You said yes to those romantic four unforgettable words “will you marry me”, you are both committed and ready to walk down the aisle with your best friend for life.
After many years organising events, we often join our members on one of the most important journeys of their life, their wedding. Planning a wedding can be quite confusing, where do you start, how do we begin to properly plan our wedding. If you tick off the engagement ring, the venue and the dress it will allow you to then accomplish the rest of your tasks without experiencing pre-wedding stress.
Your engaged
Pop the champagne, grab your family and friends to celebrate.
Wedding Planning Begins
Guest List – you may feel like you are not ready for this step, but it will help you to determine the size of the venue. Unless you’re having a destination wedding, base your estimated numbers on eighty percent of your guests accepting your invitation to attend.
Questions to ask yourself when putting together your guest list; immediate family, extended family, close childhood friends, friends of the bride and groom, work colleagues. Your lists could be broken down into must invite, love to invite and nice to invite.
The Venue – there are many questions that we ask our brides when it comes to selecting the venue
- Would you like a local or destination wedding
- Would you like a seated or cocktail style reception
- Will you be having a church wedding ceremony or do you prefer a celebrant
- If you are having a celebrant perform your ceremony, would you like it to take place at the same location as your wedding celebrations
- Would you like a Friday, Saturday or Sunday wedding?
- Would you like a day or night wedding reception?
Questions to ask each venue when you are doing your checklist of preferred venues:
- Do you have my date available?
- How many guests can you accommodate? Is that number seated or standing?
- What is the venue hire fee?
- What does the venue hire fee include i.e. tables, chairs, linen, dancefloor etc? Can you see a sample of these items?
- How many hours does the rental rate include?
- How much is each additional hour?
- What time does the reception need to conclude? Do you have any noise restrictions?
- Is your catering in-house? If the answer is no, can we select our own caterer or do you have a panel of preferred caterers?
- If yes, what are your catering and beverage package options?
- Can we provide our own beverages? Do you charge a corkage fee?
- How many parking spots are available onsite for guests?
- Do you know of additional parking spaces if needed?
- Do you have a list of preferred suppliers for your venue i.e. lighting, floristry, entertainment etc?
- If the ceremony and reception were to be held in the same venue, will they have enough time and staff for a seamless transition?
- What time can you have access for set up on your wedding day?
- If you have an outdoor element does the venue have a back-up location if the weather is inclement?
- Do you have a bridal room?
- Do you have a green room for the band?
- Do you have any restrictions i.e. no open flame candles?
- How much is the deposit? Do you have a payment schedule? When is final payment required?
- When you require final catering numbers?
Budget – set a budget and establish who will be paying for each of the wedding items so that you know how much money you will need to save and in turn this will also help you to ascertain the lead time you need to before the wedding day.
To help you get your budget started, here is a list of items to be taken into consideration:
- Engagement party invitations
- Engagement party
- Wedding venue
- Wedding dress
- Bridesmaids dresses
- The Shoes!!!
- Grooms suit
- Groomsmen’s suits
- Wedding rings
- Hair and make-up
- Ceremony
- Wedding stationary
- Flowers & decor
- Cake
- Entertainment
- Lighting
- Photographer and videographer
- Cars
- Wedding party gifts
- Wedding favours
- Rehearsal dinner
The Dress – make a date with your best girlfriend, a beautiful selection of the latest bridal magazines, your favourite champagne to find inspiration for your perfect dress.
The Suit – the gents have great choices here, to hire a suit, purchase one off the rack or have a custom made suit made with a tailor, so that you both have a treasured momento of of your wedding day.
Wedding Party – these are your support crew on your wedding day. Choosing who will be there for you throughout the planning and stand up with you on the most important days of your life can seem daunting. Make sure you take your time and ask yourself this question, will I be as close to this person in five years as I am now? If you have more people then you can ask to stand with you on the day, include them in other ways by asking them to be an usher, to drive the wedding cars or to do a reading at the ceremony.
Officiant – create a meaningful wedding ceremony that is personal to you and your partner.
Decor – chairs, linen, signage, photobooth, table decorations.
Entertainment – think about the style of music you would like to have for your ceremony, cocktails and the reception. The style of music you select can really make or break the wedding party.
Photographer – it is important to find a photographer and videographer that suits your style, that you feel comfortable will capture your perfect day and that it fits your budget.
Stationary – whether you have them professionally printed or DIY, your invitations will be the first thing your guests see that will give them an insight into your wedding day.
Flowers – once you have selected your wedding date, discuss with the florist the flowers that are in season so that you won’t be disappointed if you can’t get your favourite flower. It is important to choose a florist that best suites your style and budget.
Cake – we ask our brides, do you want a traditional cake, cupcakes, candy table or a cheese table. Something to think about, especially if you have a big wedding, have a cake for the cutting of the cake and one that will be offered for guests to take home at the end of the evening to enjoy when they get home or the next day.
Rings – if you are having custom made wedding bands for yourself and your partner, make an appointment with your jeweller and make sure you allow plenty of time for them to be made and have any adjustments.
Hair and make up – speak to your hairdresser if they offer a mobile hair and make up artists that can come to you on the day or if you need to book time in the salon for the bridal party.
Transportation – choose the option that works best for your bridal party i.e. series of cars, limousine, friend or family members car or will you drive yourself
If at all when reading this you feel overwhelmed, remember your Lifestyle Manager is here to walk every step of the way with you when planning your wedding day. You may not need a wedding planner as such, but you may appreciate an extra set of hands to narrow your wedding venue or destination search, find a florist, decide on a decor style, source suppliers, arrange travel for family and friends and book your honeymoon.
Make sure you enjoy every step of this special journey in the lead up to your Wedding Day!
Note: All images featured in our wedding game plan blog are sourced from pinterest.
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