Congratulations!! You’re engaged and planning your wedding day. This is one of the most important days of your life and you want to get it right.
Let me show you ‘how to plan our wedding’ by sharing some easy tips to get you started and to make sure your wedding planning is enjoyable and fun.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure where to start is only natural as you’ve never organised a wedding before.
Read and follow my ‘how plan our wedding day’ to make sure that your special day reflects you and your partner’s dreams and wishes.
Deciding on priorities
You only get one chance to do it right so take your time in the early stages and don’t rush into your decisions. Make a list of your priorities, starting with your budget. Be realistic and decide how much you are willing and able to spend and then stick to it!
Doing your research
You’ve probably already started having fun doing wedding research online and there are many different places to look. Instagram is a great place to find all kinds of wedding suppliers and inspiration. It’s a very visual platform and easy to navigate and save images to your Collections. You can have Collections for Dress, Venue, Flowers, Ceremony etc to keep track of the images you like and the suppliers that appeal to you.
Pinterest is fun as you can create your own personal Wedding Inspiration Mood Boards so that everything you like is all in one place. You can have as many different Mood Boards as you want. Don’t overthink it. Just go with your ‘gut’ feelings. Pin everything that attracts you onto your Mood Boards so you’ll have all the information you need in one place which certainly makes it easy. It’s an enjoyable way of finding images that you like.
You’ll find lots of inspiration for your Wedding on my Pinterest Page
There are also many Wedding Blog Sites with photos of real weddings for style inspiration and informative articles that are very useful in the early stages of your planning.
Identify what attracts you
Before too long you’ll start to get an idea of what type of images and feelings are pulling you in. You’ll probably be getting a kind of theme happening naturally. Then you can see the overall look of your boards.
Are you drawn to relaxed boho styling and 70’s fashion influences?   Maybe fun images in laid back venues like tipis, country barns or outdoor settings are calling out to you.
Or are they high end, beautifully styled images with elegant ‘designer’ wedding dresses and formal groom wear. Beautiful Church weddings or traditional manor houses and stately homes elegantly styled. Follow your heart and your budget.
In total contrast scenic elopement images in forest clearings, woods, lakes, beaches might be calling out to you. Â Attracting you with their feeling of adventure, romance and fun and intimacy.
If you have lots of mood boards, you can then narrow down your search by going through them again and seeing which style of wedding you’re naturally drawn to. Don’t forget to include your partner when you plan your wedding and don’t be influenced by what friends and family say you should do.
Finding your own style
You may find that your images are somewhere in-between with a combination of fun and tradition. Informal friendly vibes and ‘designer’ wedding dresses for example.  Converted barns or repurposed farm buildings with an informal, relaxed but upmarket feel.
Urban Industrial and retro styling is also gaining popularity for large town or city dwellers and this could be your thing. Style and tastes are so individual. There is no right or wrong! It’s your day and it’s what you and your partner want that’s important. Just follow your heart and you can’t go wrong.
How to plan our Wedding: make a list
Make a list of the ‘must haves’ the things you really can’t compromise on, and a second list of would ‘like to haves’ that are negotiable. Your lists might change as you progress through your wedding planning process, and that’s fine. Because you research your ideas, very often priorities will change and that’s ok. One thing that you should stick to is your budget.
Don’t commit to spending more than you can realistically afford. Â As important as your wedding day is, it’s not worth getting into debt for and causing hardship and possible disagreements with your partner.
Every couple is unique and what’s important to one couple will be different to another. What would you say is the most important part of your Wedding Day? Make a list of what’s important to you and put them in order with the MOST IMPORTANT at the top.
 What is important to you:
- Having all your friends and family gathered around you.
- Having a Secret Elopement Ceremony just for the two of you in a stunning location.
- The opportunity to look your absolute best for one day with a beautiful dress, hair and make-up.
- Being the focus of everyone’s attention for the day.
- Having a Wedding Planner to take away the stress.
- Having 5 Bridesmaids and 5 Groomsmen (or however many you want).
- Making your commitment of love with a Personalised Wedding Ceremony.
- Having lots of beautiful flowers and a professionally styled wedding venue.
- Being able to write your Wedding Vows in YOUR OWN WORDS.
- Having a beautiful Outdoor Wedding Ceremony in nature.
- Having all of your friends and family there.
- Including some of your special friends/family members in your Ceremony.
- Having a Secret Elopement.
How to research your venue and suppliers
Once you have a good idea of the Style of your Wedding Day and the type of Ceremony that you want, you can start to research particular venues and suppliers.
You can go back to Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Wedding Directories, and Wedding Fayres as they’re all great places to home in on your ideal venues and suppliers.
Social Media gives you the opportunity to see lots of suppliers and venues from the comfort of your armchair and plan your wedding with minimum effort. You can research many suppliers in a short space of time, which is great if you’re a busy person.
When you have a list of suppliers and venues that offer the style and substance that you’re looking for you can also look at their websites to find out more information and you may even find that one supplier may recommend another.  It’s always good to know a supplier is trusted by others.
Wedding Fayres can be a fun way to see lots of different suppliers in the local area. You’ll get a chance to see first-hand what they’re offering and to chat with them and get a feel for whether you connect with them.
Contact your shortlisted suppliers
At this stage of planning your wedding you need to make a shortlist of venues and suppliers and visit them, or at the least get on a face-to-face video call with them (this is the most common way these days for suppliers). By now you’ll be getting very excited, as you get a feel for those suppliers and venues who you’d like to work with, and check their availability on your chosen date. Now you’re ready to make your final decisions.
Please give yourself plenty of time for the researching and planning process, so that it will be a lovely enjoyable process for both of you. The planning is all part of your wedding experience and choosing what feels right for you should be exciting and fun.
Finally, don’t forget that it’s YOUR DAY and you don’t need to have anyone else’s permission to do it YOUR OWN WAY.
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