Subscribe “I’m Engaged! Now What?!”
Congratulations! You’re getting married! But where to start? What should you do first? I’m here to help.
The following is the order in which I’d go about planning my wedding. Not everything is on this list (if it was, it’d be pages long) but this should be a great list to get you going. Please note, if you live in an area that has few choices for a certain vendor, you will want to make booking that vendor a top priority.
Here’s the quick list & following is a bit about each one. I will soon have much more information on each step (like how to chose a florist, what should be in a contract, etc.).
- Celebrate
- Get Help
- Figure Your Budget
- Figure Your Guest List
- Book Your Ceremony & Reception
- Pick Your Wedding Party
- Start Shopping for the Wedding Dress
- Start Shopping for the Wedding Party’s Attire
- Book Your Photographer
- Book Your DJ
- Book Your Videographer
- Book Your Florist
- Choose Your Bakery
- Book Your Transportation
- Plan Your Details
Celebrate
Don’t forget to take in all the joy and excitement of this wonderful time in your life. Before you get heavy into planning, take the time to celebrate with your fiance and with friends and family. Enjoy sharing your engagement story, showing off a ring, day dreaming about your big day & your upcoming marriage. And when planning is stressful take “time-outs” and just enjoy it. Have dates with your fiance and try not to talk about the wedding. Many men complain that once they put a ring on their girlfriends ring all they ever did revolved around the wedding. Never lose the romance!
Get Help
Hire a professional coordinator or get someone to help you (not someone you plan to be in your wedding party). When I got married, I thought we couldn’t afford a coordinator, but I didn’t look into it that much. I wish I had, because it would have made many things much easier on me and I would have been able to be the bride on my wedding day and not the bride plus the coordinator. See my previous post all about this, “Delegate! Delegate! Delegate!”
Set a Budget
Get a rough estimate on your budget. What do you have saved that you can put towards the wedding? How much can you save a month? How much can family contribute? How much are you willing to borrow/charge?
Estimate Your Guest List
Figure out, roughly, how many guests you’ll be having. Don’t forget to get parents’ input as they may have people they insist on inviting. Figure this out before you book your ceremony/reception place(s) because some may not have enough space for all your guests. And reception places charge per person, which will greatly affect your budget!
Book Your Ceremony & Reception
Once you have your budget you can start your search for where to say your “I Dos” and dance the night away. Don’t set your date until you have the ceremony and reception booked. The place(s) you love may not be available on the date you want, or you might decide to give yourself a few extra months of saving to afford a certain place.
Pick Your Wedding Party
You probably did this first, but it’s best to wait until you have your ceremony site booked. Some churches have very small areas for your party to stand during your ceremony. If you asked 8 bridesmaids and your church has a limit of 4 you will need to make some difficult choices. But, you may feel so strongly about having a large party that you will chose a ceremony site that can accommodate them.
Start Looking for a Wedding Dress
You probably have already done this! I know that’s the first thing I did too. I put dress hunting here because you might want to know what kind of isle you’ll be walking down and how fancy your reception site is before picking a dress. And, depending on where you live, the time of year can greatly affect your choice in dress. You do not want to pay the price of the dress in alterations because it’s not right for your season or ceremony.
Start Looking for Wedding Party Attire
Once you have the wedding dress picked out, you can pick your wedding party’s attire. Look for styles and ideas in magazines, bridal stores and online. Be creative and have your bridesmaids vote on dresses you like.
Book Your Photographer
Photographers can book up very fast. We often book couples 8 months in advance. You will want to be able to pick your photographer because of their work and pricing, not their availability. Not all large photography studios are bad, but if you wait too long to book a photographer you may need to go with a studio that has several photographers on staff. You are less likely to meet your photographer before your wedding day (not good) and you won’t know the quality of their work.
Book Your DJ
DJs/MCs are very important. Book one who has a great personality, large selection of music you want and good equipment. They can make or break your reception, so choose wisely. Give yourself plenty of time to interview several before booking one.
Book Your Videographer
As with photographers and DJs, they can book up very fast. Unlike photographers and DJs, going with a larger company is less of a concern. For this reason, book your photographer and DJ before your videographer.
Book Your Florist
Like Videographers with larger companies, there is a good chance they can handle several weddings in one day. But if you live in an area with few florist shops or you want a smaller shop, I’d book the florist as soon as possible.
Book Your Transportation
There are so many transportation service providers, you are less likely to have trouble with availability with this vendor. My advice here is to make sure you have a contract. For some reason I’ve seen a lot of “shady” business with limo companies. A contract will help protect you. Go with a company that a friend has used and recommends, if at all possible.
Chose Your Bakery
Bakeries can often handle several weddings in a day, so this should be booked once your other vendors have been. If you have the best looking cake, but don’t have a good photographer to photograph it, or a good DJ to keep your guests awake to eat it, what good would it be?
Go for the Details
Once you have your major vendors booked, start playing with theme and color ideas. Look for good deals over the Internet, check Dollar stores, etc. Spend hours in book stores looking for ideas with anyone who’ll join you. Keep a scrap book journal of ideas and clippings of things.
