Planning ahead is crucial to ensure the smooth running of your wedding day although many newly engaged couples are unsure where to start, or what to plan first. We have put together some of our top tips below to help give you some guidance on what to think about and when to plan it.
The key to ensuring your dream wedding is a reality is to plan ahead and have a schedule for the day to include timings such as what time the bride should arrive at the venue, what time the wedding breakfast starts, what time the first dance will be etc. This will depend on the style of wedding that you choose to have. If you decide to have a celebrant led wedding this will allow you to have more flexibility within your day as you won’t be as limited to strict timings for the ceremony.
The average wedding takes around 12-18 months to plan so this gives you some guidance on when to look at your wedding date with venues. You can of course get married sooner than this and it will depend on what you’d like at your wedding and how extravagant you want it to be. It’s a good idea to create your own timeline or checklist of things to do, so that you can tick each one off when they are complete. This will also ensure that nothing is missed. Also when you are thinking about your timeline it’s good to have an idea of the time of year that you want to get married too.
Create your budget
One of the first and most important things to consider when you are starting your wedding planning is to decide what your total budget will be. This is crucial as it means you know what your spending limit will be. It’s easy to overspend when it comes to planning your dream wedding, especially when you attend wedding fairs and get inspired by images from other weddings. It’s important to remember though that it’s your day and the main thing is that it’s the start of the rest of your life together. If you are really bad at keeping within a budget you could consider hiring a wedding planning to help you take control of this.
Look for wedding inspiration
A great place to start when looking for inspiration for your own wedding is to look on social media. Sites such as Instagram or Pinterest are a really great place to start and you can create separate boards on Pinterest for each part of your day. If you aren’t sure what style you want to have for your day then again looking through wedding magazines or social media is a great place to start. It will help give you inspiration for things such as venue, venue decorations, table decorations and even wedding cakes. These images are great to share with your suppliers too so that they can share in your vision.
Choose your venue
After deciding on your budget, choosing your venue has to be the next big important step. There are loads of choices when it comes to choosing where to get married and again this will depend on what budget you have allocated to your venue hire. You could opt for a grand and elegant venue, or a small, intimate venue. Just remember to think about what you both want and also check the room capacities as you will need to make sure that all your guests can be accommodated comfortably.
Choose your wedding party
If you want to make your dream wedding a reality you will want all of your closest family and friends to attend. There are lots of important roles for your friends and family to do on the day so you will need to think about who you want to do these. When it comes to choosing your bridesmaids or grooms men you will want to have your closest friends or you could have your sister or brother do this.
Research wedding suppliers
After deciding on where to get married, the next big decision is to think about what wedding suppliers you want to be part of your dream day. Depending on the venue you choose, they might be able to recommend suppliers that they work with regularly. If you prefer to find suppliers yourself its worth attending some wedding fairs to see what inspires you. You should create a list of all the suppliers that you will need to hire, and then once you have booked them, you can tick them off the list so you will make sure that you don’t miss anything important.
Wedding Invitations
Wedding invitations are usually sent out around three to six months prior to your wedding day. This will give your guests plenty of time to plan and make sure they book time off work if they need to. If you want to ensure that your guests have plenty of time to plan, you could send out save-the-date cards. These would be sent out as soon as you have secured your wedding date with your venue.