On the lookout for a wedding planning checklist that's as flexible and functional as you are? That's it, you made it there. Some checklists for wedding preparations can be really helpful, while others can add so much unnecessary information that they do more harm than good. This straightforward wedding planning checklist is perfect for keeping track of your progress whether you have three months, six months, or eighteen months to prepare for your big day.
Planning a wedding is a time when it's easy to get bogged down in the nitty-gritty. A simple wedding is not necessarily something boring and uninteresting, so don't let that stop you from trying to make it that way. On the contrary!
If you're planning a small, intimate wedding, you'll have more time and energy to devote to the essentials. There are fewer moving parts, no extra costs, and less anxiety.
Would you agree that this is the best possible result? To simplify the wedding planning process, you can make a few small adjustments.
To begin with, though: There will be times during the wedding planning process when you feel completely overwhelmed. The majority of engaged couples do employ a wedding planner to assist them, but there are many valid arguments for the couples to do the majority of the work themselves. It's a lot of extra effort, but you can organise the wedding of your dreams on your own, even if you're on a tight budget or just adore all the DIY possibilities.
When you have a lot of decisions to make, a long to-do list, tight deadlines, and just life in general to deal with, organising is essential for staying on track. First, make sure you give yourselves plenty of time to organise your wedding. The longer the time frame, the better; try to shoot for at least a year. And remember to include your partner in this process. Both of you should feel like a part of the big day.
We guess the question is: where to start? All bases are covered here. One vital point to bear in mind is this: try to enjoy yourself! Remember, this day is all about you. Focus on what matters most to you and your partner: getting married in front of your friends and family and celebrating the love you share with one another.
FAQs About Weddings
As a fringe month with less predictable weather, March is a great time of year to book a wedding, as you'll find lower venue fees almost anywhere. April and May are considered peak season in much of the country, though you may be able to find affordable venues in regions that have a longer winter.
Traditionally, the bride is only solely responsible for paying for the groom's wedding band and wedding gifts for her bridesmaids. However, there are many wedding costs (everything from a coordinator to flowers and décor) that are often shared between the bride and her family.
You're going to want at least two hours to get your venue fully set, especially if you don't have a staff of pros to make it happen. Some questions to consider: Are chairs and tables going to need to be set up? Or will they be in place when the set up team arrives? (Add at least 30 minutes for table/chair setup.)
The mother of the bride is the last person seated before the officiant, groom and best man take their places at the altar. She can walk alone or be escorted by her son, son-in-law or another relative. She is seated on the left side in the first row.
If a woman's father is no longer living or available, another person may be designated to have the honor of this wedding vow. A brother, favorite uncle, grandfather, or any other member of the family may do this part of the ceremony. I have even done weddings where the single mother of the bride “gave her away.”
Prioritize the Most Important Choices
Many would advise picking a location before anything else. That said, without a specific date in mind, it's not easy to accomplish. And don't forget the money! The best course of action is to start with the decisions that are most interdependent. The three most important decisions to make early in the planning process are the date, the budget, and the location. It may seem like a lot now, but when it comes time to construct your dream wedding, you'll be glad you started with these three pillars.
Set Your Wedding Budget—and Stick to It
One of the first things you should do is figure out your wedding budget, since this will be the deciding factor in many of the other decisions you'll need to make. Discuss with any relatives who may be chipping in how much they feel comfortable contributing.
If you're paying out of pocket, you should evaluate your financial situation. Many engaged couples are unprepared for the full extent of the costs associated with planning a wedding and must be given a reality check when it comes to their wedding budget. Get that perfect sum, and don't stray from it under any circumstances!
Get Personal With Your Wedding Style
After the big choices have been made, the little details can be worked out. On the other hand, a generic list of things to accomplish is a waste of time. Spend some time together over food and drink, discuss your goals and priorities, and then use our nifty downloadable checklist to craft a strategy that's tailor-made for you. You'll have a crystal-clear picture of what to do next, and you won't waste time on side issues.
The greatest benefit is that you and your future spouse will have to make decisions about the ceremony and reception that are mutually agreeable, as you will have established your own checklist together.
Send Out Your Invitations and Make That Wedding Website
Send out invitations to your guests once you've decided on a venue, a date, and a wedding theme. In addition to informing guests, you should set up a wedding website that covers all they need to know about the big day.
You and your future spouse should sit down with a bottle of wine and enjoy the process of creating your wedding registry together; we guarantee it will be enjoyable. This will ensure that your visitors know exactly what they're looking for and will appreciate their present much more.
Select the Other Essential Vendors
The time has come to choose the key and supplementary vendor selections for your wedding, guided by your basic wedding planning checklist and your wedding vision.
Locate the dress, investigate attire for the wedding party, and book a tailor. Select the best disc jockey and food service provider. In addition, it's a good idea to schedule a visit from a florist so that you may get ideas for equally luscious flowers to use when peonies are out of season. We recommend making the most of your weekends so that you may get as much done as possible in the run-up to the wedding.
