It finally happened! You and your significant other decided to tie the knot. Now, what comes next? Below are a few wedding planning suggestions to get started.
So, let’s start at the beginning. Before rushing to your local retailer to make your first purchase, take a moment to collect your thoughts and ground yourself. Your wedding is a milestone that deserves careful planning and execution. It does not matter if you are getting married in a grand cathedral or having a simple garden ceremony. You owe it to yourself to get the most out of this experience. It’s your day. So, make sure it reflects what is important to you and your partner.
After announcing your engagement to your close family members and dearest friends, the next step is to set up a realistic budget for your special day. It’s a good idea to create a budget early to ensure that you can afford all of the items and services on your dream-wedding to-do list.
Money Talks
First, let’s look at what funds are available to use towards your wedding. Take a look at what current savings are already set aside for expenses. Secondly, consider what part of your monthly income you want to be applied towards the wedding. Lastly, take into account any monetary gifts that parents or family will make towards your nuptials. Once you identify all of the available financial resources, you can determine if additional funds need to be raised. This might be a good time to sell some of those rarely used items. Perhaps a crowdfunding wedding registry campaign is a better alternative for you. What’s important is to know what you can afford so that you can stay within your limits.
Vision and Style
Have a clear vision. Decide what style and size that you want your wedding to be. Do you want a formal event? Perhaps a fun low-key wedding is more aligned with your personality. In other words, what does your dream wedding look like? How does it feel?
Don’t worry if your vision is a bit vague right now. That is understandable. What’s important is to have an idea of your expectations to help lay the groundwork for a successful event. So, take the time now to explore and use your imagination. Do you want a small intimate wedding or a wedding reception that is sure to be the talk of the town? On the other hand, maybe you, your significant other, and a group of friends just jump on a plane for a destination wedding. Knowing the general direction, you want your wedding to go will help wedding vendors be better able to fulfill your desired wishes.
Wedding Planners and Coordinators
Next, you should decide now if you are going to coordinate your wedding or if you are going to hire a wedding planner. If you decide to hire this wedding professional, you will need to budget for their services. A major benefit of using a professional wedding planner is that they can significantly reduce the hassles associated with coordinating a wedding.
Now, let’s take a moment to look at the different types of wedding planners. There are full-service wedding planners who will plan your entire wedding from start to finish. However, if you do not need a full-service provider, you may elect to use a day-of coordinator instead. A day-of coordinator usually offers services closer to the wedding day. This professional helps coordinate all of the activities for the wedding day, including set-up, breakdown, and other services leading up to the wedding day. The last type of coordinator is a venue coordinator. This person is generally part of the personnel at the venue site. This coordinator will help with the activities that are going to be taking place at the venue. The venue coordinator will work with your day-of coordinator and wedding planner.
In each case, your wedding planner or day-of coordinator can help lessen the stress associated with wedding planning. Additionally, they can help identify and manage unexpected expenses. Because wedding planners are generally familiar with common mistakes first-time brides make, these pros can help eliminate the frustration that many unprepared brides might otherwise face.
Time and Place
Next on the list is to decide on a wedding date. It is understandable that when you first become engaged, you may not have an exact date selected. However, it is a good idea to pick a tentative date (or date range) to communicate more effectively with wedding vendors regarding your upcoming wedding.
Identify where you would like for your wedding ceremony and reception to be held. Once you determine the location, secure a booking date. If the venue does not provide catering, prepare to book the services of a caterer for your event at this time.
It is wise to retain the services of the officiant who is to perform the ceremony when you secure the wedding ceremony site. Keep in mind some officiants may require you and your fiancé to go through couple’s counseling weeks or months before the ceremony date.
You’re Hired!
At this time, you may also want to contact your photographer, videographer, florist, and others like wedding DJs, entertainers, and others, to ensure that they put your wedding on their calendar. Keep in mind, many wedding vendors require a down-payment to retain their services so make sure that you know what you can afford before entering into an agreement. Most importantly, make sure that you do some due diligence. Ask questions to make sure that you get quality products and services. This is not the time to be caught off guard.
Fashion and Jewelry
Now it’s time for fun. Now is a good time to visit bridal shops. You may want to complete this task six to twelve months out from your wedding date to ensure that the perfect dress is available in time for your wedding date.
Let’s not don’t forget about the groom. Now is a perfect time to place orders for those fashion accessories that coordinate with the bridal party.
If you haven’t purchased your wedding rings, now is the time to complete that task. Many brides visit jewelers six to nine months out from their wedding day.
Your Invited
At this time, you should begin to mail out wedding engagement save-the-date announcements. During this time, begin to invite friends and family to be members of your wedding party. Once your wedding party is complete, select bridesmaids’ dresses and groomsmen’s tuxedos.
Book It
Approximately six months out from your wedding is the time that you should plan to book rental equipment. Don’t wait until the last minute. You don’t want to find out later that items that you need are already promised to someone else. So, whether you require beautiful plates for a reception or decorative tables and chairs, you want to book these items well in advance.
Please don’t make the mistake of overlooking transportation. If renting a vehicle is on your to-do list, make sure to plan for this to ensure you get the make, model, and color you want. This is especially true if using a classic car.
Of course, we can’t forget about the wedding registry gift. Gift registries not only encourage guest to purchase the gifts that you really want it also helps has the added benefit of helping to reduce receiving duplicate gifts.
As your wedding date nears, many other important details need to be completed on time. Use the handy wedding checklist located in this magazine to help with your wedding planning efforts. If you prefer, you can also visit detroitweddingday.com to access other helpful wedding planning tools. Just look for the wedding checklist tab menu on the website.
Having a plan in place and following it will help make your wedding day flow effortlessly. Enjoy the journey.
