Scotland is regarded by many as one of them most romantic countries in the world. Sure it may not have the beaches and palm trees of the West Indies or indeed the hot weather although even this does vary across different parts of the country.

Unlike the neighbours south of the border in England there is no need for parental permission to be given provided both of the wedding couple are over 16. (In England and Wales it is essential that parents give written consent for anyone over 16 but under 18 prior to the wedding taking place.)

All applicants looking to get married are required to give notice to the registrar for the district in which the marriage is to take place. The appropriate forms can be obtained from any registrar’s office or direct from the General Register’s Office in Edinburgh. They need to be submitted at least 15 days prior to the wedding day although they generally recommend 4 weeks (or not more than 3 months).

The Registrar will check all documentation to be satisfied that the parties are free to marry and then will prepare the marriage schedule.

In the case of a civil wedding ceremony the Registrar retains the schedule until the date of the wedding.

If a religious marriage is intended, the schedule is issued to the parties, no more than seven days before the wedding to be passed to the appropriate priest or minster conducting the wedding ceremony.

The Registrar then retains or must have the schedule returned to them within 3 days so that they can register the marriage.

Documents required:

Both parties will need to present to the Registrar a form of photo ID such as a passport or drivers license along with certified birth certificates. If either party has been married before you will need to present either a certified copy or original of the final divorce decree or a death certificate if that marriage had ended after the death of the spouse.

If one or both of the wedding couple had not been resident in the UK for at least two years you will need to provide some form of certified proof issued by an appropriate authority to confirm that there is no legal impediment to any marriage. If in any doubt about what would acceptable contact the local wedding registrar prior to leaving your country of residence.

If any of the documents are in a language other than English you will need to have a certificated translation of each and every document.

Scotland has many wedding traditions that are unique and we will be adding them to this site shortly.

In theory, setting up a registry is simple. You decide on one or several stores, create a registry online or in person, select various items, and get the word out to your guests. In practice, things are a little more complicated — but only a little!

With that said, here's the real deal on setting up your wedding registry and getting the word out without offending your guests.
Remember that retailers can be an enormous help to both you and your guests. At the same time, you can’t take everything they say at face value.

Q: Where should I register?

A: Chances are, if you're getting married in your own town, you already know where "everyone goes" to set up and shop from a registry. If not, and guests are flying in from far away, pick from some bride-tested standbys likely to be present almost anywhere. Macy’s has a great reputation for registries, as does Williams-Sonoma, Bed Bath & Beyond and other retailers.

Before you choose your stores, be sure to stop by a wedding forum and get feedback from brides who have been there, done that. Store policies vary quite dramatically, ranging from the easy-does-it (who’ll give you cash back for returns off the registry, no questions asked) to the extremely restrictive (who’ll only let you exchange for another item *in that department*, requires a receipt for each item, and so on).
You'll want to know about these policies and the store's overall reputation for bridal friendliness before you go in, or returns and exchanges could become a big hassle.

Q: I have a wide range of interests. How many stores should I register at?

A: Two to three stores is fairly typical. They don't have to be typical stores, though. If you're a wine drinker, and live in a state where it's legal to ship wine, set up a registry at one of the great online wine merchants.

Q: When should I register?

A: Although close family members may pressure you to start earlier, it's helpful to wait three to six months before the wedding. Not only are the vast majority of gifts bought within a day or so of the shower or ceremony itself, stores turn over merchandise so rapidly that any gifts you select earlier may be discontinued.

Q: What if I already have all the kitchen appliances and throw pillows I need?

A: Consider putting together a honeymoon registry instead, so guests can contribute toward a special meal or snorkeling trip or a night’s lodging during your honeymoon.

Q: When I signed up at Store X, they gave me a bunch of attractive registry cards to enclose with my wedding invitations. Should I do it, or is that tacky?

A: Sorry, but the consensus is almost universal — it's uncouth to include any mention of gifts in your invitations. You can, however, tuck those cards into shower invitations. Perhaps the best solution is to include a note in your invitations that reads, "Please see our wedding web site at www.xyz.com" and place your registry information there.

Q: How many gifts should I register for? I don't want to look demanding.

A: Typically, you'll want to select two or three items per guest. That gives people room to choose instead of locking them into something they don't enjoy buying, or worse, forcing them to guess what else you might like, giving birth to the “second yogurt maker” type of gift.

If you have many guests, you can avoid creating a 16-page monstrosity for them to print out by breaking up your registry over several stores.

