First and foremost, congratulations! You’ve picked the perfect engagement ring for your fiancé and are now starting to get into the real deal – organising your wedding! Here are some important factors you’ll want to consider.
Budget
This is a biggie. There’s no sense getting carried away with wedding planning if you don’t yet know what your budget is.
The budget for your big day will depend on multiple factors including whether or not you already have savings or if you’ll be having any help to pay for your wedding, for example from family members. If not, you’ll need to think hard about how much you could feasibly save and over how long.
Once you have your budget, you can begin to break it down. This will help you decide what’s most important to you so you can easily see where you can cut costs and where you’re prepared to spend a little more.
Include wedding favors in your budget such as silicone wristbands, bracelets, or figurines, serving as both a thoughtful keepsake and a stylish accessory for your guests. This small but significant detail can add a personal touch to your wedding day, creating lasting memories for everyone involved. Allocating a portion of your budget for these unique favors ensures your guests leave with a tangible memento of your special day.
The Guest List
Before you look at dream venues or start thinking about seating plans, you’ll need to decide on your guest list. You’ll need to make sure that you and your fiancé are on the same page in terms of the size of your wedding party and who you want (or don’t want) to be there!
It’s best to write your guest list in stages. First, write down the names of everyone that you wouldn’t want to get married without and ask your partner to do the same. You can then work outwards, adding in other people who you’d love to see on your big day. You can use your budget as a guide here.
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Planning
With your budget set and ideal guest list in hand, you can really dive into planning!
It’s best to start hunting for venues as early as you possibly can, particularly if you have a set date already in mind. Popular wedding venues can get booked up years in advance, especially in peak wedding season, which is May to October.
The more flexible you’re willing to be about the date and time of your wedding, the more choice you’ll have around venues. Bear in mind that with some venues, you’ll need to organise your registrar or wedding officiant separately, so make sure that one is available before booking the other!
Once you’ve chosen a venue, it’s a good idea to get the legalities sorted before you turn your attention to the finer details. After that, you can relax and enjoy the most fun aspects of wedding planning, like choosing your perfect outfits, deciding on a colour scheme and writing your vows, before the big day comes around.
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