One of the easiest ways to categorise wedding planning is to think of it from the perspective of ‘What to do’ and ‘what not to do’. Therefore, we have put together a list of some of the key areas/scenarios to consider when planning a wedding.
It is important to also clarify that the majority of these tips are only personal opinions based on our years of experience in the industry!
Pro tip #1: Hire a Wedding Planner If Your Budget Allows
I could go through various reasons why having a planner is a tried and tested way to ensure your event goes off without a hitch. The benefit of having a wedding planner can be summarised into one phrase,’No-stress-zone’.
A good wedding planner endeavours to take on majority of the workload. Whether that be sourcing suppliers, negotiating contracts, monitoring your budget or offering comfort and guidance where applicable. As a result, you don’t feel the sometimes overwhelming feelings wedding planning can cause (so far as you trust them)! They also focus on all the tiny details overlooked by most. From the angle of cutlery to the texture and ratio of the florals and much more.
Pro tip #2: Have An Overall Wedding Budget
Ah yes! Budgeting is a topic that will always be touched upon when it comes to wedding planning. It is inevitable! A Lot of couples tend to underestimate how costly wedding planning can be. Therefore what tends to happen is that halfway through the planning process, you find that you’ve exceeded your budget because you grossly underestimated the costs. Conduct extensive research before you decide on a wedding budget, have a ‘must-haves’ versus ‘nice to have’ list to map out what is important to you both and very essential for your celebration.
Also, be realistic with your budget and hold yourself accountable by asking yourself, ‘Have we saved enough?’, ‘What about the mortgage, school fees etc ?’ (This is another area where your planner would be able to advice you on how to make the most of your budget).
Although the goal is not to exhaust your wedding budget, try incorporating memorable elements such as fun and interactive entertainment so that the memories made on the day far outweighs the money spent.
Lastly, consider setting aside an emergency wedding fund for any last minute additions to your wedding. You do not want to be thrown a curveball a few days before your wedding or God-forbid, your actual wedding day. Its better to be safe than sorry.
Pro tip #3: Make Sure you Schedule Enough Time For Pictures
This tip for the most part is self explanatory. Going off of general costs as at the time this blog was posted, you might have paid a lot of money for your Videography and Photography. It is essential that you give them time to capture your day! What tends to happen is that couples would prioritise the time allocated for beauty prep and then try to rush the film crew ( 20 minutes is not enough people!).
It is important to remember when scheduling time for your portraits that your pictures and videos would make up a significant portion of your memories from the day.These would be the only things you’d be able to reminisce on in the years that follow. You don’t want to have a look at your videos or photo album and be disappointed that many key moments were missed or that your outfit changes were not captured!
Also, make sure to plan your schedule taking into account the time of season.If you’re having your wedding in the fall or winter months, you have to consider how to maximise the daylight hours. This would also affect the amount of pictures you have after the day!
Pro tip #4: Give Yourself Enough Time To Plan The Wedding
A rising trend is to start wedding planning 4 months to your ideal wedding date. This is a great way to get things done if you’re not one of those couples that love to spread out their wedding into multiple parts. However, what many might not realise about starting the wedding planning process so close to the wedding date is that this choice may severely limit the options of vendors. Also this choice limits the time to actually think about whether you really want a vendor or not.
Essentially, it is very important to give yourself enough breathing room to source your vendors. This makes it easier to make comparisons, think about choices and also change your mind if need be!
Pro tip #5: Enjoy Your Day!
For the 12-13 hours of your wedding day, you both are the heart of the event! Your guests have come from far and wide to celebrate with you. However, what some couples overlook is the power they have to be mood makers. Your demeanour on the day has a direct impact on the overall atmosphere of your celebration. Believe it or not but, you dictate how everyone acts around you! They can sense if you’re happy or if you’re tense. If you’re dancing, smiling and having the best time of your life your guests notice and join in. Conversely, if your mood is spoilt and your frowning all through the day, your guest would notice that too and would walk on egg shells.
To clarify, we appreciate that wedding days are very volatile. It is completely natural that you would want a moment to be upset about one or two things. However, you’ve spent so much time, effort and money planning this day. It goes by quickly. Please keep that in mind and make sure your mindset leading up to the day and also on the day is ‘No matter what happens, I am going to have the best time of my life today!’ This makes all the difference.
Next steps
If you are dreaming of planning a wedding, we would be delighted to hear from you. We have planned several weddings at various stunning venues before (previous weddings we planned ). You can get in touch with us by filling out the inquiry form on our Contact Page.