At the end of the day, “more is more.” Many retailers offer discounts on those items you registered for but didn't receive.
Many stores also retain your registry for at least 12 months after the wedding. You may find it's best to register for everything that you plan to buy, even if you don't expect to get it as a gift; you can then purchase your selections for 10% or 20% off after the ceremony. Many brides also find friends and family tapping registries for gift buying ideas for birthdays and other holidays!

Q: What price range should I stick with when selecting items?

A: Generally, you should register for things you really feel you want or need, without worrying too much about the price. Some guests enjoy picking up a number of items in the low price range, and sometimes guests will group together to purchase bigger-ticket items.

Q: I've set up my registry just fine, but now I’m addicted to checking it online. How can I stop?

A: Sorry, there's no known antidote for registry-checking addiction, though it's a widespread phenomenon. Counting to ten, taking deep breaths or distracting yourself with double-fudge ice cream might be worth a shot.

About the author:
Blake Kritzberg is editor at "FavorIdeas.com." Stop by for wedding favor ideas and Bridezilla's weekly adventures at: http://www.favorideas.com

Many women have fantasized about their wedding day for many years before actually getting to experience it, so it’s no shock that some women charge towards the day full speed ahead without taking the time to enjoy the process. 

You need to take a step back and realize that instead of heading towards a new chapter in your life you are currently smack in the middle of one you should be enjoying too: the engagement. 

Don’t let this time slip by unnoticed; being engaged has the potential to be a lot of fun and is also the very best time to examine your readiness for the huge step you and your fiancé are about to take with each other.

Premarital counseling  as part of planning a wedding can be a great idea. 

You may have found the perfect man for you.  He may be everything you would ever want and more, so you may not have even considered premarital counseling.  Some religions require premarital counseling before blessing the marriage, and that is for good reason. 

Premarital counseling can reveal topics which may not have otherwise popped up in conversation.  Topics like the aforementioned finances, religion, and future aspirations are the sorts of things which will be brought up in the counseling session. 

Some counselors have couples take pre-marriage inventory tests, which are simple ways to discover if there are indeed some topics which should be explored prior to taking your vows.  Don’t worry; premarital counseling sessions are not occasions to gripe about your fiancé’s annoying habits, nor are they designed to reduce you to tears as you sob about how he leaves the toilet seat up.  Premarital counseling sessions are designed to reveal any significant issues which need to be explored in order to ensure the best start to a healthy marriage. 

If you need a venue where you can sob and lament about the ills of your relationship then you need regular couples counseling instead of premarital counseling, or better yet you may need to think more intently about if this is truly the man for you.      

This is it, really. You should think of marriage in a couple of different ways.  Sure, it’s a beautiful joining of two people where they no longer simply live for themselves but instead for each other.  Marriage is also a legal agreement though.  You are legally joining together to form one entity: Mister and Missus Insert-your-name-here.  You simply can’t enter into any sort of legal agreement lightly, and marriage is no exception. 

In theory, you are supposed to be married to this person until death do you part.  You should never think about marriage in another light.  If you have a thought in the back of your mind that if this marriage doesn’t work out you can always divorce and start all over again with a different partner, then you should really take some time to examine your motives.  Marriage should be a decision which you enter into with the intention of the arrangement being permanent. 

Of course there are very valid reasons for eventual divorces, and in reality we know not every marriage lasts.  The point is that you should only be getting married if you intend on being with this person forever. 

Entering into marriage with any other thought in mind is not only a mockery of the establishment of marriage, but it also leads to a frame of mind which may breed a less than healthy relationship.  If both members of a couple are both of the mind that this relationship is forever they are more likely to work at the success of the marriage. 

Do you have unfinished business that needs to be dealt with as part of planning your wedding? 

Many people have a relationship from their past which they often think about.  Whether the relationship dissolved without a definite goodbye or if there are still residual feelings about the other person you should really attempt to get some closure before getting married. 

It may be as simple as deciding in your mind to let go of a past love, or maybe as complicated as contacting someone from a previous relationship to resolve unfinished business.  This is the time to take care of these things, though, instead of waiting until you have already gotten married and then wonder if these issues are causing havoc in your current relationship.  It is best to start out your marriage with a clean emotional slate with regard to emotional baggage; it gives your marriage the best possibility of surviving healthily. 

Unfinished business may also include some emotional baggage which doesn’t necessarily have to do with a romantic relationship from the past.  There may be unresolved issues from your past that still affect you today which you should face head on. 

If you find you have trouble trusting people because of past experiences, or if you have a propensity towards avoiding emotional intimacy, or for any other number of issues which can be detrimental to your future marriage, you should do your best to resolve them before marriage. 

