Are you a groom who’s looking for wedding tips to plan your dream dinosaur wedding? Or know someone who is? We’re here to help you out.
But before we get into the details, the first thing we’ll advise you to do is to breathe. Chill.
We know things can quickly turn from exciting to dizzying when planning a wedding. Know that you don’t have to rush and get overwhelmed. Enjoy the process of planning your dinosaur wedding instead.
But how is that possible with all that needs to be done and so little time? Well, the best way is to list down the major things that are important to you and your bride. Then take the fine details from there.
Our 12 useful wedding tips cover important items on any bride and groom’s checklist for that special day. We’ve got you covered from creating budgets, to choosing venues, and ’til you say, “I Do”.
We created this list to empower every groom to be there for their future bride and the love of their life. Your fiancée will surely appreciate you and want to marry you even more for being hands-on in preparing for your dinosaur wedding.
So, are you ready to start planning and walk down the aisle? Let’s do this!
1. Wedding Tips On Creating A Budget
The first question that pops into everyone’s mind about this is, “what is a reasonable budget for a wedding?” Thinking if we just read your mind? We didn’t, for sure, but we’ll be sharing what’s on ours when it comes to budgeting for your dinosaur wedding.
A reasonable budget for a wedding covers all the important aspects of a wedding while still living within your means. The couple doesn’t get into debt and enjoys their special day with financial ease instead.
How do you do that? Here are five easy weddings tips to help you create a reasonable budget for your wedding:
#1 Determine The Amount Of Cash You Have
This is you and your fiancée’s cash that’s net of daily living expenses, emergency funds, existing debts, and retirement. This also means intentionally setting aside a percentage of you and your fiancée’s monthly incomes after settling all other priorities. It could be 10% or more, depending on your comfortability.
#2 Set Realistic Expense Allocations
The Knot shares the following percentages when it comes to allocating money for common wedding expenses with an average cost of $33k:
#3 Monitor your Expenses
Just like how you track your everyday spending, so should it be for your wedding planning. This helps lessen stress as you stay within budget. You can go the extra mile by creating an excel file that shows the following to get an accurate picture:
- Your estimated cost per item
- How much you spent on it
- Your running balance
#4 Make Room For The Unexpected
Set aside an amount for costs that come from the fine print of contracts like gift bag items and contracts with vendors. These may include transportation for the pros who’ll take your dinosaur wedding photo and service fees of wedding suppliers.
#5 Look For Places Where You Can Save
Choose the places where you can save as early as budget allocation. These could be expenses like your venue, your dinosaur wedding cake, and your dinosaur wedding invitations.
You can save by deciding what your non-negotiables are for each expense. Then, decide what parts of those expenses you can settle for another version that’s equally good but costs less.
2. Wedding Tips On Setting Timelines
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The next limited commodity next to money is time. Here, we help answer the question, “how long does it take to plan a wedding?”
Themed ones like a dinosaur wedding take time and special care because of their uniqueness. Creating a 12-months ahead timeline is a great way to plan the tasks and space them out well. You and your fiancée get to have enough time to think, pivot if needed, and enjoy your wedding preparation season.
Nicole-Natassha Goulding, a multi-awarded wedding planner, is quoted by Brides, a popular bridal magazine. She’s quoted to have said, “one year in advance is enough time to plan your standard, local wedding”.
12 months or a year, then, is the usual pacing of how long it takes to plan a wedding. The popular magazine, Brides, also gives a timeline brides & grooms can follow below:
- 12 Months Before: Budgeting & Venue Selection:
- 11 Months Before: Choosing & hiring vendors
- 9 Months Before: Wedding Dres’s Purchase
- 5 Months Before: Honeymoon booking
- 4 Months Before: Choosing the wedding cake, setting a trial run of your bride’s hair & makeup
- 3 Months Before: Creating your wedding vows
- 2 Months Before: Send out your wedding invitations
- 1 Month Before: Whip up your guests’ seating chart
- 1 Week Before: Final Fitting of Wedding Attire
3. Wedding Tips On Selecting A Wedding Theme
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Martha Stewart isn’t an icon for no reason. She shares wedding planning tips for couples who are in the process of choosing their wedding theme. And for those who’ve already settled for a dinosaur-themed wedding, her advice is an affirmation.
She advised couples to be personal. Couples can do this by bringing in their sense of style and unique personality when considering wedding themes. So, if a dinosaur wedding is your thing, then freely go for it!
