Whether you have opted not to hire a professional wedding planner because you are looking to cut costs or you are keen to take full control of piecing together your special day, planning a wedding yourself is no easy feat. It can prove stressful and frustrating, regardless of how much time you afford yourself to do it. Luckily, it is possible – especially if you keep the following five tips in mind.
Choose Your Bridal Party Early
By selecting your maid of honour and your bridesmaids soon after announcing your engagement, you will have a few extra pairs of hands to help with the planning and admin associated with the big day. Most bridesmaids will be more than happy to assist and get as involved as you need them to be.
Set Your Budget and Stick to It
Not only will you want to set a grand total budget for the wedding, but you will also want to set smaller budgets for various aspects of it, such as your dress and the venue. Without these separate budgets in place, you are more likely to unknowingly overspend on your overall budget. Once you have decided on your spending limits, avoid even looking at dresses and venues that you know are going to cost more than what you can afford. Doing so will only frustrate you and make it tempting to relax the financial limitations that you have so responsibly set.
Book Early
You will probably have very specific ideas in mind in terms of how you want your wedding to look and what you want it to be like. As such, you will want to book early in order to avoid disappointment. This is especially important when it comes to the venue and live entertainment. Scope out venues before you even get engaged and investigate their waiting lists. This will give you a good indication of how far in advance you will need to reserve your spot. As far as live entertainment goes, when looking for live wedding bands in London, Manchester, or anywhere in the UK for that matter, alivenetwork.com is a pretty handy online resource to use.
Get Your Partner Involved
It can be easy to allow him to take a back seat regarding the wedding planning, but you can lighten the load on your shoulders by roping him in to help. Assign him specific aspects and give him full control over planning them. If you don’t feel comfortable trusting in his organisational skills to plan part of the wedding itself, why not let him plan the honeymoon instead?
Don’t Rush into Any Decisions
It can be tempting to hire the first photographer that you meet with, or to book the caterer the day after your engagement party, just to make a dent in your to-do list. However, weighing up all of your options and taking the time to do research are both at the heart of great wedding planning. Only make decisions regarding the big day when you are 100% sure that you want to go down that specific route.
While DIY wedding planning can prove challenging, it can also be enjoyable. It’s all about mindset! Enjoy every moment. You will (hopefully) only be a bride once.