This may mean some counseling for you, or some major soul searching, or whatever it takes to get to the point to where you can be the best spouse possible.

Even if you decide you are not going to want to go through formal pre-marital counseling I do strongly suggest and highly recommend one particular book. It is simply a large collection of questions which you can ask each other but it brings out issues which you may never have thought about.

Lets imagine that you have strongly held views on a particular issue however your spouse has equally strong issues but in the opposing direction. You are already into your marriage when the issue comes up in your relationship and your spouse takes a disastrous decision not knowing your views on that matter. What do you do? 

Simple take the opportunity to discuss it in advance so you both know the others person’s point of view before upsetting each other by taking steps the other person hates. At least think about asking those questions of each other. It can also give you a deeper understanding of each other and surely that is a great thing in any relationship, isn’t it?  Http://BeRomantic.com/1000Questions

There are many grocery stores which feature top notch bakery departments which can produce elegant wedding cakes for a fraction of the cost you would pay a stand-alone bakery. 

You may also want to explore the option of getting a person you know to bake your cake.  As long as the person has experience with baking and cake decorating you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you will not only save money doing it this way but you may also make the cake experience much more personal if someone you know bakes it as opposed to an anonymous baker. 

One word of caution, though: you need to make sure that the person you get to bake your cake actually knows what they are doing.  You may be surprised to find the large numbers of people who bake well, but if they don’t have experience with creating the sort of cake you are looking for then you may be sorely disappointed. 

If you are in the position where money is not an issue with regards to your cake then feel free to check with bakeries which specialize in wedding cakes and find a cake which is beautiful and delicious…just be sure to ask for samples while you’re there so you don’t wind up with a cake at your reception which is excessively dry or otherwise unpleasant. 

The cake top tier is supposed to be saved for the first wedding anniversary. 

If you have never heard of this tradition, don’t be grossed out by it.  Indeed, a slab of cake will keep quite nicely in a freezer for a year, so you and your partner can share the cake when your first anniversary rolls around.  Even if you do not plan on indulging in this particular tradition then you should at least be made aware of it so you aren’t confused when the top tier of cake, wrapped in foil and ready for the freezer, is shoved in your hands as you exit the reception. 

If you do intend on keeping this tradition, though, just be sure to store the cake deep in the freezer and wrap it tightly.  It would be a shame to wait the entire year of anticipating eating the cake with your husband only to find the piece was ruined because it wasn’t stored properly. 

In other traditions that top tier of the wedding cake would be kept for the baby christening party.  However that was when brides were expected to be getting pregnant within the first few months of the marriage.

You don’t need to go traditional with your wedding cake.

Everyone knows what a traditional wedding cake looks like: tiers of cake leading up to a small top tier adorned with a figurine of the bride and groom. 

There are so many variations to this classical configuration that you can surely commission a wedding cake which is exactly what you want.  Some people add flowing fountains to their tiers.  Others stagger the tiers to form an interesting shape. 

Still other couples do away with the tiers all together and instead have a wedding cake which is original and different.  For example, one bride-to-be didn’t necessarily like the idea of a classical tiered wedding cake and instead convinced a baker to create a large sheet cake formed into the shape of a huge storybook.  On the top of the cake the words “And They Lived Happily Ever After” was scrawled in frosting along with the names of the bride and groom along the bottom.  Not only was the cake easier to serve to the guests, but everyone in attendance commented on how original the idea was.  This, of course, made the bride and groom very happy indeed.

Are you broke yet? Hopefully by the time you have purchased everything you need for your wedding you will still have some available money left over for all the other necessities which come along with the act of getting married.  Try your best to stay on budget and keep your eye on the ultimate goal: the union of you and the man you love.

You might be surprised to find that some silk flowers can easily pass for real flowers when scrutinized up close…sometimes it is only when a curious person touches the flowers that they realize the flowers are made of silk.  The advantage to silk flowers is that they can be arranged long before the wedding ever takes place, and they can be kept forever as mementos of your special day. 

There are still many brides, however, who feel that silk flowers are tacky and cheap.  There is also something to be said for the delicious scents a chapel full of flowers can present, and unless fragrance is added to silk flowers they simply cannot compare.

When making the decision regarding your flowers it is a good idea to investigate both options.  Don’t make this important decision sight unseen; you may find that silk flowers really aren’t as bad as you think they are or instead you may find that you simply can’t resist the aroma of real flowers when you had always intended to utilize silk flowers. 

