The First 5 Steps To Planning Your Wedding
Are you newly engaged? Eeeek huge congratulations I’m so happy for you! Planning a wedding can be so much fun and very exciting but let’s face it’s probably going to be the biggest task you will undertake. There is a lot to do and a lot to consider, where do you even begin?
Don’t panic I’ve got you! Here’s the first 5 steps for planning your wedding.
Step One. Set a Budget.
One of the first things that you should do when planning your wedding is setting your budget. It’s so helpful to sit down with your partner and have the money chat early on in your wedding planning journey. Be realistic about how much you can afford to spend and how much you would like to spend on your wedding. Do you both have savings? If so, how much are you happy to contribute towards the wedding budget?
Start saving now, plan how much you want to put aside each month and how can you reduce your monthly spend to achieve this. This will also help you decide on your wedding date.
Have your parents or any other family members offered to help with the wedding? Does an amazing friend want to contribute to something as their wedding gift to you? It may not be the easiest conversation to have but it’s important to get clear on how much everyone is happy to contribute early on.
Don’t forget that every couple have different priorities when it comes to planning their weddings, please don’t feel pressure to do things a certain way or the expected way. It’s your wedding remember to make the choices that feel right for you both. There are so many creative and affordable ways to design a wedding on any budget.
Image captured by Lauren Bath Photography
Step Two. Know Your Priorities.
What are the things that are most important to you when it comes to your wedding? Is it travel, will you be having a destination wedding or here in the UK? Do you want a large wedding or a small intimate wedding? Is it wedding décor? Do you want to minimise stress by hiring wedding suppliers like a wedding stylist?
If you have your heart set on a certain venue or specific wedding supplier their availability may even be the deciding factor on your wedding date, or their rates may help you set your budget.
You don’t have to spend your entire budget it’s there to help you stay focused and remember that everyone’s budget will be different depending on their priorities. Set your budget your way. You may even could chose to focus most of your budget on your honeymoon. You might have other priorities in life and have decided, you would rather save for moving or have planned renovations.
Step Three. Narrow Down Your Date.
Knowing your wedding date or even just narrowing it down to a couple of possible dates is a great way to get the ball rolling. You can start having conversations with wedding venues and suppliers. You can check their availability and hopefully start booking your favourites.
Get looking through your diaries, go through you and your partners work schedules, do you have any big stressful projects coming up? Do you have any holidays booked and are there any dates you both want to avoid?
Some other useful things to think about are if you have a favourite season? What kind of weather would you ideally like for your wedding? I know that the Great British weather isn’t always guaranteed but it’s more likely to be warm and dry in the summer months.
Is there a particular day of the week that you would like to get married on? Some venues offer mid-week weddings that are often cheaper than a weekend. Some key summer weekend dates get booked up fast so you may need to wait till the following year if you have your heart set on that date.
It is also worth checking in with your family and close friends to see if they have any holidays booked or work commitments. If you and your family are particularly sporty is there a sporting event that you would like to avoid your date clashing with?
Make sure you give yourself a realistic time frame to plan your wedding and work towards that date, don’t be tempted to plan a short engagement if this is something that is going to put pressure on you and your partner.
Image captured by Flawless Photography
Step four. Pick Your Wedding Party.
Selecting your wedding party can be a bit of an overwhelming task. Go with your gut and think about who you couldn’t imagine not being by your side celebrating your wedding with you both. Sit down with your partner and both make a list your best friends and closest family. Some key things to consider when deciding your wedding party are who have you known the longest? Who do you feel most yourself with? Wedding planning can be stressful at times, who do you feel will be good at giving you emotional support when you need it?
It’s useful to have a clear idea of what you expect from your wedding party and how involved you want them to be in your wedding planning journey. Do you have an amazing friend who has a habit of forgetting to return your calls or is always the late? As much as you love them will they be reliable enough to carry out any important tasks you have in mind for your wedding party.
Don’t worry about anything that is viewed as traditional or the stereotypical norm when it comes to you choosing your wedding party. Don’t want to have bridesmaids or mates of honour? No problem, it’s your day make choices that are right for you. Don’t feel pressure to ask someone to be part of your wedding party just because you feel that you have to.
Step Five. Choose Your Guest List
Once you have chosen your wedding party you will already have a starting point for your wedding guest list. Carry on with the list making, start with both of you families, who would you like to invite from your immediate family, then look at close friends, work colleagues, and distant family. Why not go through your contacts on your phone, look at who you speak to the most? Who do you spend the most time with?
Do you know how many guests can you realistically afford? The type of venue you book and your budget will have an impact on the amount of guests you invite to your wedding. If you have a smaller guest list, do you invite plus- ones? If you want to limit the number of plus-ones on your guest list, it might be a good idea to only invite the partners of people who are in long term relationships or plus-ones that you have actually met. Are you inviting kids to your wedding? Limiting the number of children that your guests can bring might be another way to reduce the size of your guest list. Or if you want a child free wedding it’s your wedding have a child free wedding.
If you were invited to a person’s wedding years ago but have since lost touch or grown apart, don’t feel you have to invite them to your wedding. But if it was in the last year, you could consider inviting them.
It’s your wedding and is meant to be one of the happiest days of your life do not feel pressure from family to invite certain people. Whether its family, friends or work colleagues ask yourself if you comfortable around this person? Do you love spending time with this person, and can you imagine partying the night away at your wedding with this person?
I hope you find these tips helpful. I have also created a month-by-month wedding planning checklist that contains the main things you need to do to plan and amazing wedding. a basic timeline for a 12-month engagement, where your wedding planning to-do list is broken down into small manageable sections ready and waiting for you to tick off. Helping you keep wedding planning as stress free as possible.
