A wedding can be overwhelming and for most of us, it is the first time! There are so many questions to answer! what to do, what not to do, how to behave and how to put up a good show.
Through the chaos however, do not forget the basics!
DO!
Choose the venue carefully
Consider the weather conditions, the time of the day, the kind of people you have invited. Make sure the place is not too crammed for kids or too big for the old. Avoid picking a place that is too far from the city centre as reaching there could be inconvenient to a majority of people.
Cut songs short for performances
Its your wedding and everyone is happy for you, well most people.
Dance performances by close family and friends has become common trend especially in Indian, Pakistani and Punjabi weddings. It is always advisable to keep the performance songs short and sweet. Keep it as long as it makes everyone go aww; stop before it becomes ughh!
Be Empathetic
It is a wedding that includes two people and like it or not, there will be arguments. You might be a carnivorous whereas your partner or their family is pure vegetarian. Decoration, Catering, choice of Music … there is ample opportunity for disagreements! Be empathetic, hold your nerves and find common ground!
Shorter wedding reception
Some cultures like say Indian weddings spread the occasion over multiple days. I perform as an Indian Dj, Pakistani Dj & Punjabi Dj and see this way too many times to ignore. On the wedding day itself, you could possibly just keep the event a little shorter for the convenience of all. As with life, balance is the key!
Enjoy yourself! … everyone will also if you do ????
DON’T!
Panic
Last-minute nerves are completely normal before the wedding and anxiety reigns the wedding preparations. But a full-blown panic attack is unacceptable and totally out of place. It’s always important to keep reminding oneself that the wedding is a celebration of love and the beginning of a beautiful new life. Positivity and patience are your best friends during this time.
Take decisions without your partner
If you go alone you go faster; if you go together you go further. In a marriage, anyone would want to go furthest possible. And whilst it is tempting to have everything done your way, do not step over your partner’s wishes. A wedding is as much your day as it is your partner’s and it needs to reflect the both of you from décor to food to the guest list.
Spend too much on food
Whilst your wedding day is of utmost importance to you and signifies a myriad of beautiful emotions and lifelong memories, don’t end up spending a fortune on the food menu. Whilst this is not a culture-specific emotion I have seen this mostly in Indian and Pakistani weddings. A Punjabi Dj is a friend of mine who once witnessed a course of 32 dishes! Yup you read that right … 32!
Aim for Perfection
This is perhaps the hardest but equally important. Weddings can turn into a dangerous obsession and some people are simply obsessed with perfection. It’s a celebration that should be enjoyed and not stressed over. Nothing in life is perfect, a wedding is no different. People will forget the food, the music … but they will never forget how you made them feel.
Skip the honeymoon!
Weddings can be extravagantly expensive, and one should never sacrifice the honeymoon due to wedding expenses. A honeymoon is as important as the wedding itself. While the wedding is a grand celebration with tons of people, a honeymoon is an intimate entrance to marriage that proves to be an even better memory than the wedding itself.
The author is a Dj operating in Montreal as DjD and specializes in the Fuzion form of music. Hip Hop, Rap, Reggae, EDM, Bollywood, Indian, Pakistani, Punjabi and Bhangra music is their forte. They also perform as Corporate Dj & Private Party Dj and you can click on the hyperlinks to see videos.