Congratulations! You’re recently engaged and you’re over the moon.

And then you have to start wedding planning, and that may not be as wonderful haha. Planning a wedding can be overwhelming! Having a plan is a great way to make this process as stress-free as possible 🙂

1. Announce & Enjoy

I’ve received photography inquiries from ladies who got their ring less than 24 hours ago. And while I love their excitement to jump into wedding planning, don’t feel pressure to figure things out yet. Cherish your new engagement with the people that you love!

2. Make a Wedding Budget

Talking about money doesn’t sound like the most romantic part of wedding planning, but it is crucial. Figure out if you have a maximum for your total wedding spending and what that number is before you start locking yourself into any commitments with venues or vendors.

You can have a fabulous wedding on any budget. This may not be what others in the wedding industry tell you, but you don’t want anyone on your team who doesn’t truly have your best interest at heart. You may have to research more to find options in your budget, but it’s 100% doable and your guests will still have a marvelous time.

Word of Caution: When accepting wedding-related money gifts from your family/friends, please be conscious of if this gift come with strings attached that will cause stress.

3. Rank Your Wedding Priorities

Ranking wedding priorities with your fiancé early on is a great way to keep perspective during wedding planning.  A wedding can easily go over budget if you’re not careful and intentional about what it is you want most.

What’s more important to you? Hiring a specific videographer or a certain wedding dress? Having a priority list protects you from paying for things and then later being unable to spend on things you actually value more.

I also see so many couples pay deposits on venues/vendors and then change their minds. Most wedding professionals have non-refundable deposits, so a couple does this, they lose out on that money.

Here’s a list of a few wedding-related things you could rank. Please do not feel pressure to have any of the below things on your wedding day:

• How many guests you invite
• Allowing guests to have +1s
• Allowing guests to bring kids
• Rings
• Bride’s Dress
• Bride’s accessories
• Groom’s outfit
• Including a certain # of people to be bridesmaids/groomsmen
• Save the Dates
• Invitations
• Venue
• Additional Lighting
• Chairs & Tables & silverware & plates (if you need to provide them yourself)
• Wedding Planner
• Day-of-coordinator
• Photographer
• Videographer
• Hair & makeup artist
• Florist
• DJ
• Other Decor for your dinner tables
• Other decor just generally
• Alcohol
• Food
• Cake
• Other desserts
• Wedding Favors
• Bachelorette/bachelor party related things

For a breakdown of my wedding priorities when I was getting married, click here

4. Figure Out Who You Want to Invite

Sit down with your fiancé and list out everyone you absolutely want to invite. Then decide together how you want to handle +1s/co-workers/acquaintances. And then you may want to discuss this list with your parents as well. 

The number of guests really impacts how much your wedding costs. The number of guests directly influences how many invitations, chairs, tables, table decor for said tables, meals, alcohol, and favors you will be providing.

5. Choose Your Venue & Set a Date

Step 2 (setting your total budget) comes before Step 4 (finding a venue) for a reason.

If your total budget is $20k, spending $15k on the venue limits what you can spend on everything else. Will the remaining money be enough to cover everything else? If not, this may not be the best venue for you. 

Click here to read my blog post “Things to Consider When Choosing a Wedding Venue & Why I Chose Snowbasin”

And read your contract for the venue. When I signed the contract for my wedding, it didn’t click until later that I agreed to a mandatory 22% tip on all food and alcohol and 7% taxes on tens of thousands of dollars. Factor these costs into your money calculations before putting a deposit down on a venue. 

Pay attention to what outside vendors you are/aren’t allowed to bring in

Especially catering and alcohol because this will be likely a significant expense. It requires less coordination work for you if the food/drinks are provided by the venue. However, you likely have more options to save money if you are able to bring in food/drinks from outside the venue. Keep this in mind before committing to a venue. If a venue doesn’t allow outside catering, look at pricing per person and get a tentative idea of “each guest who comes will cost me an additional $___ for their food & alcohol.” You may need to adjust your guest list accordingly or opt for a different venue. 

And pay attention to what is already included with the venue. Set up & take down? Tables & chairs? Tablecloth and napkins? Utensils? Serving staff? These are things that you’ll have to budget/plan for if the venue doesn’t take care of them for you. 

Once you choose a venue that you love, work with the venue to set and book a date 🙂 

^That’s the order that works for most couples. However, it’s important to other couples to get married on a specific date and they will choose the venue around that. And when I got married, I knew I wanted one photographer in particular. So I got a few available dates from my venue and then discussed with the photographer to make sure she also was available before committing to a date.

6. Tell Guests to Save the Date

Many brides nowadays mail their guests a “save the date” which is exactly what it sounds like – “hey you! I’m getting married on this date and I want you to be there so don’t make other plans!” Brides do this in order to alert guests about the date as soon as possible, but the bride hasn’t done more in-depth planning (like finalizing times, registries, hotel blocks, etc.) so she isn’t ready with all the information needed on an invitation.

When I got married, to save hassle, I chose not to send “save the dates” in the mail and just sent a text message. I did mail out pretty invitations later on.

The point is to get this done sooner rather than later 🙂

7. Book the rest of your vendors

Once you have a date set, you can plan the rest of your wedding. Other vendors need you to have set a date in order to know if they’re available to work with you.