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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding”
By Maureen Parnell
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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This Electronic book is Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved. No
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Disclaimer
The advice contained in this material might not be suitable for
everyone. The author provided the information only as a broad
overview by a lay person about an important subject. The author
used information from sources that they believed to be reliable and
from their own personal experience, but neither implies nor intends
any guarantee of accuracy.
The results you obtain will depend largely on your own efforts,
climatic and other factors beyond the knowledge and control of the
author, publisher and distributors. No particular result or outcome is
promised or guaranteed in any way.
The author, publisher and distributors never give legal, accounting,
medical or any other type of professional advice. The reader must
always seek those services from competent professionals that can
Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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apply the latest technical information and review their own
particular circumstances.
The author, publisher and distributors particularly disclaim any
liability, loss, or risk taken by individuals who directly or indirectly
act on the information contained herein. All readers must accept full
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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Contents
No pictures in this book may be used by anyone for any
Reduce Stress Whenever Possible.............................................................. 9
A Better Wedding without Breaking Your Budget. ................................... 10
Plan for Your Perfect Wedding................................................................... 16
Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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When You have Different Religious Backgrounds ................................... 54
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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Priming and Pruning the Guest List .......................................................... 55
The “Easy Way” Out – Elope!..................................................................... 66
Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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About the Author
Maureen Parnell was a part-time singer and musician who
specialized in weddings and other functions around her home town.
She began to suffer from arthritis and had to give up her
performing.
Then, she started to teach music and singing to children and adults.
This is her first book and she has used her experiences with her
customers and also people she knows to provide a wide range of
tips and suggestions.
She hopes “Your Wedding, Your Way” will help new brides start
right and even give people that have already been through a
wedding or two some tips they wished they knew before.
Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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The Campaign Begins
Congratulations, you’re engaged!
Better start planning your wedding, because you will probably need
every minute!
And, time is not all you’ll need.
You’ll need careful planning as well as enough tenacity to bounce
back up and continue when some completely unexpected hazard
gets in your way.
I tried hard with this ebook to save you money, time and
frustration. It’s aimed to protect you from all kinds of problems and
save you money and time.
Read it now (spare time will get real scarce soon) and keep it handy
as you go toward your happiest day.
It’s based on my experience and those of my friends and colleagues
who shared with me their experiences - sometimes on condition of
strict anonymity. I’ve also been lucky enough to be able to include
tips from people I know who provide their services or products to
weddings and other functions.
You can find plenty of information about the traditional wedding
arrangements here.
I’ve tried to show how you can, if you want to, adapt or even
discard them to make a more pleasant and memorable experience
for you and everyone involved.
The first rule for your wedding is that it’s YOUR WEDDING.
Let’s get started …
Maureen Parnell
Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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Reduce Stress Whenever Possible
If you haven’t enough stress in your daily life, planning a wedding is
likely to give you more than you need.
I don’t have a ‘magic cure’ – there is none.
Alcohol and pills are likely to increase problems rather than help you
get through them.
Here’s a few quick tips that should help.
9 Focus on your normal obligations with your job and
your social network. If you start to push them aside
because of your wedding preparations, you could build
up problems for your return.
9 Don’t begin every conversation with something about
you, your groom or the wedding. Your friends and
colleagues need a break and so do you.
9 Think about doing relaxation exercises and meditation.
They’re not the exclusive domain of particular religious
groups and there are books which show how you can
fit them into your regular lifestyle.
9 Start or continue to exercise regularly. You need your
strength and resilience to be the best it can.
9 Have a complete health check-up.
9 Have a massage or complete body toning session,
preferably with one or more of your close female
friends – better than a shower for your mental state
and your diet!
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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A Better Wedding without Breaking Your Budget.
A wedding will probably cost the happy couple
and their parents more than they expect, even if
they’re used to sticking to a budget.
There are so many things which have to be paid
for!
I’ve put together some tips to help you keep
control of your spending. Otherwise, you will
start your life as a married couple with a financial hangover that it
could take months or even years to recover from.
I can almost guarantee that your expenses will be more than you
thought. It’s like a “Parkinson’s Law” for Weddings; instead of “work
expands to fill the available time”, you get “expenses grow to
swallow the available budget!”.
Your Budget.
1] Decide what you must have, list what you would like to have and be ruthless about trimming what you can do without.
2] Never assume that anyone will give you some money or pay for
a particular item or service. Ask them, if you feel that is
appropriate. Otherwise, plan to cover it yourself.
3] Keep talking to everyone. Even when someone has committed to
paying for something, keep in touch. Remember that people’s
circumstances may change rapidly through an accident, a change in
their employment, unexpected medical expenses or just a change in
of their priorities. Keep in touch, and try to be as understanding as
possible if they cannot fulfill their promise.
4] Some people put conditions on their “help”. That might be to add Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.
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“How to Have a Wonderful Wedding” by Maureen Parnell
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more people to your already bulging guest list or to sing at the
reception. You must decide with your partner how important the
financial contribution is to your budget and whether you will
accommodate the “request”, and possibly disappoint other people,
gently insist that the help is unconditional or decline the gift.
5] You, or your parents, may consider getting a loan to cover some
major wedding expenses. This is a personal decision which I can’t
advise about.
I suggest that whoever is looking at this option, consider the long-
term effects:
1) Will this extra burden put a strain on your other financial
goals?
2) Will this debt put a strain on your relationship with each other or your parents as you start married life?.
3) Can you comfortably meet the repayments?
4) Have you compared loan options, read all the fine print and
selected the best terms available?
5) How really important is the loan to making your wedding day
a happy one?
Stick with Your Plan
It’s not unusual for people, especially the bride, to start thinking of
alternatives to the previously agreed food, venue and other
arrangements just a few weeks before the big day.