Goa, India

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Getting Yourself Healthy In Time For July

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

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If you are anything like us, then you have been saying you’ll get healthy in time for summer since Boxing Day. Yet here you are, at the dawn of summer and you still haven’t done a quarter of what you had intended (read: haven’t done anything whatsoever). Don’t worry, it’s hard, we know that. Time flies like a jet plane and healthy habits are hard to get into. We know this as much as the next couch potato. It’s not too late, though.

It’s only the start of June and that means you have about a month to get super-duper healthy, which is totally doable. All you need to do is follow these simple strategies. It’s not one-size fits all, so pick and choose the ones that will suit your life and go from there.

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Ba-Bye Junk Food

Junk food is the antichrist of a healthy body because it is the polar opposite of healthy food. So if you have junk food in your diet, toss it out. Get rid of that and you’ll get rid of your belly fat. Anything that is fatty, sugary, salty or greasy needs to be gone. Set yourself a challenge of one month whereby you have no junk food in your home – or at work – whatsoever.

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Find Yourself A Diet

What you want is a diet that will use the body’s natural processes of burning and storing fat; something like the HCG diet will get you ready for summer. The reason for getting into a diet plan is that it will give you something tangible to follow and that will act as motivation alongside the ticking clock of summer.

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Cook In Bulk

The best way to stick to a healthy eating plan is to cook in bulk. Get ahead of the game by cooking in big beautiful batches of healthy meals and then store it in the freezer. Not only will this mean you have something healthy to take to work or have at your fingertips, it will also mean less time in the kitchen and more time on the treadmill. That’s two birds with one stone.

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Change Up Your Snacking

When we think snacks we think about crisps, chocolate and that sort of thing (thank you very much, food industry). However, a quick mentality alteration and your snacking can become that much healthier. Things like fruit, raw nuts, and chopped vegetables are a way healthier alternative and will see you summer ready in no time.

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No More Naughty Drinks

Just take a moment to think about what you drink on a normal day. Sugary drinks and coffee with sugar in it (or even coffee without sugar in it!). These are empty calories that are so detrimental to a healthy body. So get into the habit of drinking water or some gorgeously healthy tea, like green tea or jasmine tea or any kind of fruit tea really. Healthy body and mind here we come.

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Bring On A Partner

The hardest thing about getting healthy, as you’ll probably agree, is motivating yourself. At first, it isn’t too bad, but then you miss one gym session and it spirals out of control. That’s where having a partner on board can be so helpful. Your spouse or a friend or someone you work with, anyone that will stop you making up excuses like you just have to watch the next episode of Big Little Lies and then you’re good to go. Having someone with you makes it more fun too, and in one month’s time, you can thank them for the way you look at feel.

Get Your Heart Racing: Exercises To Improve Health And Lifestyle

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

We are all very much aware that exercising is good for us, but do we do as much exercise as we should be? The truth is, exercise should be part of our daily lives, where on average you do something that increases your heart rate or stretches your muscles or mind at least for 30 minutes each day. This, however, may sound like a tall task to ask of you. After all, we can all be living hectic lives as it is. Work commitments, social lives, they all take up our precious waking hours, so where can the exercise fit in? However, some exercises are very enjoyable, and they can fit seamlessly into your day by making a few simple changes to your routine. I thought I would share with you some of the most common exercises that can have a huge impact on your health and lifestyle.

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Going for a run

One of most common forms of exercise is simply going for a run. A lot of people tend to fit this in after work, as it’s a great way to calm your mind and transition from work mode into an evening of relaxation or family time. Running, of course, is a cardio workout, so it definitely enables you to increase your heart rate. You don’t need much other than some active wear and a decent pair of jogging trainers, and you can simply just head out of your front door and run. It is a great form of therapy psychologically, and many people would agree that it is the easiest ways to exercise frequently, and it can be rather enjoyable once you get into it. Many people even then sign up to do distance runs such as 10ks and even marathons.

