Happy Halloween from Preoccupied Bride! Like Halloween, wedding planning can be scary. 🙂 So we’ve put together 10 practical planning tips to ease the fears of any engaged couple planning their wedding.
Hire a wedding planner.
If it’s the first wedding you’re planning, you may quickly realize how stressful it can get. Time is money, and a professional can save you time. It may be in your best interest to look into hiring a planner as (s)he can not only coordinate your wedding day but provide vendor referrals and design advice to save you a lot of time, money and stress in the long run.
Set a realistic wedding budget.
Weddings are more expensive than people think. It’s important to do research early on to avoid sticker shock and get a realistic idea of how much venues and vendors actually cost. Hiring a wedding planner and talking to your friends or family members who’ve been married is a good starting point to understanding how much weddings can cost.
Name your priorities from the beginning.
Every wedding detail may seem significant at first, but not every detail will be important to you and your partner—and that’s okay. It’s important to determine the non-negotiables in the early stages of wedding planning. You’ll be able to properly allot your budget once you know what is and what isn’t most important.
Consider the day, time of the event, and season when determining pricing.
Weddings held on a Saturday night are generally more expensive than a Friday or Sunday event. Weddings held in the “off” season (Nov – Apr) are generally cheaper than weddings held during “wedding” season (May-Oct). Choose a couple dates throughout the year you would be happy with, and find out if there’s a cost difference.
Book your venue(s) first.
Confirm your ceremony and reception location(s) first in order to secure your wedding date. You can’t book vendors and other details without having a wedding date and location. Next in line would be the vendors who can only do one event at a time such as a photographer, videographer, caterer, and band or DJ.
Limit your guest list without sacrificing the details when you need to stay within your wedding budget.
The largest cost for weddings is generally the food & beverage cost per guest. If you’re afraid of going over budget and don’t want to take it out on your details, limit the guest count. It’s the fastest and easiest way to save money. How do you cut the guest list? The first people to cut include distant relatives, children, and anyone who lives far away or you haven’t seen/spoken to in years.
Pay for your wedding dress with a credit card.
When you’ve said yes to the dress and it’s time to put a deposit down, do it on a credit card if possible so it establishes a paper trail. If the services provided for the dress are not as ordered, you can likely get some sort of a refund since credit card issuers are advocates for their customers. Make sure your deposit receipt includes the style number, dress size, color, deposit amount and promised delivery date.
Hire guest transportation when parking may be difficult.
If your venue is downtown or in an area that is hard to find nearby parking, it is worth to consider hiring a shuttle or bus to transport your wedding guests from a central location to your venue. Although it will be an additional expense, the stress of your guests attending the wedding festivities late can be a bigger annoyance and problem than the cost. You can hire transportation for a short window of time (a couple hours, for example) to cover guests getting to/from your venue.
Get everything in writing.
Professional and reputable vendors will have a contract for their provided services. The contract should specify the place, date, time, details of the services provided, and any other important information. Whether it’s a close friend or stranger, don’t just take their word for it—get a commitment in writing to protect everyone involved.
Add extra time to the wedding day schedule.
This may seem like a no-brainer but add cushion time to your overall wedding day timeline. This will only benefit you. If everything miraculously runs on time, you have additional time to enjoy the day. If you add an extra 15-30 minutes of time throughout the day to account for unexpected events, like longer setups and delays in getting ready or taking pictures, this will also keep the day running smoothly and “on time”.
Saturday, October 31, 2020
