Your wedding is your day, simple. And to be perfectly honest, there aren’t many rules that apply these days (except for the legal ones!). Some couples might find this liberating and exciting, whereas others may consider it completely daunting – where do you sit? While budgets can be flexible and themes and traditional wedding tropes are an individual choice, there are some wedding touchpoints that you might like to hit during your wedding planning journey to ensure a smooth and stress-free process. Here’s our comprehensive guide to planning your wedding.
Organisation
First things first, organisation is key. If you’re not a naturally organised person, then you will need to get tools and processes in place to make sure you don’t immediately feel totally overwhelmed! If the budget allows, you might want to consider hiring a professional wedding planner. But if you’re working to a tight budget or you just want to stay in control of your plans, it’s totally possible to do it DIY and still plan the wedding of your dreams!
Start by creating a wedding binder or a digital folder where you can store all your ideas, inspirations, and contracts. Make use of wedding planning apps and digital checklists to keep track of tasks and deadlines. This will help you visualise your progress and ensure that nothing is overlooked.
Timing
Make sure you practically have enough time to plan your wedding – a longer timeframe is always beneficial if possible. You might be restricted by the time of year, or your dream venue’s availability and that is totally fine. Just make sure you and your partner have enough time to plan and action everything you need to before the big day.
A timeline can be immensely helpful. Ideally, start planning your wedding at least a year in advance. This gives you ample time to book venues, hire vendors, and manage other important aspects without feeling rushed. If you have less time, it’s still doable but be prepared for a more intense planning period.
Budgeting
One of the biggest contributing factors to your wedding is ultimately your budget. However generous or modest, the sooner you tackle this, the better. If family members are contributing, have an honest conversation with them about what they’re comfortable spending and when. If you’re footing the bill, you need to consider how much savings you already have and how much more you can stash away before the wedding. We’d always recommend building in a 10% buffer for unexpected expenses that will inevitably arise too.
Once your budget is set, allocate it to different categories like venue, catering, attire, photography, and entertainment. This will help you keep track of your spending and avoid any unpleasant surprises down the line.
Vendor Research
If you’re having a theme or concept for your wedding, now is a great time to nail down your style/end vision. This will impact many other decisions you need to make during your planning journey and which wedding vendors you end up working with. There’s no point considering a cool hotel wedding venue if you’ve always dreamed of a woodland wedding!
Your wedding suppliers are the professional team that will bring your vision to life, and you are probably going to be working quite closely with them. It’s great to meet in person if possible, or at least schedule calls so that you can get to know them and start building a relationship. But remember, they’re the experts; you need to be able to trust in them to execute your dream day so follow your gut!
Guest Management
You might already have a good idea of your guest number, although this will largely depend on your venue, budget, and possibly when you decide to get married. Some of the biggest things to consider when it comes to guests are: are you inviting children? Are you allowing plus ones? Who needs accommodation? Do you need to consider accessibility for disabled/elderly guests?
Once you have your guest list sorted, it’s time to send your wedding invitations. This is where having a wedding website can be incredibly useful.
Build Your Wedding Website
Save time, money, and resources by creating your own personalised wedding website. Here you can send beautiful bespoke digital invitations, collate the RSVPs as they come rolling in, and include every single detail that your guests will need to know in relation to your big day. From key timings to accommodation information, to itineraries, you can even link your gift registry here too. You can (fingers crossed) avoid those endless emails and text messages from guests! Everything they could possibly need to know is stored here in one place, which is easily accessible and simple to use.
Wedding websites are more than just a modern trend; they are a practical tool that can simplify the entire planning process. Many platforms offer free templates and easy-to-use interfaces, making it straightforward to create a professional-looking site even if you’re not tech-savvy.
Other Considerations
There are many other things to consider when planning a wedding. From choosing your food and drink to picking the perfect wedding dress, but you don’t need our help for those! If you are someone that appreciates a friendly prompt here and there, you can always use a custom checklist. Just remember to stay organised, ask for help when you need it, and for the sake of your own sanity, remember to schedule in some quality time for you and your partner. Planning a wedding is stressful and trust us – a little break here or there will be much needed and greatly appreciated!
While many people have mixed feelings about technology at weddings (we’ve seen many an iPhone spoiling official photographs!), we can’t deny the power of tech in the form of websites, apps, and online tools that can make planning your dream wedding a breeze!
Top Technology Tools for Wedding Planning
- Pinterest: A wedding planning blessing (and sometimes a time-suck curse!), Pinterest has helped plan millions of weddings since launching in 2010. It’s many people’s top platform for never-ending wedding inspiration, tips and tricks, and the perfect place to gather all your creative findings in one handy place.
- Google Drive: From Word docs to spreadsheets, PDFs to photos – anything and everything can now be uploaded, stored, and shared through Drive with anyone with a Gmail account. A brilliant online wedding tool for keeping all your important documents, including insurance, seating plans, and inspirational references, organised in one easy-to-use place.
- Wedding Websites: A modern-day, essential planning tool for any and every kind of wedding celebration. Treat them as your ultimate wedding planning hub because they will quickly become THE go-to place for guests to get all the information they need for your big day.
- Wedding Supplier Directories: Regardless of where in the world you live, what style of wedding you’re going for, or from what walk of life you come from, you are sure to find an online wedding directory to suit! Expand your search from standard wedding blogs to see if your wedding niche is covered – trust us, this is where you’ll find the good stuff.
- Wedding Blogs and Magazines: There’s nothing like seeing real, relatable weddings to get the big day inspiration flowing. Styled shoots are great, but beautiful real weddings are where the magic’s at! Search for online wedding blogs that regularly publish diverse wedding content and soak up the inspiration.
- Social Media: With Instagram taking tips from Pinterest and giving users the ability to save posts to ‘Collections’/folders, it’s become a great way to collate inspiring posts on the app and save them for later. Plus, with billions of total visits per month and a high percentage of people using Instagram to research products and services, it’s an exciting place to seek out ideas for your dream wedding.
- Checklists, Guides, and Planning Documents: When you create your own custom wedding website, you automatically gain access to a personalised wedding checklist! It’s a great tool that we know couples find incredibly beneficial. It’s also fully customisable, so you can add your own tasks, delete ones that aren’t relevant to you, and check them off as you go!
- Wedding Fairs and Open Days: Sometimes the best way to discover your wedding dream team and really find out if you click is to meet them in person! Seek out wedding fairs and open days in your local area. They’re a brilliant place to start if you’re after a one-stop-planning shop.
- Your Wedding Venue: Once you get your wedding venue confirmed, make sure you ask for their vendor recommendations. They should have a list of local, relevant, and, most importantly – recommended suppliers that have worked at the venue before.
- Friends and Family: Last but not least, good old word of mouth. Your friends and family are one of the greatest and most under-estimated free wedding planning resources you have! Whether it’s a recommendation from a recently married friend or your mum’s friend’s daughter – listen up; you might just uncover a hidden gem!
Planning your wedding can be a daunting task, but with the right organisation, tools, and support, it can also be a fun and rewarding experience. Remember to take it one step at a time, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Your wedding is a celebration of your love, and with careful planning and the right resources, you can create a day that is truly unforgettable.