Congratulations! You’ve just gotten engaged and now it’s time to begin planning your wedding. This planning journey will be both exciting and, at times, a bit stressful. Before you get overwhelmed by the long list of things you need to do to make your wedding unforgettable, take a deep breath and map out all the important things you want to include. If you’re not sure where to begin, we’ve outlined a few of the top tasks you should have on your to-do list!
Plan With The Pros
When designing the wedding you’ve always wanted, there are many things you’ll need to add to your checklist. From the venue to the DJ, to the centerpieces and the photographer, the search and selection process will take time and effort. Starting sooner will give you a jump start on some of your most essential wedding needs and help you feel less stressed in the long run.
Once you’ve found the perfect decor and vendors for your big day, keeping everything coordinated the day of can be a little tricky. If you plan to take on this work yourself, keeping a detailed list of the vendors and their arrival times is necessary. In addition, you’ll want to spend some time the day before your wedding making sure the venue has everything you need and things are set up just the way you want them. While this approach to your wedding is possible, it’ll be challenging and can even pull you away from the celebrations leading up to your ceremony.
If you want a foolproof way to ensure your wedding day is everything you hoped it would be, a professional event coordinator is sure to make that happen. These professionals can help with the nitty-gritty details of wedding planning that otherwise can exhaust and drain you along the way. Event planners can take care of all the wedding day details so you can instead spend your time celebrating the occasion with your loved ones. When planning your own wedding, you don’t want to dread the process of making it as perfect as possible, so let the professionals take care of the details for you.
Make The Most of Your Budget
As we all know, having a wedding in this day and age can be very expensive. Setting a budget is important to ensure that you don’t spend more than you can afford. Typically, engaged couples are disappointed when they cannot have everything they initially wanted for their wedding due to financial constraints. To solve this issue, reevaluate your current combined monthly and yearly expenses and consider where you can cut back on costs in order to have a larger budget to work with for your wedding.
Begin by evaluating your unnecessary expenses, such as extra money for “wants” instead of “needs.” See if there are any areas you can cut back on or eliminate all together in the time leading up to your wedding. When making your monthly budget, try cutting the amount of money you allocate for “wants” in half and instead put that money away in a separate fund just for wedding expenses. The same goes for the portion of your income that you allocate to savings. Consider using some or all of that money for your wedding fund in order to make the most of your income.
After evaluating your expenses, you can get a little more creative with how you choose to stretch your budget. For example, you can look into cutting down on fixed monthly expenses by refinancing or pausing payments. If you and your partner have a mortgage payment together, consider extending it with a 30-year fixed rate in order to lower your monthly payments and use the extra money you would save toward your wedding expenses.
Similarly, for other fixed expenses like personal loans and credit cards, look for opportunities to refinance these loans or make a balance transfer on your credit card debt in order to save on interest and potentially lower your monthly payments. Any amount of savings can help make a difference in the size of your wedding budget.
Pay Attention to Detail
What makes a wedding truly unforgettable is all the small and sentimental details you take into account when planning the big day. From personalized tableware to incorporating your wedding colors into all the items for your wedding, to even including sentimental messages from friends and loved ones, the small things all come together to make a magical day.
In order to make these special touches a part of your day, brainstorm with your partner, and even family and friends, different ways you might want to incorporate smaller details into your wedding celebration. Begin by writing down or typing up a document of
your ideas and how you plan to execute them. From there, decide if you’ll need to factor additional materials into your budget or if you’ll need to gather certain materials from loved ones to be sure they’re included in the wedding.
You can even encourage family and friends to suggest their own special touches and details. You may elect to be surprised on the day of your wedding with sentimental gestures from your loved ones. This could come in the form of a heart-felt letter from parents or friends, a photo of a relative who is no longer living but would have attended your special day, or some photographs from the past that represent the bond you have with the loved ones who have been by your side since the very beginning. Celebrating the love of those closest to you at your wedding will surely make it unforgettable.
When it comes to planning your wedding, being strategic and thoughtful will surely create a wonderful day for you and your partner. As you begin to create an unforgettable day, be sure to follow a few of our tips to help make the process a little bit easier.