Wedding Planning: What Can Wait
You are engaged! Congratulations! I bet that you are super excited about planning your big day, who wouldn’t be? I am sure that you know that there are tons of details that go into planning the celebration of your nuptials, both big and small. With so many details demanding your attention, it can be difficult to decide where to start!
In our previous series, Wedding Planning: First Steps, we give you tips on some sound first steps to take when planning your wedding. In this article we will discuss what wedding planning details can wait for a bit to give you time to pay attention to more pressing issues at hand.
Easy Wedding Planning Tips
Here is a list of five things that don’t have to be the first priorities on your wedding planning list, or even on your list at all if you are looking for ways to simplify your wedding.
Choosing a bridal party
This is an area where there can be a lot of pressure placed on your by friends and family to choose quickly (and choose them!). But, in reality, this is not a decision that needs to be made right away, and it will benefit you to take some time and ponder this instead of just saying “Yes” to the first people who beg you for the jobs, or by honoring that promise you made in second grade.
Deciding on wedding decorations, favors, flowers, etc.
These are all among the smaller details that will come together a bit later in the planning process. If you want to put first things first, it will benefit you and your fiancée if you decide on a theme or a color palette first before trying to make decisions on smaller details such as these. Deciding on a theme will help you narrow your focus when you are looking at decorating and it will make it easier and less time consuming than starting there.
Also, doing this after you have chosen a venue for your wedding and reception is helpful, too. Sometimes a venue lends itself to a certain type of decorations, or will look it’s best when decorated in a certain way. Some venues may even provide some items for decorating for free to you to use for your event, which will cut down on your out of pocket expenses and save you having to buy things and store them and then figure out what you are going to do with them afterward.
Spring Lake Events, for example, specialized in rustic, vintage inspired weddings and has an entire room full of beautiful rustic, vintage decorations that you can use to make the wedding and reception of your dreams.
Invitations
Invitations, like decorations, favors, flowers, etc, will most likely fall into the theme and color palette that you choose. Additionally, invitations are one of the places where you can trim from the budget and still have quality. So, if you hold off on ordering those pricier invitations until closer to when you need to send them out, you will be able to swap them out for a less expensive option or even go electronic if you find that you went over budget in another category.
Wedding website
This is one of those things that has really taken off in recent years, and honestly, we aren’t totally sure why. It can be kind of cool to do so that people have a place to look at details, share pictures, and message you, sure…but it also may be an extra stressor that you don’t really need. If this is the type of thing that really excites you, then go for it. If it sounds like it is one more thing to do on a to-do list so long it is giving you a migraine, just skip it. We promise not to tell anyone if you do.
Wedding vows, reception readings, musical selections, etc.
These are the kinds of things that have a tendency to come together during the course of planning your wedding. You will be spending a lot of time with your fiancée, planning your future, talking over details of your new life together and planning a huge event (your wedding). So, during the course of all of this beautiful lovey-dovey time you will remember and be able to put into words just why your intended is so perfect for you and I bet that your vows will practically write themselves (if you are writing your own). And if you don’t have a song that is “your song” you will find one when you are laughing at the cake testing or something.
The point of this list is, don’t stress. Details have a way of coming together. So stay focused on the big(ger!) picture: you and your love are going to be married and start the rest of your lives together.
Everything else is just details. Happy planning!