Choosing the diamond, making the purchase, popping the question. Three tasks that require a sufficient amount of consideration but once they’ve been accomplished, and before you make the big announcement, there’s something else you should think about: insurance. Not particularly romantic but extremely important nonetheless. This piece of jewellery is far too valuable, in numerous respects, for you to lose or have stolen. Wedding Album gets some pointers on protecting this valuable asset from Mutual & Federal‘s Head of Product Solutions Fourie Grobler.
1 Choose the right insurance policy
All risk insurance is perhaps the most effective insurance coverage for a specified item such as an engagement or wedding ring. The policy ensures that, while you’re away from home, your ring that you wear daily will be covered if lost.
2 Keep all documentation
Hang on to documents such as the jeweller’s valuation certificate, a photo of the ring, and, of course, the receipt. These are crucial in speeding up – and smoothing out – the process of making an insurance claim.
3 Value your ring regularly
‘It’s very important to update the value of your jewellery on a regular basis to make sure that your sum insured is adequate,’ says Fourie. So ensure you have your ring is valued every year so that the insured value is up to date with the replacement value. A jeweller will either offer you a free annual valuation or charge a flat rate for one. The latter option includes an updated valuation certificate.
Photography pixabay.com
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Should you serve a plated dinner or buffet dinner at your wedding? A few things to consider when making this decision: What sort of atmosphere are you trying to create? What is your budget? And how many guests will be attending?
Generally, a buffet dinner is much more casual than a plated dinner as the evening is less structured than a plated dinner. A plated dinner can be structured in the sense than you can plan speeches and toasts and even dancing in between courses. If you want your wedding to be a formal affair, then serving a plated dinner is the best option. Plated dinners ensure that there is no chaos that could come with buffet dinners when everyone goes to get their food.
With a plated dinner, everyone eats at the same time and will be finishing up at the same time and you can move on to the next part of the evening.
In order to control the chaos that comes with buffets, you have to think of ways to control the traffic by setting up lines to get food or setting up two buffet tables with the same food to limit long lines or sometimes even scheduling times for each table to go and get their food. This results in each table eating at different times and can hinder your desired proceedings for after dinner.
Buffet caters for larger groups and a variety of tastes, meaning there is usually something for everyone, which is appreciated by your guests. But being served is also appreciated; and if you offer special meals for people with dietary requirements, everyone will be happy.
Budget-wise, it is tricky to determine which style of dinner service is more cost-effective as there are many factors that will influence the cost of the type of dinner service that is chosen.
Buffet style is generally considered more cost-effective as you do not have to hire as many waitstaff as you would have to if you do plated. However, you cannot determine exactly how much food will be needed and can therefore end up over-catering or have the possibility of running out of food.
Plated dinners are easier to plan as the caterer will know exactly how many portions of each dish are needed and there is no possibility of waste or running out of food. You can also save in this way as you control each persons’s portion size.
At the end of the day, it is your wedding and you will need to decide on the type of atmosphere you are trying to create. If you want a formal wedding, a plated dinner service is the better option as it is much more structured and guests are not expected to stand around and attempt to balance their plates while trying to get their food all the while being in their formal clothing.
If you want a more casual wedding then buffet is the better option because guests have the freedom to structure their own evening by eating when they want and how much they want, just ensure there is enough food.
Image: Unsplash
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Your cake-topper doesn’t have to be the typically dressed bride and groom – make use of different objects to symbolise your love for each other or your personalities. You have to love the one of the woman dragging the man by his foot – unusual cake-toppers should definitely reflect who you are as a couple.
The names of the bride and groom
A phrase that represents how the couple feel about each another
For the quirky couple
For the profanity-loving couple
For the couple who loves nature (and their fur-baby)
For the couple who want to tell their story
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For the vintage lovers
For the couple who don’t love cake-toppers
Choosing an engagement ring might seem like a more daunting task than popping the actual question. So many aspects need to be considered to create the perfect symbol…
Wedding Etc asked a group of brides and grooms to share their best memories of their weddings … and whether there was anything they’d do differently.
1. COMPLETE SURPRISE
‘The thing that I enjoyed most about my wedding was NOT the planning. I am blessed to have a fabulous mom who did everything for me, all based on three Instagram pictures I showed her when I got engaged. I walked into the venue on the day not knowing a thing – I was blown away and appreciated every little detail. I felt like it was done for and not by me, which only made me feel more special on my special day. It’s a cliché, but it was a fairy tale and I thoroughly enjoyed every single bit of it. Thank God for moms!’
– Zakia
2. LIKE A PRINCESS
‘Being all dressed up isn’t usually me. I’m normally a plain Jane, but on the day, I felt like a completely different person with all of the make-up, the jewellery and the dress – like a princess!’
– Paashanta
3. DREAM GOWN
‘My most memorable moment was when my father told me how proud he was of me. After that, he walked me down the aisle with the biggest smile on his face. We decided to have a small wedding, so my dress wasn’t anything glamorous. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would get my dream gown, regardless of how big or small the wedding was.’
– Stephanie
4. LOVE IN BRAZIL
‘We started dating in Rio while we were doing mission work for our church. A few months later, we got married. There with no notice, and we wouldn’t change a thing about our small, impromptu South American wedding. I would have preferred it if my husband hadn’t left his honeymoon packing for the last minute (making him late for our wedding), but at least we can laugh about it now.’
– Verna
5. CAUGHT ON CAMERA
‘I enjoyed how relaxed the atmosphere was, despite it being my wedding. We had a destination wedding, so our entire family was on this relaxed holiday buzz. It was so refreshing and it made everyone that much more present. If we could change one thing, it would probably be our video. We spent so much time, money and effort on the photographer that, come time and budget for the videographer, we were quite limited. Our video is beautiful and captures the memories, but seeing how professionally done it could have been, with the fantastic technology nowadays, we secretly want to redo ours!’
– Hassan
6. RAIN DANCE
‘We got married in late December, and in a rain-starved Western Cape, so we didn’t really think we needed to have a plan in case the skies opened up. Well, they did – our wedding day was the only day it rained that whole summer. It was a blessing in disguise, though, because our very small wedding party all ended up huddling under a garden umbrella together, drinking wine (and the odd shot of tequila), laughing, smiling and taking turns to dance in the rain. Weddings don’t always go to plan, but they often turn out better than you could’ve ever imagined.’
– Andrea
7. LAUGHING ALL THE WAY
‘The best part of my wedding day was how much fun I had. I expected it to be a stressful day, but that wasn’t the case at all. My husband and I laughed so much and we weren’t stressed at all. The only thing
I regret is that we didn’t take enough photos and I wish we had planned a bit better when it came to time management.’
– Yumna
8. THE FIRST LOOK
‘The best part of my wedding day was when I saw my wife for the first time. She looked absolutely angelic. It was at that moment that I realised that I would be spending every day with the most beautiful woman in the world. I don’t think there’s anything I would change about that day.’
– Rameez
Image: Unsplash