Congratulations on your engagement! From the first kiss to falling in love. Being proposed to and planning your wedding day. These are some of the happiest and most romantic moments of your life.
To celebrate the journey you and your significant other have traveled so far, and launch a new chapter in your lives as a married couple. You, of course, want your wedding day to feel as special as your relationship.
And so, to help you, below is a checklist of the essential pieces of your wedding for you to think about, make decisions on and arrange.
Figure Out Your Finances
While money isn’t an object when it comes to love. It is when it comes to weddings.
Whether you’re planning a large, invite all of your family, friends, and work colleagues kind of wedding. Or you’re set on an intimate, immediate family only event, on the beach a short trip away. Money still needs to be discussed before any real wedding planning, and purchases can take place.
A wedding budget gives you a realistic take on what you can afford and prevents you from overstepping the mark by spending too much. Or otherwise realizing you don’t have the money you need to fund the day you’ve planned later on.
Get Inspired
Weddings arrive in all shapes, sizes, themes, and locations. To create a wedding that represents your relationship and love, you’ll want to spend time with your other half finding inspiration to make your day special.
Platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram can help. Along with wedding brochures and blogs.
Each time you find something you both love, save it somewhere, you can look back on each time you revisit planning your wedding.
Over time you’ll feel drawn to some ideas and themes more than others. Which is the beginning of helping you as a couple understand what inspiring images and pieces from magazines you’ve collected that you want to recreate on your wedding day.
Tour Venues
The theme can help you choose the wedding but don’t be surprised if you find a venue you fall in love with and alter your theme entirely.
After all, this wedding planning guide is not based on rigid rules. And so be sure to embrace feelings for venues you love, and don’t be too worried if it’s not ideal for your theme.
From periodic buildings to old chapels and rustic converted barn venues to an open field in the countryside. With plenty of beautiful locations to choose from, you’re bound to find somewhere perfect for your wedding day. However, it helps to be mindful of what venues fit in with your budget.
Here are a few questions to ask when you are browsing venues to help you make your decision.
- Does the venue have enough room for the guests you’re planning to invite?
- Will the venue provides food and drinks for guests?
- Are you allowed to decorate the venue?
- Does the venue have party equipment and a DJ or band that can play at the wedding party?
Having a list of questions, like the ones above, will help you and your husband or wife make a decision.
Wedding Gown
Perhaps the best part of wedding planning is choosing and trying on beautiful wedding dresses. If you feel gorgeous, no matter what hiccups might happen on your wedding day, you’ll still feel amazing.
When choosing your wedding dress, aim to visit stores, boutiques, or outlets fitting for your planned budget. Wedding dresses can vary dramatically in cost from $50 from craigslist to a few hundred from high street stores and thousands from high-end boutiques and wedding designers.
When trying on dresses, think about what shapes and styles flatter you and work with your chosen theme. Vintage themes call for vintage dresses, and traditional weddings work well with conservative gowns.
Moreover, never underestimate the skills of a seamstress. A dress you love may fit poorly and have some details you may dislike. But a great dressmaker may be able to personalize the wedding gown for you, such as removing and adding sections, while also adjusting the shape to flatter your figure.
Some brides get lucky and find a dress in the first shop they visit. And, others take a while to find the perfect dress for them.
However, it helps to keep in mind, the wedding makeup and hair will make a big difference to your overall look. And so, it helps to try on dresses with a similar hairstyle and makeup you plan to wear on the day, to get a real feel for whether your chosen dress will work for you.
Guest List and Invites
You’ve most likely already considered who you want to invite. But it helps write it down and add plus-ones to the list to get an accurate number of guests. While also deciding things like seating arrangements for the wedding breakfast and ceremony.
However, before ordering and sending, save the date magnets from MagnetStreet to your guest list. It’s also worth checking that the important people you want to attend can come to your wedding before you book the venue and send out invitations. In doing so, you can save any disappointment and difficulty attempting to rearrange the wedding date.
Photographer
The style of each wedding may vary, but they all have one thing in common: the couple always wants numerous pictures and videos of the day.
Each photographer has their own experience and style for capturing wedding imagery. To choose the best photographer for your wedding, look at the photographer’s portfolio to gauge whether they take the type of photos you want.
Some photographers emphasize creating staged wedding photos, with families in set formations on pictures, usually in outdoor spaces. Others prefer to catch live-action shots of, for example, the bride and groom gushing after being declared married. Or the newly-weds feeding each other cake at the wedding party.
Also, when you’re looking for a photographer, don’t forget to ask for quotes and the number of prints or digital photos they provide. Plus, whether they’re available for your wedding day and for how many hours.
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen
Bridesmaid and groomsmen are a traditional element of weddings that most people like to have on their special day.
Your bridesmaids can be anyone you choose, from your sister to your niece. Asking friends and family to be bridesmaids is a nice gesture. And whoever you ask is sure to be proud that you want them to be a significant part of the most important day of your life. The maid of honour’s title is usually reserved for the closest person to you, such as your best friend.
Sometimes the maid of honor and bridesmaid might organize a celebratory event with just the girls before the wedding. The groomsmen for the husband may also do the same. This can take a lot of pressure off the bride and groom to organize celebrations before the wedding.
To ensure your bridesmaids and groomsmen look the part on the day, choosing the right outfits is essential. With your theme and wedding dress already decided, it’ll be a lot easier for you to find suitable wedding attire.
For bridesmaids dresses, matching flowy dresses in one of the colors used for your wedding theme is always a winner for weddings. Plus, for those wanting to piece together the best wedding pictures, each element you choose, from the venue to the outfits, will make a difference in the images you receive from the photographer.
Wedding Rings
Rings are a symbolic piece of jewelry worn to express your love, loyalty, and commitment towards one another. You’ll be wearing your wedding rings more or less every day for the rest of your life, and so, you’ll want to choose something you both adore.
Wedding rings are available in a range of styles and materials. Some more expensive, durable, and fashionable than others. While browsing for a pair of rings, it helps to think about what will look appealing and be practical for everyday life.
For instance, you might adore the idea of a sizable diamond-encrusted wedding ring. But if it’s likely to snag on clothing, be impractical for work, or you’re anxious, you’ll lose it. It may be worth shopping around for a ring that won’t cause you these issues.
On another note, you don’t need to have matching rings unless you want to. When choosing rings, each person can choose something they love that works perfectly with their style.
Cars, Cake and Other Essentials
Finding suppliers early to secure for your wedding will prevent you from forgetting vital parts of your big day.
Some of the other things you’ll need to check off your wedding list include arranging transport to and from the venue. A cake to cut with your soon to be husband or wife, plus decor – such as lighting, centerpieces, chair covers. Other aspects you may want to consider are security for your wedding, to oversee parking lots, and take care of larger wedding parties throughout the day.
When planning a wedding, it helps you to begin as soon as possible. Having enough time to think decisions through for the wedding will prevent you from making rushed or costly mistakes. And instead, guarantee a wedding day that you’ll cherish forever.
Find me on social media, because it’ll be great to have you there and follow me 🙂 :
My son is getting married next September and I am trying not to get in the way, but my future daughter-in-law is stressed about it and has a tendency to put things off when she gets stresses. She has the big things done (venue, dress, attendants, caterer and photographer), but the smaller things are adding up. Her mother is not involved in the planning at all and she lives out of state so I am walking a fine line. They are paying for it themselves with the exception of the photographer which I am paying for so I am hoping she will ask for my help.
Hopefully, you can help them out 🙂