A wedding is a significant moment in life and deserves dedicated preparation. However, wedding planning involves many aspects to consider, from venue selection, photography, and event flow to attire and guest arrangements. Capture has organised a 12-month preparation checklist for couples, including a guide for wedding photography, album creation, and video MV production, assisting you in smoothly planning your dream wedding!
How Long Does Wedding Planning Take?
The duration of wedding planning depends on the formality, scale, and level of etiquette involved. In general, for a traditional wedding, it is recommended to start planning about a year in advance. If you are planning a micro wedding, it is still advisable to begin preparations around six months ahead. Marriage is not just about the couple; it also involves relatives and guests. Booking venues, restaurants, and related staff requires ample time for proper arrangements.
12 Months before the Wedding
1. Choosing the Wedding Date
Traditionally, it is important to select an auspicious wedding date that is considered lucky for both partners. Typically, elders consult a fortune teller who analyses the birthdates and Chinese zodiac signs of the couple and their parents to determine the most suitable date. Additionally, you can consider factors such as holidays, weekends, and seasons to choose a day that is convenient for you, your family, and friends.
2. Meeting with Both Parents
Traditionally, the groom, accompanied by a matchmaker or elder family members, visits the bride's family for a formal proposal. During this meeting, important matters such as the wedding date, budget, betrothal gifts, and wedding format are discussed and finalised. Nowadays, this meeting is more about allowing the parents of both sides to meet and discuss wedding details, and it may not involve as many formalities.
3. Budgeting for Wedding Expenses
Establishing a wedding budget is crucial as it determines the allocation of funds for various aspects of the wedding, such as venue rental and banquet seating. Creating a budget spreadsheet in advance will help make informed decisions and ensure financial planning throughout the wedding preparations.
4. Health Check-ups
Some couples undergo pre-wedding health check-ups, which can help with better planning for their future together.
5. Tentative Guest Count
Determine an initial estimate of the number of guests attending the wedding. This will assist in selecting suitable wedding and banquet venues.
6. Reserve Wedding and Banquet Venues
Based on your preferences, budget, and estimated guest count, book the wedding ceremony and reception venues. It is recommended to schedule site visits in advance to ensure the venues meet your expectations.
7. Engage a Wedding Planner
If you prefer not to deal with the intricate details and procedures, you can consider hiring a wedding planner or company to assist with coordinating the wedding. They can help with arranging the specific details of the wedding and resolving any challenges that arise during the process.
Organise old photographs with ease!
9 Months Before the Wedding
1. Book Wedding Attire
It is advisable to make advance appointments for trying on wedding gowns, suits, and traditional attire. Secure the desired styles by booking or customising them in a timely manner.
2. Reserve Wedding Photography Company
Choose a wedding photography company or photographer you like and book them early. Confirm the shooting date and details with them.
3. Order Wedding Rings
Customising wedding rings takes time, so it's recommended to select and order them early.
4. Schedule an Appointment with a Lawyer
Hire a marriage registration lawyer to handle legal documents and contracts, such as prenuptial agreements or estate planning.
5. Book a Makeup Artist
Once you have decided on your wedding attire, schedule trial makeup sessions with a few makeup artists. Clearly communicate your preferred style and book your favourite makeup artist in advance.
6 Months Before the Wedding
1. Purchase Jewellery and Accessories
Gold prices fluctuate daily, so it's recommended to select the styles early and make the purchase when the prices are favourable. Usually, the makeup artist will prepare jewellery for the bride. However, if you have specific preferences, you can purchase and prepare them in advance to achieve your desired wedding look.
2. Book the Wedding Officiant, Wedding Car, and Venue Decor Company
Make early reservations for wedding-related services, including the wedding officiant to conduct the ceremony, wedding car services, and venue decor companies to create a romantic wedding ambience. Ensure you secure the ideal arrangements and decorations.
3. Schedule Pre-wedding Photoshoot
Arrange the schedule for your pre-wedding photoshoot. Choose suitable locations and styles, and discuss the photo themes with the photographer to capture beautiful memories. Also, allocate time for selecting photos, editing, and printing albums and canvases, which generally takes 1 to 2 months or longer. If planning for an overseas photoshoot, allow more time for preparations.
