Not all wedding preparation has to be filled with stress and believe it or not, the future bride does not need to turn into a bridezilla necessarily. In fact, if you allow yourself enough time to plan the big day, it can all fall easily in to place.

The first thing to decide is what kind of wedding you want. Would you like a formal church wedding or an informal civil ceremony?

Once this is decided, you need to sit down and work out a budget. This could take some time. You need to decide who will be paying for what. Then draw up a rough list of who will be attending the ceremony as this will determine how much it will cost.

The next step is to decide on a date to get married. This will depend on what is convenient for you and your close family and will also be determined by the type of weather you would like on your big day.

Once the date is set in stone, it is time to book the church or civil ceremony. This needs to be done as early on as possible so that a notice of intention to marry can be issued. If you are having a church wedding, this is a good time to talk to the minister about the wedding order of service.

Before long, you will be well on your way to organising that perfect day. And not even a hint of bridezilla behaviour to speak of!

Many people hire the services of a professional wedding photographer to take pictures of their special day. Formal pictures are a great way for you to remember the occasion, and photos of family groups and both of you posing for professional pictures can look brilliant on your mantle piece or in-fact anywhere in your home.

Most people now have their own digital cameras and some of your guests will also bring them to your wedding day. Because the formal pictures may well be staged, a good idea is to ask all your guests if you can have digital copies of any photos they take so that you can add these to your collection. Many people are precious about their photographic equipment and will not take their best camera for fear of it being damaged or lost if the reception or they get a little raucous later in the evening.

Therefore, a great idea is to place disposable wedding cameras on every table. These cameras are relatively inexpensive and the shots taken by your guests may well prove to be some of the most interesting and impromptu photos you have of the day.

The wedding order of service is normally used for a traditional church wedding to allow the guests to see how the ceremony will run. Normally, you will meet with your minister to discuss the wedding order of service.

The wedding order of service can include just the words that are going to be spoken at the ceremony, or if you choose, the hymns too. Most people prefer to have both so that their guests know where they are up to and what is coming next.

On the actual day itself, it is the ushers who will hand out the wedding order of service to all of your guests. They arrive at the church first to carry out this duty and also to show people to their seats.

The wedding order of service, for the most part tells the guests when each section of the ceremony is taking place. So they will know when to stand in order to sing a hymn and they will know when to bow their heads for a prayer. But, the order of service also acts as a guide for the close friends and family. After all, you don’t want your grandma running off to the buffet when she is due to be having a family photograph with the bride and groom!