5 Things To Prioritise When Starting To Plan Your Wedding

So, the time has arrived for you to start planning your wedding day! This might feel a little overwhelming, but the most important thing to remember is that it is YOUR day, and you have the power and the opportunity to plan your day exactly how you have always dreamed it to be. You might be inundated with people asking questions and offering their opinions or maybe you’re trying to resist the urge to start pinning and buying everything before making a proper plan! If that’s the case, before you get too carried away with the all-important event planning, we have created a handy list of 5 things to prioritise when planning your wedding so that you know exactly where to start because doing the research before diving straight in will help things run much more smoothly and keep you in control of the wedding planning process right from the beginning.

1. Set your budget

Sitting down together and having an honest and realistic conversation about your wedding budget will help all aspects of your wedding plans, not least because the budget affects pretty much everything to do with the wedding! Take a look at your finances, speak to family members who have said they’d like to contribute, and consider how much you might want to dip into those life savings for this big event. It's integral that you're both on the same page regarding the total spend from the very beginning. So, go ahead and set a budget, but try your hardest to stick to it!

If you’re already concerned about staying on track, take inspiration from other wedding planning couples who keep aside 10 – 15% of their budget as a contingency. Many unforeseen extras can crop up during the planning and final stages of wedding prep, so having that little pot of cash if the costs start rising will mean you can still create your dream wedding on budget.

2. Get organised

Have you considered how you’re going to plan your wedding? And what you might need to kick things off and keep you on track during the months ahead? You might already have a wedding planner to help with the organising, and if the budget allows, we’d definitely recommend hiring one! But if not, various tools are available for couples to help them execute their dream wedding plans. From trusty spreadsheets to using a wedding planning book to utilising Say I do’s handy checklist and building a bespoke wedding website with RSVP just for you. There’s a lot to consider, but believe us when we say wedding planning tech can help you enormously!

3. Set a date

Setting the date is one of the most important (and exciting) parts of planning a wedding! Not only will it get the ball rolling, but it also helps you both to stick to an organised schedule with a clear goal in mind! Even if you haven’t decided on a specific date, settling on a preferred month, season, or year will help when talking to wedding vendors and searching for your dream venue. Once a rough date has been discussed, you can immediately have a clearer idea of how much venue hire costs might be during that time, and you can start building a picture of how the day might come together in the timeframe you’ve set.

Are you hosting a destination wedding? Great shout! However, there may be a few more things to consider if you're exchanging vows on a private tropical beach, such as picking a date that you know will work for your nearest and dearest. Try to give your guest list as much notice as possible to get organised; in fact, give them more than you would for a local wedding. By doing this, you'll be positively impacting your guest count because if you don't give people enough notice, they simply may not be able to come. Hosting a destination wedding means guests need to book time off work, but they might also need to arrange childcare and save a little more money than they usually would to help you celebrate.

4. Research and book your big-ticket items

Once the venue research has begun, many other elements should fall into place; this is where it gets really exciting! Your venue is naturally one of the most (if not the most) expensive things to nail down. Catering, if needed, is another crucial aspect to research early on as this could take a good chunk of the budget, too. Priorities are key here, though; if you want to go all-out with flowers or you have a top photographer in mind, make sure you move your most wanted items to the top of the list so that they work within your budget. Therefore, once the big-ticket items have been researched and booked, you can get down to the super fun stuff that will make your wedding day even more special and unique to you.

5. Selecting your wedding party

Another massive help when planning your wedding day will be to call upon those you might refer to as your nearest and dearest, the groomsmen and bridal party especially. There are no hard and fast rules here, though; modern couples may even now choose more than one best man or maid of honour or none at all! However you decide to organise your wedding party, remember that team bride and team groom can help to take some of the pressure off by assisting the bride and groom with research, planning, and lending an ear and a helping hand during this exciting but high-pressure time.

Remembering that this process should be enjoyable will help lighten the mood when some days may feel overwhelming. Don’t think you have to do it all alone; your close family and key members of your wedding party are there to hold your hand along the way so that you can enjoy this special journey and ultimately plan the perfect day!