Huzzah! You are engaged.. You got your ring and the man of your dreams and now you have to get down to business.. WEDDING PLANNING!
Planning a wedding can be quite daunting and I am here to help you make it a little less stressful. My goal is to inspire you to create celebration that is personal and meaningful to you and your person. You are entering the most thrilling time of your life and the next few weeks will bring excitement of sharing the news with your friends and family and the craziness of putting together a day that everyone will remember and talk about it for years. That can be quite overwhelming. But here is one advice that NO ONE tells the newly weds is that “You don’t have to plan everything in one day or even one month.” Unless you are literally getting married in a month.
Here are some things that will start you off on the right foot. (There are blog posts attached to each topic if you want to further read about them)
1. Budget: Money talk can be stressful even if you aren’t planning a wedding. But making plans without establishing a budget is not a great idea because you never know when and where you would run out of money and it’s harder to cancel already made plans than having the money conversation in the beginning. So sit down with your partner and your family members and figure out who pays what. Here is the blog more about budget’s that will help you in the right direction.
2. Create a Guest List: I know this may seem a little early but you will want to get an idea of how many you want to invite as soon as possible because your budget as well as your venue selection is majorly dependant on the size of the guest list. read more..
3. Your vision: I wanted to put that first but we have to keep in mind our budget before we start planning an extravagant event in our head that we can’t pay for. Sit down and figure out with your partner what kind of wedding you’d want that would feel more like you as a person and as a couple. Spring or Fall? Formal or Casual? Sit down dinner or brunch bar? It’s important to discuss this with your partner before hand so you move smoothly in the right direction. Pull a Monica (yes, I am all about the FRIENDS reference) and create a wedding book. That will greatly help you with the kind of wedding you want and help make the important decisions. Take this little quiz to figure out your wedding personality..
4. Venue: Picking a venue is hard, there are so many amazing places and you get so confused and if you don’t book ahead of time or way in advance, your favorite place could be booked and you may end up having to move your date or settle on another venue. But once you have made a decision on where you want to have your wedding, you are up and running! A venue should be booked right after establishing your budget and guest list, ideally 10-12 months in advance but don’t let that stop you from booking it earlier than that if you are absolutely sure what you want. read more..
5. Color Palette: The secret to having a pinterest perfect wedding is simple, pick a color palette and stick to it. A color palette is one of the basis of the entire look and feel of your wedding. A color scheme will make all your elements appear cohesive. A color palette will make all your other decisions easier as well such as invitations and bridesmaids dresses. It’s best to pick few shades that work well with you venue and that create the mood your are imagining. read more…
6. Invitations: I personally love well designed invitation suites. You can certainly email your invites but there is something special about receiving a beautiful set of wedding invitation in the mail. Wedding stationary does a great deal of work at your wedding. A properly made and detailed wedding stationary can help guide the guests to places at appropriate times. read more..
7. Flowers and Decor: Flowers aren’t just beautiful to look at but they are also one of the oldest symbols of love. They can make any space a little more special by adding fragrance and beauty. You have already made your decision a little bit easier by picking your theme, venue and colors and now you can work with your florist and talk to them about adding your favorite blooms to your arrangements or using seasonal locally grown flowers and can save you some money.
Decor: Have unique family heirlooms or special items that you have collected over the years, use them as decor. Gilded teacups make amazing votives and gives an intimate vibe. Be sure to use to use twice as many votives and candles as you think you need to create a warm ambiance through out the space.
Having shot so many weddings and having close relations with many wedding vendors, here are some of the most important things to take care of first before getting into the nitty gritty of everything.
