Of course, you can call on the help of a wedding planner who will orchestrate the event for you. Some will work within your budget and others charge a fortune. Services include finding a venue and sourcing suppliers such as photographers, florists and cars. They will often take the strain on the actual day by liaising with suppliers, guests and the venue.

If you opt to organise the event yourself, here are some tips for what you need to think about in the build up to the big day.

Getting started

Tell your friends and family about your news, maybe put an announcement in the press and start to think about whether you want a best man or woman – it’s nice to ask them when you tell them your news.

On the financial front, you need to think about setting a budget. The average wedding last year cost £17,000. You can hold a wedding for a few thousand or really push the boat out but you need to decide how much you want to spend early on. It is a good idea to open a wedding bank account so you can start saving towards the big day.

Once you start shelling out money, you should consider taking out wedding insurance. This will cover a wide range of eventualities. The top five claims are wedding attire damaged, having to re-take the wedding photos, cancellation of the wedding due to an illness or bereavement, caterers not turning up and loss of wedding rings.

The next important step is to decide on a date and find a venue. As some wedding venues and suppliers get booked up a year in advance you may need to be flexible on dates or start planning at least a year in advance.

You also need to book the registrar through your local council. Officially registrars only have to allow you to sign the civil partnership register and don’t have to celebrate your event. Hopefully, most will not be homophobic and will agree to conduct the ceremony at the registry office or at a licensed wedding venue. There are around 3,500 licensed wedding venues across the UK, ranging from hotels to football grounds, from castles to ships.

When you visit the venue, discuss all the options such as having outside caterers, menus on offer, vegetarian or special diets, any extras such as hire of cake stand and knife, equipment for DJs etc. Some venues will have lists of preferred suppliers. You also need to find out policies on cancellation and minimum numbers.

At least six months in advance you should book your transport, photographer, videographer, florist, musicians, entertainers, toastmasters and order stationery. You need to check that any suppliers have the necessary public liability insurance.

Make sure you arm yourself with a list of questions before you discuss your arrangements, for example, do you want a theme or a particular colour scheme. This could follow through from your invitations to your flowers, to your attire and table decorations.

At least four months before the big day, you should start any fitness regime, if you are concerned about fitting into your outfits or you just want to look radiant on the day. You also need to purchase wedding rings, order your wedding cake, choose a gift list company, make a draft of the invitation list and organise your outfits.

You should send out invitations, including accommodation options and gift list information. Many of the big stores such as Selfridges, Debenhams and Argos have gift list services. You tell them what you would like on the list and people can ring up or sometimes search online to choose what they want to give you. You could also select a charity for people to donate to instead of gifts.

If you want to give people wedding favours – little gifts for them to take away, you should either order these or start making them. There are online stores that specialise in gay themed favours.

Two months before the big day, finalise your honeymoon arrangements, book any vaccinations you might need if you are going somewhere exotic and organise your going away outfit. You should write any personalised wedding vows and book a rehearsal with the registrar.

You need to print order of service sheets and contact local or national newspapers to announce your civil partnership ceremony.

In the final month, chase up any unanswered invitations and draw up a list and seating plan if you are having a formal sit down meal. Write out place cards. Confirm final numbers with your venue and caterers. Double check with all your suppliers that everything is booked.

Make hair appointments for the morning of your big day. Organise any pre-wedding party you might want – the equivalent of stag or hen nights.

Book your travellers cheques or foreign currency if you are going abroad for your honeymoon.

Type up a list of shots you want your photographer to take.

The day before, you might want to arrange for your honeymoon luggage to be delivered to the hotel if you are staying overnight. Have any pampering treatments you need. Make sure the rings are ready, that someone is picking up flowers for any buttonholes and have a good meal to sustain you through the next day. Try to relax!

On the day itself, enjoy yourself – you deserve it!

Nicola Hill is a director of Gay Friendly Wedding Venues, a website promoting venues and suppliers for the Big Day. She is also a journalist, having written for numerous magazines and editing publications such as The Guardian.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicola_Hill

Yousaytoo.com is the popular entertainment site. This site becomes so popular since it provides people with much entertainment news, information, and services either. One example of the information that you can get in this site is information about the new hotel Dubai. In this page of site, you will be informed the very detail information about the hotel in Dubai. These detail information including the price, the location, the facilities, the travels, even the comment from the other people who somehow already visit the hotel.

