Easy Wedding Planning First Steps

You’re engaged! Lucky you! First of all, congratulations, what an exciting step that you and your beloved have decided to take together. Your wedding is sure to be magnificent, and, if you are like most couples, I bet you cannot wait to start planning it.

But, where to begin?

If the post engagement high has worn off and the potential complexities of planning the event that some consider to be one of the most important days in their lives has you feeling fretful and frazzled, never fear! We are here to give you a few pointers on how to get the plans in place for your big day.

Here are the first two tips in our Easy Wedding Planning First Steps blog series.

Find an Affordable Wedding Venue

Depending on what kind of venue you are looking for and where you are planning on having your wedding some venues can be booked solid years in advance. Yikes! But, don’t despair, if you don’t have an extremely specific wedding venue in mind and are open to shopping around you are sure to find one that you love with an opening around the time that you would like to have your wedding.

Things to consider:

Do you want to have your wedding outside? Are you looking for something rustic, vintage, elegant, etc.? How many guests does the venue need to hold? Do you want to have your ceremony and reception at the same location? Answering questions such as these with your betrothed will help you narrow down what kind of venue will be perfect for you.

Start your search by looking up wedding venues in your chosen area and making a list of the ones that pique your interest. Next, call the venues and inquire about a few things, or find the answers on their website or in a wedding venue brochure; price, dates available, whether they allow outside caterers, allowable guest limits, etc. Try to narrow your list down to the best candidates that will meet your needs and schedule a visit to the venue.

Bonus tip: If you are looking for a truly lovely rustic, vintage wedding and reception venue, Spring Lake Events is an excellent choice for your wedding.

Set a Budget

I know that budgets aren’t sexy, but they will save you a load of hassle, arguments, and regret not so far down the line in the future. Meet with your partner and anyone else that may be helping you foot the bill for the wedding and reception and take an honest look at the finances that are available and set some numbers on paper.

Things to consider:

Decide at the outset what are the most important aspects of the wedding and reception for you. Have you always dreamed of the princess cut, hand-beaded, wedding dress handmade for you by Vera Wang herself ever since you were a little girl? Maybe this is an area where you want to budget more money, and look for where you can trim. Perhaps you want to splurge on phenomenal photographer since the photos will be the mementos that you will get to keep for the rest of your days and share with family and friends.

Bonus tips: Decorations and food are two areas that you can DIY pretty easily if you are looking for where you can easily trim the fat. In fact, we have a great collection of blogs that can help you with some decoration inspiration.

Rally friends and family to help you if you can. If you have a friend who is a wiz at baking who would love to make you a wedding cake in the place of a gift, ask her! Maybe your Uncle Ralph is an amateur DJ who wants to show off his turntable skills while your guests dance the night away. Another possibility is that friends or family may have wedding items that you can have or borrow such as decorations, chairs, serving platters, dresses, cool vintage jewelry to decorate with, vases, and so on. Incorporating such items will not only cut down on the amount of money you need to shell out, but will also add a touch of intimacy and familial love to your big day.

These two tips will get you started on planning the wedding and reception of your dreams. Stay tuned for additional steps in our Easy Wedding Planning First Steps blog series.