Looking for a helping hand when planning your wedding? Or just after some helpful tips/hacks for your big day? Check out our top wedding tips below.

• Join a discussion forum to trade ideas with other brides-to-be (and brides-that-have-been!). They are an invaluable source of information. Check out this Facebook group for Christchurch brides.
• If you’re on a budget (who isn’t?!!) and planning on DIY decorations, invest in several rolls of white frost cloth. It is dirt cheap and one roll goes really far. It looks great tied as big bows around chair backs or draped across the ceiling. For extra pizzazz, string fairy lights up above the cloth – they look just gorgeous glistening through the transparent draping.
• Don’t skimp on the photographer. The photos will be all you have left after it’s over, and you will be looking at them for years to come – don’t leave room for regrets.
• Likewise, don’t skimp on hair and makeup, use a professional and make sure you get a trial run. You don’t want to be looking back in a few years and wondering what you were thinking or regretting your makeup!
• Advertise on student job search if you need waiters, bar tenders and other staff – even the wedding band or DJ! Wedding-specific musicians often charge a lot, so using this alternative could save you a lot of cash.
• Make sure you break in your shoes before the big day, and carry some plasters in case you get blisters.
• If you plan on dancing the night away, are wearing heels and don’t want to get sore feet, pack a pair of pretty ballet flats into your emergency bag.
• Pack an emergency/survival kit for the day. Items such as pressed powder, band-aids, a nail file, bobby pins, hair spray, a travel sewing kit, pain killers, safety pins, a tampon and/or panty liner etc. can all be lifesavers if anything goes wrong.
• Have a small piece of white chalk in your wedding day handbag as well. It will come in handy to cover up spots or dirt marks from the brides dress and shoes.
• When you get your hair done, wear a button up shirt. This way you can safely remove your clothing when its time to put on your dress without mucking up your hair and makeup.