Biking your commute to work

We can all agree that daily exercise can be a huge task to fit in, so why not turn something you would normally do into exercise? Instead of relying on your car or public transport, why not bike your way into work instead? Many employers actually encourage this and have facilities in which to park your bike for the day, and for you to change into your work attire. Of course, you may need to invest in a decent bike and some cycle insurance to ensure that you are covered. But it’s a great way to incorporate your daily exercise.

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Practicing yoga in an evening or morning

While yoga may not be seen as a cardio workout, when combined with regular exercise it’s a great way to vary the type of exercise you do. Yoga concentrates on stretches and muscles while encouraging you to focus on your mind and breathing techniques. This is a great way to destress from an especially busy and stressful day, while still getting some important exercise. Some people also combine yoga with meditation practice as a way to prioritise their thoughts or simply as a relaxation technique. There are plenty of tutorials online to help you master some of the most common yoga poses.

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Attending a gym for an aerobic class

Sometimes you need to be accountable for the exercise that you take, so joining a gem may be your best option. Although it can be pricey, they offer various classes and facilities, making it much easier to attend and do a workout. An aerobic class is a great way to incorporate a block amount of time of cardio workout. Plus being with other people can be an excellent motivator.

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Swimming

 

Swimming is seen as a full body workout, and a great way to not only increase your heart rate but work on muscles all over your body from one form of exercise. Swimming doesn’t require any fancy equipment, just a costume and yourself. You don’t have to be a member of a gym, as there are plenty of local pools you can enjoy the facilities of. It;s also a refreshing exercise and can actually be relaxing if you love being in the water.

Seeking out the expertise of a personal trainer

Finally, if you have some money to invest into your exercise, then you may want to gain the expertise and knowledge of a personal trainer. These people tend to tailor exercises to your needs, abilities and your end goals. They will know what exercises and equipment you should be using, and the workout can be tailored to the amount of time you have. It can also help to have someone there to spur you on, especially if you begin to flag towards the end. They can be a worthy investment, but may not be a long-term option.

I hope this has inspired you to incorporate more exercise into your daily routine.

 

Coping With The Top 3 Worst Travel Troubles

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

In an ideal world, every trip will go as smooth as can be. There will be no problems, and we travel with complete confidence and no hiccups. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world, and things go wrong all the time.

So, here’s my list of the top travel troubles and how you can cope with them:

(Pexels: http://bit.ly/2qR2cfE)

Cancelled Flights

When your flights get cancelled, it can ruin your travels. It prevents you from getting somewhere on time and can cause a great deal of stress. Especially if it’s your flight home, as you end up lost in a foreign country with no way of getting home.

It’s hard to cope with this travel trouble, but there are some things you can do. Mainly, try and have a plan B wherever possible. This doesn’t mean you should book multiple flights, but more that you should prepare for the worst. For example, reserve a room at a hotel near the airport for the day of your flight. Then, if your flight gets cancelled, you have somewhere to stay for the night. If your flight isn’t cancelled, you can cancel the reservation free of charge (check with the hotel that you can do this, most allow you to, but some don’t).

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Lost Luggage

Losing your luggage is one of the worst travel troubles out there. When an airline loses your stuff, it can put you in a really bad position. All of your clothes and precious belongings have gone, leaving you stranded with nothing.

Thankfully, you can cope with this problem in two ways. Firstly, you can prevent it from happening by avoiding paying for hold luggage. Try and only use hand luggage, and you can keep your bags with you at all times. This may be hard for some people, but you can always pay for extra hand luggage too if you can’t keep it all in one bag. The second idea is to help you cope with the aftermath of some lost luggage. What you should do is buy travel insurance to protect you when this happens. There are loads of places like GoBear that compare travel insurance so you can find the best one. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be protected if any of your luggage goes missing or gets damaged. You can claim compensation and get replacements or money for anything you lost.

(pixabay: http://bit.ly/1VApaDv)

No Cash

Most of us like bringing foreign money with us when we travel. This is because it can cost a lot to use our cards, and our banks may see activity in a foreign country and block our account as a security measure. This leads to a long phone conversation as you prove who you are and get the account unblocked. So, we use cash, but what happens when we run out? It can cause a big problem for us, particularly if we didn’t bring our card at all.

