Start Thinking Big Picture
The minute you get engaged, everyone will be asking for your wedding date. In reality, though, you won’t be able to set an exact wedding date until other major decisionslike setting your budgetare made. But before you dive into the nitty-gritty details, we recommend thinking about the big picture vision you have for your wedding day. What time of year do you want to host your celebration? What wedding venue style sparks your interest? Are you drawn to intimate, outdoor boho parties, or would you rather have a glam formal affair at a chic city rooftop? How many people do you want to invite? These are key details to consider before you move forward with any decisions. “I always ask my couples to describe their perfect wedding day,” says Mary Thornton, founder of Connecticut-based stationery boutique and event planning company Party Party. “Is it casual? Formal? Large? Small? Do you prefer formal and elegant, or do you want a fun, casual dance party? Once that decision is made the other ones fall into place.”
For Including Guests Who Couldn’t Make It: Webwed
WebWed
If you didn’t stream your wedding online, did it really happen? For those of your loved ones who can’t make the ceremony, consider a cross-platform mobile app like WebWed to provide guests with a 360-degree view of your big day from the convenience of their mobile device. In fact, WebWed promises to handle the entire wedding processfrom obtaining the marriage license and scheduling a wedding officiant to posting a video of your ceremony through its app or website. You can even send out invites to all your guests. Once the wedding video is finished, it’s archived for 30 days for download.
Create A Seating Chart
You thought the guest list was a pain in the hiney, and now youve arrived at the seating chart challengeanother daunting balancing act of relationships, egos, potential, and crisis-management. Youll want to think about your venues floor plan, whether or not youll have a head table and who will be sitting at it, and choosing a cool design. Here is a digital planning guide, in case that helps, too.
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Obtain A Marriage License:
Every city and county has specific guidelines in place for obtaining a marriage license, but the universal rule is, generally, that you cant officially get married without one. Do a quick Google search for your area, and visit your city or countys website in order to learn more. For the most part, you will want to obtain a license 14-30 days prior to your wedding. And, make sure to note there is typically a cost for a marriage license! Be prepared to pay $100 in some areas .
Appoint Your Wedding Party
Perhaps the most fun part of your wedding planning is choosing and proposing to your wedding party. Depending on who you choose to be in your wedding party, there are lots of roles to be delegated like the best man and maid of honour to the ushers and bridesmaids. Think about who will be the most helpful, and dont ask someone just because they asked you! Once youve decided on your wedding roles, pop the question to them with a fun gift. Check out our round-up of the best bridesmaid proposal gifts here and the greatest best man proposal gifts here.
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Take It One Step At A Time
Put together a wedding planning schedule and do things one by one, in a logical order, so you don’t take on too much too fast and end up with everything snowballing around you. Don’t hire any vendors before you’ve confirmed your date don’t design your cake before you’ve envisioned your flowers and don’t book a band before you’ve settled on a space.
Do I Have To Include My Parents Names On Our Wedding Invitations
You may be surprised to learn that this is the wedding-planning question I get asked most often. And the answer is: If your parents and/or in-laws are contributing financially to your wedding, they should definitely be listed on your invites because they are technically hosting the event. And if theyre not contributing financially, you can still opt to include them, but thats up to you. There are many different wedding invitation wording options, so pick the style that feels right for your event.
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Include A Ceremony Program
Programs are great so that your guests can be informed about the day and the timeline. There may also be things that you want to include in the ceremony, but dont have time. The ceremony program is a wonderful way give a shout out to the wedding party, honor deaseased relatives, explain any customs that may be unfamiliar and add a reading if your guests will be reciting together during the ceremony.
How To Plan A Wedding: The Complete 20
Your wedding day is by far one of the most important and special days of your life. And as the reality of your new engagement sets in and the excitement starts to build, youll want to get started on the wedding planning process.
Thanks to the growing availability of digital tools, planning a wedding has become much easier and less-stressful than it once was. Couples have far more control over the details of their joyous occasion, and many of the steps can be entirely DIY-style. For instance, you have the option to create a wedding website, make your dream playlist and collect pictures from guests – all from your own computer.
If youve always dreamed of planning the perfect wedding but arent quite sure where to start, this article is for you. Well guide you through the steps of how to plan a wedding – and point out some of the most helpful tools that can ease the stress and make your special day even more memorable.
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Prioritise The Remainder Of Your Wedding Budget
Booking your wedding venue and associated things such as catering and rentals is usually the most expensive outlay of your wedding budget, and following that, you need to work out how to allocate the remainder.
Unless you have an unlimited budget, I strongly suggest you look at prioritising your wedding budget rather than spending money on every element that a wedding could, should, or must have . You do not need to tick every possible wedding planning box as though it is a requirement, I suggest that if you choose and apportion your wedding budget carefully, and organise only those elements which are really important to you. Spend more on those, and those features will really shine, making your day unique and personal. You may also wish to read how much does a wedding cost and of course prioritising your wedding budget. .
Choose Your Wedding Suppliers
This is probably the biggest step of our wedding planning guide, since it covers everything from photographers to caterers and florists.
Start by making a list of all the suppliers youre going to need to hire. Your wedding venue may already have a list of recommended suppliers which is a great place to start, but make sure you widen your search if you want something a little different before you book and pay deposits.
