Have you just got engaged, and you are wondering where to start? Here’s a simple guideline to give you a headstart.
Your wedding might be the biggest event that you will organise in your whole life, and it is the most important one as well.
You might get super excited when both you and your partner has come to take the next step to get married. But sometimes we may get a bit lost on where to start and what to begin with.
Planning your wedding is not an easy task, but if you keep it organised, it won’t be as tough as you can imagine.
Here’s the basic idea of what you might need to get involve with.
Setting your Budget
Your budget is the most important element in the wedding, as it determines how your wedding can be organised, how many people can you invite, what are the decorations will be and influences many other aspects. Setting your budget early and categorise it will save you a lot of time in making decisions in every part of your wedding planning. You wouldn’t want to encounter the mistake of planning everything perfectly and lastly realise that you do not have the budget to run it.
Look for Inspiration
Once you have set your budget, it is time to look for inspiration accordingly. With the current technology and abundance of information, it is simply easy to source for ideas. The only problem might be the overload of inspiration that will makes us difficult to make a choice. Pinterest, Instagram and Wedding publications are one of the best sources to look for.
Start with a Guest List
Guest list is as important as setting your budget. It is also the foundation of determining what goes next in planning. Organising for a 50-pax wedding and 500-pax wedding is totally different. The budget will be totally different, venue options will be different between small and large groups.
Narrow Down the Dates
It is rather impossible to decide one fixed date at the beginning. There are many factors to be considered such as the availability of your closed families, the options of venue, and clash with other important events of your families, career or friends. But it is good to narrow down the dates, and shortlisting a few to finalise it later on.
Checking out the Venue
Now that you have a budget, shortlisted dates and an estimated guest count, it makes it easier for you to start checking for a venue. Search for venues online, read the reviews, make a visit to the place and decide for your dream wedding location.
Publish your Wedding Website
This might be a new concept in certain areas, but publishing a website might help you to save a lot of time in informing updates regarding your wedding. Alternatively, you can use the social media such as the Facebook Page to publish you updates as well. But a wedding website will looks more beautiful and memorable for you and your partner. If you have the budget for a wedding website, it will be a great addition to make your wedding planning easier and a memorable one.
Source and Book Vendors
Time for you to search for vendors such as photographers, videographers, performance, celebrants, makeup artists, hair stylists and many other wedding vendors. If you have the choice to hire a wedding planner, it is one good option as it really helps a lot. After all, you don’t want to mess up your big day, and the only thing you want to do on that very day is to look good and enjoy.
Finalise Guest List
Get your first draft of guest list out, and start to finalise it. Make sure that you have the venue’s capacity in mind so that you do not overcrowd the place and end up with someone who doesn’t have a seat.
Send Invitations
Give your guests a hint of the date of your special day. The best thing to do is to notify your family and friends as early as possible so that they can make the possible arrangements to witness your wedding ceremony.
Find your Outfit
Looking for your best wedding attire might take some time as you visit the bridal houses. You can begin to search online, so it will be easier to tell the employees of the bridal houses of what you are looking for. It will save a lot of time.
Draft a Seating Chart
When most of your guests have confirmed attendance, you can start to draft the seating chart. If they haven’t respond to you, probably you might need to give them a call and remind them. Confirming the attendance is very important, you do not want to end up with empty seats and that will be a waste of your funds.
Confirm your Wedding Details with Vendors
The last few weeks before your wedding is crucial, you will have to follow up and finalise the details with your vendors. Make necessary changes to make sure your big day is perfect and as you want it to be. Alternatively, a wedding planner would ease you up with all the hassle.
Get Married!
Finally, make sure the real day is smooth, and get married with your loved one. And make sure to enjoy every minute of it.
This is just a basic wedding guideline to give you a basic idea of wedding planning. It may differ to everyone depending on the needs, budget and circumstances of each couple.