Well, coping with this issue is easy. First, always bring more than you need, just in case! Secondly, get a travelcard and load it up with money. You can use this card at ATMs to withdraw cash without being charged fees!

There you have it, three travel troubles complete with ideas on how to cope with them. Now, you can travel with confidence this summer.

 

 

Eating Enough Fruit And Veg Made Easy

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

We all know how important it is to get enough fruit and vegetables in our diet, yet the large majority of us fail to do this. It may not always feel like it, but eating the recommended amount of fruit and veg doesn’t need to be a challenge. Here, we’ll list some of the easiest things you can do to make sure you’re getting enough fruit and vegetables in.

Image: Wikimedia

Keep Them in the Open

Simply making the fruit and veg in your house more visible can be a great first step towards encouraging everyone in your household, you included, to get their fill. Don’t hide them away at the back of your cupboards. Instead, get a fruit bowl for the kitchen, keep it well-stocked, and have snackable things like carrot sticks available at the front of the fridge. Even taking the time to slice up apples, kiwis and so on can give you a little extra motivation to take a bite in passing.

Drink Them (Up to a Point)

Juice and smoothies are excellent ways to get your fill of fruit and veg, and make it feel easier. You can even start following a whole juice diet if you’re looking to lose weight. The next time you’re shopping for fruit, look for labels that say “100% fruit juice”, as a glass of these are guaranteed to give you a serving. Just be wary of the portion size, and make sure you know how much a serving is. It’s completely possible to wind up consuming more calories through juice and smoothies, even though they’re not exactly filling!

Think Frozen

Buying bulk amounts of peas and vegetables, and keeping them in your freezer, is an excellent way to make sure there’s always vegetables in the house. Frozen veg is remarkably easy to prepare, and can be kept for a long time, making them much more economical compared to buying fresh veg here and there throughout the week. Frozen raspberries and blueberries are also great to scatter over a bland cereal in the morning. Despite what you may have heard, it’s a complete myth that frozen fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than fresh ones, although the flavour can be a little dampened depending on where you source them from.

Get Started Early

Like a lot of things, the sooner you get started with eating your recommended amount of fruit and veg, the easier you’ll find it to polish it off. Start getting into the habit of making fruits or vegetables part of your breakfast. Adding sliced bananas or berries to your cereal is a classic, but you can also add vegetables to an omelette, berries to your yoghurt, or simply have a piece of fruit on the side. Soon enough, this will start to feel like part of the routine, rather than a chore you really ought to do. From there, you’ll have that much less to worry about through the rest of the day.

Start applying these tips, and you’ll find it so much easier to get your fill of fruit and veg.

How To Completely Change Your Look In 4 Steps

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Whilst the thought of improving your appearance drastically always sounds like a pipe dream, that’s just the negative voice in your head getting you down. We’re programmed to criticize ourselves; don’t ask me why, but it’s the way things are. Still, you don’t need to put up with that. You don’t need to look in the mirror and sigh as you dream of the way in which you wish you’d look.

Healthiness and happiness should be the motivator to change your appearance and your life in general, so you need to push away vain thoughts. Wanting to look good for shallow reasons is never a good motivator because the negative voice in your head will always find something to say to put you down. You need to change your look for you, and it needs to be for the right reasons. Here are 4 steps to get you on the right track.

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Your body.

Your body is probably your worst enemy, as it is for most women. Our heads are filled with so many conflicting ideas as to what constitutes the perfect body. Some people say we should be as skinny as a rake, but other people say we should have voluptuous curves. It’s an absolute headache, and it’s all rubbish.

You don’t “have to” look any particular way when it comes to your body other than the way you want to look. In fact, to be more exact, you should look the way that makes you feel comfortable. Don’t starve yourself, and don’t over-eat. A healthy body should be your priority because there is no ideal size. If you eat a consistent diet and keep active on a daily basis then you’re doing everything right.

