12 Tips for a Brides Planning Their Wedding
Wedding planning is a full-time job, ask a wedding planner, and they’d agree with us without hesitation. But as a bride, it’s your big day and you’ve decided to plan it yourself for whatever reasons. Who knows, you may be working around a tight budget, crazy about DIY or you want to leave your touch. Well, in the absence of a wedding planner book or wedding planner advice, we’d let you in on a few things.
Ask questions, be realistic, prioritize, delegate, stay disciplined, stay inspired, give yourself time, be smart and breathe. Without any expert wedding help, you should put your planning timeframe around a year. Also, remember to keep 10% of your budget aside for emergencies.
You can have your dream wedding on any budget as long as you stay realistic with your wedding ideas. Follow our wedding tips and steps to planning a wedding.
Set a budget and follow-through
This is one of the very first steps to planning a wedding. You must know how much you have in hand as that determines every other thing. So get family and close friends on board and find out how much they are willing to spend. Decide how much you and your fiancé can raise, and then, set your budget.
Set a realistic wedding vision and source inspiration
How do you want the wedding to look? What do you need for a wedding? This helps put your vision in perspective. But be realistic while sourcing for inspiration. We all love the Pinterest and Instagram pictures but know where to draw the line to avoid disappointment.
Create a priority checklist and the master checklist
If you’re planning a wedding on a budget, you’d need these two lists. A priority checklist that contains every must-have for the wedding. And then a master checklist that contains each task, budgeted amount and the timeline. This is what goes into your spreadsheet.
Create the guest list
This is one for you and your fiancé to handle. It will be largely influenced by your budget, size of venue and order of guest importance. This is quite harrowing because there have been lots of cuts.
Pick a theme
Having a theme to work around helps you make easy decisions. With color palette and schemes, your vision becomes cohesive.
Book vendors and seek a second opinion
It’s important to be factual when enlisting wedding help and vendors. Work with only people who you trust and are comfortable with. And before you sign any contract, seek a second opinion from experts like Married. Ask for references, and investigate the rates of other vendors. This helps you avoid being ripped off.
Get your fiancé on board
Planning a wedding is a teamwork and your fiancé shouldn’t be left out. Both of you must decide on everything from the budget to the venue, guests, food and even music. It’s his wedding too, so let him have a say.
DIY smartly
Wedding favors, bouquet, place cards, centerpieces and more are things one can DIY. This is a way for brides to personalize their weddings. But be smart about it and don’t go overboard. If working on a budget, this is a way to save. But if there’s a flop, you’d end up spending more than you planned. So, be smart about it.
Sort out legalities
While planning a wedding, it’s important to look at the legal aspect of everything. And most importantly, that of your wedding proper. Do your research on the state you want to marry at. Get all the necessary documents and obtain your marriage license. This ensures that your wedding itself isn’t just a party, but recognized.
Take time for you
One of our wedding tips to couples is to take time off and hole up. Go be together, alone for a weekend without the burden of wedding planning. Planning a wedding can get crazy especially close to the wedding. So, about a week before the wedding, take time off together, ease the stress and come back rejuvenated.
Create an order of event
Organization for the wedding day is one of the most important wedding planning tips. The time when the vendors arrive, when guests eat, cake cutting, first dance until the party ends. This takes some burden off you.
Show appreciation and have fun
Every person that made your wedding a success deserves gratitude from you. From your bridesmaids to groomsmen, aunts, uncles, and parents. Prepare little gift bags for them to say thank you. And then, enjoy yourself at the wedding. After that day, you’d take only the memories with you.
Above are wedding planning tips for the ultimate wedding planning. This is a guide on how to start planning a wedding.