4. Confirm Bridal Party List
Notify your friends who will be part of the bridal party in advance, so they can make arrangements to attend. Discuss wedding games and details together.
5. Plan for the Honeymoon
Begin planning your honeymoon trip. Choose the destination, book flights, and hotels, and plan the itinerary to ensure a romantic and unforgettable time after your wedding.
3 Months Before the Wedding
2. Submit Notice of Intended Marriage
The couple needs to submit a Notice of Intended Marriage to the marriage registry at least 15 days before the wedding date (but no more than 3 months in advance). If you have hired a lawyer, they will usually handle this process on your behalf.
3. Guest List and Attendance Count
Organise the guest list and confirm the number of attendees. This will help with arranging catering services and estimating the quantity of invitation cards needed.
1. Purchase Cake Vouchers
When the bride's family sends out wedding invitations, they often include cake vouchers for guests to redeem and enjoy. Therefore, remember to prepare cake vouchers in advance before sending out the invitations.
5. Order Wedding Cake/Alcohol
Place orders with a cake shop or liquor store for your wedding cake or reception drinks. Finalise the style and flavours, and order the specified quantity based on the estimated number of attendees. Some hotels or venues may also provide pre-order services for these items.
6. Prepare Return Gifts
Pre-order return gifts as a token of appreciation for your guests. Common gift options include food items, tea, or practical small items. You can also prepare creative or personalised gifts to leave a lasting impression on your guests.
4. Design Wedding Invitations
Choose a suitable design style, colour, and paper quality for your wedding invitations. Start the process of ordering and printing the invitations early. Some hotels or venues may provide invitation cards and printing services, or you can search for your preferred design and printing company.
2 Months Before the Wedding
1. Traditional "Guo Da Li" Ceremony (過大禮)
According to traditional customs, the "Guo Da Li" ceremony involves the groom presenting gifts and money to the bride's family. This ceremony usually takes place 14 to 60 days before the wedding. After the ceremony, the bride's family will send the dowry to the groom's family within 1 to 5 days. It is common to choose an auspicious date and time for this ritual.
2. Send Out Wedding Invitations
After the "Guo Da Li" ceremony, you can start sending out wedding invitations to your guests. Use this opportunity to formally inform them about the wedding date, time, venue, and other relevant details. You can choose to mail the invitations or hand them out in person. In the digital age, many couples also send out electronic wedding invitation cards (E-cards), and guests can collect physical invitations at the venue on the wedding day.
2. Send Out Wedding Invitations
2. Send Out Wedding Invitations
After the "Guo Da Li" ceremony, you can start sending out wedding invitations to your guests. Use this opportunity to formally inform them about the wedding date, time, venue, and other relevant details. You can choose to mail the invitations or hand them out in person. In the digital age, many couples also send out electronic wedding invitation cards (E-cards), and guests can collect physical invitations at the venue on the wedding day.
After the "Guo Da Li" ceremony, you can start sending out wedding invitations to your guests. Use this opportunity to formally inform them about the wedding date, time, venue, and other relevant details. You can choose to mail the invitations or hand them out in person. In the digital age, many couples also send out electronic wedding invitation cards (E-cards), and guests can collect physical invitations at the venue on the wedding day.
1 Months Before the Wedding
1. Prepare "Shang Tou"(上頭) and "Hui Men"(回門) Items
2. Send Out Wedding Invitations
After the "Guo Da Li" ceremony, you can start sending out wedding invitations to your guests. Use this opportunity to formally inform them about the wedding date, time, venue, and other relevant details. You can choose to mail the invitations or hand them out in person. In the digital age, many couples also send out electronic wedding invitation cards (E-cards), and guests can collect physical invitations at the venue on the wedding day.
Depending on whether you plan to follow traditional customs, prepare the "Shang Tou" and "Hui Men" items. These may include the bridal headdress and attire for the "Shang Tou" ceremony, as well as the roasted pig for the "Hui Men" ceremony. It is advisable to discuss these arrangements with your family in advance.
