by Susan Hibberd

Created on: November 23, 2009

Planning a wedding can take months, but if you suddenly decide to get married in four weeks, don't worry! There is still time to make the day really special for you and memorable for the guests.

Venue

Perhaps you are planning a wedding at short notice because you have suddenly found that the venue you have always wanted is unexpectedly available. In this case, your venue is sorted.

If you don't have a venue for the wedding or reception yet, then this is the first thing to arrange. Without a venue you can't start to plan properly. Try to find a place that can offer wedding and reception facilities on the same site, for example a hotel or local beauty spot.

Invitations

The next thing to do is to get the invitations out. Although it would be lovely to get invitations specially printed, you won't be able to do this in time. Buy pre-printed invitations, or make your own. Gorgeous invitations can be made using minimal materials. In this case, less is more! Simply print the wording on your computer, and glue a small wedding decoration to the front of a cream card.

Send out these invitations because people like the information to be confirmed, but before you do this, email or phone everybody to let them know what's happening.

Once you have got these things sorted, you can take a breath and think about what to do next. Phone round the florist, baker and caterer to find out what their latest date is for placing an order. If you have time, fit it in. If not, then don't despair, but read on.

Food

Try to get the reception venue to do the food for the event. This might be a bit more expensive than shopping around, but it will save you lots of time. If not, get on the phone and find someone. Book over the phone, as you don't have the luxury of time for tasting etc.

Music

It would be nice to have a live band at your wedding, but if you can't book one at short notice, ask a DJ to come along. Specify the type of music you want played, from light jazz to easy listening, country and western or contemporary.

Dress

Book the groom's and groomsman outfits at a hire company. You might have to go to a shop that isn't local, so find someone who will go and pick them up before the day.

You will be able to find a wedding dress, but you will have to buy one off the shelf. Try to fit this into your schedule at the beginning of the four weeks, so that you can have any alterations done. A good seamstress should be able to customize your dress for you as well.

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