A Dozen Wedding Tips From The Pros

YOU'RE ENGAGED!!! Couldn't you just shout it from the rooftops?? You are in a very exciting time of your life, and you get to share it with your best friend! What next though? Where do you go from here? Well, a team of professional wedding planners have come together to help you find out! Here are 12 tips to keep in mind when planning your wedding:

Tip #1. Set a budget before anything else. Seriously. Set. A. Budget. This will help you with moving forward with your planning without maxing out your credit cards and overdrafting your bank account. It will help you figure out the scale of your wedding, and how many guests you can reasonably invite. A budget truly dictates everything, so it's important that it is the first thing you focus on. If you need help figuring out how to set up a budget, check out this article!

Tip #2. Carry a notebook and pen with you always. You never know when an idea might strike you, so having a notebook and pen with you to write down thoughts and ideas and even sketch a few visions out before they slip your mind. This way, when you have the time, you can look back through and really think through everything you wrote down.

Tip #3. Hire a planner and/or coordinator. Oftentimes, people's first thought when it comes to wedding planners and coordinators is "that costs extra money...", but trust me, it's worth it. A good planner helps you stay within your budget and can even help you save more than you spent on them in the first place! Need more reasons to hire a planner? Check out this article!

Tip #4. Designate a certain bag as your "wedding planning bag". Keep a notebook, pens, business cards, samples, contracts, and anything else related to your wedding in the bag so it's all together and you don't have to hunt stuff down before consultations or planning meetings. 

Tip #5. If you are looking to have posed photos taken with family and friends after the ceremony, make sure to tell everyone who needs to stick around. Usually, posed photos take up all of the time between ceremonies and receptions, and the more time you spend hunting down the people you want pictures with, the longer your other guests (as well as your wedding party and yourselves!) have to wait for food and the party. Let people know the week of the wedding that you would like them to stick around before heading to the ceremony to save so much time and frustration.

Tip #6. Speaking of posed photos, put together a list of all of the photos you would like and give it to your photographer. Make sure you put the different groups you want, and if there's a few hard-to-pronounce names, maybe think about a pronunciation guide as well so the photographer can shout out names as they go and make the posed photos after your ceremony go even smoother!

Tip #7.  Save on Save-the-Dates. This is an easy way to save money on your wedding. Most people have a Facebook account, so save money on printing and sending Save-The-Dates by creating a Facebook event page and inviting friends and family through this free method. If you are really wanting printed Save-the-Dates, think about sending them to a small, select number of people who would really appreciate them, like grandparents, parents, and aunts.

Tip #8. Get a big plate at dinner. Seriously. This one plate will likely be all the food you are able to eat before the end of the night, so make sure it's worth it. This is your day, so don't be ashamed to take advantage of your dinner.

Tip #9. Attend smaller bridal shows. The big, crowded bridal shows with 100+ vendors and 300+ couples in attendance are stressful and exhausting. There's no way you will remember everyone you met, or even meet everyone there in the first place. Instead, try to find some smaller, more personal shows where you can actually meet all of the vendors and stand a better chance of remembering the people you met. 

Tip #10. Dedicate one person to oversee tear down/ taking the gifts home. Especially if you are leaving for your honeymoon right after the reception, you will need someone who knows where things go, and can either take everything to your house or store it all until you return. If you have rental items that need returned while you're away, make a list of the items and what needs to happen to them. This way, you don't have to worry about anything until you return from your honeymoon.

Tip #11. Consider a next morning brunch if you are not leaving right away for your honeymoon. Especially if you have guests from out of town, this would be a great way to keep the energy going and include the people who traveled for your big day. Set up a simple breakfast and some drinks, and open your wedding gifts with everyone. It can be a fun, relaxing way to actually see your family and hang out after the craziness of the day before. 

Tip #12. Adopt a "this is my wedding" attitude. Many times, grandparents, parents, friends, and strangers like to tell you what you should or should not do when it comes to your wedding. But you know what? It is your wedding. Not theirs. Be gracious about their advice, but also put your foot down and make sure this is the wedding you want, not what other people want.

With this advice in your back pocket, hopefully you feel a little more secure in starting, or continuing, your wedding planning. Whatever advice you choose to take or leave, we hope your day turns out as perfect as your love for each other. Happy planning!