2. Final fitting
Schedule a final fitting for your wedding gown or attire and make any necessary adjustments to ensure the perfect fit and style.
3. Confirm the Schedule
Coordinate with the wedding planner, venue coordinator, siblings, and relevant vendors to confirm the schedule for the wedding day. This includes the timeline, music, and video playback, among other details.
4. Prepare Wedding Supplies
Allocate enough time to rent or purchase necessary items for the wedding banquet, such as tea sets, red umbrellas, etc. Pack them up neatly and have them ready to bring to the venue.
5. Sitting Arrangements
Confirm the number of attending guests and create a seating plan. Share this plan with the venue coordinator for them to arrange the seating accordingly.
6. Prepare Wedding Videos and Playlist
Prepare a slideshow or video montage of your journey together and create a playlist of songs for the wedding. You can either create the videos yourself or hire a photographer or videographer to help. Coordinate with the wedding emcee and venue coordinator regarding the playback arrangements. It is advisable to do a trial run and have multiple playback devices and backups ready to address any technical issues.
How to Choose Wedding Banquet Photography?
How to Create a Wedding Album?
Typically, wedding photography companies or photographers offer album design and production services as part of their packages. However, if you want to add a personal touch, you can also DIY your wedding album. DIY allows you to have complete control over the design and layout, allowing you to choose the album size, layout design, photo arrangement, and more based on your preferences and wedding theme. This method can be cost-effective but may require more time and effort. Nowadays, there are many album design software or online platforms that allow users to DIY their albums. Once you complete the layout, the platform takes care of the printing process, making it convenient.
Alternatively, you can choose a professional design company for printing services. With this option, you provide the photos and basic design requirements, and a professional designer will handle the layout and production of the album. This saves you time and ensures a high-quality album. However, design and printing services may be more expensive, and effective communication with the designer is crucial to convey your requirements and expectations to create a personalised album.
How to Create a Wedding Video?
There are many types of wedding videos. Common ones include trailers, which will be played on social media and before entering the venue; Opening Video: Played before the entrance, it sets the stage for the wedding and introduces the event; Growing-Up Video: Played before the second entrance, it allows guests to reminisce about the couple's growth by showcasing childhood photos and milestones; Love Story Video: Played before the first or second entrance, it tells the story of how the couple met and fell in love; Wedding Montage: Typically accompanied by a wedding song, this video features a rotating display of photos.
You can create your own wedding video using online software and tools, applying templates for editing and production. First, come up with a theme related to your growth or personal preferences. Next, choose a lively, bright, and smooth melody for the music, and keep the segment length between 3 to 5 minutes. Then, categorise and filter the most meaningful photos. Arrange the photos according to the melody of the music. Finally, you can add text descriptions to make the segments more lively and interesting.
Of course, if you have a sufficient budget, you can also hire a design company to create the wedding video. This option saves time and ensures video quality.
How to Create a Wedding Video?
To effectively organise old printed photos and existing digital photos, consider digitising your old printed photos and storing and categorising all your photos in a digital photo album. This will make it much more convenient to create your wedding photo album and video.
Through services like Capture HK's photo album digitisation service, you can efficiently digitise each individual photo and video using specialised digitisation techniques. The digitisation process is non-contact, ensuring that your photos are never taken out or touched from the album. The digitised photos will be stored in Google Photos, making it easy for you to organise, process, and access them. With this digitised collection, you can effortlessly create your ideal wedding photo album and video, preserving your beautiful memories!
*This article is brought to you by Capture HK.
Capture HK is the premier analogue media digitisation company in Hong Kong.
Capture HK's business covers photographs, photo album, slide digitisation, videotapes digitisation, including VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS-C Hi-8, Video8, Digital8, DV, DVCAM, MiniDV, DVC and digital media digitisation, including Secure Digital (SD), Smart Media (SM), MultiMediaCard (MMC) Compact Flash (CF), xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick, USB Drive, CDROM, DVD.
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