Don’t forget that you can always combine the two.  You can present quite a spectacular display by augmenting real flowers with silk ones.  Just remember: bigger is not always necessarily better. 

Whichever type of flowers you choose to use it’s important to realize that simplicity can be the key…you don’t need to fill a room to the gills with flowers to make it gorgeous.

Do you have allergies?  Avoiding the wedding tears

You can’t ignore the fact that flowers make you sneeze if you have a propensity towards seasonal allergies.  You may envision a chapel full of beautiful fresh flowers but if you know that this sort of arrangement will inevitable lead to you coughing, sneezing, and generally feeling miserable then it is probably best to simply go with silk flowers or some other form of synthetic arrangements. 

If you are insistent upon having real flowers at your ceremony regardless of your inclination towards reacting poorly towards pollen-laden organisms then you may want to invest in a visit to your doctor or allergist to see if you can receive some sort of allergy medicine or injection just prior to the wedding.   

Get a back-up wedding bouquet of flowers. 

You may not have thought about this yet, but you’re expected to throw your bouquet to all the eligible women at the end of the wedding reception.  As the old wives tale would have it, the woman who catches the bouquet will be the next woman to get married.

The same goes for your garter, except it is the groom who tosses it and it’s to the eligible men at the reception.  This is a fun tradition, and both are generally expected at each wedding reception. 

If the thought of tossing your bouquet or garter horrifies you because you want to keep both as keepsakes then it is a great idea to purchase a back-up bouquet and garter.  This bouquet can be smaller and less elaborate, as long as it is large enough to catch some air as you throw it to the leaping women anxiously waiting to receive it. 

If you wish to keep your garter then do the same thing.  You might wear the one you intend to keep on one leg while the garter for tossing is on the other leg; just be sure that your groom understands which is which.   

The reception can act as a sort of reward for all your hard work over the last few months of planning the wedding.  It’s a celebratory and triumphant party which gives you and your new husband a chance to sit back, take a breath, and then enjoy the occasion with the people closest to you. 

Although there are a lot of details to consider when planning your reception, if it is done right you will have the best party of your life with the love of your life.

Don’t just trust the lowest bidder as your wedding photographer. 

When the government looks for a contractor to do a service they put out a notice to all the qualified companies and then asks for bids from them.  The lowest qualified bidder gets the job.  This may work for the government, but you should not employ this method when you are looking for your wedding photographer. 

Just because someone has a nice camera and some experience does not necessarily mean that they will be the right person to take your wedding photos. 

Every professional photographer should have a portfolio, which is basically a showcase of his or her work for you to review before making the decision to hire him or her.  You should look through the portfolio carefully and ask yourselves some serious questions.

• Do the photos in that portfolio all look like those same cheesy poses but with different couples?
• Do some of the shadowing on the various photos look a little off?
• Do all the pictures look unnaturally posed and a little stiff?
• Do you see all the same themes represented in the portfolio repeatedly?

These sorts of things should clue you off that this may not be the photographer for you, even if he or she is offering to shoot the wedding for a bargain price.  On the other hand, if you notice that you really like the poses in the portfolio and the photographer seems to do a great job of capturing a person’s expressions and personality in the photos then you have probably found the right photographer for your wedding.  Hopefully this is the same person who is willing to shoot your wedding for a reasonable price! 

Make a list of wedding photograph poses you would like ahead of time.

You might have some great ideas for the pictures you want.  Maybe you fully intend on getting a generational photo of you with your mother and grandmother, but then when the time comes you may completely forget about this particular pose. 

Remember that you will be quite busy on your wedding day, not to mention the emotional high you will be enjoying when you tie the knot with the man of your dreams.  With all this going on, how can you possibly be expected to remember all the photographic poses you want?

As with all the other details of your wedding it is best to get everything worked out way ahead of time.  Getting an actual list of desired poses together for your photographer not only takes some of the burden off you on your wedding day, but it also prepares the photographer in the event that you have some special requests.  For example if your wedding day rolls around and you mention to your photographer for the first time that you would like an outdoor photograph when he or she was only expecting to take indoor photos you may find that the photographer is ill equipped to fulfill your request. 

By getting a list of poses to your photographer you will also avoid any awkward moments on your wedding day if the photographer has to take you aside and inform you that you are exceeding your budgeted amount of poses.  It is much better to have everything planned out ahead of time so that you have one less detail to worry about on your wedding day.

Get a contract!

Just because the photographer happens to be a friend of your uncle doesn’t mean that you should enter into a business agreement without getting it in writing.  You needn’t worry that you will offend your uncle’s pal because as any professional photographer will tell you there should always be a written contract in place. 

