Planning a Wedding: Where to Start

Newly engaged? Congratulations! You’re sporting a gorgeous new ring and a huge smile.  Now what?

The Road to a Wedding

If you’re a little confused about where to start with your wedding planning, it’s no wonder. This could be your first wedding (or at least your first in a long time) and you don’t do this every day. Planning is a major investment in terms of time and money, and can be intimidating.  Consider wedding planning a process, and take it in little steps.

The First Steps

Get organized. Buy yourself a great wedding notebook. Some come with the tabs pre-labeled and pockets for things like receipts and business cards. Also, if you are going to consider a wedding planner, the most valuable time to get one involved is before you’ve done anything irreversible. They can save you time and mistakes.

Prioritize. This step sounds so simple but is incredibly valuable to the planning process and should not be skipped. Make a list of every possible category of services you could use at a wedding, from baker to transportation. Give the list to each person whose opinion truly matters (that’s you, your fiancé, and any parent or family member who is contributing a significant amount of cash).

Each of you should rank, from highest to lowest, how important each category is to you. Then compare lists. If they are vastly different, have a frank discussion about why they mean so much (or so little) to you and try to come up with one family wedding priority list that accurately reflects the combined values.  You will use this list throughout your wedding planning to help make tough decisions. It’s like a mini business plan for your big day.

Set a budget. You don’t necessarily have to break down every single expense just yet, but choose an overall budget. Unless you have limitless cash, you’re going to need to know this before you can legitimately start selecting venues and vendors, so have the talk now and pick a number.

Choose a date. Think carefully about selecting a holiday. It may sound convenient to you, but people like to spend holidays with their families and travel expenses are often higher on holiday weekends.  Also, pay attention to how weather will ultimately impact your plans. Outdoor weddings in the south in August can be pretty painful for guests; same with January weddings in the north.

Choose a location. Factors that determine your venue and even the city or state where you get married could include budget, proximity to family or close friends, features that appeal to your guests and of course, how the site reflects your dream wedding.

Choose your caterer, photographer, videographer and reception entertainer. Why these four next (after your planner and your venues)? Of all of the categories of wedding professionals, these are the four who can only possibly do one wedding per day (except some caterers, but many set limits). There may be others like a high-end wedding designer, or a ceremony musician, but as a general rule, these four are your highest risk for competition. Evaluate them carefully and make your commitments as soon as you are sure.

After you’ve done all of the above, you’re ready to start handling the rest of the details with a little more leisure. Your notebook should have a timeline in it (if it doesn’t come with one, there are plenty online and in wedding magazines) and you should check that timeline weekly to make sure you haven’t missed any big deadlines. With the above complete, you’re in great shape to plan a fantastic wedding day! Congratulations and good luck!

Shayna Walker is a professional wedding planner and owner of Williamsburg Wedding Design. She writes the World According to Weddlady, The Williamsburg Wedding Blog and Life in Weddings.

]]> http://strawberryrd.com/blog/engagement/shayna-walker-on-strawberry-road/feed/ 0 http://strawberryrd.com/blog/news/look-a-book-for-your-nook/ http://strawberryrd.com/blog/news/look-a-book-for-your-nook/#comments Fri, 22 May 2009 00:45:53 +0000 Dave http://strawberryrd.com/blog/?p=91 The engagement guest book is an essential part of any photography session.  Electronic images are great for viewing on the computer, printed images are good for passing around, framing, etc.  But the guest book captures the story.  Click ‘more’ to read on…

Jennie has mastered the art of custom templates.  Her work isn’t confined to a set of two or three templates that force a photographer or designer to make crucial decisions about cropping an image to ‘make it fit.’  If the page needs to be designed to tell a story or capture a moment, her eye and ability will allow her to do so in a way that is uniquely artistic and downright esthetically awesome.  Enough raving about my biz partner.  Check out this work she did for some very special clients…

Oh, and that image right up there, look at the blank part of the page, you guessed it, your guests can sign and write messages and well wishes the day of your wedding!  Got a poem, or something special you’d like to write, even a limerick, we’ll put it in, just for you!

The image above really captures the tone of the shoot.  Erik was apprehensive before we had started, but a little conversation and some cajoling and we were off to the races…

By the time the lovely couple was running out of steam the suggestion was made to head over to the UConn Dairy Barn.  Sometimes a change of scenery can reinvigorate the exhausted couple.  It was well worth it…

In all it was a great day…