You are now engaged. NOW WHAT?
Here are 10 recommendations for you:
1. Breathe. I am not kidding! Take some time to stand back and enjoy your engagement- and each other. And your families. And your friends.
2. And, when you are ready to start working (and yes, it may feel like work, so now would be a good time to consider a wedding consultant…), start with your guest list. You can’t possibly pick a place for a reception without knowing how many people you will invite. A question that I am asked very often is about the drop-off rate. If you invite your whole guest list, how many can you figure won’t attend? You cannot figure this at all, so please don’t bother trying! I know of a wedding where 277 guests were invited and 275 attended. The moral of this story is to look for a venue that will actually hold everyone you have invited. Remember, you wouldn’t be inviting these guests if you didn’t want them to come, so they just might!
Photo credit: Audubon Weddings
3. You and your fiancé will want to have a discussion about your wish list…. time of year, what year, what kind of venue and where. So often there are other voices in this discussion, but the bride and groom can prioritize their wish list and then discuss it with family and others.
4. And then there is the budget. This usually involves others who may wish to contribute. And the discussion will need to be very frank. What is the total budget, including every single thing from big-ticket items like food and beverage, music, and photography, to the smaller ones like personalizing stamps for invitation envelopes? A worksheet of all of the expenses is very helpful. And a discussion of what is important to you and your parents is a good idea right now.
4. So here the work really starts. You will want to do your research and create a list of wedding professionals to interview. A wedding planner is a great resource, because he/she has seen and done so much. You can also find information online, of course, and also from your friends and family.
Photo credit: Jeffrey Miller Catering
5. Your officiant/ceremony venue will need to be the first to be chosen/hired. You need that person to be available and willing to be with you on your wedding day, and of course the place must be available too.
6. And next, secure the reception venue and start hiring your wedding professionals. This looks very simple on this list. It is not! This will take lots of time and effort. Again, if you are hiring a wedding planner, or are even thinking of hiring one, it will be helpful to have this person on-board at this point.
7. And now it is time to decide on what you are going to wear. It can take months from the time you shop for a wedding gown for the designer to have it ready for you, so start as soon as the gowns are on the market for the season in which you are getting married. And the groom can make his decision now, too.
8. Choose your attendants. And choose their attire. And block rooms for your guests.
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Photo credit: Audubon Weddings
9. And… here’s another chance to hire a wedding consultant! You hire specialists in other parts of your life, and a wedding planner can help you avoid difficulties in the planning process and make your wedding weekend one that you can really enjoy.
10. So, enjoy. The best advice I have heard is to take some days off every week and don’t even discuss wedding planning. A wedding planner does this work full-time, but it will be exhausting if you try to do it every single day from now until your wedding!
All good wishes~
Lynda Barness
I DO Wedding Consulting
Master Bridal Consultant TM