Itll help to visit the Hitched supplier section where you can find everything from traditional wedding suppliers to more unusual vendors like Prosecco vans, food trucks and flower walls.
Here are your main suppliers to look for:
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How To Plan Your Own Wedding Like A Pro In 16 Steps
Just engaged? Unsure where to start with planning your own wedding? Check out this roadmap to plan a wedding like a pro in 15 simple steps.
One thing most wedding professionals have in common is their penchant for organization. Because they plan, create, and work dozens of weddings each year, they have their systems down to a science. But, dont let that intimidate you or allow you to think you cannot plan your own wedding. Just because you have not planned a wedding before, it does not mean you cant take it on and plan it well, for that matter!
The key to planning your own wedding is you guessed it organization. Events have tons of moving parts, and if you try to plan your soiree without a system you will quickly become disorganized. Outside of recommending that you start a Google Drive with a shared folder to keep everything in one spot, we also wanted to create an outline for you to follow.
We want planning your own wedding to be a fun process, with as little stress as possible! With this recommended wedding planning process, your event will be impeccably organized and your day will feel like a dream when you finally get to celebrate. Below, were sharing the 15 steps you should take to can plan a wedding the savvy way! Keep reading to see how you can plan your wedding like a pro!
The First 5 Things You Need To Do To Start Planning Your Wedding
Youve got yourself a shiny new ring and youre ready to start planning your wedding! We suggest knocking off these five things before moving on to finer details like playlist making and menu tasting.
Ready to start planning your wedding? Well, its a multi-step process that usually takes months. We know, we know, youre excited, but if you take on too much too soon, youre bound to get stressed out. Heck, you may even find yourself in bridezilla or groomzilla territory – which no one wants. To save yourself from biting off more than you can chew, start with the five main pillars of wedding planning.
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How To Plan A Small Wedding
Small weddings or what are commonly referred to as micro weddings are really in fashion right now thanks to issues like a global pandemic. If you are planning a small wedding you need to make sure you have a structure for where and when your wedding will take place, who will be invited and what sort of menu and entertainment you want to have. Many couples who are planning a small wedding decide to host the event at their house or the house of someone close to them to save on venue cost. If you are thinking of going down that path you still might need to plan out a space for food, dancing, bathrooms, and parking.
All weddings regardless of size should have a well thought out plan for what the style and theme of the wedding will be. Plus planning some logistics so the day has no surprises.
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Beach weddings have been a staple in the wedding world for a very long time and with the natural beauty of the beach as a backdrop, it is not hard to see why.
If you are planning a beach wedding that is a destination wedding you should consider sending out your save the date cards with travel information earlier than normal since it may take guests longer to secure travel, flight and hotel accommodations.
Provisionally Book A Venue And A Date
Choosing your wedding venue is probably the most important decision of your entire wedding planning process, and it is also the biggest cost. It determines everything from what your photographs will look like to which theme will work best. Wedding venues often get booked up well over a year in advance, so although you shouldnt make any rash decisions, youve got to act quickly. 18 months before your ideal wedding date, sit down and look through our venues directory which you can filter by venue style and location.
Book a handful of venue viewings for the spots which most appeal, then provisionally reserve a date at your favourite while you check on registrar availability . This is the time to hire a wedding planner if you’re getting one as they can help hugely with finding a venue.
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Produce A Schedule Of Events
Addison Jones
Creating a comprehensive wedding day schedule ensures everyone is on the same page about timing and location and helps to make sure the day’s events run smoothly. Include things like hair and makeup appointments, when vendors will arrive, timing for transportation to/arrival at the ceremony location, timing for the couple’s arrival to the reception, speeches and the first dance, when the cake will be cut, etc. Print out copies to your MC, photographer, maid of honor, key family members, all vendors, and anyone else that should be in the know.
Select A Stationery Suite
As your big day draws closer, you’ll need to alert guests with beautiful wedding invitations. But, believe it or not, your stationery suite includes more than just save-the-date cards, formal invites and RSVP cards. Consider what you want all of your paper goods to look like, from place cards, menus, ceremony programs, and wedding favor tags. Each plays a role during the day, and having a consistent design among all will make your wedding look seamlessly cohesive. We recommend using The Knot Invitations to find paper goods that match the style and theme of your wedding day.
Also Check: Wedding Checklist Google Sheets
Sort The Finer Details
Two months before your wedding you should plan the finer details. Think about the below when working on your wedding checklist:
- Decide on your table names. Weve got a list of 47 fun table name ideas if youre feeling stuck.
- Purchase welcome signs and wedding signs for your dessert table, unplugged wedding announcement or outdoor area.
- Do you need any final décor items? Wedding cake knives, ring bearer pillows, cake toppers and the guest book cant be forgotten!
- Source and buy your wedding favours. If you dont want to spend much money, our round-up of wedding favours which cost less than £1 will help you out.
- Print your menu cards, your programmes and your place names. This may involve another order from your stationery designer if you want everything to be uniform.
Make A Uniform Kids Policy
You have four choices: You can welcome children with open arms you can decide to have an “adults only” wedding you can include immediate family only or, you can hire a child care service to provide day care either at the reception space, in a hotel room or at a family member’s home. To prevent hurt feelings, it’s wise to avoid allowing some families to bring children while excluding others .
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