How to plan a wedding in 5 easy steps

So you’ve got the ring (congratulations!) and now it’s time to plan the EVENT. But you have never planned an event of this scale before and you don’t know which order to book vendors in and should you choose gold service plates or silver ones? Don’t even know what a service plate is for?! Not to worry, here are some quick and easy steps to get you going into planning your dream wedding confidently and stress free.

1) Plan your budget.

First things first, sit down with your partner and decide realistically what you do and don’t want to spend money on. Make a spreadsheet listing all the necessary vendor costs or use one of the handy budget tools online that take your overall budget and split it out as required. Leave aside 5% of the budget as a contingency for any unexpected costs or last minute buys.

2) Set your guest count.

This is the one that makes or breaks a budget so only invite the people you would love to share your day with. Only invite distant family members if it will save you on headaches later on. If you haven’t spoken to a friend in the past year then it’s probably safe to say you can cut them off the list, unless they’re a party animal who loves to get involved and will help get other guests chatting.

3) Book your venue with 3 key dates in mind.

If you have your heart set on a venue or if you have a shortlist, then enquire availability with 3 different dates. You could snap up a bargain with booking a wedding on Friday 13th and don’t worry if you can’t get the date you had in mind because whatever day you choose will become the next most important.

4) Decide with your partner on your ‘must haves’ and colours.

List out 5 ‘must haves’ with each other so you both get your own version of a dream wedding and see which elements can be combined for a compromise. For example at cocktail hour your partner might be keen to have a ‘belgo’ style beer bar, whilst you’ll want to serve fine wines but you can’t afford to have both. Why not serve a wedding signature cocktail you can both agree on instead.

There are always ways to accommodate each other tastes in colour and style. If your partner hates pink then choose a different tone of pink with a sophisticated name like ‘rose smoke’ ;-)

5) Start booking your next key vendors in the following order:

Attire, music, caterer (if separate from venue), photographer, videographer, stationery designer, hotel room bookings, transportation, cake designer, and florist. Check in with each vendor the week before the wedding and share with them your wedding day schedule. Some vendors such as caterers will require more check-ins to confirm menus, decor and numbers.

Focus on getting these big details booked and then you can focus on the smaller details like where you can obtain those gold service plates!

We can also help you organise your wedding and make sure you haven’t missed out on any key details essential to your day with our Virtual Wedding Planning service.

Found this useful or have any other suggestions? Then tell us in the comments. Don’t forget to sign up to our other social networks to keep up with the latest trends, advice, tips and more.

Credits: imagery from Getty.