For most engaged couples planning a wedding is a completely new experience, with many not knowing what goes into planning or where to begin. You’ll have a mental picture of your perfect wedding day – that ever growing Pinterest Board along with friends and family adding their personal ideas – but where to start can seem quite a challenge.
Below are a few hints and tips about how to start planning your wedding day like a pro:
Grab a piece of paper and think about your perfect wedding day! Ask yourself what’s the big vision? Anything you must have, or anything you wish to avoid, what are your joint top three priorities? This will help you quickly identify what you like and what you’re not so keen on, what you must have and what are ‘nice to haves’. This starting point will help prevent uncertainty and keep your planning moving forward.
The first step should be to choose your wedding venue and book the Registrar/Church – time of year, location, type of venue, budget, will all come into play. Once you’ve set the date you can go about selecting everything else that will make the day special to you.
Be sure to research and book suppliers early in the process. The best always get snapped up first, so you should start as early as you can, and this will also help you to budget.
Make the little details personal. Try and incorporate as much of your personalities and interests into the day as you can. This can be done through music choices, stationery, table names, or even the sweets you have on your sweetie table. Remember your wedding is all about you two!
Think about a DIY plan. This could help you keep comfortably within your wedding budget. Be sure not to take on too many tasks, but having a few things can be fun – and don’t forget that family members might well want to volunteer too!
Table plan? Are you dreading this part? One thing you want to avoid is leaving the table plan till the last minute as it is likely to come at a time when you have a lot more on your mind. It doesn’t need to be a hard task! Do it visually, make it fun and before you know it, it will be an important thing ticked off your list. Its easier to make adjustments as you get your RSVP’s, and your venue will provide table plan templates.
Talk, talk and talk some more to your contact at the venue. This could be looking for help right from the start, or simply to ask little questions that pop up along the way before your main planning meeting. The team are there to help keep you on track, and their experience of the venue and delivery of numerous weddings is invaluable. Importantly, they will help you incorporate your personalised ideas and ensure they happen faultlessly throughout your day.
To give yourself a bit of break from all things wedding. Look ahead to that special honeymoon. Take some time to start creating your honeymoon bucket list. Whether you’re jetting off straight after the wedding or planning it for 6 months later, dreaming up your honeymoon plans can be a nice stress reliever from wedding day chat!
Talking of stress, don’t over-think your decisions or doubt the ones you’ve already made – it will only cause unnecessary anxiety. The run-up to your wedding should be an enjoyable journey and may be quite long, so have faith in decisions you make along the way and don’t look back! Many reasons for your choices will have been based on emotion or sentiment at the time, so trusting that ‘gut feeling’ will ensure they will come together to make a wedding with a natural feel that truly represents you as a couple.
When the day finally arrives, have fun together and make wonderful memories with your favourite people. Celebrate your wedding day to the fullest and take it all in – it will go by in a flash!