Your face.

Another aspect of your appearance that you want to keep healthy in a practical sense as well as in terms of its appearance on the surface is your face. Frequent moisturizing is crucial to avoid dry, cracked skin, and a clean face is absolutely essential when it comes to avoiding acne and other blemishes. There’s nothing wrong with a little make-up, of course, but try not to let your face become too oily during the day.

Mental health also affects appearance, so through practicing positive thoughts about your appearance you’ll reduce your stress and, in turn, your acne; it’s a positive cycle. You should also be looking after your dental health; your teeth shouldn’t just look white but actually be healthy. Look after your gums, in particular, by flossing and ensure that you brush your teeth two or perhaps even three times a day.

Your fashion.

Ah, fashion. It’s a love-hate relationship. We love pretty clothes, but we hate it when they don’t fit us or we think they don’t look quite right on us. If you’re lacking in confidence with regards to the fashion department then you could go on a shopping spree with your pals so as to have a team of advisors on what looks good or bad. You could also browse through online sites offering sleek and modern dresses for women because you might be selling yourself a bit short with your current wardrobe.

Again, don’t put yourself down; a good fashion sense isn’t some elusive concept that you can’t quite grasp. What’s most likely is that you never had the confidence to wear the pretty dresses or outfits you saw in shops or on other people; you need to rid yourself of these doubts and take a risk. Self-esteem is absolutely the key to changing your overall appearance, as we’ll discuss in the final step…

Your confidence.

This is the final step to looking good. Whether you want to try parting your hair on the other side or completely changing the color of your hair altogether, everything will come together if you just work it. People pick up on positive energy and confidence. You look more attractive when you feel more attractive, so you should be making yourself look the way you want to look; that way, you’ll be happier about your appearance, and this will make you look more attractive to others.

How To Live A Healthier And Happier Life

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

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There are many things that we can do to live a healthier and happier life. It’s your responsibility to make sure you’re doing them, because no one else will do them for you, unfortunately.

So here’s what you need to do.

 

Eat healthy foods.

A big part of why people don’t want to eat healthily is because of the effort that needs to be put in. Sure, fast food is simple and takes no time to prepare, and it’s fine for a one off, but if you’re eating junk food every single day, then your body isn’t going to be in the form that it should be. Not only will you be overweight, but you will be putting yourself at risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. – It’s not worth putting your body through that for a quick fix.

There are many easy meals out there that you don’t need to be a chef to make, and the benefits that they will have on your body and mind will pay off. You won’t just be healthier, but you’ll look so much better too.

 

Drink plenty of water.

It was once suggested to drink eight glasses of water every day, but experts now say ten to twelve. Water is so important for our bodies; it’s amazing for our skin, fights off old age, gets everything flowing through our body how it should and so much more!

If you ever have a headache that just randomly starts nagging at you during the day, a reason for this could be dehydration, and you may not even be aware. So carry a water bottle around with you so there’s no way you can just ‘forget.’

 

Exercise regularly.

Even thirty minutes are enough exercise if you do something every day, so there’s no excuse for not having the time. You don’t need to do anything too intense, just listen to your body and do as much as you can. Whether you like to swim, run, box or dance, as long as it’s getting your heart beating and the blood pumping – you’re doing what needs to be done.

 

Get enough sleep.

If you have ever gone a night without sleeping, you’ll know all about the effect lack of sleep has on your body and mind. It can make you feel so weak, and physically and emotionally exhausted too, so try to get as much sleep as you can to avoid this.

Eight hours is a good number – you should feel great in the morning, full of energy and ready to take on the day ahead of you.

 

Quit the bad habits.

Whether that be nail biting, smoking or alcohol, if you know it’s not good for you, cut it out of your life. Of course, that’s a lot easier said than done, but there are plenty of resources out there that help battle addiction. So open yourself up to the idea of getting assistance if you aren’t able to do it alone.

 

Treat yourself.