A couple in New York even used the American Museum of Natural History as their wedding reception. Guests were greeted by famous dinosaur fossils as they entered the museum. The couple chose the place as their wedding reception because it represented a huge part of their personal lives.
And that’s what wedding themes are for, they represent the couple’s personal lives. So as you choose, let it reflect you and what you’re into. Your guests will enjoy that Jurassic Park-themed wedding if it’s what you and your bride personally love.
4. Wedding Tips On Choosing Your Wedding Playlist
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Music sets the atmosphere and amplifies the air of romance with songs that sing about your personal love story. Creating your dinosaur wedding’s OST (original soundtrack), then, is a must.
Here are four wedding planning tips for creating your dinosaur wedding’s OST:
- Choose songs and instrumentals that match your Jurassic-themed wedding and wedding ceremony.
- Choose songs for the processionals and the recessional. Tips for brides are choosing songs that are an expression of their love for their grooms during the bridal march. The same tip goes for the grooms. Couples can make it a pleasant surprise to each other by keeping song choices a secret until they walk down the aisle.
- Make sure to include you and your fiancée’s favorite love songs, the ones that you both connected over.
- Consider the feelings you want to create in your wedding’s atmosphere. Is it a dinosaur-themed wedding in a rustic setting? Or a dinosaur wedding set with romantic country music? Slow indie love songs will be great for a rustic setting. While romantic country guitars will be great for a country setting.
Have fun creating your playlist as you pour over songs. Make it personal, romantic, and fun too. Make it a playlist that’s a celebration of you and your fiancée’s love, good times, and the great future ahead.
5. Wedding Tips On Dinosaur Wedding Invitations, Guest Lists, & Entourages
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Wedding invitations, guest lists, and entourages are the people you want to celebrate your dinosaur wedding with. By this time, you might already be wondering, “How many people should I invite to my wedding?” You can determine this number by considering your budget, the size of your venue, and listing down the people closest to you.
Tips for brides and grooms are to choose the ones who’ve been there since day 1. They’re the ones who’ve seen the ups and downs of your love story. The ones whose presence you’d like to honor on that special day and who you’d love to have around even after your wedding day.
For the invites, you can opt for custom-made dinosaur wedding invitations to make them more personal. Most stationery suppliers will love to have these custom-made for couples as these represent their unique taste. Etsy is a good place to start hunting for dinosaur wedding invitation designs.
6. Wedding Tips For A Dinosaur Wedding Photo
Did you know there are couples who made their dinosaur wedding photo dreams come true? One such couple is Jenny and Reuben who took wedding portraits in front of the famous T. Rex, Sue, at Chicago’s Field Museum.
And to amp up the feels of their Jurassic Park-themed wedding, the couple also took photos at another location. They chose the Garfield Park Conservatory’s fern room that had prehistoric feels.
It’s all about the location when it comes to photos. Choose ones that are a close match to your dinosaur wedding theme to get the most realistic experience.
Aside from wedding portraits, have guests join in on the fun by setting up a photo booth with a dinosaur puppet on your wedding day. Jenny and Reuben had a Velociraptor puppet at their photo booth that guests had fun with.
You can do the same by buying your dinosaur puppet. Maximize your purchase by using it on other occasions after getting married.
7. Wedding Tips On Picking Your Venue
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Now, where do you say “I Do” for your dinosaur wedding? This is important as the place will not only set the ambiance but it’s one of the vital elements of your wedding’s theme.
Here are seven practical pieces of advice on how to choose a wedding venue. These are advice from the wedding pros of trusted websites like Brides, The Knot, and Wedding Wire.
- Scout for a venue that’s aligned with your theme. A spacious garden or a museum would be great for a Jurassic Park-themed wedding.
- Keep the number of your guest list in mind
- Live within your set budget. You can also consider the date of your wedding as prices may vary according to the season.
- Sounds and lighting quality of the place as these would affect the activities after the wedding ceremony. These are activities like if you’re going to have the reception in the same place where the dining and dancing will be.
- Accessibility of the venue’s location
- Try doing your research first then consult with a wedding planner for a different perspective. They would know the capacities of wedding venues and will be able to give you sound advice.
8. Wedding Tips On Table Decor & Food
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A dinosaur wedding won’t be complete without a scrumptious menu and dinosaur wedding decor. The key to making the right choice is a consideration. Consider what you love as a couple, what your guests will enjoy too, and the theme of your wedding.
For food, choose dishes that you and your fiancée personally love. A wedding, after all, is a celebration that’s reflective of the couple. You can balance it out by thinking of crowd-pleasing food that your guests will generally enjoy. If you’re vegetarian, serve vegan food while also serving meat for your guests to enjoy as well.
