8 Things to Kick Start Wedding Planning
You’re Engaged! Now What?
You’ve found the one you love and now you’re engaged - Congratulations! First things first, take a moment, soak it in and celebrate being engaged. This really is a special season.
When you’re ready to start planning a wedding, here are 8 steps to get you started
1. Priorities
It’s important to have this conversation right at the very start. Sit down with your partner and chat about what’s important to each of you for your wedding. If you’re not sure where to begin, here are some questions to get the conversation started…
How do you picture your wedding day - What time of year is it? How big or small were you thinking? Where do you want to get married?
What do you want to prioritise - Having lots of guests? Amazing food? Beautiful Styling? Epic wedding photos and video?
Are traditions important to you - Do you want to get ready separately? Will one of us walk down the aisle to the other or should we do a first look? Will we have a wedding party? Do you care about cutting a cake or a first dance?
Your ideas and vision for your wedding may change as you get further into the planning process, but try to work out what are the non-negotiables and what will matter most to you on and after the day, then write these things down.
2. Budget
On average, Australians spend around $30,000 on a wedding, but of course you could spend much less or much more, depending on what’s important to you, affordable and how you picture your wedding day. This is why it’s important to talk about priorities at the outset and then work out a budget. How much are you comfortable spending? What is realistic? Will you have any financial contributions from family members or a friend?
3. Style
Now, you may have already covered this a little when you chatted about priorities, but it’s a good idea to get on the same page and decide on the style/vibe/mood that you’re going for. This will help inform all of your decisions. Now’s your chance to dream about the overall aesthetic - How do you want your day to feel? Relaxed or formal? Classic or modern? Do you have a colour palette in mind? Consider your own tastes and interests, there’s no reason why you can’t inject your own personalities into the day. Aside from the legal parts of your ceremony there’s very few things you have to do or have to have to get married. Why not design a day that truly reflects who you are and includes the things you love.
4. Guest List
Good thing you’ve chatted about your priorities, budget and style, because here comes the potentially tricky bit - The Guest List. At this point you’ve probably decided on either a small wedding or something bigger. Either way, you can start by writing down the people who you must have there, whether that’s parents, siblings, best friends, whoever, start there and see where you’re at with numbers, then you can add from that point. The tricky thing in our experience was managing other peoples expectations. Be prepared that despite your best efforts you may offend someone. The number of guests often has a significant impact on your budget, once you start calculating the cost per head.
5. Venue
Now that you have a good idea of how many people you need to cater for, how much you’re willing to spend and what style you’re looking for, you can start contacting and visiting wedding venues. Some wedding venues will offer an all inclusive service, this might include ceremony and reception spaces, catering and furniture, while others are more of a blank canvas, ready for you to style how you wish, whereas if you choose to get married on a private property for example, you will most likely need to bring everything from a marquee and chairs to cutlery and porta-loos. All options have pros and cons, it just depends how hands on you want to be.
Bonus tips:
DIY doesn’t necessarily mean cheaper
Good wedding venues can ensure your day runs seamlessly and the lead up is stress-free
Read reviews and look through Real Weddings of venues online
Consider being flexible with your wedding date, find out a few dates when your venue is available, so you have options when deciding on your wedding vendors
6. Priority Vendors
So you’ve worked out your priorities, now’s the time to take action. Maybe you have already seen or heard about some amazing wedding vendors, now you can contact them to find out their availability and what options they offer. If you have your heart set on a particular vendor it’s a good idea to be flexible with your date. When contacting your dream team, mention that you have a few possible dates or even the month or season when you would like to get married, that way you can cross check which dates work for your priority vendors and your venue and lock in the date that works best. This way your chances of securing your absolute dream team are much higher.
7. Celebrant
Maybe securing an amazing celebrant was already on your priority list, but if it wasn’t now’s the time to find someone to make this thing legal! After all there’s no wedding without a marriage ceremony. It’s important to find a celebrant you gel with, someone who reflects your personalities and the vibe of your wedding.
8. Outfits
Let’s shop! If you have your eye on a particular designer or something custom, it’s important to lock this in sooner than later. Often wedding dress designers need 6-12 months advance, this can be similar for suits, especially custom tailoring. It’s likely that the more time you have the more options you will have, so if your outfit is important to you, try to get organised early.
Planning a wedding can certainly feel overwhelming, but once you can get all your thoughts out, get on the same page with your partner and gain clarity around what you both want, it’s easier to start making a plan and locking things in. When you strip it all back, all you really need is the two of you, someone to make your marriage legit and two people to witness it. Weddings are incredibly special and significant, simply because you’re declaring that you have found your person and you want to do life with them. When you feel things are blowing a little out of proportion or stress is mounting, remember to go back to that original list of priorities and look at what matters most to the two of you. Keep the stuff that means something, evaluate if you need the rest.
This list by no means covers everything, but feels like a good starting place to us. We hope you find it helpful and if you need help planning or finding your dream team, feel free to email us.
