When I mumbled my spontaneous proposal to Raquel and she accepted we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when it came to wedding preparation. Our idea was initially to have small and intimate wedding with close family and friends. On paper this seemed perfect, however we soon found out that things aren’t simple as that, so here on this blog Travelling Tonito and Rambling Raquel give you their tips to a perfect and cost effective wedding!
1.Don’t belong to a large family!
This is a great inconvenience as the amount of aunts, uncles and cousins is strangely proportional to the amount you spend… Weird…
Avoid this by not having a large family!
2. Don’t be sociable and make friends everywhere you live!
Another big inconvenience as because in every new job, country, assignment the possibility of making good friends increases and once again, oddly, the more friends you have the more you spend …
3. Don’t get married in a country other than the one you live in!
Don’t add to the excitement of wedding planning by getting married in a country you don’t live in and make things ever more fun by ensuring that the Bride and Groom each live in different countries as well.
4. Don’t only have a civil ceremony but a religious one as well!
Enjoy the mountains of paperwork associated with getting married in the Catholic church especially when three different parishes are involved from three different countries! Also, add to your qualifications by doing the mandatory Marriage Preparation Course where you learn to be a good husband/wife!
5. Don’t make things easy for your Priest by only having Catholic witnesses, bridesmaids and best men!
Enjoy the confusing pause from your officiating priest when you tell him that your witnesses, bridesmaids and best men include a Muslim, a Buddhist, Greek Orthodox and Atheists.
Mixing it up a little!
6. Don’t choose two or three bridesmaids and best men!
Why have your bride preceded up the aisle but only three couples!? Prepare for the worst and be preceded by an army of 20 bridesmaids and best men, this way, if there is an alien invasion, the ET’s get to them first while you run away!
Nothing better than having an army of Bridesmaid and Best Men!
7. Don’t get a wedding planner!
Why have someone else do things which take a lot of time, when you can do this yourself, remotely, from two different countries. Embrace Excel spreadsheets like a brother/sister and enjoy the moment where you realize you forgot to invite someone who want at the wedding!
8. Don’t try and plan your honeymoon ahead of time!
Why lose out on the fun of planning a honeymoon by knowing how much time off from work you will have and where you be at the time of the wedding. Embrace planning when all variables are unknown!
9. Don’t get married in the city or an easy accessible town!
Enjoy your non-local friends trying to pronounce the name of the obscure village in central Portugal where you do not know anyone and decided to have the wedding!
Note: This post is making fun at the way Raquel and I decided to do things, which wasn’t always by choice but by necessity at times. However we have been very fortunate with supporting families who have gone out of their way to help us! They deserve a big shout out for everything they have done so far!
