Try and do everything yourself and you’re sure to be in a deep, deep mess. Yes, we do know brides who wanted to handle each detail of their dream wedding themselves, but it only spells S-T-R-E-S-S on the wedding day. So let’s not assume that we’re born with superpowers and involve our big, fat loving family from the start! Here are 9 wedding duties to delegate to your family members.
1. Travel and lodging
Oh what a task that is! Assigning rooms to all the outstation guests, catering to special room requests, pickups from railway stations and airports. It’s one of the most tiring and exhausting tasks and who better than your brothers to take care of it. Driving long distances, picking up heavy luggage and handling the hotel staff – they’ll be able to execute it smoothly. Make sure your brothers have a printed list of all the outstation guests along with their contact and travel details and timings. Have a room plan ready beforehand so there are no last minute changes.
2. The caterer
You’ve paid a hefty amount to the caterer and his job sure makes all the difference to your wedding. Is the food served hot and fresh, are all the dishes and snacks you paid for being served, are the quantities right, are the food counters clean, is the plate count right? All this needs to be looked after with utmost care and an older person is best for it.
You would also need a dedicated person to man the bar. It’s common knowledge that some caterers add extra bottles of alcohol and mixers during the final billing. Have your mom or dad’s brothers look after this departement. Trust us, most of our taujis and mamas are already experienced with this stuff!
3. How are the decorations?!
My mom, sister and I had big plans for my wedding decor and had explained each detail to the decorator over long, tiring meetings. On the D-Day, while we three were busy getting ready, the decorator decided to do what was most convenient to him and not exactly what we had planned.
When you do have meetings with the decorator, tentwalla or florist, take a trusted cousin and uncle along so they too know what’s happening. Make hard copies of the final decor plan and give one to each person. Make sure the person-in-charge is the one who takes the least time in getting ready. That ways you can be rest assured that they’ll be there for as long as the workers are doing up the venue. Your dad too is sure to be there but with the ten other things that he is handling, he is bound to forget the little details. That’s where the other 2 members and the hard copies step in!
4. One for the activities
That’s where the jiju steps in or your BFF. Shaadis are filled with a lot of fun activities. Ribbons for the ribbon cutting, props for the photobooth, sangeet dance pen drive, mehendi giveaways, wish lamps, pens and a book for the wishes – there could be just so much you could be doing. Make a list of all the little ceremonies or the fun activities you plan on doing along with the materials required. Now leave the rest up to the person-in-charge. It’s their duty to get all this stuff and make sure it’s present at the right place at the right time. After all, what are best friends and brother-in-laws for!
5. The bride’s all important bag
An emergency kit for the sangeet function with a lipstick for touch up, earring backs and an alternative pair of sandals. Or a bag for the wedding night with your nightwear, next morning clothes, essential toiletries and other basics for your first day in the new house. A bride’s bag needs to have everything she might need in any situation and who better than the pyaari behna or bestie to do this for you. You know she’s the one who understands you best and will know about all that you might need.
6. The photographers!
Now this one’s easy. The main part is selecting the right team and booking them. After that you’re pretty much sorted. But just to be on the safer side, have one of your brothers or brother-in-laws get in touch with them a couple of days before the functions begin. Delegate him the task of coordinating with the team, making sure they are on time and taking care of any possible queries that they have. It’s always a good idea to share all your vendor contacts with a couple of people in your family and vice versa. If one’s busy, there should always be a second point of contact.
7. Mehendiwala & the makeup artist
Let’s just leave this one to your mom and sister. It’s not much of a task and they can sure handle confirming the bookings and venue directions if needed. Besides this your mom also has the major task of making sure all the relatives and guests feel comfortable and welcomed.
8. Shagun ke lifafe
Ooh, the amount that you get! It’s crazy! My grandmother is always the person-in-charge of this for all wedding functions in our family. Since she stays put at one place, all the gifts and money received are given to her to take care of. Ain’t no tension of things getting stolen when the dadi is there to take care of it!
9. Payments
We all know who this one is and quite obviously we don’t need to delegate this task. But do remember that weddings involve a lot of vendors and you don’t want your dad to be hassled with so many bills to settle. It’ll be nice to have a few trusted family members handle smaller billings for different pre-assigned vendors.
The idea is to have your family not just organise the wedding but also enjoy it. And delegating little duties is a great way to ensure a stress free and fun wedding!
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