Firstly you are engaged...congratulations!
Now the excitement is settling down, you have told everyone on the planet and had your ring finger in every photo possible, what happens next?
It is time to start the planning....eeekkkkkkk!!
BUDGET
The most boring part of the wedding planning journey but undoubtable one of the most important parts to try and make the journey a little less stressful and to ensure you are both on the same page. Whether you are having a small intimate affair or an extravagant wedding, a wedding budget is always essential to keep track of those costs. Over at Bridebook they have a brilliant wedding budget planner that you can use from your mobile and is worth a look at.
It is also worth investing in a physical wedding planning book to keep your notes in, write down the costs of different things you have seen before settling on the final item, keeping receipts in incase there are issues later down the line and writing down suppliers and contact details incase you lose them as the wedding planning process can take a few years! I like this one which has lots of sections and guidance in to help along the way - The complete wedding planner.
STYLE/THEME/INSPO
This is where we start to get exciting...the next step is to take a look at your desired wedding style. Are you going for soft and romantic, rustic and earthy or glitz and glam? Once you have a theme (it doesn't have to be nailed down at this point but gives you an idea of the style of venue you are looking for to fit your theme) it is time to start putting together your Pinterest board! These are great for you to visualise your ideas and to send to your suppliers so they can understand the theme you are going for!
THE YEAR
Some people have a very specific date in mind, others a season they would like to marry in, whilst others simply a year! It is worth discussing this with your partner before any venue meetings, then when the venue are discussing availability you have a clear vision in your mind on when you would like to marry.
Top tip: Some venues have offers on for out of peak season weddings so if you are budget conscious and love a particular venue it is worth enquiring about this!
THE VENUE
Now this is the first big milestone in the wedding planning journey…….the venue!!! Having gathered your budget, your style and a guide to when you want to get married it’s time to start looking at venues! Here you need to consider if you are having a religious ceremony in a church and then going on to a reception after or having a civil ceremony all in the same grounds as your reception.
Some of my favourite venue locations are:
(these are all my own recommendations of venues I have seen or worked with whilst in the wedding industry)
Cheshire
Lancashire
Shropshire
Staffordshire
Kent
Essex
West Sussex
Farnham
Devon
Scotland
When visiting venues I recommend attending armed with your wedding planner to do book (I love this one from the Busy B range and is perfect for carrying around with you) with a list of questions so you can ask all venues the same questions.
Things you may want to ask the venue:
Is the bridal suite available the night before the wedding to get ready in if you are not staying at home?
Are there set times for a ceremony? (To cross reference that the registrar from your local county is available)
Menu options
Do you want canapés?
Drinks packages?
Evening buffet options
Discounted rates for guests?
What is included in a package?
Maximum and minimum number of guests for the ceremony AND the reception rooms
Restrictions on decor, photo areas, confetti
When do they allow you to set up and take down?
Do they have more than one wedding on the same day/weekend?
Once we have a venue sorted it’s time to start thinking about all of your other suppliers that make your day special, this will be covered in PART 2!
I hope this little guide has given you some food for thought and helped with the beginning of your wedding planning journey!
Much love
Michelle xx
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.
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