It’s understandable if you feel completely overwhelmed by wedding planning. It’s not something you have experience with and it’s a pretty important day in your life! You’re not expected to know the difference between chiavari and crossback chairs, or the order of events at the reception. Before you hit the ground planning, read over our golden rules so you have some idea of what to expect!
Photo by Jennifer Bagwell
Use your Wedding Planner
This may seem like an obvious tip, but you would be surprised at how many clients hire us and rarely ask for advice. The reason you hired a planner is to have an expert help guide you through the planning process. They serve as the catalyst between you, all of your vendors and your big day vision, so let them help! No matter how small or big the question is, ask your planner. They will help you with all kinds of decisions, from where you should get your cake to where you should seat Aunt Mary and Uncle Fred so they don’t cross paths at the wedding. No request is too silly or miniscule for your planner—so utilize them! Plus, having someone direct and orchestrate all of your guests on the big day is a big help.
Photo by Karna Roa, Catering By Pascaline Fine Catering
Create a Focused Menu before your Food Tasting
You need to really think about what sort of dining format you are most interested in before scheduling your tasting with a potential caterer. Do you wanted a plated dinner? Or would you prefer to go more casual with a buffet or stations. This is something you should talk over with your significant other and anyone else involved financially with the wedding. Given that most caterers just offer one complimentary tasting, be sure that you are tasting items that you are seriously considering serving at your wedding. If you want a family style meal, make sure you are tasting items that work well for family style. If you choose entrees that are typically served for a plated meal, you will need to rework your menu post-tasting and may not be able to try the food that ultimately will be served at your wedding. Some styles of serving may cost less than others so that’s definitely something to discuss with your caterer as well if you’re looking for areas to cut down on cost.
Compare vendors before you book one
For those that are budget conscience (and who isn’t considering how expensive weddings are?), make sure you are taking the same information into account when reviewing proposals. For instance, if you are comparing two catering proposals and one has chicken and the other has filet mignon, it’s impossible to get a good cost comparison. When you are gathering catering proposals, make sure you are using the same proteins across the board. Also, if one proposal includes a dessert buffet, make sure all of your proposals include a dessert buffet. If you’re comparing two florists make sure you’re using the same types of flowers, as some are pricier than others depending on the season. Compare two bands versus and band and a DJ, and so on. This will be the easiest way to analyze any pricing differences.
Photo by Karna Roa
Don’t go overboard with Pinspiration
In these days of Pinterest, it’s really easy to over-plan. It’s important that your décor elements go together, and sometimes less is more. Some brides get so many ideas from Pinterest and want to execute them all, and it leaves their wedding looking in-cohesive. Choose a few design elements that are important to you and leave it at that. You may have been planning your wedding for years, way before you even met your someone special, so you’ve likely pinned hundreds of images that peaked your interest. Now that your wedding is near, clean that Pinterest board up! Many of your vendors will refer back to your Pinterest board during production, so it’s best to have as few images as possible, that way your design scheme is easy to determine and they can execute it exactly as you envision it.
Photo by Karna Roa
Give yourself plenty of time to get ready
While a wedding timeline is extremely important, so is having a detailed timeline for everything you have to do before the wedding, such as hair and makeup. Not allowing enough time to get ready will screw up your entire day-of timeline and add to the wedding day stress. Your hair and makeup team will likely plan for this and come prepared with a primping schedule, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure. It’s also helpful to the pampering team if your bridesmaids know exactly how they want their hair done. This allows the team to figure out who will take the longest and get them done first. Don’t forget to add in meal breaks, and budget for extra time in case hair and makeup runs longer than expected. Give yourself more than enough time to get to the venue in case of traffic or other unforeseen circumstances. If you end up a little ahead of schedule, that will allow the photographer more time to get great getting ready photos of you with your wedding party, or to sit and relax with a glass of bubbles!
If you keep these five things in mind, your wedding is guaranteed to go off without a hitch. With all of this info in mind, you’re ready to brave the wild world of wedding planning and get going on creating the perfect day.