Getting married is one of the most exciting times of your life. Wedding planning, however, can be a roller coaster. It’s likely an area where you don’t have a lot of expertise. Follow a few do’s and don’ts to happily make it to your big day.
Wedding Do’s
Choose a Theme
Before looking at wedding venues and decor, choose a theme. Your theme can be as specific as you like. Do you and your significant other have a favorite holiday, event, or movie that you would like to pull inspiration from? If not, you can select an overall aesthetic such as romantic, classic, boho, or beachy. Selecting your theme first gives you something to hone in on as you move forward. It will also help you end up with a more cohesive look.
Get a Binder
You’ll thank yourself for getting a binder at the start of your planning. It’s easy for your mind to get cluttered. When you first begin, you can use your binder for brainstorming and checklists. As you progress through planning, you can compare venues you’ve toured, dresses you like, food selections, and more. Once you begin booking locations and vendors, your binder can house contracts and receipts.
Make a Guest List
Your guest list will affect many areas of your wedding planning, so make one right away. The majority of dinner and drink packages are priced per guest. If you’re on a budget, would you rather have more guests or a more extravagant wedding? The number of guests you invite will impact your venue as well. Many venues have different-sized rooms. The smaller rooms usually come at a lower cost. On the other hand, you may encounter guest minimums. You aren’t required to host that many guests, but you will be required to pay for the minimum.
Wedding Don’ts
Get Confused
You may have dreamed about going all out on your wedding planning. However, try not to overdo it. Some brides will try on every single dress in their whole town, and some couples will tour venues all over their state. You’ll find the more you look, the more difficult planning becomes. Once you find one or two of an item that you like, you may want to stop looking at more options. Not only will you start mixing things up in your head, but you can also become stressed about your choice.
Go Over Budget
The cost of a wedding can quickly get out of hand. You can keep yourself from overspending by setting a budget and sticking with it. Talk the budget over with whoever will be contributing, whether that be your fiance, parents, or friends. Once you set a maximum expenditure, it can be helpful to break that down into further categories like venue, dress, music, photographer, decor, and cake. You can discuss what is most important to each of you and set a larger portion of the total aside for those items.
Wait Until the Last Minute
Successful planning cannot be done overnight. The longer you wait, the fewer options you will have available. It’s not uncommon for the best and most affordable resources to be booked over a year in advance. Dresses can also be quite time-consuming. Most bridesmaids and wedding dresses have to be ordered. It can take between a few weeks to several months to get dresses delivered. You can add on at least a few more weeks for alterations.
Planning your wedding can be as simplistic or complicated as you make it. The more tips you follow, the easier it will be. Remember that if you’re married at the end of the day, your wedding was a success.
I wish that I had had this post many years ago when I was planning my wedding. I still found it interesting to read all the dos and don’ts.