Choosing your TEAM for the big day

There are so many people involved in bringing together a successful wedding, don't you know! I call them TEAM ACE (ace is our initials - cheesy I know). Each of them has a part to play in making your special day come together, it's really important that you take time to choose your team members properly.

In TEAM ACE we have:

- our church and officiant
- our reception venue
- day of coordinator
- photographer
- videographer
- caterer
- designer and printer
- bridal and grooms wear
- seamstress
- cake maker
- hair and make up
- registry

Anyone who knows me, knows that I research to the end and if I need to find out something, I will be on Google quicker than you can say 'can you find..?'

We started 'planning' our wedding back in September 08 and I refused to buy any bridal magazines until the New Year, because I wanted to see how far I could get with the Internet only, plus it'a cheaper, right! I was amazed at all the things I could find. There were different websites, blogs, e-zines all about weddings, showing inspiration ideas, actual weddings, DIY projects - you name it. Some of my favourite are listed to the right of the post.

I also found that because there are no geographical boundaries online, you can get the opinions and insight from people across the Globe and are not restricted to things that are local. This really helped me when I was looking at traditional Nigerian weddings to get an idea of what to expect.

Alongside all of this, when I got engaged one of my bridesmaids bought me a wedding planning binder, which was a fantastic gift - thanks Em! It arranged all the different things you need to do into sections and allowed you to do your research, make notes and plan for your wedding. I also bought 'The Wedding Book' by Mindy Weiss, which I had seen recommended online. Mindy a world renowned Wedding and Event planner, put all her planning advice and tips down into a wedding book and I found it particularly useful especially around wedding etiquette and traditions.

(image source)

Brides to be out there -  in all of this make sure you have a clear idea what you and your fiancé want for your wedding, because it will help you as you make decisions around who to work with and what is or isn't important for your special day.

Over the next couple of weeks we will begin our 'How we chose our...' mini series - so stay tuned. We won't be revealing some vendor details until after the big day, but we will give you insight into how we chose them.