Need To Know Wedding Planning Tips
A lot goes into a wedding, which makes for an involved and potentially complex planning process. In this complete guide of wedding planning must-haves and tips, we'll teach you how to start planning a wedding as smoothly as possible, so you and your partner feel confident from the start.
Communicate Openly
When planning your wedding, open communication with your partner is crucial. To ensure the two of you are working as a team throughout the entire process, here are three ways to communicate effectively with your fiance:
Make time for conversation. Wedding planning can be time-consuming, but it's important to regularly set aside moments to talk and spend time with each other. You'll also want to make time for conversation unrelated to the wedding.
Listen to each others' wants and needs. Find out what you both want regarding your wedding and try to honor both individuals' wishes, even if this requires making compromises. It's important to be honest with each other — this is key to open communication.
Stay calm. Wedding planning can be stressful at times, but the two of you must try to stay relaxed — it will make the process much easier. If you run into any issues, work through them together as calmly as possible.
Determine Your Budget
While figuring out expenses likely won't be the first thing you'll want to do when planning your wedding, it's essential to start determining your budget as soon as possible.
However, before you start creating a list of expenses, pricing venues and researching caterers, you'll first want to establish who will be contributing to the wedding. You need to determine whether it will just be you and your fiance covering these costs or if any other family members wish to chip in. If so, you'll need to figure out how much they'll be contributing.
Once that's settled, you can start planning the overall budget for your wedding and how much you can comfortably afford to spend, factoring in other significant life expenses. After you take care of this, you can start making a detailed list of wedding expenses. This list will likely include the following things, as well as others:
Venue
Florist
Caterer
Photographer and videographer
Wedding dress
Wedding cake
Music
It's also important to determine things you'll truly need, as well as unnecessary expenses you can eliminate to save money. For example, you may find pricey flowers, a professional makeup artist and intricate party favors unnecessary. On the other hand, maybe there's a particular venue, photographer or band you've got your eye on, so you might prioritize these first.
Work through these expenses with your fiance and determine the essentials together. Knowing your expected guest count can also aid you in planning for these expenses.
Think About When You'd Like to Get Married
You and your fiance should also determine when you'd like to have your wedding. While there's no rush to set a date right away, you should at least start brainstorming potential dates as soon as possible. Popular venues can begin to book up years in advance.
When determining a specific time of year, here are some things to consider when planning a wedding:
The Season and Month
Is there a particular season you'd like to get married in? Perhaps a summer wedding with sunshine and warm temperatures sounds the most appealing. On the other hand, an autumn wedding might better suit your preferences, as it provides a gorgeous colorful backdrop for photos. Determining what season you'll be getting married in can help you narrow down a specific month from which you can pick an exact date.
Important Dates
When planning a time of year for your wedding, specific dates may be significant to you and your partner. For example, maybe you'd like to get married on the day you two met or started dating.
You may also need to block off certain dates — perhaps your friends have an upcoming wedding you'll be attending, or you'd like to avoid getting married on a major holiday. Consider these significant dates when figuring out when you'd like to have your wedding.
The Venue
If you've already selected a venue, this can also largely determine the time of year for your wedding. Depending on how high-demand the location is, it may only be available on select dates. Additionally, if you've picked an outdoor location, you'll want to select a season that allows for good weather. Remember to fully account for your venue when planning a date for your wedding.
Find Your Wedding Style
When organizing your ceremony, you'll want to determine your desired style. Here are a few examples:
Classic: A classic wedding style doesn't necessarily follow new and bold trends, but that's what makes it special. It involves delicate, timeless details that never go out of style — soft color palettes, feminine roses and peonies, a traditional but grand wedding cake and a beautiful church or garden ceremony.
Glamorous: If your taste is more lavish and extravagant, you may be drawn toward a glamorous wedding style. Glittering decorations, metallic color schemes and a luxurious ballroom or country club setting typically classify a glam wedding.
Rustic: A rustic-style wedding often involves natural, organic details such as a forest backdrop, earthy tones and a wooden barn venue. If you and your partner love the outdoors, you may be interested in a rustic wedding.
Modern: Modern wedding styles are typically categorized by more urban details — monochromatic color palettes, unique floral arrangements and a contemporary venue such as a hotel, museum or terrace.
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Regarding things to think about for a wedding, many factors can lead to stress — whether it's encountering an issue with your venue and having to book a new one, ensuring you have enough food for all your guests or simply trying to balance life, work and bills on top of wedding planning. Thankfully, there are ways to help reduce wedding planning stress:
Take regular breaks from wedding planning.
Only prioritize the essentials.
Create a wedding planning checklist to stay organized.
Constantly communicate with your partner.
Contact Brighter Lights for Wedding Videography
We hope this complete weddings for dummies guide has helped teach you everything you need to know about planning your wedding. As you move further into this process, you'll want to hire a videographer to capture every detail of your special day. This way, you can look back fondly on these memories with professional video footage.
At Brighter Lights, we provide high-quality wedding videography services for clients all over the world. Your wedding could be next! Reach out to us today.
