Bridemalta.com Your Website for Weddings In Malta and Gozo

Venue

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Any minor repairs you would like made e.g. walls with shoes marks etc. The professional venue manager will have scheduled a good wall-wipe or even whitewash if needs be.

Any 'fjakkoli' in the garden?

Decide on how many chairs you would like to be made available.

Visit the reception venue a week or so prior to the wedding in order to discuss the placing of the bars, tables etc.

Your reception venue needs to reflect the type and size of your wedding. If you don’t plan to have a lot of guests, do not choose a venue with a large garden. You will find that a smaller garden or perhaps an indoor venue will give your wedding the right character.

Catering

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If your reception is a sit-down dinner, consider the quality of printing of your custom menus and name cards. Detail counts.

Fresh food is the best. Ask your caterer when the food is prepared. The less re-heated food, the better.

Find out if a relative does catering.

Find out if you can get a discount for X amount of people.

Ask the caterer to help you out in choosing the menu items. However, do not give him a free hand. The menu needs to be tailor made to your liking (or that of your guests). Your reception should be unique and the selection of food should not be identical to other weddings you or your guests have been to, especially from the same caterer.

Find a restaurant that might be interested in catering.

Comparison shop.

Don't let your caterer talk you into dishes you have never heard of. Simpler foods often come with simpler price tags.

Weigh your choices carefully (is X dish worth X times more to you?).

Interview your caterer and get references. Be sure to taste the product before you agree to buy it.

Follow up on any references. Ask specific questions rather than general questions. For example, don't ask "was the caterer good?", but instead "did the food/service meet with your expectations?" or "did the caterer show up on time?".

Get a contract stating everything you want as well as the caterer's duties (foods you want, date of wedding on contract, a clause stating that if caterer backs out, they have to provide you with another caterer who has comparable costs, etc)

Personal recommendations are best when choosing a caterer but some may be just starting their business, providing an excellent service, so make sure you sample the food.

Remember that the food and drinks will be prepared and served by hard-working kitchen staff and waiters. Whilst not obligatory, a small tip per catering staff, pre-arranged with the head-waiter in order to have the staff know about it before the actual event, will make it all the more worthwhile for them. And for you.

Beverages

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Beverages change a lot as time passes. Nowadays red and white wine is very much in demand, so it might be worth investing a few extra liri in it.

Make sure that there are no paper doileys, or napkins at the bars as they tear very easily when wet. A good idea is to cover the bar surface with a thick sheet of transparent plastic.

If possible and unless its not cost effective, let your caterer handle the soft drinks, minerals and juices himself. Usually, you pay by consumption. You’ll save yourself the hassle of carrying the drinks yourself to the venue and you want have to be concerned about the returns as you won’t have any.

Bar Service

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A cocktail table gives your wedding an elegant touch. You will probably have to buy more spirits, but in the long run, you’ll find that people consume less spirits since a cocktail is usually a long drink and is topped with lemonade and juices.

Make sure that the alcohol content in the cocktails is not excessive. You don’t want any of your guest getting drunk simply because they want to taste all the cocktails on the menu.

Organiser

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Present the organizer to your families! He/she will be 'running the show' at the wedding and they should know whom to refer to.

During the reception, a good organizer will keep providing you with food and drink. This is important as you will hungry and thirsty!

Ask your organizer every single question you can think of. Not only will this help you learn - it will also help keep you calm as you feel that every corner of the event is being taking care of.

Discuss with your organizer the times you'd like certain events, such as the cutting of the cake, to happen.

Give your organizer a list of people with whom you would like to take photos. The organizer will work hand-in-hand with the photographer and videographer to make sure that part of your wedding will go smoothly and efficiently.

A good organizer listens but does not necessarily accept all you ask for - some ideas will enhance your wedding. Others may just not be suitable or feasible.

Word of mouth is the most important point of reference.

Invitations

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Cater for at least 10% extra invitations. You will definitely make a few mistakes and you might even add people to the list at the last minute.

Book your invitations early. Some suppliers might take around 6 months to deliver. You cannot afford not to have the invitations in hand at least 8 weeks before. Don’t forget you might want to send some invitations abroad.

Souvenirs

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Remember that you will be needing the rest of the souvenirs at the hall, for those people who would not have given you the present before. So take whatever is left the with the beverages to the hall.

Where possible, think functional. Can the souvenirs serve to store something?

The souvenirs go hand in hand with your wedding invitations. First of all, you need to order your souvenirs at approximately the same time since there might be delays from the supplier. Secondly, you will probably want to attach a ‘thank you’ card on your souvenirs which means that you won’t be able to prepare your souvenirs before you have the invitations in hand.

Photography

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Ask whether the photographer offers guarantees on the quality and durability of film print.

Has the photographer won any recognized awards?

Altough you would like your wedding video and photos to be special and of high quality, make sure you do not let it spoil your wedding by restricting you from enjoying yourself together with your guests. In an effort to come up with a good product, videographers (and photographers) tend to over exhaust the bride and groom with excessive posing shots.

Video

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Flowers & More

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Consider silk (lasts forever, sometimes cheaper). Remember that few (if any) people will see your flowers closely.

Consider doing the flower arrangements yourself.

Comparison shop (good advice for any wedding frugality subject!).

Interview and check references.

Get a contract (read caterer tips for further details)

See if you have a relative that can do the flowers.

Use flowers that are in season, rather than flowers that have to be imported (see the end of this article for a good source).

Use wild flowers that grow locally.

Consider simple elegance rather than opulence. Simplicity almost always costs less than opulence.

Consider using lots of greens or filler with bright flowers. The greens/filler costs less.

Music

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Listen to the the musician play or ask for demo tapes or cds. Do they have a website from where to download snippets of their music?

Is the musician familiar with the reception venue, and its acoustics?

Ask for the song list and whether the musician knows 'your' song. It's the ideal piece to start dancing to.

How many scheduled breaks will the musician/s take? Will there be some kind of replacment during such intervals?

Cars & Karozzin

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Discuss with the karozzin driver how the karozzin will be decorated.

Make sure to let the car vendor know that your wedding vehicle will be a karozzin as the relative speed of travelling will be slow.

How do you plan to leave on the 'going away'? Will you be using your own car, or will you be renting another vehicle? Be sure to discuss this issue as it would involve an extra trip to be paid for.

Make sure to discuss the seating arrangment with the car vendor, who will be experienced and know just how many vehicles are required.

Wedding List

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Carpets & Tents

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Inform the car vendor about the carpet in order to him to drive up to carpet and stop right beside it for the bride to step out onto it if possible.

Discuss the timing involved and note where the carpet will be placed.

Remember to always ask for references.

Honeymoon

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Make sure you have 'backup money'. Plan to spend a certain amount but leave some in reserve, should the 'opportunity of a lifetime' come up. It's your honeymoon after all.

Once abroad, be careful when offered 'last minute' upgrades. They may be comfortable but will probably cost more.

Discover your destination! Look up information on the internet, read books, maybe even learn a few phrases of the language. Pinpoint places of interest etc.

Double and if needs be, triple-check your bookings. Nothing is worse than being let down whilst you're having the best of fun.

Where possible, pre-book. It may sound adventurous to leave items to the last minutes but this is your honeymoon and you want to focus on your partner in the utmost possible luxury, not on getting a taxi to go somewhere.

Imagine that you are already there. Transportation is a key element, so consider airport shuttles etc.

Plan well in advance - it is the trip of a lifetime unlike any other you will ever make!

Accommodation

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Hens & Stags

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Gozo Wedding

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New Ideas!

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