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Everyday brides come into our office armed with photos and inspirations for their special day. High-style and designer looks can always be created to fit a budget and I’m going to give you 4 insider tricks for achieving the wedding magazine look at your wedding:

Lighting - Lighting can instantly change a room and it’s just so simple and relatively inexpensive to do. You can bring in ground lighting that shines up on the walls and changes the colour of the room. It adds atmosphere and is completely stunning. Putting coloured gels in the lighting fixture will bring your wedding colour to life. And don’t forget about candlelight. It may seem like a no brainer but you’d be surprised how many brides forget about the power of candlelight in their decor design.

Tall Centrepieces - If you don’t feel that your wedding has a WOW factor then go for tall centrepieces. And they don’t have to kill your budget. Tall cylinder and square vases or pilsner vases are nice and tall and fun to work with. You don’t have to use all flowers. Try incorporating crystals, feathers, or curly willow to fill up the vase. There are also lots of greens that look very luxurious but are more low cost than actual blooms.

Great Linens - Your guests are spending the majority of your wedding at their table so I’d suggest putting your wedding decor bucks towards great linens and beautiful chairs. Full length linens and luxurious fabrics other than the out-dated poly and organza gives your room a really sleek look.

Selecting the Right Team - The right team of vendors with the needed experience, expertise and creative juices ensures your spectacular event will meet all of your expectations.

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Traditionally, it is considered proper etiquette to have a receiving line at any wedding with more than 50 guests. The purpose of the receiving line is to give the hosts and the happy couple an opportunity to personally greet each guest.

The receiving line usually starts with the parents of the bride, followed by the groom, the bride, the parents of the groom, and sometimes the maid of honour. The groomsmen do not participate in the receiving line nor do the bridesmaids.

Today, it is perfectly acceptable not to have a receiving line. If you’re planning to invite enough people to fill the third floor of the Convention Centre- it is probably best to skip it. But, if you’ve invited less than 200 people, it can certainly be manageable - and useful. If even your best party-mingling efforts don’t allow you to visit with each guest during the reception - you can relax knowing you spoke with everyone during the receiving line.

The receiving line can be held at the church as people exit or at the reception as people enter. It can be a great way to usher people out of the ceremony or into the reception - but allow enough time so you’re not infringing on your time for wedding photos or the start of dinner. The receiving line can be rather a lengthy process - so count on at least half an hour to greet all of your guests - closer to an hour if you have lots of chatty relatives to contend with.

Just remember - whether or not you have a receiving line - the important thing is that you greet each and every guest and thank them personally for sharing in your big day. If you decide to go for it - make sure your comfy shoes and bottle of Purell are at the ready - and you’ll be all set.

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When planning a wedding, making the guest list is frequently fraught with problems. The process of cutting down the guest list is, at best, the cause of making some hard choices, and at worst, absolutely agonizing.

You need to decide what is important - the venue or the number of guests.

Have you always dreamed of an intimate wedding or is a huge bash more your style? If you have your heart set on a small wedding you have to be a little ruthless with the guest list.

If you’re having a wedding for 350 people - your friends have a right to be offended by their omission from the guest list - however, if you’ve chosen a venue that only holds 50 people - they should understand the size constraints - that you simply don’t have the option of including everyone. It is perfectly appropriate to host a wedding for just immediate family and a few close friends.

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Here’s good news: There are skilled and experienced wedding consultants that can work within a variety of budgets. They also offer different types of services available depending on the needs of their clients. One of the services is the “ Full Service Coordination” wherein they are at your side from the initial planning stages. They can assist you in budget planning, design and acquisition of other wedding suppliers, and execution of the plans on the day itself. Another service is the “Partial Coordination”. Your consultant can provide a "blueprint" -- usually a preparation guide and a list of trustworthy, talented vendors to check out. You can also hire a wedding consultant to oversee things on the evening before and actual day of the wedding. This is called “Day-Of Coordination”. Another option is you can contract a wedding consultant to work with you on a freelance basis (to scout out a location, and advise on various suppliers), in which case they're paid by the hour or on consultation basis. So make a list of things you know you want the consultant to handle, then call a few to set up a initial consultation. Every consultant is unique in their own way, choose the one that fits your needs and understands your style best.

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Some vendors will have a clause in their contracts stating that you will need to provide meals for them during the preparations and during the event itself. You have to remember that these are event professionals who work long hours. They would be working even 4-5 hours or more before the event, with an additional 3-4 hours during the event itself and some have to clean-up and take down way after you've gone to bed. You cannot expect tip-top service if your suppliers/vendors are about ready to faint from hunger or thirst! It does not matter how much you are paying them. This is also a reflection of your consideration for other people and the people you work with. And rule of thumb: provide them with the kind of meal that you would not be embarrassed to serve your guests or eat yourself. Remember, caterers need you to pre-arrange with them the table number and the number of probable wedding professionals that will need meals so they can take care of providing the food on the day itself.

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No need to feel greedy. Even though in theory you shouldn't ask for any gifts, your wedding guests will want to buy you presents. By registering, you make it easy for them to select a perfect present for you. Remember that your registry list is just a suggestion of what you'd like -- no one is obligated to buy any particular gift. Make sure to include a wide variety of things in every price range so that everyone can select something they can afford. Selecting things for him and her is also recommended. As for those big-ticket items, some guests may want to pool their resources to buy a great group gift.