A wedding is a one-time event and it is no surprise that you want to extend it. The wedding concept - a marriage ceremony and wedding celebration on different days - will allow celebrating this event without giving up a diverse wedding program, but at the same time, not saturating the wedding day with events, but taking a break of several days between the ceremony and the celebration. Dace Danga-Guoba from the wedding planning agency 4 Infinity Creations shares her thoughts on such a wedding concept.

Wedding - an emotionally saturated event

Dace Danga-Guoba from her personal experience planning a wedding can say that the wedding day for couples is very full in any case. Especially if it's a traditional wedding with a ceremony, celebration, transfers between celebration locations, photo shoot locations and wedding stops . Even if the couple has entrusted most of the work to the wedding planner , preparing for the wedding requires both time and energy. There are so many nuances to think about, to confirm, and like anything new and unknown in life, it consumes resources twice because there is a lot of new information to cover. It may not sound very romantic, but the reality is that weddings are tiring, physically and mentally exhausting. Of course, everyone always tries to see and remember the positive, but in order to spare yourself and protect yourself from the huge emotional fatigue caused by the wedding, you can consider a more gentle wedding concept - holding the wedding ceremony and celebration on separate days.

To save financial or emotional resources?

From an emotional point of view, separating ceremony and celebration is a healthier and friendlier solution. As Dace explains, we live in an era where there is a large circulation of information, we regularly experience a great oversaturation of impressions, therefore, separating marriage ceremonies and celebrations on different days is a way to prolong this event in order to really grasp it, experiencing it both as a couple and together with guests. Moreover, the celebration does not have to take place the next day, it can take place in a week, in a month or even later.

Dace admits that it's a double job in a sense - to hold two separate events instead of combining them into one. In such a scenario, the organizer has to wait a little longer for the moment when it will be possible to relax after the work done, but in her opinion, this is a small nuance, because the wedding planner ultimately works for the couple and does everything to facilitate the preparation process for the couple, bring joy and pleasant memories.

When it comes to finances, it may happen that such a concept wedding costs more - it is additional planning, additional organizational expenses. But Dace says that usually couples are ready to allocate a little more budget for the wedding, as long as the expenses are justified and will make both the wedding preparations and the wedding day easier for the couple and relieve unnecessary stress. In the end, you often have to pay in one way or another - maybe finances have been saved, but the couple has to pay with their physical and mental resources, doing the relevant work themselves. As a result, they are tired and unable to fully enjoy the wedding day. Therefore, it is good if you can involve professionals in wedding planning and make the wedding day as simple and unhurried as possible. As Dace says, this event has a special power that is given to it by its firstness. And it takes time and peace to grasp and process it.

You can dedicate your wedding day only to yourself

Reasons in favor of choosing to hold the marriage ceremony as a couple , together with ushers or a couple of close friends, can be different. Often this choice is made when the couple goes on a wedding trip immediately after the ceremony or the next day. But an equally good reason is the desire to dedicate this day only to yourself. As Dace admits, often for us introverted Latvians, celebrations, congratulations, toasts, dancing, parties and being around people require a lot of internal resources and are tiring. All this distracts from ourselves and the conscious experience of the wedding day.

Dace urges you to consider such a wedding concept, separating the ceremony from the celebration, because she has observed that couples are really tired and drained after a full wedding day. Of course, joy and love always shine through this fatigue, but often couples have to step out of their comfort zone on their wedding day - even though they might want to relax and calm down, they have a plan for the day and are waiting for the planned activities. Sometimes couples don't even get to enjoy a warm dinner because everyone wants to come over and talk. Likewise, children take a lot of attention at weddings. As a result, the couple feels a little pulled in all directions. However, the wedding day is not at all the right time to challenge yourself and step out of your comfort zone. On the contrary, you should be in absolute peace and happiness.

Dace says that, in fact, it is precisely for this reason - to focus a little and return to oneself - that wedding stops are held. They are not just for the surprise effect, in fact wedding stops psychologically help the couple to stop and realize what happened after the wedding. Live the moment in slow motion, take a deep breath, because the moment of the ceremony is exciting for everyone and it flies by quickly. Often, couples feel that so much work and time has been invested, but the wedding day flies by in a blink of an eye. Having a wedding day just for yourself is definitely a way to prolong this event both in feelings and memories.

After enjoying the wedding day together - time for celebration

If you have decided that you want to extend your wedding experience and enjoy it to the fullest by having the ceremony as a couple, but holding the celebration after a break, you need to let your wedding guests know. The key is to do it delicately and explain your motivation for doing so. But not everyone will be happy, especially close family and friends. Of course, no one should be forbidden to come if there is such a desire. Closest relatives and friends can come to the ceremony, but you can arrange that no formal congratulations take place. If these people want to be around, they can spoil themselves, come, take a picture together and send the couple away in the following events of the day. Let's also not forget about the various digital options that can be used.

The ceremony can be streamed online. For such a scenario, even those guests who live far away and cannot come will be delighted, shed tears behind their screens and send you selfies. Dace mentions these two solutions if you don't want to strictly refuse anyone. In addition, such a break between the ceremony and the celebration can be a solution in cases where some guests cannot come on a certain date. The couple can stick to their chosen wedding date, but hold the celebration on any other date that most guests can attend.

Speaking of what the role of the wedding planner would be in such a scenario, Dace says that the organizer can also be much more present and a different kind of connection and support can be formed with the couple. On the wedding day, the organizer has a lot of work - he has to take care of the couple, the guests, and the staff who help make the day happen. As a result, the organizer is very focused on his work and there is really no room for a deeper connection. However, if you only need to help run a ceremony involving four people, there are many more opportunities for personal communication with the wedding planner on the wedding day as well. After that, it will be much easier to coordinate the celebration, the couple will be calmer, because the biggest worry is most often directly related to the part of the official marriage ceremony.

On the wedding day, young couples want to fulfill their dreams and devote undivided attention to each other, take care of guests and thank their loved ones. However, trying to balance all this, it may happen that after the wedding you feel that something has gone too fast, something has not been paid enough attention, which guest you forgot to talk to... Therefore, we recommend that you prolong this holiday for yourself, as well as make it more conscious by holding the ceremony and celebration on different days.

Author of the article: Renate Berga

Story: Dace Danga-Guoba / 4 Infinity Creations