You never know what might happen… maybe your uncle and his photographer friend have a big dispute the night before your wedding so the photographer decides to be a no-show just to spite your uncle.  Or perhaps the photographer decides that printing up all your photos is simply too much work so he will instead give you the film and you can handle it. 

Having a written contract in place will ensure that you have legal grounds to seek recourse in the event that the services you paid for are not provided properly.  It also protects the photographer in the event that you suddenly have a case of amnesia regarding what services he promised to offer.  Getting a contact extends beyond the photographer and should be accomplished with every person providing a service for your wedding and reception.  Any professional who is offended by you suggesting a contract is a professional whom you should probably avoid.  

A wedding ceremony can be compared a Broadway production.  There are all sorts of people who are intricately involved in making everything run smoothly whom the audience never sees.  The same goes for your wedding ceremony and reception.  The person conducting the ceremony may not get very much attention, but the ceremony wouldn’t happen without his or her presence.  I the same way the photographer may stealthily glide in and out of the reception unnoticed, but without them there you won’t have a bunch of great photos to remember the day. 

You should attempt to get the very best “supporting cast” for your wedding day as you can, without breaking the bank, of course.

Not everyone gets to take a honeymoon.  Some couples decide to skip it because of financial constraints, or scheduling conflicts, or instead because they plan on taking their honeymoon later in life.  If you have the time and the resources to have a honeymoon after your wedding, however, you should do it!

There will never be another time in your life when you and your husband are newlyweds together…you don’t want to miss this opportunity. YOU DESERVE THE BREAK!

Planning a wedding is hard work. 

As you look back on all the things you had to do to make the wedding work you may get a little exhausted just thinking about it.  There are so many logistics involved with planning a wedding that sometimes the honeymoon winds up serving as time for the bride and groom to spend blissfully devoid of logistical wedding planning.  Having a wedding over and done with can feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders, and there is not better way to celebrate your accomplishment than with a nice little vacation. 

If the thought has crossed your mind to skip the honeymoon for now and instead take it later when things are less hectic or you have more money, then banish the thought as soon as possible.  You and your new spouse need the time to get away form all the hustle and bustle of wedding madness and spend some time together relaxing. 

Even if this means going camping for a couple of days, you should do it.  You can always plan a more elaborate honeymoon for later on when you have more money to spend.

You need time to bask in the glory of your triumph.  It’s tough to go straight from the high of a beautiful wedding ceremony and exciting reception to the humdrum movements of a work day.  You need a little bit of a buffer between your celebration and returning to normal life, and a honeymoon makes for a great transition.  Really, a honeymoon needn’t be a trip to somewhere far away, and instead may entail something more along the lines of locking yourselves into your apartment for a few days and relaxing if that’s all you can manage. 

Just be sure to schedule a little time between the wedding and entering back into whatever it is you were doing before the wedding so that you can your husband can slip back into your normal routine without feeling a little rushed.   You also need a few days between returning from the honeymoon and going back to work.

You need to get away from everyone!  If you have a bunch of relatives and friends in town who traveled to come witness your wedding ceremony you may soon find that you really need to get away from the crowds.  Yes, it is great to be surrounded by the people you love, but if these people aren’t always around you may soon find yourself plotting out ways to escape the myriad of people who are looking to spend some time with you and your new husband. 

A honeymoon is a great escape from all this.  It is a time for you and him to spend some time together alone and to relax a little after the tiring process of planning a wedding and then going through the actual process.  It is also an excellent excuse to bow out of numerous brunches with out of town guests. 

Planning a Wedding Honeymoon. Should it be Elaborate or Minimal?

You should pick something you both love.  Your honeymoon doesn’t necessarily have to be a grand excursion.  If you and your new husband have always enjoyed camping then who is to say your honeymoon shouldn’t be a low-key camping trip to an area you both adore?

Don’t get swept up in the idea that a honeymoon has to be something elaborate (and consequently expensive).  The most important factor to consider when you are both deciding on your honeymoon plans is to find somewhere you are equally interested in going. 

If he hates the smell of ocean air then don’t plan a cruise, no matter how romantic the idea sounds.  If you feel lost and uncomfortable in unfamiliar places then a whirlwind tour of Europe probably isn’t the best idea for you two, even if it sounds memorable and amazing to your partner.  If money is tight and you both happen to enjoy fly fishing then plan a fishing trip instead of taking out a loan to pay for something grander.  The important thing is that you two take some time after your wedding to spend together.  

