony on a piece of paper and put a tick mark against each task once it is finished. Do this at least one week before D-day, so that you are still left with a little bit of time to finish things if something is left out.
Conclusion
The Wedding ceremony is the foundation of your wedding. If this foundation is built correctly, it becomes easy to build the structure on it. Similarly, taking the oath, making promises to each other and performing the rituals amid chanting of hymns and mantras by the purohit in front of the parents, relatives and friends has a special feeling that is comparable to none. And once you get everything arranged to perfection and the ceremony is complete as expected, you can focus on the reception, honeymoon and the rest of the other things. Therefore, planning for your wedding ceremony is very important. The tips and points mentioned in this article remind you of the importance of planning and tell you how to effectively plan your wedding ceremony without losing your peace of mind. After all, it’s your wedding, and you should be enjoying the moment instead of running frantically here and there to make last-minute arrangements.
