Congratulations on the happy news! (We are so happy for you!) You are about to get married and you can’t wait to CELEBRATE this special moment with your loved ones.
We know every bride wants to make everything look perfect which can get a little overwhelming. If you’re thinking about How to start planning your wedding? and What’s the best time?, then keep on reading because The Wedding Hat has prepared a list to help you go through your wedding plans step by step…
Get The Wedding Planning Mood Activated
Wedding planning can be one of the most exciting times in your life! It’s the beginning of a new chapter with your partner. By taking the right steps early on, you can make the planning process fun and build out the perfect Journey wedding that you’re envisioning.
Know the perfect answer for How to start planning your wedding!
1. Choose Your Happily Ever After Date
When it comes to how to start planning your wedding , we always say do it your way, but when it comes to choosing your wedding date you may need some more flexibility because it depends on so many things. Here are some things you should also keep in mind when picking your wedding date:
● Season: First question to ask yourself is – Am I winter person who prefers glamorous indoor venues or a summer person that enjoys outdoor venues like a beach, pool or garden? Or maybe something in the middle in Fall or Autumn to avoid the peak season.
● Close guests: Now that you’ve decided the season, it’s time to check the overall availability of your guests, especially your closest friends and family, so make sure to clear the date with them before booking the venue. We recommend checking a few dates with them ahead of discussing with the venue so you can go ahead and book right away if there is a lot of demand – and we know how prized great venues are!
● Venue availability: When you find your dream event space you will need to check which of the shortlisted dates the venue is available to book your date.
● Honeymoon: Lastly, if you want to leave for your honeymoon right after your wedding, make sure that the weather at the destination is what you’re expecting.
Now that your date is set, it’s time to start your wedding planning journey and start making some key decisions!
2. Stay with IN not OUT of budget
One of the most critical aspects of wedding planning is setting a budget and sticking to it. We all struggle to stay within our budget while planning our wedding. Most brides don’t have an idea of what budget to allocate where!
So, we created our smart digital Budgeter tool which helps you take control of your spending, by keeping track of what needs to be allocated to each part of the wedding. It’s also a great way to stay on top of all your spending to make sure you won’t cause yourself any financial stress along the road. This will be an ongoing responsibility and you should keep an eye on your Budgeter tool every single step leading up to your big day. But how can you pick and organize your spending?
3. Set your wedding priorities
When you start planning your wedding, it’s easy to become flooded with all these ideas and simply get lost along the way with every little detail in your wedding planning journey. That’s why you need to set your priorities to spend time on items which matters the most to you. Start by writing down a list of what you want and rank them from most to least important for your wedding day. Is your priority an amazing wedding venue or the wedding dress that gives you the feeling of the fairytale princess you have always dreamed of or maybe you want to focus on making sure your guests are having the time of their lives while celebrating this special moment with you? Once you recognize your priorities, it will be easy to organize your tasks and set dates on your checklist to ensure a smooth and efficient planning experience.
4. Explore your favorites and get inspired
Do you have a theme in mind for your wedding and need a little inspiration to put everything together? Or maybe you still don’t know what you want to do exactly! Don’t stress, this is the exciting step in your wedding planning journey! Now it’s time to have some fun and get creative in putting together everything you want to see at your wedding. We have a few resources for inspiration from bridal styles to wedding decorations to help you with your planning. Bookmark your favorites and find them in a single place with our Dream board tool to help bring your vision to life!
5. Decide Your Wedding Theme
Rustic, white wedding classic or pinkish …Your wedding theme is a true reflection of you! After going through countless images, you will get inspired and start putting together your own vision. Make a choice that represents your taste and character. It’s also important to include your partner to come up with the best options that satisfies the both of you. Once you have decided on a general theme for your wedding, you can move forward to deciding on a few other things for example, food, music, decorations, bridesmaids’ dresses. All these will factor into the theme and color scheme you have chosen. (On a side note: A favorite TV classic can help you in this step!)
Are you a Monica bride or a Phoebe bride?
Perfectionism Vs simplicity?
6. Know Your Options And Find The Best One For You
After creating your priority list its time to decide on the wedding vendors you want to hire. You should optimize your budget to cover all the wedding aspects in your list. Remember that your vendors are the experts who will bring your wedding vision to reality but with so many different options available, it can be difficult to decide who to choose. Go through our vendor listing and read through customer reviews – it is always best to cross-reference with real couple reviews online. Look at the work these vendors have done for other couples on their storefront. You should also keep these points into consideration:
- Firstly, pick high priority vendors such as venues, decorations, and wedding dress shops. The earlier you make your reservation, the better your chances are of getting what you want!
- Clearly communicate your ideas to your vendors so they can provide you with the right estimate for your plans.
- Don’t forget to negotiate with them and consider plan B and C in case of emergency situations.
- Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask questions before you make your choice and book the vendor!
7. Create your “Don’t” Wedding List
We know when it comes to planning a wedding, there’s always a set of Egyptian wedding traditions that are expected to be included. It’s important to only include the traditions you love because it’s your big day and there is no rulebook when it comes to weddings! Maybe instead of the traditional zaffah, you want to start your wedding with a fun dance routine! Don’t stress if you want to switch things up. Discuss with your partner and do it your way.
8. Create your wedding guest list
Finishing up the guest list early is important to know if your guest numbers will go as planned in terms of the venue capacity and wedding budget. To make the process easier, you can use our guest list tool to keep track of all the guests you want to invite for your big day and even send out invitations all in one place.
9. Keep Some Money For The Honeymoon And Choose Your Destination Wisely
A great wedding is always topped up by a great honeymoon. You want to come back and gush about how you had an amazing time which helped you relax after months of preparing for your big day. How can you plan for your honeymoon?
- Based on your wedding date you can choose a honeymoon destination that has the perfect weather for you or the other way around, you can choose your honeymoon destination first then set your wedding date.
- Know your budget – each destination has a different budget including plane tickets, hotel reservation, tours, etc.
- Do your research and check some reviews in order to know the best season for your destination, hidden gems, convenient hotels, best tours, etc.
- Try to book your accommodation 3 months prior before the wedding and make sure it’s free cancellation in case you change your mind later.
- Don’t forget to look into the visa requirements for the destination you choose so you can book your visa appointment ahead of time if it’s needed!
10. Spend Quality Time With Your Parents Before The Wedding And Relax
Now that everything is set up, it is time to kick back and enjoy your last days as a single lady! Go pamper yourself, have some spa time with your mama or your ladies. Enjoy some quality time with your family, movie night is always a good option! Retain & treasure every corner in your bedroom before any of your siblings takeover your room 😀 And finally have some good sleep before your big day!
Wedding planning journey is complete. Hope you have a safe flight!.