Nine Simple Steps to Start Planning Your Wedding

BMWWedding TIPS

A wedding will probably be the biggest and most involved party either of you have ever put together, but don't be scared- enjoy the journey!

  1. Enjoy Being Engaged- Time goes so fast, even after taking 14 months to plan our wedding it is already two months after and seems like a blur. If there Is only one item of advice I could give, it would be to take it all in and enjoy every moment. I still remember the moment we got engaged right before Christmas, which I was always told would never happen, and I found my ring on an ornament in the Christmas tree. Needless to say, I was shocked!
  • Kiss each other a thousand times.
  • Jump up and down saying, "We're engaged!"
  • Stare at the engagement ring.
  • Take pictures.
  • Bask in the moment and make your engagement special.
  1. Tell Who Is Most Important First- Don’t post it on Social Media for Grandma to find out. Am I right? Has this not happened before to you? Kind of disappointing to find out someone who you thought you were so close with posted on social media before they even text you. I remember calling my parents and brother to tell them, lots of tears of excitement and then we shared it will the rest of our family and all of our friends.
  • You should tell your parents of your impending nuptials before anyone else. (Unless of course, you are estranged.)
  • Share the news with a few close friends - the ones who are likely candidates for maid/matron of honor and best man, or definite attendants in some capacity.
  1. Announce Your Engagement-We went the easier route and posted a picture on social media for all our friends and family to see. I then made us a website, my fiancé at the time did not find the need for a website. Let me tell you this was very useful for all guests. A website will provide information needed for wedding location, registry/ies (which should not be listed on your wedding invitation), RSVP option, and much more. A website will keep you on track and can personalize to who you two are. For example, we had a destination wedding, so we picked “Two Less Fish In The Sea” on The Knot as our theme.
  • Tell everyone the good news! There are many ways of doing this, and no way is more proper or better than any other. This is the time you can post it all over social media! Consider mailing announcements to your family and friends but is not necessary, everyone has a budget and this is something that you can forgo.
  • Create a wedding website https://www.theknot.com/ or https://www.weddingwire.com/
  1. Set the Date- All we knew when we set our date was that we wanted our wedding in Cabo San Lucas, we had to plan around Summer (super humid and hot), hurricane season (cheap but not worth it), Spring Break (no thank you), so we decided the best month would be February. For our guests we had to pick a weekend that would be most reasonable, we selected the last weekend in February which is after Valentines Day and Presidents Day which are high travel weekends. The best thing about our destination is that Southwest offers a direct flight from Colorado which made it a lot more appealing to our guests.
  • One of the most important decisions you will make as you plan your wedding is picking a date. Not only will it be the first question everyone will ask you, but you'd be surprised how difficult it will be to make any progress on planning your wedding without knowing the date.
  • Think About:
    • Important dates for you and your partner- but have a back up plan if you have a specific location just in case the date is already taken
    • Time of year- on-season or off-season for venues which will delegate cost
  1. Set the Tone of Your Event- It was easy we knew we wanted a casual beach wedding enjoyable for everyone. This gave all our friends and family who could make it a reason to get out of the country and spend some time in a paradise.
  • This is the time to decide what type of wedding you want: formal wedding, a casual affair, destination, or a theme wedding. It's also the time to decide what kind of ceremony you are having. You and your partner need to decide what you want your wedding to feel like.
  1. Set the Budget- Setting our budget was something we talked with both of our parents about to see what they could/would help us with.
  • Start off by finding a wedding budget worksheet which can be easily found on Google. Look at your finances and figure out how much you already have in savings, and how much you can save each month.
  • Talk to each of your parents and ask them if they'd like to contribute to your wedding, and either how much they'd like to give you, or what specific things they'd like to pay for.
  1. Choose Your Attendants- Since we had a destination wedding we wanted to make it as easy as possible for our “I DO Crew” we knew we wanted to have our closest friends get ready with us and let them choose what they wanted to wear, we suggested colors for both sides but hoped it was a staple in everyone’s closets. We did not want any of our friends to have to purchase something new or something specific since they were traveling a great distance. Having my brother as my best friend, my choice was easy, he was my Man of Honor and my fiancés brother was his Best Man. During the wedding we had the two of them stand up with us and reserved seating for those in our “I DO Crew.”
  • Your attendants do a lot more than just standing next to you on the day of the wedding. While some couples opt not to have any attendants at all, especially if they're having a casual event, most choose between 1 and 10 members of the bridal party. Look over these lists of responsibilities for bridesmaids and groomsman before you make your final choices. If they live nearby, it's nice to ask someone in person, but a phone call is fine for those who live far away. http://www.weddingplanning.com/tips/content/wedding_party.htm
  1. Start Looking for Venues for Ceremony and Reception- For us we knew where we wanted to have our wedding, a restaurant on the beach where we grew up going and had so many memories we shared. We made sure that our reception and ceremony was at the same location to make it easy for guests to stay in one place.
  • Many venues are booked a year in advance, so the further in advance you start looking, the more likely you are to get the time, date, and cost that you've planned for.
  1. Get Support- Support is the most important thing, use your resources, not only are close friends and family great but read blogs, look on the internet. Pinterest offers so many ideas if you need a direction to go in. Buy yourself a wedding book full of TO DO’s, checklists, idea boards. Even as a wedding planner I am always using resources, asking friends and family who have gotten married for ideas, I read books and blogs on new trends using