Consider something all-inclusive.  If you have the money for an actual vacation for your honeymoon then you may want to look into something all-inclusive.  This can be a cruise or a resort where one rate pays for accommodations, entertainment, food, and sometimes drinks. 

The reason why all-inclusive resorts are so popular is because they take the guesswork out of budgeting for the trip, and also because they simplify the planning process.  Cruises are great because the ship takes you to your vacation destination on a sort of floating city, while resorts are wonderful too because you aren’t limited to your cabin on travel days like you are with a cruise.  

Some honeymooners can get special treatment.  When you are booking your honeymoon be sure to mention to either the travel agent or booking agent that you and your husband are newlyweds because you may find that you get a little added attention and maybe even some special discounts and extras. 

Some cruise lines and resorts have automatic discounts for newlyweds while other places may at least surprise you on your first night with a complimentary bottle of champagne in your hotel room. 

If you want to really play the newlywed card for all its worth then be sure to announce to everyone you meet that you’re newlyweds…you never know who may pick up your dinner tab or buy you a round of drinks in order to toast your celebration.    

Enjoy giggling every time you introduce your “husband.”  It’s inevitable…the first few times you introduce each other as husband and wife you’re bound to break into a few giggles or at least let out a small sigh as you realize you’re actually married.  You may gaze at each other across the dinner table and say something like, “hello, husband!” which he will probably reply with “hello, wife!” and then you both dissolve into giggles.  This is part of the fun of your honeymoon, and don’t worry about annoying other people.  It’s cute.  

A honeymoon can be whatever you want or need it to be.  Sure, it would be great if you and your husband could pack up and take a month long cruise around the world, but for most people this just isn’t feasible.  Whatever your situation or budget, just make sure that the two of you are able to get away from everyone else for a while and relax.

You are planning a wedding but how do you work out who to add to your guest list? Who needs to be invited as opposed to who should be invited? How do you choose who to leave off when the space available is getting rather full?  What about your proposed budget?  Ultimately the overall number of people you invite depends largely on your budget but it still better to draw up “the long list” first and then cut back.

Planning a wedding guest list should start with three separate sheets of paper one for each defined group. Of course the very first people you would normally invite would be your immediate family. And then your wider family such as grandparents, aunties and uncles and any cousins you are really close to.  These are you’re A list people. 

It is at this point you can start to add those people who you regard as like family members.  These are the close friends that you see most and mean most to you and would be written on a separate B list sheet of paper.

Your C list of people are comprised of the other people who you have been close to you through your work, your hobbies and social activities and of course your neighbors but are not the closest of your friends.  These are the people who may have done so much for you in the recent past (for example they supported you in your work or when you were going through major problems) and you want to thank them by including them in your list.

When listing close friends remember to include their spouses and live-in partners. 

Now you know the potential number of wedding guests you should go back through it to add any other potential guests.  Who else has been involved in a major way of looking after you when you really needed them?  Who stepped in and saved your bacon when everything else seemed lost?  Are there any important business connections it would be good to add to the list for perhaps commercial rather than friendship reasons?  Add these people to your B or C list depending on strength of connection.

NOTE  At this point do not leave off any names simply because they are someone who might be an embarrassment at the wedding or because you have had an argument with them in the past.  For example, is one of the guests likely to drink too much and cause a scene. If this is the case would you still want to invite if they were getting professional help and the problem fixed by the wedding date.  How would you feel if you had not invited them?  If it was only a minor issue you argued over all those years ago could you make friends again and bring about a family reunion at the wedding.  You could start now.

Okay you are now planning a wedding guest list and have reached an important point. Is your budget big enough to be able to invite all the guests (including partners)?  Is the amount of space in the rooms big enough to cope with all the people? Maybe you find the actual wedding room is large enough but you can’t sit everyone down at tables for the reception. Or it is the other way round?  The Wedding Chapel you had dreamed about for years can’t seat everyone but your reception room is big enough for everyone and still have lots of space for dancing etc.

This is when the difficult decisions are being made.  Who do you leave off the list for the wedding ceremony or the wedding reception or both? Can you change the venue for the wedding?  Can you lift the size of your budget or is it already stretched too far.  If you are cutting the numbers start by cutting back on you C list names.  Go through them and cut off names as necessary before doing the same on your B list until you have reached the necessary number of people still left on the list. 

This way you are trimming off the least important people first and not arguing over really close friends and family members at the beginning.  Remember it is your wedding day as bride and groom but you should at least listen to your parent’s point of view especially if they are footing the bill.

