Planning your wedding is one of the most fun and exciting, yet potentially stressful times of your entire life. In order to keep the stress to a minimum and the fun to the max it’s important to take things step by step.
Whether you’ve been showing off your ring for a long time or only just said ‘yes!’ you can start planning your dream wedding now. To help alleviate some of your stress we have compiled a list of things to do, to help you plan your special day.
Prioritise
The most important thing to do when you start planning your wedding is to sit down with your partner and write a list and prioritise your tasks. While everything may seem like a priority and is essential to making your special day turn out as you dream, some things are more important than others and can be done months before the big day.
For example, securing your date, venue and booking services, all need to be done in advance if you want to ensure they’re all available. However, before you can start making bookings you need to know how much you want to spend.
This shows that it can be difficult to know which order to do things in, but don’t fret. Just take your time and write down everything that needs to be done, and then once you can see everything you can start to set priorities.
Set Your Budget
You should now have your priorities in order, so while you’re still sitting in front of your computer or notebook it’s time to start calculating your budget.
This may also entail contacting any family members or friends that may be interested in contributing to your wedding budget or sponsoring different services or items.
Your budget will help you make many decisions so it’s important to set it early and do your best to stick with it throughout the process.
Decision Making Time
Don’t put your wedding planner away just yet, now it’s time to start making some actual decisions.
Decide on things like your wedding date, venue, theme or style, what kind of cake you want, your guest list etc.
This really is the beginning of the fun part of the wedding planning process. This is when you reminisce on your relationship and what you both have in common and how you imagine your wedding to look. It’s also when you get to start researching and creating moodboards.
Whether you love or hate planning, you have to admit looking at wedding venues and photos is exciting and can really get you both in the wedding spirit.
Start Making Bookings
Once all you and your partner have made your decisions it’s time to start making some calls and finding out availability for your preferred date and time. You may even want to pay a visit to some of your favourite wedding venues.
Wedding venues and services can book out quickly so the earlier you can make a reservation the more chance you’ll have at getting your first choices.
Here are a few of the important services you need to remember to book in advance:
- Venue
- Celebrant
- Photographer or videographer (This Emot can help with)
- Cake baker
- Musicians
- Florists
- Transportation
- Stylists (hair & makeup)
On the same token it is a good idea to send out your wedding invitations or at least ‘save the date’ cards early so your family and friends can start planning so that they can attend.
Outfits
Once your services are reserved for your special day you can start focusing on sourcing your outfits and props.
This includes:
- Wedding dress
- Bridesmaids dresses
- Suits for the groom and groomsmen
- Boutonnieres
- Bouquets
- Rings
This can be time consuming but also some of the most fun you have while planning your wedding. You can bring your bridesmaids and family along with you for your wedding dress fittings to make it a whole fashion parade where you are the star. And the same goes for the groom and groomsmen if they want.
As for the boutonnieres and bouquets, you can DIY-them or leave them to a professional florist. Depending on your budget and style you can also decide whether you want live arrangements or fake ones.
And the rings, well that’s a fun day at the jewellery store with your partner trying on rings and admiring how they look.
Watch it All Come Together
By the time you’ve made all the reservations and decided on your suits, dresses and props your wedding day should be starting to approach quite rapidly.
At this point, while you may be starting to feel the stress rising and mixing with your excitement it’s not the time to get overwhelmed. If you’ve planned well then everything will fall into place from here.
So, you and your husband-to-be can enjoy your pre-wedding celebrations and look forward to being pampered and walking down the aisle very soon.
Be sure to browse Emot’s list of wedding photography services and fill out our availability form to see if your preferred date is available.