How to Start Planning Your Dream Wedding

Congratulations! The day came, the big question was asked and you said YES! You are officially engaged. I hope you’ve taken the time to bask in this feeling. Enjoy every moment of holding that title of being a fiancé and flashing your ring every chance you get. Now that you are officially a fiancé, it’s time to start thinking about the big day. Some of us have been dreaming about and planning our wedding day since we were little, myself included. But now that you're engaged, where do you start? Planning a wedding is no easy task, and the reality is that it can be overwhelming and daunting at times. We’ve wanted to share with you a starting point, there are many, many parts to a wedding that aren’t included in this blog post. But this is at least a starting point and can help you get your feet under you while you plan one of the biggest days of your life.

Set A Date

Start by setting a date. Setting the date first is beneficial in a few ways. Firstly it gives you a timeline to work with. Once you plan when the big day will happen you know exactly how long you have to plan it and work out all the details. Secondly, it’s an easy task to check off, especially if you already have a date in mind. Picking a date is truly up to the engaged couple, there is no wrong answer. Once you have the date picked you’ve already started your planning, wasn’t that easy?

Set a Budget

Before you start planning out all the details, it's so important to set a budget for your big day. Having your budget planned out in advance is going to help you along the road of planning. You’ll often hear that sticking to a budget is a trying task for couples in the wedding planning process. Figuring out the financial aspect of your big day is going to help you figure out where there is, and isn’t, wiggle room for expenses. Planning out a budget is helpful, but keep in mind there will likely be last-minute expenses that you’ve decided you absolutely need to have to make your big day special. Planning out your budget is going to have a lot of factors, such as who is funding the big day, and also the style and type of wedding you want to have, which takes us to our next step.

Create a Mood Board

Try to create a mood board for your big day early on. Do your research and figure out a style that is going to be a compliment your partners and your style. You get to have a lot of fun and be creative with planning out how you want everything to look. Creating a cohesive theme for your big day helps with knowing what you want later on when it comes to booking rentals and vendors. Your ideas and wants are likely to change throughout the duration of planning your wedding, give yourself and your mood board some fluidity to work with and incorporate different ideas.

Connect With a Wedding Planner

Besides being there often to save the day and manage any crisis that could arise on your big day, wedding planners are a wealth of information. Having a wedding planner on your side while planning your wedding can be a huge relief of stress. Wedding planners have connections with many industry vendors. This can be incredibly helpful when trying to find the right ones for your wedding. Not only do they have connections within the industry, but they will organize it all for you. Sounds like a dream right? You can even reach out to a wedding planner with inquiries and they will often help you on the right track. If you want to read more about why you should consider hiring a wedding planner, you can read our 5 Reasons To Hire A Wedding Planner.

While there are many many more steps to follow for planning your big day, these steps and tips will help you at least start the process and have ideas flowing. We are constantly working to share more ideas and help you along your way with all aspects of a wedding. Check out more of our blog posts for helpful ideas and tips!

-J