Both the maid of honor and the best man have a number of wedding etiquette duties. This is especially true of the church responsibilities of handling the wedding dress train, making sure that everyone is in their place and hosting the reception program.

One of the other important duties for any maid of honor and best man is to arrange for the bridal shower and stag party. It is a traditional wedding etiquette for the bridesmaids to have their own celebration as well as the groomsmen for their stag party.

For the bridal shower: a real hen night out

Women traditionally have more finesse when it comes having to bridal shower parties. The wedding etiquette for such events may require the maid of honor to come up with original ideas for the shower. The first thing to consider is the format. The wedding etiquette for formats can be from the formal (a dinner) or informal (hen night party).

Aside from that, there are other alternatives like going to the spa, spending a party at a carnival or whatever the maid of honor thinks that the bride will appreciate. A bridal shower is thrown in honor of the bride and her friendship with the girls. Wedding etiquette only calls for all the bridesmaid’s help in organizing it and making it memorable.

However nowadays there is a fast growing trend towards making this bridal party celebation into "a hen night" in a similar vein to the grooms stag night. The most popular professional company responsible for organising these girls night out must be Last Night of Freedom who can organise the most specular parties for you almost anywhere. If you are looking to organise a spectular girls night out have a serious look at what they can offer.

If you have already decided on something quieter and proper a bridal shower observes the wedding etiquette of a program. A simple one will do. Depending on the theme, the program starts off with an introduction of the bride’s friends, a round of games for everyone, the gift giving (if any) and then dinner.

Gifts for the bridal shower are optional but are a great wedding etiquette to follow. The bride’s friends can chip in for one extravagant gift or each of them can bring a piece for the bride. The wedding etiquette gift for bridal showers can be as tame as matching monogrammed towels to something naughty like sexy lingerie or going further like pink padded handcuffs or other toys.

The wedding etiquette for games is to celebrate it as a fun reminder of the bride’s single days or something about her current relationship. It is acceptable to have games purely for fun. But what the maid of honor has to remember is the shower giveaways.

Considered by many as an art form, the gift bags are a wedding etiquette essential. The bags should contain a relatively inexpensive souvenir (any object of choice chosen by the maid of honor) along with a thank you card for attending the event and maybe a picture of the couple for remembrance. Yes you may think this is a corny idea but the bridal shower is about the bride and groom's forthcoming wedding.

Another wedding etiquette to remember is the timing of the bridal shower. An event like this should be celebrated weeks before the wedding date. This will allow the bride enough time to relax and truly enjoy the shower. And should she get drunk then, there is a lot of time to recover from the hang over.

For the best man: A Stag Night

A stag party is usually celebrated weeks before the wedding celebration. It is totally wrong wedding etiquette to hold it the night before the ceremony. Things can go wrong what that happens. Imagine the groom arriving with a big headache or worse still found chained to a lamp-post by the friends and not being able to make the wedding ceremony in time.

All the stag party is concerned is the budget of the event. If the best man can get as much funding from the other groomsmen, the event can go well underway.

Hosting according to wedding etiquette is a duty that the best man has to perform. Unlike the bridal shower, this process is very informal. The best stag night party organisers are undoubtably Last Night of Freedom although they tend to organise full weekends rather than just one evening of fun. If you are are looking for something EVERYONE in your party will remember click the links and book there.

Even if you decide on something quieter the wedding etiquette of providing food and drinks still apply though. If the stag party is held at the hotel, room service can be ordered up to their room. If they decide to celebrate in a bar, the menu is easily available to them.

The groomsmen can get as frisky as they want with the hired strippers but as a wedding etiquette rule, the groom should ALWAYS have full self-control even after considerable drink has been consumed. The saying “Look but don’t touch” always applies. However if it is unavoidable, “Touch but never squeeze” will have to do. Just because it is regarded as a last night out with the boys does not mean anything goes.  You are planning to make a very public commitment to your fianc'e within a few weeks and that should be honoured prior to and not just after the ceremony.

Girls if you are still reading these remember stag parties are different from bridal showers because men view this as their last hurrah. The most important wedding etiquette rule or both parties is for the bride to follow is never ask what transpired that night. It will only open up suspiciousness and could cancel a wedding. Brides, just be glad that your man made it to the altar. By him showing up there and meeting you means that nothing further happened.

Sometimes picking the bridesmaids just falls into place but deciding on your chief bridesmaid (your Maid of Honor) can be horrendous.  The Maid of Honor is a very special position in a wedding party. 