Another entertainment program that is presented in this site is the option that able you to make your future baby. This service gives you visual imagination about your future baby. The system that is applied in this service is that the programmer combining and mixing yours and your spouse picture to get the real future visual picture of your baby. This technology is able you to get the further real imagination of your baby. At the end, you can suit this picture and your future baby, whether the picture is much looked like or not. Surely this will give you much fun. The last offers or the other entertainment thing that you can get from this site is monkey defense. This is a really interesting offer for you who really like playing games. These games are really easy to play so that you will get so much fun in this site.

If you are looking for a lovely family run 3 Diamond Bed & Breakfast in a restored Victorian listed building, then the Athena Hotel in Sussex Gardens W2, located in a beautiful tree lined avenue, is what you are looking for. Seven minutes walk from Hyde Park, the Athena Hotel is Ideally located being the perfect choice for holiday makers, business executives and shoppers. Being minutes by taxi to London’s West End, Knightsbridge and not far from the city, this is the ideal base to explore London. A short distance from Paddington Station, many more attractions are located a short distance of the hotel
including restaurants, shopping, Madame Tussaud’s, Oxford Street and Marble Arch or if you prefer being only two minutes from Paddington station, Hyde Park and being close to Lancaster Road and Bayswater Road, then the Shaftesbury Premier London Paddington on Westbourne Terrace, is set back in a private terrace but accessible from all major routes into and out of the heart of London and offering spacious executive, family and standard rooms, with rooms being en suite and having been designed to make your stay as comfortable as possible with warm colours and furniture. All rooms have a plasma TV and complimentary 24/7 broadband internet access, with their Eclipse Bar/Restaurant being a sophisticated, spacious and elegant dining and meeting point for friends and family.

In Orchard Street W1, the Selfridge hotel combines traditional comfort with the convenience of modern facilities. This deluxe hotel offers the best in service and a relaxing atmosphere. Guests can choose from a sumptuous selection of executive rooms, studios and suites. Rooms are equipped with modem points along with Wireless Internet in all bedrooms, meeting rooms and public areas. Situated in the heart of the West End with Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Street, Regent Street and Selfridges being just a short walk away. The exciting night life of the West End waits on the hotel’s doorstep. If you prefer your hotel to be in a garden square and just a few minutes walk from Hyde Park and Paddington
station then try the Quality Crown Hotel Hyde Park in Talbot Square Paddington, this contemporary yet classic hotel is renowned for its hospitality and surprisingly tranquil location. The hotel is just 15 minutes from Heathrow Airport via the Heathrow Express. And in spite of its quiet location, you will find unparalleled access into the heart of London. With Oxford Street, Kensington and Marble Arch being near. The attractive town-house style blends with the up to the moment amenities including wireless and ADSL high speed internet access, flat screen TV and on-demand movies and music.

In a lovely tree-lined street in Sussex Gardens sits the Gower Hotel, a small family-run bed and breakfast hotel. The Gower Hotel is conveniently situated in the Paddington and Hyde Park area. The owners, the Stavrou family, pride themselves on providing a personalised service, making their guests feel very comfortable along with reception staff assisting with directions, sightseeing and theatre bookings. Being within close distance of Paddington station, restaurants, shops and famous London attractions, the Gower is also near Hyde Park, Madame Tussaud’s, Oxford Street, Marble Arch and many more attractions. With the Best Western Shaftesbury Paddington Court hotel on Devonshire Terrace being only 300 metres from the Heathrow Express Terminal and yet set amidst traditional surroundings that recapture some of the elegance and charm of Victorian England, this hotel is ideally located for both the business and leisure traveller. Being in a perfect central point from which to explore London, near to the Paddington and Lancaster Gate underground stations with Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Marble Arch, Edgware Road and Oxford Street are all within five to fifteen minutes walking distance.

Friendly service ensures that your stay in the Queensway Hotel in Sussex Gardens will be an enjoyable one. Ideally situated for shopping in Oxford Street, Bond Street and Knightsbridge. The Queensway Hotel is located next to Hyde Park in Paddington, Central London. They provide a high standard of comfort which combines nicely with a wide range of facilities. All rooms have private baths and/or showers and toilets, television, direct dial telephones, tea and coffee making facilities, trouser presses and hairdryers. Both Paddington and Lancaster Gate Underground stations are close by and there are also several bus routes giving service to theatres, museums, galleries and historic monuments. Being in one of the most desirable areas of London, the Abbey Court Hotel Hyde Park, is located in the quiet tree-lined avenue of Sussex Gardens and provides an ideal base for exploring London. Being popular amongst tourists and business guests because of its location and reasonable rates, it is close to Oxford Street and Marble Arch for shopping and within a three minute walk of Hyde Park which offers jogging,
cycling, sailing and riding facilities. Within a five minute walk are the Paddington, Lancaster Gate and Edgware Road stations, numerous bus routes, as well as the Heathrow Express and Air Bus Link (A2) to Heathrow Airport. Also within easy reach are the famous tourist attractions of the West End including theatres, museums and London’s shopping centres.

