h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...as I'm in the middle of planning one now.

1.Remember it is your day and politely but firmly tell people if they are taking over.

2. Enjoy it.

3. Have the hen and stag dos as early as possible so you are both fully recovered.

4. Ban stressful people from your house while you are getting ready.

5. Sometimes you have to pick the best man for political reasons (ie best friend or relative) and they may not be the most reliable so ask a more reliable friend to do some of the best man duties behind the scenes.

6. Plan who sits where very carefully especially if any of the family are divorced.

7. Book everything as early as possible so you can relax in the run up to the wedding.

8. Have a wedding list. They are great and mean you don't have to worry about getting presents from a to b.

9. Get wedding insurance even if just for peace of mind.

10. Set up a file with all the details in that you need. My palm pilot has been a godsend!

The best advice we got was from the guy doing the ceremony, who said "it's a celebration, not a ceremony". Not everything has to be perfect and exact and the more you try and shoehorn people into behaving like trained seals, the more you're courting disaster. If you're lucky, you will only have one wedding day ever, so you should enjoy having your friends and family around you and try to throw them the best party you can.

Oh, I completely agree. You won't have one second to worry about what is going right or wrong on the day, so you may as well enjoy it whatever happens! However, there are certain elements that will really make the day. Looking back on ours, these are the points that were worth organising well:

1. Taking time and care to organise the table plans so that everyone feels relaxed.

2. Music. We had an excellent band who took control and set the atmosphere alive. (I have been to three weddings since where they have used the same band because they were so good)

3. Good stodge food (this can still be very tasty and look good on the plate). For a lot of people weddings are a very boozy afair, I therefore recommend serving easily digestable food - nothing too fancy. By the time people eat, they want food that will get them through the day and evening. Serving bread and cheese at the later part of the evening is an excellent tip - your friends and family will thank you for it in the morning.

4. Try to commission a friend to be 'unofficial' photographer for the day. This means you will have great memories of everyone that attended your wedding rather than 400 photos of just you and hubby (or wifey).

5. When booking your Honeymoon, whatever your choice, make sure you plan to have at least the first three days doing absolutely nothing (apart from the obvious of course!) - you don't realise how exhausting the whole wedding day is.

Okay, I could go on and on so I'll leave it there for now...