Congratulations you’re engaged and have started thinking about planning your wedding.
Let’s explore my 9 top tips for planning your special day together shall we?
Breathe! Relax!
And just enjoy the thrill of being engaged for a while. Bask in your loved up glow with no stress. There’s rarely a rush to marry ( and even then you can afford a little time out!
Decide On Your Budget
Probably the biggest conversation to be had at the outset. Mainly because your budget will help determine what kind of day you want. Don’t bankrupt yourself for one day. Your wedding day marks the start of your married life, so start it on the right foot and in the black rather than the red!
Take Time To Find Your Right Suppliers
Things to consider in doing so:
What are your priorities?
SUPPLIERS
Officiant
A wedding planner
Type of photographer
Videographer
Hair
MUA
Florist
Outfits
Shoes
Jewellery & accessories
Catering
Props
Décor & Stylists
Venue services
Travel
Toastmaster / MC
DJ
Band
Stationery
Cake maker
(Remember your whole dream wedding team can be totally made up of green and ethical suppliers.
check out the https://www.sustainableweddingalliance.com for details)
Your Ceremony Officiant
A celebrant led ceremony ( anytime any place, anywhere *remember currently these will not be legally binding…but, oh so much more fun!)
A religious ceremony
A registrar led ceremony (Register Office or your approved venue * You’ll need to have a basic registration of marriage at the Register Office before or after your celebrant led ceremony at your venue if you are set on a celebrant ceremony. )
Venue
Indoor or outdoor
Barn
Village Hall
Your own garden
Stately home
Beach
Woodland
Farm
Hotel
Historical Building
Anywhere else you can think of!!!
DIY Or As Much Help As You Can Get?
A massive decision as this will be a huge chunk of your budget. Some of the best weddings I’ve been a part of have been totally DIY’d and as a result have been really laid back with every detail totally controlled by the couple, including the décor, the cake and the catering. If you have a tighter budget this might be the style of wedding for you, although it might be a bit more work sourcing the team you want to work with…hopefully you’ve been stalking them all on social media for a while so will have an idea of your dream team already.
However, if you do have the funds and are able to let go of the reigns a bit, employing a wedding planner on top of the venue planner may well help with the stress levels. The professionals who do this day in and out will have a list of suppliers at their fingertips and be able to marry you up with the perfect crew that will make your wedding day rock.
Now What?
So, you have set your budget, decided on the style and feel of your day, found your dream venue, and have a list of suppliers to hand. What do you book first?
I’d recommend once you have decided on your date that you book your venue, and officiant.
After all without the officiant there is no ceremony, so we are really rather important!
All the other suppliers will slot into place ONCE the big 3 decisions have been made.
YOUR SUPPLIERS SHOULD BE WORKING WITH…
CONTRACTS
It doesn’t matter if they are family or friends, ENSURE that you have asked for, agreed to, and signed a contract because this protects both parties.
INSURANCE
Ask about insurance and ensure they have a minimum of PLI in place.
GDPR
Ask about GDPR data compliance, you’ll be surprised how many suppliers are quite blasé about how they process and store your personal data. Check out their privacy policy on their websites. (Do they even have one? By law we should all have this as a minimum on our websites. You’ll find a link at the bottom of my website and references to data protection on ALL of my paperwork.)
Ensure that your suppliers ethics align with yours, this will make for an excellent working relationship as you’ll be on the same wavelength from the outset.
Congratulations, Your Dream Team Are Locked In
Once you have your suppliers locked in, revert to no.1 on my top tip list… breathe and relax. Because you’ve got your dream team on board you can rely on them to get on with their jobs and you can get on with enjoying the build-up to your special day.
Have fun shopping around and if it all becomes a little too stressful, simply step back for a while, gather your thoughts and don’t sweat the small things.
Don’t get tied up worrying about things outside of your control, your wedding doesn’t have to be social media perfect, it just needs to be perfect for you!
Download this blog and make a check list of my 9 top tips for planning your special day, keep it handy and tick off everything as you go along. I hope you’ve found it useful!
If you’d like me to be your officiant and no.1 cheerleader, get in touch now. I still have some availability for this year and the books are now open for 2025.
For more information and ideas about how we can work together get in touch now
I can’t wait to work with you and create something funky and magical.
