Author: Jocelyn Chi (42 Articles)
Jocelyn is the founder and editor of Something Bleu Magazine. She is also a wedding and portrait photographer based out of Houston, TX.
So you just got engaged and you’ve contacted all of your closest family and friends to tell them the great news that you’re getting married some time in the near future. Now what do you do? Well, I can’t tell you exactly what you should do next because there’s no one right way to plan things, and steps which will work wonderfully for some people just won’t work (or won’t be applicable) for others. So instead, I’m going to give you a handful of topics that you’ll probably want to address at some point during the planning process. The earlier you address these topics, the smoother your planning will likely go. Hopefully, this post will spark some good conversations for you.
1) Budget
Yes, I know. This doesn’t sound too fun and you’d probably rather be shopping for your dress right now. But the fact is, you’re going to have a really hard time deciding on any of the other details before you figure out exactly how much you have to spend. So how do you set a budget? Well, you’ll want to determine where the money’s going to come from. Are you and your fiance paying for the entire wedding? Or do you have friends and family who want to chip in and help financially? Do you already have savings for your wedding or do you need to spend some time saving up for the big celebration?
Another thing that’s really helpful to think about when thinking about budgets is what kind of wedding you want to have – which leads me to the net topic.
2) What type of wedding do you want?
Do you want a big wedding? Or a small, intimate wedding? Or something in between? Typically, the largest cost driver for a wedding is the number of people you have in attendance at the reception since the reception meal is usually based on an estimated headcount, and an extra 50 meals can make a significant difference when you’re talking about $50, $100, or more per meal.
Some other things to think about: Do you want an ethnic wedding or a destination wedding? Each of these has particular costs associated with them, and your budget will be affected by what events, decorations, or other things you’ll need for the type of wedding you’d like.
3) Guest List
Okay, so I guess I already talked a bit about this topic in #2 but now that you’ve talked about your budget, you can make a guess at the number of people that you can afford to have in attendance. Keep in mind that the number of people you invite is typically not the number of people who end up attending your wedding. I’ve heard that generally speaking, 50% to 70% of your invited guests will rsvp in the affirmative. But that percentage can change dramatically with the type of wedding you’re planning. If you’re planning a small, intimate wedding with only your closest friends and family, your attendance percentage is probably going to be significantly higher than the norm. And if you’re planning a destination wedding but inviting everyone you and your family ever knew, it’s like that your percentage will be lower than normal. So when planning your guest list, think about how likely each person is to attend, and factor that into your decision.
4) Set the Date
So now that you have the guest list – or at least the list of people that you really want to attend your wedding, you can set the date! Well, you can always set the date before but it’s nice to be able to set the date after making sure that all the essential people are going to be able to make it to your wedding. For instance, is your second cousin having a wedding on the same date that you want? Does that mean that a lot of relatives would have to choose between the two weddings? Or is your matron of honor due to give birth shortly after that date you’re thinking about?
It’s also important to note, however, that if you have a long list of people you really want in attendance at your wedding, you’re probably not going to be able to please everyone’s schedule so you’ll have to balance that with how soon you want to get married.
5) Location
Now that you have the guest list, you can book an appropriate location to match your style and budget, and fit all the people you want to have at your wedding! Most locations have a limited number of people they can safely seat or serve, so your intended guest list is really helpful in weeding out potential wedding locations. On the other hand, some really gorgeous locations might be too big for the number of people you want to have so you’ll have to keep that in mind as well.
6) All the other details!
This includes all the other things such as your dress, shoes, wedding coordinator, florist, caterer, musicians, invites, favors, etc. This things that go on this list are endless but hopefully, if you have the other 5 topics figured out, you can have fun deciding on these remaining items because you know how much you can spend and you know what kind of wedding you’re going to have. For instance, you’ll be able to make sure that the colors, flowers, and decor you want look good with your venue.
So that’s it for getting started on your wedding planning! I hope these topics help you set the stage for a great wedding planning process, and facilitate some great conversations! Have fun planning, and congratulations again on your engagement!
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