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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2000)
HAPEL Wedding plans still largely in' j hands of bride, her family By Margaret Behm Staff writer In the past, planning a wed ding was the main responsibility of the bride, but wedding coordi nators now often take part. “Tradition says that the bride and her family plan everything,” said David Martin, a wedding coordinator for The Boulevard at 2602 Park Blvd. “But I’m here to tell you that this is the dawn of the new millennium, and that is not the case anymore.” Brides plan about 60 percent of the wedding, and the groom is // T, more involved with * 1 VC Seen the planning now, . j r Martin said. VldeOS OJ Rebecca Overgaard is disaster engaged to Andy Krejci, a sopho weddings, and more electrical engineering major, rm afraid that and she is going to J plan her own wed is going to din§with the helP d ^ of members of the happen...” wedding party. r r I m nervous Rebecca Overgaard . . . . . °; going to go wrong, junior advertising major said Overgaard, a junior advertising • UT1 • J ^ _a . majui. i vc seen viucus ui uisasici weddings, and I’m afraid that is going to happen at mine.” For brides who want outside help for their weddings, they can use a wedding coordinator. Wedding coordinators have seen everything possible happen at weddings, so they know what deci sions to make so the wedding day runs smoothly, Martin said. “I have participated in about . 15,000 weddings,” Martin said. “I have seen everything you can imagine, good and bad.” The most important thing brides can do is start planning as soon as they are engaged, Martin said. “The bride needs to plan far enough in advance,” Martin said, “so then they don’t have to worry Josh Wolfe/DN The night of the reception is the moment it all comes together for the wedding coordinators and their staffs. Ken and Abby Wenninghoff share a kiss while Fran Borcherdlng, a catering manager at Lincoln Station, looks on. later.” The order of urgency in which a bride should book the wedding is the church, photographer, recep tion facility, entertainment and then the florists, Martin said. It is important to make appoint ments with those five as soon as the couple get engaged, Martin said. If the wedding will be in the months between May and August, the bride should plan at least 12 months in advance, Martin said. “If you want to book a wedding on a Saturday in a peak month,” Martin said, “you may want to book a photographer before you even tell your parents.” During the other months of the year, the bride should plan for at least six months, Martin said. Overgaard said that she will plan her wedding in segments so she won’t get burnt out. “I think if we plan the; wedding in stages then it won’t be too stress ful,” Overgaard said, “until about a month before the wedding.” Teresa Furnas, a wedding coor dinator and owner of the Bridal Trousseau, 650 J St., expects that a lot of people are going to get mar ried this year and that a lot of engagements occurred on New Year’s Eve. “With the new millennium, people are seeing their futures,” Furnas said, “and wanting to settle down.” Many of the new brides who go to her are college students or newly graduated, because many people plan their weddings to occur after graduation, Furnas said. “We picked a date in 2003,” Overgaard said, “because Andy doesn’t graduate until sometime in that year.” A decision that was hard to make for Overgaard was who to choose as her bridesmaids. “It was really hard to decide on who to put in the wedding,” Overgaard said. “I don’t want to offend anyone by not putting them in die wedding.” Most of the tension that occurs in the bride’s wedding party is usu ally between the bride and her mother, Martin said. The mother wants her daugh ter’s wedding to be the storybook wedding that the mother didn’t have, while the daughter wants to plan it herself, Martin said. “Sometimes we’re not only wedding coordinators,” Martin said. “We’re also guidance coun selors.” The hardest part about organiz ing the wedding party is to get all the bridesmaids to agree on one dress, Furnas said. Bridesmaids often complain about the price and style of the ‘ * dress, Furnas said. The bride should pick a dress for the bridesmaids that can be used for other occasions, Martin said. “I usually suggest to pick a style that can be inexpensively altered,” Martin said. “Because | usually the style and color of the dress is only suitable for a wed ding.” Even though coordinators often help the bride pick out die brides maids’ dresses, Martin said, the bride should pick out her dress on her own. “It’s an emotional choice,” \ Martin said. “Literally, the bride needs to fall in love with the dress.” “ V‘.\\ * i MB < '