This doesn’t mean going overboard and spending all your savings on that car, house or boat you had your eye on. But if there’s something that you’ve wanted for a while now, and you can afford it – treat yourself. It’s a great little pick-me-up that will leave you feeling very pleased with yourself.

 

Get some real friends.

‘Real’ is the key word here. There are two different types of friends that you will have in your life, the ones that seem really fun to hang around with, but that just end up using you for what you’ve got, and there are the people that would sit with you in silence for hours on end, just to let you know they’re there for you.

Stick to the second option…

 

Find a hobby.

If you haven’t already found something that you enjoy – try a whole bunch of things until you find one that makes you happy. Explore music, art, dance, and sport. Join clubs and groups; you may even meet some like-minded people that turn into great friendships.

 

Get out of the house.

Don’t be confined to four walls every day; it’s so important to get out and be social; otherwise you will just get depressed. Human beings need to be stimulated or we will just end up getting stuck in a rut and having no way to climb out.

So take a walk in the park or meet some friends for a game of soccer. Whatever appeals to you – go ahead and do it.

Wacky Ways to Lose Belly Fat!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

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If there is one thing we all want in life it’s to lose a little weight. Sometimes, we just enjoy food too much and let go of our inhibitions. Although it’s delicious, it’s also unhealthy, especially if you’re carrying a little more timber than necessary.

Of course, you’re reading this thinking ‘this isn’t my first rodeo, pal,’ and you’re right. Lots of people try to lose weight on a daily basis, so what makes this post any different? Well, aside from the fact that these tips work, they are also weird and wonderful. When you spend a lifetime following the rules, sometimes it’s good to cut loose.

With that in mind, here are four wacky ways to lose weight that you won’t find on a conventional dieting blog.

The Sniff Test

 According to a study by the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, sniffing food works. In fact, their research shows that people lost nearly two stones. The method behind the madness is that the aroma of the food tricks the brain into thinking you’re eating. As a result, the brain tells the stomach you’re full, and the hunger pains cease. Sure, you’ll feel like an idiot the first time, but persist and you’ll look like a skinny idiot!

Testosterone Replacement

As you know, testosterone is a hormone found in the human body. What you might not know is that it is prominent in both males and females, and it’s responsible for burning fat. In fact, experts believe it’s the main hormone in charge and advocate supplements like Elite Testosterone Replacement. The stats do add up too. For starters, low testosterone can affect energy levels, which in turn make you less likely to exercise. Plus, low hormone levels also make you more tired. Fatigue is a killer when it comes to health because it lowers the body’s overall efficiency.

Bigger Breakfast

Because we don’t feel like eating in the morning, breakfast is usually quick and easy. Although it’s a good way to start the day, it isn’t the best way to lose weight. Simply put, eating more calories in the morning gives you more time to burn them off. Plus, it should provide you with more energy to workout. Shifting the balance so that your lunch and dinner have fewer calories can help you lose a ton. Okay, it won’t be a ton, but it’ll be a lot! In fact, try and avoid eating at night altogether because the body doesn’t have the time to digest the intake.

Packaged Snacks

The fact is that you will still snack even if you are on a health kick. It’s just an occupational hazard of being a human being. The good news is that you can curb it by sticking to wrapped products. Studies show that people that have to unwrap junk food cut their intake by up to thirty percent. It seems that the hassle of fiddling with packaging makes snacking less desirable. What a result!

See, you don’t have to stick to the tried and tested methods to reach your goals.

