Trust me, when I tell you there will be many items on the wedding checklist you will be checking off throughout your planning process. In my experience, I find the ones below are the 5 most important on my wedding planner checklist.
1. Set your wedding date
Honestly, you would think this would be the easy part and for some it is, but it also could be very daunting to a newly engaged couple. No need to fret over it, there are a few ways to help you determine the perfect date. Do you have a favorite month or number? Do you have an anniversary date of when you starting dating? Those are at least a good starting points.
A little story about when I was picking my own wedding date, I knew I wanted to get married on a Saturday and wanted to make it an “anniversary” weekend. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the actual date we started dating that fell on a Saturday for a few years, so I went for the next best thing, the following day! Both dates have a special meaning to me in different ways and now every year, I honor both and have an anniversary weekend.
Don’t be afraid to allow a number or month that has a special meaning to the two of you to be a factor.
2. Set a budget
Money is always hard to talk about, but this by far is the most important item on the wedding planner checklist. Determine what you can afford and how much you want to spend on your wedding. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have the wedding of your dreams and there are many ways to have the wedding of your dreams without the huge price tag.
Also, during the budget discussion, I’d advise to make priorities on certain areas and items that are important to you where you couldn’t imagine getting married without them. It will help you know where you want to spend higher and lower amounts of your budget.
3. Determine who’s paying what
After you’ve determined the budget, you need to decide whether any family members will be helping you out paying for the wedding. In this day and age, most couples are paying for the majority of the wedding themselves, but their parents do want to contribute something to help.
If the parents are making any type of contribution towards your wedding, its best to ask them what the specific amount is. The reason being, it will help you know the best areas to allocate that money towards. It’s always easier to know an exact amount you’re able to work with than wonder how much you have to spend.
4. Decide on what type of wedding you want
You’ve set the date, determined your budget and even who’s helping out, now let the planning fun begin! I’m sure you’ve looked at countless Pinterest boards for inspiration {it can be wonderful, but also overwhelming!} and now the time has come to decide what type of wedding you’re envisioning.
By deciding this, it will help set the tone of your wedding and will let you know which direction to go in. There are many options to consider, so do what makes you happy and works for you and your budget.
Do you want a traditional, non-traditional, outdoor/indoor ceremony and reception?
Do you want formal, semi-formal, backyard or laid back kind of wedding?
What type of year feels right to you: fall, summer, spring or maybe even in winter {nothing wrong with a little snow for a New England wedding}.
I promise once you decide what type of wedding you want, it will ease your mind and let you determine whether you want a specific theme and color palette.
5. Select and book your vendors
The date and budget is set, you’ve set priorities based on what is important to you and your fiancé, now I would highly recommend you start looking at vendors that fit your budget, style and personality. There are vendors that do book out at least a year {or more} in advance, especially the ones who are incredibly talented at their craft. By setting priorities, it will help you determine where you want to spend more or less of your budget for those particular vendors.
During your research, keep a few thoughts in mind: do you admire their work, understand what value they bring to the table and most importantly, when you meet or talk with them, do you have a connection with them. Listen to your gut feeling. Trust me, you will be spending a lot of time with certain vendors, so you want to make sure you have a good connection with them.
I hope my Top 5 most important wedding planner checklist items helped you prioritized things. I leave you with a few parting words…
Have fun planning your wedding & make it your own!
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