10 Tips To Pull Off A Spectacular Double Wedding

So you’re getting married and you decided that you want to share this day with your very best friend or a close relative – a double wedding is the perfect choice.
Although not conventional, a double wedding is perfectly acceptable and can be done successfully with meticulous planning and of course, lots of discussion and consultation with the other party.
First and foremost, it is important that you give yourselves lots of pre-planning time. A double wedding takes a lot of time because there are two parties where both preferences need to be taken into account.

1. The Date
Picking out a date for the big event is not hard if you consult with each other. Start by picking out the season, then the month, and the exact day. Make sure you agree on this and finalize.
2. The Venue
Choose a venue that can accommodate all your guests as well as the other couple. You also need to consider whether there is ample room on the ceremony platform for the entourage. You can avoid processional issues by finding a venue where you can set up twin aisles for each party to walk.
3. The Guest List
Sharing the big day with someone else means also sharing your guest list. Agree on common friends and family first, then, add your own. Just make sure that you don’t go overboard with your list.

4. The Invitations
Make your invites as distinctive as your wedding event. You would probably have to write your own words for the invitations to make sure the names appear correctly and in order. Custom-made wedding invitations can be readily ordered on the internet or approach your local stationery company.
5. The Budget
One of the main benefits of sharing a wedding with someone else is that you can also share the expenses. Make sure you and the other couple agree on the budget at the onset.
6. Ceremony
It is a good plan to ask your religious leaders if they can officiate a double wedding, especially if both couples share the same faith. However, a civil ceremony can be the perfect solution for such an unconventional wedding.

7. The Wedding Party
Having a double wedding doesn’t mean having your entourage doubled as well. You can discuss the possibility of sharing your bridal party or limit the entourage to a maid of honor and bridesmaid, best man and one groomsmen per couple to avoid overcrowding and confusion.
8. The Reception
To avoid any misunderstandings during the reception, the couples should discuss how they’re going to receive their guests, cut the cake, have their first dance, and when pictures will be taken. Consider alternating each event or doing them together, such as by having a heavily choreographed first dance with the bridal party as back up dancers. Coordinate with the photographer and videographer as to how they should move around with the couples.
9. Decorations
These should also be agreed upon by the couples. The wedding decorations should reflect both couples preferences and wedding colors. Flower arrangements, centerpieces, pew bows, and candles are the most common décor you’d see in a wedding ceremony and reception, so plan accordingly.

10. Favours
Thank your guests by giving them a token of the unique wedding they attended. You could incorporate your bond as a couple and also as friends by handing out some photo coasters with a picture of both couples, two of a kind playing cards, or love birds salt and pepper shakers.

Bonus FAQs

Double Weddings create a lot of questions for those involved. Here are a few of these queries answered:
Should guests bring two gifts? – Guests are not expected to bring two gifts, just give one to the couple they know. However, if they know both, then split the cost of two gifts with someone who knows both couples as well. This way no one’s feelings will get hurt. The couples should let the guests know this and should plan to register accordingly. You might also want to set up a wedding website in order to keep your guests informed on any details.
What is the best way to split the cost of the wedding? – Both couples should talk about this at the start of the wedding planning. Couples can split the expenses 50-50, or dividing the cost by the number of the wedding guest. To explain further: if a couple invited 60 guests (out of 100) then they should shoulder 60% of the wedding costs.
How should we proceed with the wedding rites? Who goes first? – You can discuss this with each other, but conventionally the older bride gets to do everything first. First to go out of the church, welcomes the guests and have their first dance. Still, it is recommended that both parties consult each other and agree on such matters.
By Amy Naves, Excalibur Press

SUMMER 2017 EDITION OUT NOW