When it comes to planning a wedding it can feel very overwhelming and daunting. But, it really doesn't need to be that way! If you have recently got engaged or even been engaged a while you are likely to be thinking about how to start your planning what steps need to be considered!
This blog walks you through a few simple steps to planning your perfect wedding. It will help make the planning experience both organised and enjoyable.
Picture taken by Martin James Photography
1. Chat about your ideas and dreams
Make dedicated time to sit down together and chat about your ideas, hopes and dreams for your big day! Some of the questions you can start with are, what do you both like? What do you absolutely dislike? What aspects of a wedding are your must haves and what elements are not as important to you? Do you want a intimate or big day? Maybe you have thought about a destination wedding or do you want to keep it in the same country or even local? These are just some of the questions to get you going and once the questions get flowing so will your ideas and soon enough your ideal wedding vision will start coming alive! Get a lovely new wedding notepad and pen and get scribbling...
2. How many guests?
This may seem a little early to be discussing who will be at your wedding but you don't need to be too specific on family and friends at this point or even the exact number of your guest list. At first, draft out a list of who you think you would like to be there on the day with you to give you an estimated figure. At this point also decide if you would like to have children there on the day or not. This will help with the next couple of steps...
3. Its finance time...
The dreaded finance word! Yes I know it isn't the nicest or most fun part to chat about but I cannot stress enough how important it is to set a budget for your wedding with a realistic amount you can afford and spend for your wedding day. It is ridiculously easy to get carried away on a wedding! At this early stage, you don't need to know how much you will be allocating to each part of the wedding, that can come a little later, but at this point it is crucial to know the max cost you want to spend, whether it is £5k or £50k! If you aren't a whizz with excel, don't worry, your budget template can be kept simple and easy for you to track.
4. Yay lets go look at venues!
Once you have drafted your initial ideas, guest numbers and budget its time to start looking at where you would like to have your wedding. It is really important to get your venue sorted before you start considering and booking suppliers and picking other design/style elements for the day. You might worry about venue searching as there are SO many options to consider, first things first, have a good think '"what style and vibe do we want" and what location would you ideally like.
Venue styles you may consider:
Historic building | Industrial building |
Landmark building | Festival |
Church ceremony or onsite | Manor House |
Barn | Country House |
Beach | Hotel |
Garden | Town Hall |
Private members club | Golf club |
Pub/Restaurant/Bar | Castle |
Create a shortlist of a number venues that fit your requirements on location, style and guest numbers and then you can go visit them! Once you start looking around you will really get a feel of what you want and be able to take the leap and chose the dream venue! I do always advise that you then go see a couple of different styles of venues and maybe a complete wildcard to get a real feel of what you like.
(I will be writing a venue search blog soon which will help in more detail!)
5. Time to make a timeline
You don't need to be too detailed or by the minute/hour at this early stage. Drafting out an initial timeline of the day really helps you picture how the day will flow and also help when it comes to firming up your suppliers.
These few points will help you structure out the start of the timeline:
Access time to the venue (so helpful for your suppliers!)
Time for getting ready
Ceremony start time
Ceremony finish time
When and where do you want photos taken
Wedding breakfast timings
Speeches
First dance
Party!
Wedding close (check the venue finish times)
As I said above, this will help you understand the flow of your wedding day and also help your conversations with potential suppliers and for quotation purposes.
A more detailed timeline can be created as you work with your venue, when you firm up the suppliers and know when the exact times when things will be happening
6. Suppliers and styling
You have worked through the first 5 steps... now you can really get going with the details!
Once you have your style decided, venue booked up and timeline created you can start thinking about the decor and styling of the day as well as choosing the suppliers that will help you pull this all together. Think about the venue, how much extra decor does it really need? If it is a blank canvas, you will need to think about how to dress it and likely have to pull in more suppliers to create and supply the decor or if your venue is already beautifully adorned you may not need to add much more to it! Think of floristry, signage, textures and lighting. These can all really add and enhance the mood of your wedding day.
Following these 6 simple steps will really help your wed min and planning focused and organised. You would be surprised how many hours it takes to organise and plan a wedding (we are talking in the region of 300 hours here!).
As a couple, if time isn't on your side and you are both still unsure if you can manage or want to do all this planning on your own please do get in touch! Hiring a wedding planner can significantly decrease the time spent on planning your day whilst making it enjoyable and stress free!
I would love to hear from you. Please send me an enquiry to organise a free consultation