Hooray and congratulations! You’re engaged to the man of your dreams with the ring of your dreams, and I know you couldn’t be happier. But as the shock of the whole idea wears off, a lot of events are about to start happening, and you’ll have a lot to plan for. So without any further delay, here are the first six must-dos to start the wedding planning process.
1. Know the Budget
Before the talk of wedding dates or venues, you first need to set a budget. Without a budget, you’ll have no basis for which season or day you can get married in, or the location of all the festivities. Think about it, do you want to get married in a $10,000 venue in the mountains but only have enough money left to cover a $500 photographer and a $750 DJ? We didn’t think so! So before anything, sit down with your fiancé and decide on a budget.
Afraid you’ll miss something in the budget? Check out these 15 wedding expenses almost everybody forgets about.
2. Research the Date
So after setting the budget, the next thing you’ll have to do is pick the date! Before you can contact the venue or any other vendors, you have to be able to tell them the date you’re wanting to book. Now, be sure to research the date you pick to make sure no other big event is occurring during that time. Remember when the Pope visited this September? Everywhere in DC or Philadelphia was shut completely down. There were no hotels, no transportation options, no anything! So for people wanting to get married that day, well, it was a complete blackout. Although you can’t always plan your big day around papal visits, be sure to do some research so you’re not sharing your big moment with someone else.
3. Draft Your Guest List
You just have to know (and so do the venue and vendors) how many people are coming to your wedding. Before selecting the site, you need to make sure you have a general idea of how many people you’ll be inviting. Keep in mind as you plan out your list, the higher the number of guests, the higher your budget will need to be.
4. High Priority Vendors
After you have the guest list and budget figured out, it’s now time to book the vendors. Oftentimes, great venues and photographers book up at least a year in advance, so you’ll want to get to that as soon as possible. When we say high priority, we mean vendors who you absolutely love and have to have on your big day.
5. Choose Your Bridal Party
So your honey popped the question to you, now it’s your turn. Think to ask your bridesmaids and groomsmen to join your bridal party. Keep in mind though, you’ll want to ask them sooner rather than later. They are agreeing to help you on your big day, as well as fork over a good chunk of change to be a part of it. So make sure you show them a good time and how much you appreciate them by asking them to be a part of your bridal party in a cute way.
6. Dress Shopping
A lot of women want to wait a few months, slim down, tone their arms, grow their hair, etc. before they start shopping for their dress. Unfortunately, as wedding dresses are beginning to get more and more elaborate, you need to say yes to the dress as soon as possible. And before you walk into a dress salon, we advise that you read up on the dress lingo, know your estimated size, and be willing to try on various styles and designs.
Congrats again, newly engaged! We hope you have fun planning, designing, and dreaming about your wedding day. But remember, the big day is all about you and your significant other so whatever you decide and plan will be perfect. Cheers to the start of a new life and planning adventures!
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