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For the wedding decor, you can use dinosaur-inspired items that will be the tables’ centerpieces. Include dinosaur party favors to guide the guests to their seats to really bring in the prehistoric feels. Great examples of wedding decor and dinosaur centerpiece ideas are:
9. Wedding Tips For A Dinosaur Wedding Cake
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Couples have two sophisticated options when it comes to choosing a dinosaur wedding cake. They can opt for their preferred wedding cake from their chosen baker and use a dinosaur wedding cake topper to make it match the theme. Gold-painted dinosaurs or T-rex wedding cake toppers are good choices.
Or, the bride and groom can choose a custom-made dinosaur wedding cake and ask the baker to frost it with their favorite dinosaurs. Just make sure to give the baker a clear picture so they get it right. Additionally, keep in mind that the price increases the more details you add to the cake. Include this little detail as you monitor your wedding budget.
10. Wedding Tips On Suits & Dresses
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Now let’s move on to the center of the dinosaur wedding’s attention: the bride & groom. One special detail that everybody’s eager to know is what the couple will be wearing.
Will it be the traditional white wedding gown? One with a twist? Or a dinosaur wedding dress?
Ladies can opt for a classy wedding dress while still going for that dinosaur theme with their shoes. Brides like Shannon and Jenny wore golden glittery wedding shoes with a T. rex as the heels on their pretty feet.
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Brides can also go for the full outfit by wearing a dinosaur wedding dress. They can ask their atelier to design a Jurassic-inspired gown that’s sophisticated and on-point to the theme.
Grooms can opt for subtle details by adding accents to their wedding suits. They can wear a dinosaur bow tie, dinosaur printed socks, or cufflinks with dinosaurs.
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Couples can go all the way too by wearing dinosaur costumes to their dinosaur wedding. And if your wedding party is game for it, they can too!
A bridesmaid in Nebraska did just that and wore a dinosaur suit to her sister’s wedding. A couple in Pennsylvania, on the other hand, tied the knot wearing T. rex dinosaur costumes. Whatever you decide on, choose the wedding attire that best suits your personalities and your dinosaur wedding theme.
11. Wedding Tips For Deciding On A Dinosaur Bone Ring As Your Wedding Bands
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What’s more important than the wedding attire are your wedding rings. It’s that one piece of jewelry that you’ll both be wearing for the rest of your lives. It’s also the one that will symbolize your relationship after you say “I Do”.
You can buy a dinosaur bone ring if you’re raring to go for something different. This kind of ring is made from “Gambone”, a kind of mineral that took dino bone’s place. It’s a real dinosaur fossil that can be used as wedding bands because of its unique colors and patterns as an expert jeweler polishes it. It’s also legal to be sold and bought.
You can canvas for prices and styles through websites like Manly Bands, Jewelry By Johan, and Larson Jewelers. Nothing speaks forever like a dinosaur bone that’s lived as long as forever.
12. Wedding Tips For Choosing Your Dinosaur Wedding Reading & Writing Your Vows
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Finally, those parts in your dinosaur wedding will lead you to say “I Do”. Wedding readings are meant to be delivered by your closest friends and family. These are usually romantic, poetic, and funny 5-minute readings that are reflective of your love story.
Here’s a sample dinosaur wedding reading by Edward Monkton we think you’ll like. It’s simple, sweet, and funny at the same time. Just the kind you’re looking for.
Wedding vows, on the other hand, are the ones you say in front of your future spouse. These are your promises to each other. Here are five tips from Brides on how to write your wedding vows:
- Tell her you to love her by saying “I love you”
- Tell her that you’ll be there whatever the circumstances
- Share a story about the both of you the guests never knew or even your bride
- Make promises that reflect your love and commitment
- Acknowledge that you’ll seek the advice and help of older and wiser couples and of course, your friends and family
Final Thoughts On Planning A Dinosaur Wedding
Planning a dinosaur wedding is only the first step. Taking care of your marriage after is another great endeavor that’s more difficult but more rewarding.
Think of your wedding preparation season as a time where you can prepare yourself. It’s a time where you can prepare yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally for the marriage that the wedding is leading you to. We know that you’ll make a great husband just as much as you’ll make for a great groom.
Lastly, just put these wedding tips into action and you’ll have the best dinosaur wedding of your life! A dinosaur wedding that will be reflective of an even greater reward. And that’s marriage to your best friend and the love of your life.
