Wedding planning advice

How to get started

Planning a wedding is a huge task, much bigger then most of us will have attempted before, so I thought we should kick off the new year with some helpful advice.

I have gathered advice and tips from a selection of experienced and knowledgeable people. Firstly we have a wonderful wedding planner called Vikki, she has given me some wonderful advice on how couples should start the wedding planning process.

Wedding planning advice from a wedding planner – Your Wedding Friend

“For a smoother planning process you need to have discussions between you early on about what the two of you want for your wedding. Set YOUR priorities before anyone else can start telling you theirs, and they will. So, long as the two of you agree on what you want, you can fend off other peoples opinion on what you should do.

Figure out your starting budget before you go looking at venues, unless you have a pretty substantial budget to begin with, looking at things you can’t afford will only cause you grief. And the venue will likely be your biggest expense, so if you fall in love with a gorgeous but expensive venue, unless you can think of other ways to find the money, you’re really better off staying away.

In all the excitement it can be tempting to make offers you later regret or agree to things you wish you hadn’t. Give yourself time. Don’t make any decisions in haste – even when it feels like you’re turning down the bargain of a lifetime, because great deals come around all the time and you deserve the time to make a proper decision based on your plan. NB you can ask people to make a provisional reservation for you but you must stay in touch with them and follow up with a yay or nay.”

Advice from recently married couples

I have also been in touch with some of my lovely couples who got married last year and they have offered some wonderful advice too. These lovely lot have got some great tips and tricks to help you avoid making any mistakes along the way so you can enjoy every minute of planning your wedding.

Emma & Ryan

” I found it useful to get the big things sorted upfront. After sorting the venue, booking your DJ/music and caterers and even florist. Some of these already had very full calendars, so to get them booked early will save any disappointment.

I found using ‘the knot’ app super helpful! It has a running checklist of everything and a rough timeline of when things should be done. There were so many things on there that I hadn’t even thought of, so it gave me a place to check everything off as i went.”

Nicole & Steve

” It’s never too early to start. Start now, like right now! Go with whatever will make you smile on the day! If you want a donut tower instead of a cake but your mum thinks that’s not ‘weddingy’ enough then get your damn donut tower ordered!! Also, as stressful as it is, try and enjoy the process. It takes up soooooo much of your time so learn to love it!

Also, document it! Videos and photos, it’s great to look back on! Don’t feel like you have to conform to ANY tradition! Do whatever you want! Wear orange shoes! Don’t have a 3 course sit down meal! Invent games (hook a duck) where prizes are won! Don’t have formal boring photos.. have fun with the bridal party! Those photos are way more epic and you’ll want them on your wall! ”

(They definitely did what they wanted and got some amazing images because of it!!)

Aurora & Nick

“Start with the budget. Make sure you plan within your means. Knowing what you can spend before you start planning is key to staying within your budget. Discuss up front what you want so you can quickly figure out if it’s realistic. Adjust expectations where necessary.

Put money into a good photographer. You’ll have the photos for a lifetime, it won’t matter how big the flower arrangements were. Make sure you get on with the photographer (you’ll see them more than most of the guests). ”

This is so true.

Beautifully staged wedding signage

Erin & Tom

Erin – ” Don’t worry too much about what people think.  The day is about you and not about them.  No one will notice if the little touches aren’t exactly as you planned, in fact they’ll never even know.  Don’t try and compare yourself to others too much, or feel unnecessary pressure to have some sort of idealized day.  At the end of the day as long as everyone has a seat, some food, and some drink, they’ll be happy.  Think of the rest of the details as things for yourself and just bonuses for everyone else ”

Tom – “Save money and calculate a budget in advance, and be smart about where you spend your money so that you don’t have to compromise on anything that’s important to you.  In our package from the hotel a lot of things were taken care of already (food, drink, disco, decorations) so it saved us lots of time in organisation and also meant that we knew what budget we had for fun additions and top suppliers.  Also, choose a suit for the Grooms party that is in a shop that’s easy to try on locally, especially if you don’t all live closely together, so that you can easily find the right sizes and styles ”

Charlie & Harry

“I would say to try and plan the major things with just you and your partner (i.e.: venue, music, food). And then absolutely delegate to friends and family to help out with the details. I don’t think we delegated enough, I think we felt guilty that we were putting on people! But actually, it turned out our friends and family wanted to help.

Try and plan the major parts early on, the smaller details will just fall in to place. I remember thinking ‘oh my god, how do we plan a wedding’, we had no idea. But it really does just seem to work out.”

Are you planing your big day and still looking for your perfect wedding photographer? I would love to hear from you and all about your plans, get in touch and lets chat.

Happy wedding planning! x