Welcome to 2010! We hope you had a magical Christmas and a wonderful New Year. We had a great time enjoying the snow, time with friends,lots of delicious food and we are now looking forward to seeing what 2010 has in store. To kick the year off, we’re featuring a back to basics planning guide. So for all you newly engaged couples this is the post for you.
Happy reading!
4 Back to Basics Planning Tips
1) Set a budget. This part is hard but it’s so important and allows you to build a firm foundation for your wedding. Many couples struggle to set a budget because if you’ve never planned a wedding, it’s hard to know what is realistic and how far your money will go.Talk to your parents and look at your own finances for your overall number.When you stop and think about it, really look at your resources you will know how much you can realistically afford and how much you are comfortable spending on one event: it really is worth spending some time researching and getting your budget right at the beginning. Until you have a budget, you can’t begin approaching suppliers and all of your plans become a series of confusing ‘what ifs’. It’s much better to start things off properly with a good idea of what you can spend in each area.
2) Define your priorities. Identify your top 5 priorities at the outset so that you can concentrate your budget and energy on doing a few things really well rather than spreading yourself too thin and doing everything under par. Formally setting your priorities at the beginning helps to guard against overspending and saves heartache down the line.
3) Get the basics in place first. Once that engagement ring is on, planning a wedding can become a overwhelming whirlwind of well-meaning people asking questions and giving their opinion. Rather than allowing yourself to be swallowed up into the insanity of it all, take a couple of weeks to soak up your new status and to slowly chat your ideas through with your partner. Once you have a rough idea of what you want as a couple, you can begin (slowly and rationally) putting the basics into place. You’ll need to start with finding your venue and you’ll be able to narrow down the options by budget, availability and style. Once your venue is confirmed you will have a date and this will allow you to begin approaching the other suppliers. Here, our advice is to focus on professional licenced and insured providors.i.e. photographers, florist, caterer, officient, transport, entertainment, hair and make up artists. After booking these suppliers, you can relax and start thinking about the visual aspects of the day and finding items such as dresses and stationery. Don’t be tempted to do these things before you’ve confirmed your basic suppliers as you will only tie yourself up into stressful knots and end up making little if any progress.
4) Finally, view your wedding holistically. It’s easy to view your wedding as one long to do list but it’s vitally important that you don’t make decisions (especially regarding visual elements) without considering other aspects to ensure there is a thread of continuity running throughout your celebration. For example, it’s easy to rush out and buy a dress before you’ve really thought about items such as your venue or entertainment. However, the style of your dress should be heavily influenced by your venue and how formal your celebration will be. This in turn will affect the type of entertainment you choose, the style of your flowers and even the type of menu you serve. As bizarre as it sounds, it’s really important to consider all of these items together because if you don’t your wedding will lose its sense of flow and can end up feeling as though it has lost it’s soul.
By its very nature, being engaged doesn’t last forever so enjoy it while you can;surround yourself with professionals, take things slowly and don’t be tempted to wish it away.Remember to plan a massage, maybe teeth whitening or any sort of pampering ritual. There are no second chances with weddings
