You’re engaged to be married – Congratulations! What an exciting time for you and your future spouse. Without a doubt, wedding planning can be just as exciting as the ceremony itself.
It is easy to get caught in the whirlwind of the motions, which is why having a plan for your wedding is necessary. But did you know that there are things to do even before you begin planning your wedding?
Think of this as a pre-plan, a set-up to help you effectively plan your wedding and tackle your mighty to-do list.
- Create a timeline
- Have a budget
- Delegate tasks
- Guestlist
- Keep an open mind
1. Create a timeline
Figuring out when you want to get married is the first step in creating your timeline. You won’t be able to effectively plan your wedding if you have no deadlines to meet!
Usually, getting engaged is the first step to instigate a wedding plan. If you are yet to pop the question, or if you have said ‘Yes’ without a ring, why not consider browsing engagement rings Brisbane? There are so many styles, cuts, stones, and shapes to choose from, making shopping for an engagement ring a timeline activity within itself! A bespoke engagement ring can take various times to be handcrafted, so consider this too within your timeline.
After you are engaged, understanding how long different elements of the planning process take, and aligning these with your dream wedding date is the best place to start. If you want to get married twelve months after the engagement, set your date and work backward from there. Tasks take different amounts of time, like finding a venue and securing that should be first on your list so your dream location is not booked out say if you had contacted the venue six months before rather than a year ahead.
There is likely to be a to-do list nearly every week before the wedding, but this will spread out in the beginning days. Your timeline will get more chaotic towards the end, which is why having a trusty maid-of-honor and bridal team will make things go much smoother. Having your pre-set timeline to stick to will keep everything organized, as you can slot in deliverables at appropriate times.
2. Have a budget
People have different expectations for their big day. Some prefer a small and quiet ceremony and reception, whereas others need to throw the biggest party they can, inviting hundreds of their friends and family.
Knowing what you want from your wedding is important, but the less fun side of this is managing your finances along the way. You don’t want to get married and already be broke!
Have a budget and stick to it as much as possible. Having an open conversation before the wedding planning begins helps all parties involved understand how much money in total you want to spend, and go from there.
You can break down your budget into various topics as well, including how much you want to allocate towards:
- Venue
- Food and drinks
- Wedding dress
- Wedding suit
- Photographer
- Videographer
- Music
- Decorations
- Invitations
- Bridal party
- Grooms party
Spreadsheets are some people’s nightmare, whereas others thrive off them! Consider downloading wedding planning tools and templates online to assist your wedding admin.
3. Delegate tasks
One person cannot do everything! Having a to-do list with delegated tasks will make things run as smoothly as possible. Knowing who is doing what can hold each person accountable, and if things need to be checked by another person in the planning process they know just the person to go to.
Look at who can enlist to help you and consider each person’s individual skills. Is your sister a great baker? Maybe she can bake the wedding cake! Or will she burn the kitchen down if she tries to put something in the oven? Perhaps she can be the one to organize cake testing afternoons at various bakeries, liaising with the baker’s admin and making sure the sweetest treats can be shared on your big day.
Having tasks delegated also helps with the timeline we talked about earlier, because each individual knows what they need to do by what time.
4. Guestlist
It’s not a party if nobody shows up! An important factor to plan before your actual wedding planning commences is the guest list.
How many people do you want there, are kids allowed, can people bring plus ones – these are all things to consider. Sit down with your partner and brainstorm who you want to be there. Create lists of family and friends who you need to be there, and then a separate list of people who you’d like to attend but can give a miss on inviting if the budget doesn’t allow it. This may seem harsh, but you have to draw the line somewhere!
Having a good idea of your guest list and numbers is crucial for the rest of the wedding planning, as you need to find a venue for the ceremony and reception that can cater to the number of guests you are wanting to celebrate with you. Even if you don’t have exact numbers to provide to a venue, giving them an approximation is useful to see if the location is the right fit for your celebrations.
5. Keep an open mind
Not everything will go the way you want it to, which can be a tough pill to swallow but it is something you need to be prepared for! You can plan and plan and plan, but slip-ups can happen and things can go pear-shaped.
It is so important to keep an open mind when you begin planning your wedding. Maybe the dress you thought you wanted isn’t the perfect style for you, and there is something even better out there waiting for you to find it.
If you have the perfect venue in mind but are booked out for your dream wedding date, why not consider other venue options to explore? There might be the most stunning and perfect venue that you had not even considered yet!
Good luck with your wedding planning! If you keep these five key things in mind, your planning should be a breeze compared to if you hadn’t thought of them at all.
