9 easy to follow steps to start planning your dream wedding
This is my first blog post ever and I’m so excited! I want this blog to be helpful and inspiring for brides and grooms to be (yes! grooms too!) to plan their perfect wedding. As this post is the first step for me I thought it would be a good idea for it to be about the first steps towards your dream wedding after you get engaged.
Most importantly, congratulations!! And after the celebration and the hours of staring at the new piece of jewelry placed on your finger… What to do now?!
First of all, relax and enjoy the moment. You have an amazing journey ahead! If you follow the next tips and steps, I guarantee you, you’ll start the planning with the right foot.
CONGRATULATIONS!! You got engaged! What to do next?!
Don’t rush to announce it because the questions will start and won’t let you think clearly. Take your time, continue with the steps and don’t say anything (not more than family at least) until you have number 7 covered.
Your timeline. You know getting engaged doesn’t mean you have to get married straight away. There are couples that want to get married as soon as possible, others that take one year for the planning and others that postpone it for two years or more. What is your case?
Time for you to imagine. What is it that you’ve always dreamt of? Do you want a big or small wedding? Do you want it to be at the beach, or in a country house, or in a luxurious city hotel? Do you want a traditional or a different wedding? Religious or civil? And only once you have your big picture, will be the time to move forward to 4 and 5.
What time of the year? Depending on what type of wedding you are dreaming of, there will be more suitable seasons for it. If you want it to be at the beach, probably April and May are the best months, as it is warm enough and beaches are not busy yet, so, there will be more options to find the perfect and unique place. If you where imagining a wedding with snow… that’s clear! It has to be in winter! So, think about it and have a season and an approx. date in mind. The final date will be probably determined by the venue.
And the season links to the “where”. Here you should decide if you want to get married near your hometown, or you’d rather have a destination wedding, or maybe you are thinking of a country house where even some guests can stay. There are endless options geographically speaking! You have to narrow them!
After having the big picture of your dream wedding, you’ll have to start to put your feet on earth and get real… No one likes to talk about numbers, but it is definitely an important part of the wedding planning: the budget. Have a talk with your partner and with the parties that will take care of part of the costs of the wedding and set a budget. It is really important to do that, because in a wedding you can always add more things and having a number in your mind will help to have the spending under control.
Once you know how much you are willing to spend, you will have an idea of how many people and who you can/want invite to the wedding. There is no rule for this because there are venues and vendors for all budgets, but if your budget is 2,000 euros, you won’t be able to have a 200 guest wedding. However, you can have a beautiful elopement in an amazing scenery. On the other hand, if you really want a big wedding but you see that your budget is not big enough, this will be the time to re-think the previous steps. Maybe find other ways of financing it or postpone it for a little bit.
I would say the venue is the most important decision of wedding planning. You’ll need to find a venue that matches with your wedding style and can gather all your guests. So take your time here. Don’t rush. Once the downpayment is done, there is nothing you can do about it.
And hiring the catering (in case it’s separate from the venue) is the last thing to cover the basics. It is important to make sure the catering makes the type of food you have in mind and also that they can serve to the amount of guests you have. You don’t want to find out too late that they don’t have the equipment/staff to serve 200 diners, right?
This will not be the end of planning (of course!), but you’ll have the most important part. After these first 9 steps you can take a deep breath and continue with the add-ons like photography and videography, music, DJ, favors, decoration, activities, surprises, wedding dress, flowers, rings, invitations, hairdresser, makeup… So, there is still a lot to do! Don’t worry, in the following weeks we will be giving you tips and ideas that will cover everything.
For now, follow us on social media and enjoy the planning!
xxx
