As many of you know from reading these posts I’m a New England and Ct. wedding photographer that enjoys shooting weddings across the country. And since this all began I’ve come to realize that each and every couple feels something different about their day. From the joy to the stress, each wedding and engagement is different. The last post was about the fresh engagement, this post will be about what you should do next. What are the first steps to planning for your big day?
Well, before you even start planning you should enjoy these few weeks of the new “status”… Enjoy that he just “popped the question” and be ready for a heavy dosing of questions. From dates to colour schemes and more. And while the questions will roll in, don’t hesitate to tell those with wonders that you are just taking a few weeks to enjoy the engagement. If parents haven’t met now is surely the time. Get the families together. But most of all, enjoy these few weeks before really running full steam with the planning…
So now what. What are the key steps to planning for your big wedding day???
Before anything else, Plan your budget! Every single piece of your day needs to revolve around this budget so things not only get kept in certain ranges, but also making sure there is a piece of the pie put aside for each and every part of the day. Bring anyone involved in the budget together. It’s no longer up to just the brides side of the family to pay for the day. And weddings are becoming more costly so take the time to sit down and really plan this one out. The budget will really tell you what kind of day you can have. From the amount of guests to venues. This is surely the main key.
The guest list. There are many places to find tips for your wedding day, some of those places will tell you different things about the 2nd step. But think about this, the guest list truly tells you the size of your day. You can’t cram 250 people into a venue that only holds 100, you can’t invite 300 people when your budget on meals will only feed 200… So you need to get this list worked out. It can change a little but before you can make any other contracts work you need to know how many people will be showing.
Next is your wedding venue! Where will your wedding be held. From the ceremony to reception. Now that you have your budget set out, and your guest list, you can decide what locations will fit your needs. From size to pricing, to location. This is key because many venues book out a year in advance. So you really can’t decide on a wedding date until you book your wedding venue, and you also can’t take on any other contracts for the wedding photographer, cake designer and more until the date is set. So VENUE VENUE VENUE….
Once you have these steps in place everything else will start to just flow right along…
Shine on,
~Tim
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