By selecting someone to be your maid of honor you are essentially announcing to everyone that this is your closest female friend and that she means a lot to you.  The problem arises when you have more than one very close female friend.  Although there is no rule carved in stone saying that there can only be one maid of honor in your wedding party there is only one woman who can stand directly next to you during the ceremony.  If you are really stuck you could to get your closest friends together and have them draw straws for the coveted position.  At least that way no-one feels they were overlooked!

How many people do you want standing up there? 

There are some couples who choose so many people for their wedding party that the ceremony seems crowded and a little chaotic so it is not a case of always saying the more the merrier on the day.  Unless you and your fiancé have a large group of very close friends, it is better to limit the wedding party to three or four couples at the most.  Weddings can be a very emotional time and the potential for various emotional upheavals could be increased exponentially as more people are involved. 

Don’t force a horrid dress on your bridesmaids. 

You will no doubt have heard so many horror stores about bridesmaids being forced to wear really horrendous wedding gowns.  Don’t be the bride who forced your close friends to wear something which is neither their style nor complimentary to their figures. 

There is nothing that says all the bridesmaids need to wear the same dress, but if this is your desire then you need to take care to ensure they all have dresses which they not only like but also look attractive on them as well.  If your vision is for your bridesmaids to all slither down the aisle in a tight, form-fitting dress then you may need to rethink the idea if one of your bridesmaids is larger than the rest and liable to feel really self-conscious in such a dress. 

Along the same note, you don’t want to force your bridesmaids to purchase dresses with plunging necklines if this will mean they will all be madly stuffing their bras before walking down the aisle.  Take your bridesmaids’ tastes and wants into consideration. 

How about calling all the bridesmaids together and either spend the afternoon at a bridal shop trying on various bridesmaid dresses or comb through pictures in magazines.  This is the best way to get an idea for what your bridesmaids would like to wear and to see how closely their desires match those of your ideal dress for them. 

You may find that the bridesmaids sway you from your original dress preference, but that is fine as long as it is still acceptable to you and they get the chance to wear a dress that they truly like.  Who knows, maybe they will someday actually wear it again instead of tossing it into the closet to collect dust along with all the other bridesmaid dresses they have. 

Bridesmaids and your wedding shower

Grooms aren’t the only ones who get parties before the wedding.  If you are unfamiliar with the idea of a bachelorette or hen party then think of it as a variation of a wedding shower blended with the classical bachelor stag party.  You will probably have a wedding shower where you receive various packages of lingerie and receive marriage advice from older female relatives. 

When it comes to your wedding attendants, though, they may want to throw you one last hurrah before you tie the knot.  It may be as simple as a dinner out for the girls, or perhaps you and your friends will pile into a limo and spend the night dancing and whooping it up.

There are many bachelorette party kits which are sold in stores, so don’t be surprised if your maid of honor pulls out props for the night…one bride-to-be describes her bachelorette party as being much more fun.   She wore a toy veil throughout the night and was given a shirt to wear which listed tasks to accomplish before the night was over: sing a song at karaoke, take a picture with a handsome man, and dance the chicken dance even if no one else was doing it. 

However you should also have some thoughts about getting away for a special weekend where you can really let go and enjoy yourself as a group.  I have known a few people who have used this company for a hen party weekend and everyone enjoyed themselves doing things they had never imagined themselves doing. The company will arrange everything for you in advance all your and your friends have to do is turn up and enjoy yourself.

Try to make your pre-wedding party something you will always remember, but don’t have this wild party the night before your wedding.  You want to be refreshed the morning of your wedding and staying up all hours of the night doing the chicken dance will certainly tire you out.    

Remember however you are preparing to make a public commitment to your man in a few weeks. That commitment needs to be honoured prior to the ceremony as well as afterwards so don’t do anything that could embarrass you afterwards if one of your party friends lets it out of the bag at the wedding reception.

You should get gifts for your attendants. 

To thank your attendants for standing with you at your wedding you should get them some special gifts.  Some traditional gifts include engraved champagne flutes, monogrammed compact mirrors, or small fancy frames. 

You might also consider something different which may be a little more functional.  If you know what sort of scented lotions your attendants like then perhaps you can get some large gift baskets for them complete with the scented lotion, soaps, and sprays.  Monogrammed compact mirrors are an elegant gift, but a decorative basket full to the brim with your bridesmaids’ favorite scents is a gift which can be used.

You could also consider recognizing them by making them into a real Lady an ancient traditional title given to people owning parts of Scotland. The title certificate comes ready for framing with a fifty page book about the land they own.