How To Get Started Wedding Planning
This is your chance to dream!
How do you see your day going from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed? What does your reception looking like? Is it modern, boho, glam, rustic, themed, cultural? Who do you want to be there? What special moments can you not imagine living without?
Once you start dreaming, do some research and set a budget based on your priorities.
Questions to Start Dreaming
Elopement, intimate wedding, big party, destination, or wedding weekend?
Time of the year?
Indoor or outdoor?
All in one place or multiple locations?
Time of the day?
Day of the week: Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
Adults only or everyones invited?
Cocktail attire or black tie?
DJ or band?
Plated dinner, buffet, family style or horderves only?
Traditional, non-traditional, or somewhere in between?
Doing Research
Ahh research, where dreams start to become reality. Or get a reality check, really depends tbh. If you’re anything like me, you start every idea with a ton of research! Here are a few of my favorite wedding planning & researching resources:
Junebug Weddings (personalizing your wedding day)
Green Wedding Shoes (personalizing your wedding day)
Grace Ormonde Wedding Style (a luxury wedding resource)
Muna Luchi Bridal (multicultural weddings)
Intimate Weddings Blog (intimate wedding planning)
BLoved (luxe wedding planning)
You can also check out my Pinterest boards!
Setting a Budget
This part suuuucks but deciding on your total budget up front will make this entire process a little easier. Also, a lot of what’s listed online in blog posts about average costs of weddings are nonsense and I always notice that they highly underestimate the averages of some of these items, which is why you want to do some of your own research and come up with ranges.
Have “The Talk” with your partner about what’s most important to you and who’s throwing in some cash.
Prioritize 3-5 things you’ll agree to bend the budget on to get exactly what you want, and where you agree you can cut corners.
Make sure you use, and I cannot stress this enough, a budget range, not a single number.
The biggest contributor to your budget is your guest count.
Being up front with some of your vendors about your budget range and what you really want out of it will open many more doors for you. Trust me on this one, however, be reasonable - we’ve all got bills to pay.
When you think of wedding budgets you probably think of venue, photographer, and food/drinks. Well, it can be a little bit more complicated than that. The best thing you can do for yourself when you start planning is to consult with a wedding planner.
Spending Tips from Here Comes the Guide
“Start putting aside some savings as soon as you get engaged.”
“Use your credit cards responsibly. It's tempting to rack up credit card points during wedding planning, but try to pay off the balance immediately so that you don't accrue interest!”
“Open up a separate wedding checking account so it's easy to see exactly where the money is going.”
Hiring a Planner
Benefits of Hiring an NYC Wedding Planner or Coordinator
Never underestimate what a day-of wedding coordinator can do for your stress levels and experience. I honestly can’t believe people get married without them but I sort of can because vendors like me love timelines and always take over. BUT, we also can’t sacrifice the quality of our work we’re there to provide, to make sure everything stays coordinated. Here’s a few reasons to hire someone to help you plan/coordinate:
Natural + Professional Planners: The project managers of wedding planning, they are natural planners and executors and customer servicers (is that a word?). Look, you don’t have all the time in the world to plan your wedding. If planning isn’t your forte, consider hiring one to make sure you experience is enjoyable.
Knowledge + Experience: They have extensive knowledge of all things weddings, know how to negotiate and ask the right questions. As in, you won’t accidentally have no chairs/tables/silverware or even hidden fees at your wedding.
Vendor Relationships: They have tons of vendor relationships and can save you time finding the people you want within your budget range or even working with someone a bit outside of your budget. Also, they know what’s up and who’s who in the community.
Creative Ideas: They have tons of fun and creative ideas just waiting for a couple to love and incorporate into their wedding. They know alllllllll the tricks.
Wedding Experience: They just make the experience of planning and enjoying your wedding a good one. Pop culture has ingrained in us that wedding are hot mess disasters, and that’s usually only the case when there was no one along the way to suggest alternatives/better options or just help out organizing.
Types of Planners:
Full Service
Partial
Destination
Month-of Coordinator
Event Designer
Day-of Coordinator