Get Crafty- How to be creative on a budget

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

When you’re perusing lists of ideas for Christmas and birthday gifts, one thing usually stands out: a lot of people suggest that in order to be thrifty and save a little of your hard-earned money, you should make gifts yourself. One problem with that is that they don’t actually save as much money as you think they will – materials can be a lot more expensive than people realise, and the time that it takes to craft is also valuable. If you really want to save some money when you’re crafting, here are some tips to help out…

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Look For Deals

First of all, it’s time to start to look for deals. When you’re buying groceries, you probably look out for buy one get one free offers, so why not do it with your crafting supplies too? When you’re at a crafting store, make sure that you look around for any deals that can help you save a little money. Just make sure that you remember not to buying anything that you really don’t need – it can be easy to be taken in by deals that seem like a great idea when you’re in the store but that are definitely a waste of time and money when you get home. If you see a deal, make sure that you’d buy the items full price anyway – that means that you’re saving money. Otherwise you’re spending unnecessarily! You should also look out for coupons that you can use – for instance, check out today’s top coupons & promo codes at Coupon Sherpa to see if there’s anything you can use there. Look in newspapers and magazines for coupons as well.

 

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Plan Your Projects

It’s always a good idea to plan your projects so that you can buy your supplies in advance. Of course we all need a little spontaneity in our lives and you need to go with the flow sometimes, but if you’re planning on a big project then it’s a good idea to start planning it a few weeks beforehand. That means that you can do your research to find out the costs for the project so you don’t spend more than you were intending to.

 

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Remember Your Time Is Valuable

A lot of people think that you craft solely for the love of it, which means that you’re totally happy to do things like make scarves for gifts for friends of friends for free. Even if the cost of materials is given to you, you need to remember that although you love crafting, your skills don’t come for free. They’ve been developed after years of hard work that you’ve poured a lot of time and money into, and as such you deserve to be compensated fairly for it. If you tend to do a lot of crafting for other people in your own time, start charging for it – not only will this help you to invest in more materials to experiment with and improve your skills with, but it could also start to turn a hobby you love into a business to supplement your income.

The Town House Cafe, CP- a foodie’s paradise

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

If you want to enjoy good food and spend some cosy and comfortable time with your friends and family, The Town House Cafe is the place for you. The decor is minimalistic and comprises of huge and comfortable sofas, and some big windows overlook the busy outer circle of CP. I spent a rainy afternoon enjoying the delectable food with a few of my friends and I totally loved the experience.

Coming to food, here are my recommendations

Chicken Salami Tacos, a very nice preparation with chicken tikka chaat with some veggies wrapped in a chicken salami and shaped like a taco, its definitely a must try.

Poached Chicken Salad with Wasabi Dressing was another great starter. Though I am not very fond of wasabi dressing, but thankfully it wasn’t really overpowering the overall flavours and hence I liked it.

Chilly Chicken, Chilly Prawns and Chilly Paneer were all very good, hot and spicy, and when I say spicy, I really mean it. So those who don’t prefer spicy food, shouldn’t order these. I loved the prawns very much, so so delectable.

Chicken Seekh, Chicken Malai Tikka, Paneer Tikka, Mutton Galauti, Mutton Seekh, The Non Veg Platter are totally worth indulging in. Soft and tender meat, perfect spices, these dishes are any non-vegetarians delight.

The dishes I loved the most included the Chicken Bruschetta, Chilli Garlic Chicken Dimsums, Hoisin Chicken Dimsums and Falafel. They all were so good, and you really can’t afford to miss them, especially the dim sums. They were so juicy and tasty that you can’t have enough of them.

For the mains I ordered a Mixed Sauce Chicken Pasta and also tried some Dal Makhani with Butter Naan. Fish N Chips too were good, I can say that because I indulged in hearty two bites of the same, sharing from my friends.

The Tiramisu that I had for dessert was by far one of the best I have eaten in recent times. Please do try it. It was so moist and creamy and perfectly flavoured. I loved it completely.

 

The Town House Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Need-To-Know Wedding Planning Tips

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

So, he’s finally popped the question, you’ve told everyone you know the good news, and the reality of it all is finally setting in. You may have had countless ideas about what you want your dream wedding to look like ever since you were a little girl. Now, you’re finally going to be able to make these daydreams a reality! When planning your big day, there are a number of things you should know, and others that you have to know. If you’re about to get stuck in with the planning, here are some essential tips to bear in mind…

Your Guests Come First

Well, obviously, you come first. However, when you sit down to start planning, your guests are the first thing you should worry about. First and foremost, get a firm handle on the number of guests you’re going to invite. This will make it easier to settle on details such as the wedding invitations and the venue. As a general rule of thumb, you should make sure you have around 25 square feet of space per wedding guest. That might sound like a lot, but remember you need to account for the tables, the catering staff, the band and of course the dancefloor.