The Four Star Shaftesbury Premier London Hyde Park hotel on Westbourne Terrace, offers 119 rooms, while being situated close to London’s Hyde Park and only three minutes from Paddington Tube and the Heathrow Express. Originally The Hyde Park Paddington, the hotel was renamed as The Shaftesbury Hyde Park Paddington being newly refurbished in March 2006 and is now fully air conditioned. Offering spacious executive rooms, family rooms and standard rooms to meet the guests requirements, the rooms have been designed to make your stay as comfortable as possible with the choice of warm
colours and furniture. Each room being provided with 24/7 complimentary broadband access, direct dial telephone, interactive TV and supplying you with tea and coffee making facilities. Offering a splendid base for your stay in London, the Abba Queen’s Gate Hotel in Queen’s Gate SW7, has been kept in its original classic Victorian splendour, with freshly refurbished rooms offering a wonderful mix of classic and contemporary style and offering bathrooms that have both tubs and a shower. Family rooms are spacious and offer comfortable living space when staying. All the rooms have free tea and coffee making facilities, modem-point telephones, wifi and work desk along with Pay-movies, Terrestrial TV and radio channels.

The Westpoint Hotel in Sussex Gardens Hyde Park, is always a popular choice with tourists and business guests alike because of their excellent location and reasonable rates. The Westpoint has excellent access to all the famous attractions whilst being located in the quiet, tree-lined avenue of Sussex Gardens. With a choice of 71 bedrooms, all with private showers and toilets and having the convenience of there being lifts to all floors. Close to Oxford Street and Marble Arch for shopping
and only a three minute walk of Hyde Park which offers jogging, cycling, sailing and riding facilities. Looking for hotel in a former stately Victorian terraced town house, then the Darlington Hyde Park in Sussex Gardens, offers high standard accommodation with modern facilities, which ensure that the expectations of both the business and leisure traveller are fully met. Less than a 5 minute walk from the Heathrow Express terminal at Paddington station, this 40 bedroom converted hotel prides itself on its attention to detail, cleanliness and hygiene combined with a high level of professional customer service, ensuring that the Darlington Hyde Park is always an enjoyable stay. The Darlington Hyde Park
prides itself on being a strictly non-smoking establishment.

With a dedicated ‘Business & Service Centre’ offering secretarial support, word-processing, photocopying and faxing the Radisson SAS Portman Hotel on Portman Square is dedicated to the needs of both the business traveller and those on holiday. Located in a secluded corner of picturesque Portman Square near Marble Arch, the hotel is in the heart of London’s West End, with Selfridges, Marks & Spencers and the famous shops of Oxford Street and Bond Street being just a few minutes walk away. Hyde Park is also just around the corner offering a peaceful haven in which to walk and relax. There is also a mobile telephone hire facility, and in addition, business travellers will appreciate the hotel’s close proximity to the commercial districts. Alternatively, Paddington Court Rooms in Devonshire Terrace, is situated just a five minute walk from Paddington station. This hotel is ideally located for many of London’s top attractions including Hyde Park and Oxford Street. Offering 17 guest rooms all of which have private en suite bathroom facilities with the rooms being decorated to a high standard,
which ensures guests have a comfortable stay when in London.

The exciting new central London based Quality Crown Hotel in Paddington’s Praed Street, brings a modern designer-style at an affordable price based at the heart of central London’s tube and bus network. Contemporary and Executive rooms are all non smoking and feature air conditioning, wired and wireless high speed internet, large flat screen TV with on-demand movies and CD’s, sound-proofed glazing and over-sized power shower. The Gallery Lounge and Bar features Sky Sports on a 42 inch plasma TV and the hotel boasts a Fitness Centre, atrium-style Executive Lounge and Conference Rooms for 12 delegates.

Philip runs the travel website http://www.travel05.co.uk Flight, hotel and travel booking.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Graham