So you’re engaged? Congratulations! Whether you’re the bride or groom, you’re going to have a lot of decisions ahead of you which can be both fun and overwhelming. The important thing to bare in mind is the real reason you’re getting married: to declare your love to your partner, to make a legal binding of your relationship and probably to celebrate with your closet family and friends. It’s easy to get carried away with wedding planning, to go way over budget, and to find yourself completely stressed by the entire process. I’ve created a list of 5 helpful tips for your wedding planning to ensure you can tackle everything with as little stress as possible.
1. Consider a Wedding Planner
Planning a wedding is no small task and unless you studied event management you may feel overwhelmed by the sheer size and expense of the entire process. Hiring a wedding planner is a luxury that not everyone can afford, but if you have a little spare money in your budget and you want to save stress, it could be a great option for you. Many wedding planners also have special contracts with vendors, meaning that they can often negiotiate you better rates, saving you considerable amounts of money. In the end, this could even cover their fees! Having a wedding planner definitely reduces the stress of planning the wedding, while ensuring there’s someone around on the day to keep everything running smoothly.
2. Decide What Will Entertain Your Guests Most
While your wedding is for you and your partner, you’re probably wanting to find ways to keep your friends entertained after the ceremony. Things that are really popular right now are things like photo booths with dress ups, dessert tables and cocktail bars, performing artists, live music, dance instructions and so on. The sky is really the limit, if you want to get to know your guests even better so you can better entertain them, consider using online event registration to ask all the questions you need to know ahead of the big day.
3. Create a Budget and Stick to it
Although it’s tempting to go ‘all out’ on your big, the reality for most of us is that we have budgets to stick to. Creating a budget that you and your partner both agree on is an important first step as it will ensure you both have the same amount in mind before getting your hopes up about specific venues or extra expenses.
4. Book Things in Stages
You don’t have to book things all at once, but I definitely suggest starting with the bigger items such as venue first. Because what venues can offer varies so much it’s good to start here then you can see what else you need to fill in. As a general rule you should find a dress with at least 6 months to spare, although longer is ideal. Smaller things like the cake and table decorations can be sourced closer to the event. By spreading out your bookings, you’ll also spread out the financial expenses which is a great option if you’re still saving for the wedding.
5. Ask Friends Who Have Been Recently Married for Tips
Chances are you have some friends or family members that have probably recently married. Why not ask them for tips? They could have suggestions on places they hired for catering, decoration or entertainment that they absolutely loved. Working with someone you know your friends already had a great experience with can relieve a lot of pressure.
Use these 5 simple tips to make your wedding planning a little more stress-free and enjoyable. No matter what you end up doing, be sure to take lots of photos during the day so you can treasure them for years to come.