Figure Out No-Go Dates

From Flickr

 

There’s nothing worse than marking a date on your calendar, beginning to count down the days to your wedding, and then finding out that you’ll need to postpone it. Start investigating a rough time when you’d like to have your wedding, and find out if there are any no-go dates around the same time. Trade conferences, charity walks, and other local events, can all have a dramatic effect on both traffic and the availability of hotel rooms. Rule these out, and you’ll ensure your big day goes as smoothly as possible.

Think About the Weather

To make sure your big day is enjoyable and memorable for all of your guests, you need to start thinking about any potential annoyances that mother nature might throw at you. It’s fairly common for wedding guests to leave early from events held in blistering summer days, and winter receptions with inadequate heating. Bugs such as gnats and mosquitoes will swarm around some areas in certain times of the year, so take precautions against these pests if the wedding or reception is going to be largely outdoors. If a sunset is essential to your perfect ceremony, make sure you check what time you’ll need to say your vows. You don’t want the reception to start too late in the day!

Leverage Plastic

Weddings are among the most expensive private events anyone will have to pay for. However, you can take advantage of the high cost of your big day, by applying for a good rewards credit card. Whether it pays off in air miles or excellent shopping deals, trying to consolidate all of your wedding purchases with the right card will help you acquire countless reward points. These can be an absolute godsend when you two are on your honeymoon!

Have a Meal Plan

From Pixnio

Feeding everyone who’s coming to your wedding is another major expense that you’ll have to account for. Before you sign any contracts with your vendors, just make sure you’re not expected to serve the same meal to them as you’ve got planned for your guests. You don’t want to have to pay for twenty extra lobster tails at short notice! Start looking for affordable, but equally satisfying wedding meals to serve them instead. You’re going to have to call your caterer in advanceand let them know precisely how many vendors are going to need feeding. Don’t forget the people who often slip through the net, such as roadies and photography assistants.

Leave Some Emergency Cash

We know, your big day may be completely wrecking your bank account as it is. Flowers, attire, music and entertainment, food, transport… the list goes on and on! However, if you want to be 110% sure that the event’s going to go off without a single hiccup, you also need to leave yourself an emergency cash cushion. As a general rule, this should be around ten percent of the necessary, non-negotiable expenses. This will be for surprise costs, such as getting extra invitations made up due to mistakes, supplying umbrellas for a rainy day, or even little décor frills. Hopefully, everything will go according to plan, and you won’t need to touch this emergency reserve. Still, it’s better to have this money and not need it, then to need it and not have it.

Set a Kids Policy

When children and weddings mix, it can make a large and complex event even more hard to manage. You have a few options for dealing with this. You can tell everyone that kids are welcome, make it an adults only event, allow immediate family only, or organise some kind of childcare solution for your guests. There are many childcare services that will accommodate for weddings, basing themselves either in the reception area, a function room, or at a family member’s home. Obviously, you don’t want to avoid hurt feelings, so try to avoid letting some guests bring their kids and then disallowing others.

Take Things a Step at a Time

Planning your perfect wedding is a massive project, and even though you’re excited for the day itself, all the different aspects of planning can quickly turn it into a long and difficult stress-fest! To keep yourself from pulling your hair out, break down all the work ahead of you into several manageable steps, sorted into a logical schedule. Figure out the tasks you need to complete, and tackle them one by one, preventing it all from snowballing out of control and casting a gloom over the happiest day of your life. Don’t hire any vendors or services before a date is set in stone. Don’t design your cake until you’re certain on the flower arrangements. Don’t choose entertainment before you know how much space you’ll have. Move things along in a logical, manageable order, and you’ll take a lot of potential stress out of the situation!

 

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