What to do after you say “yes”
You said “yes!” We hope the champagne is flowing and you’re filled with love and gratitude for this special moment. Now is not the time to stress about planning your wedding! Take these 5 easy next steps to kick-start the planning process. So many couples stress over wedding planning, and we don’t want you to be one of them. Romanticize the process by doing this over coffee & breakfast and turning it into your favorite date day.
Step 1: Establish what’s most important to you.
Have conversations and create a list regarding what’s most important to the two of you on this day and leading up to it. Do you want a big wedding with all of your extended family and larger circle friends? Or do you want a more intimate wedding with just immediate family and your closest circle? Do you want to plan your own wedding or hire someone to help you? Would you like a longer engagement or are you ready to tie the knot tomorrow? Get on the same page as your partner regarding what matters to you most. For some, timeline and budget will be most important. For others, the design and experience will be. This is up to the two of you!
Step 2: Determine your budget.
We have an entire blog post dedicated to determining your budget for your wedding day. The most important part here is that you solidify your budget, allocate how much of your budget should go to each category, and stick to it. It will be so easy to go over your budget a little bit here and a little bit there, and before you know it, you are thousands of dollars over budget. Go check out our blog post on wedding budget tips to help get you started!
Step 3: Create your guest list.
This can be a lengthier process to go through, and often times involves your parent’s or family member’s input (doesn’t have to, though). Your guest list should reflect the budget you have set aside for your wedding. The larger the guest list, the more expensive the wedding. To help save costs, you can customize your guest list and have guests arrive at a time that works best for you. You can have a smaller and more intimate ceremony with those guests invited to dinner, and a separate and larger guest list welcomed to join you for drinks and dancing after dinner. You can ask that kids remain at home to cut headcount costs there as well. My advice is to only invite the people that you want to invite and that you’ll be happy to have there with you both on your day.
Step 4: Create your vision.
If aesthetic/design isn’t something that’s important to you, then feel free to skip this step! However, creating your vision can help determine wedding party attire/colors, florals, photography, and other decor items that can bring your wedding to life. Start first with the things that are most important to you. If you want your bridesmaids in a specific color, then select the rest of the elements to compliment that. If you have a general mood board/vision, start putting together all of the components to help achieve this look. In my opinion, the following categories are all elements that are crucial for a cohesive design: florals, color scheme (including bridesmaids and groomsmen attire), photography, stationary (invites, signs, menus, etc.), and small decor touches (customized napkins, matchbooks, and stir sticks are examples).
Step 5: Start booking your venue and all of your vendors.
Although this step can be stressful, it’s an important one to knock out as soon as you can in the planning process. Nowadays, venues and vendors can book up a year or more in advance. Use the 4 steps prior to help guide your decision-making here, and don’t be afraid to interview or collect multiple vendor options before booking to find the option that’s best suited for you. The general guideline for when to book your venue/vendors is at least 9 months prior to your wedding date. If this isn’t possible, don’t worry! The wedding industry is quite large, and there will always be options. If this step becomes too stressful, remember that the most important part of all of this is that you’re marrying your best friend.