Have The Parties Before the Party
Trust us, by the time you're in the home stretch of wedding planning, you'll appreciate any retreat, especially with friends. The moment has come to start making plans for the bachelor/bachelorette party. You and your loved ones deserve a celebration, and it doesn't have to be anything extravagant or far-flung.
Keep the Guest List Small
Almost everything else will be cheaper and easier to accomplish if you can simply accomplish this one item.
Keep the Menu Simple
Our largest expense has been food, but we've managed to keep it manageable by avoiding pricey fine dining. No, we didn't order a tonne of appetisers, main courses, and desserts.
Simple yet fundamental dishes were selected, and that was that. We want our guests to have a good time and enjoy the food, but they aren't coming to chow down on a five-course meal; they're going to acknowledge our marriage and be with us. Whatever the case may be, if they aren't happy with it, it's none of my business.
Have It Catered
If you want to simplify your food choices, you can either do so in terms of how much it will cost or how much effort will be involved. We have many families wanting to pitch in since that's how it's done in Guam. It could have helped us save money. We didn't want to deal with the hassle, so we settled on the simplest option and are pleased with it. Thus, all that's required of a family to join in the festivities is to get dressed up and show up.
Get Help, and Delegate
Although we did away with the need for cooking for the family, we might still use some assistance from close relatives and pals. As a result, we are not attempting to handle all of the preparations on our own and have instead recruited additional help. Trust me; they're happy to lend a hand.
There are a lot of minor things that need to be handled, and if you try to do them all by yourself, you'll end up running yourself ragged. Instead, ask for assistance, divide up the work, and cross things off as they are completed. It simplifies matters greatly.
Forget Fancy Invitations
The standard wedding invitation process involves multiple pieces of paper—envelopes, tissue paper, and more—before you even get to the invitation itself. It's too much of a hassle and cost for my liking.
So, we just used our home printer and some generic stationery from the office supply store to make our own invites. We didn't even bother addressing or putting them in envelopes.
Our invites were simple to prepare; we printed two per 8.5′′ x 11′′ page, folded the paper in half, and distributed them that way. Given the limited transportation options on our tiny island, we decided to have a local family hand them out personally instead of sending them via the mail.
Do Not Attempt to Impress.
A lot of time and money will be spent on trying to impress people with your wedding. Simply put, you shouldn't bother. Everyone knows that lavish weddings are fun for the day of the ceremony but leave the couple in a mountain of debt for the rest of their lives.
Rather than incur debt, reduce our stress levels, and put some of the savings towards our honeymoon, we made the following decision. As we've already established, your guests don't give a hoot if you don't pull out all the stops for your wedding. Should they want to do so, that is entirely on them.
Perform Any Necessary Final Adjustments
This is the phase of wedding preparation where you have to put your head down and deal with all the little details. With the final headcount in hand, you can wrap up the rest of the planning, including the trademark drinks, the catering, and the rental orders. Make sure the dress is perfect by getting one last fitting before the big day. Gather your favours and appreciation presents together. Forward a comprehensive shot list to your photographer so that they may prepare adequately.
One piece of advice: if you're feeling overwhelmed, now is the time to enlist the support of loved ones and your wedding planner to get through the last of the tasks. Meet with your officiant, finalise the wedding party's roles and responsibilities, go through the seating chart, and finalise any legal documents, such as your marriage licence and name change paperwork. Feeling overwhelmed is normal, but you will look back on this time with fond memories.
Have a Rehearsal Dinner, Be Married, and Then Have Some Wedding Cake.
Well done, you! You should try to relax as much as possible in the days leading up to your wedding, so if you remember something you need to get done later, don't worry about it right now.
Making the most important choices early ensures that your wedding will be uniquely yours. Choose a go-to person ahead of time in case of emergency during the wedding celebrations. Above everything things, enjoy a wonderful time. Focus on being with your partner and revelling in the wedding you've worked so hard to organise. You owe it to yourself to do this.
There is no such thing as a truly simple wedding if you want a fairly traditional wedding with the bridal dress and bridesmaids and a reception and all of that. A wedding can be kept to a minimum if the groom, bride, and a few close friends or family members all attend the ceremony and reception at the local courthouse. In this essay, we'll discuss the more involved, conventional wedding, with some customs omitted to keep things easier.
Conclusion
Planning a modest, intimate wedding will allow you to focus on what really matters. The vast majority of newly engaged couples use the services of a wedding planner. However, there are numerous good reasons why the couples should perform most of the job themselves. Many people believe that deciding on a place is the first step. The date, the money, and the place are the three most crucial choices to make at the outset of the planning process.
Create a spending plan and stick to it. Once you have settled on a venue and a theme, it's time to send out invitations. Now is the time to make the major and minor vendor decisions for your wedding. If you want to get as much done as possible before the wedding, you should prioritise the weekends. If you can get this done, nearly everything else will be less expensive and simpler to carry out.
Put in a request for help, divide the tasks, and check them off the list when they are finished. Don't try to outdo everyone. Having an extravagant wedding is unnecessary. Now is the time to request the help of loved ones and your wedding planner if you are feeling overwhelmed. In the days coming up to the big day, try to take it easy as much as possible. You should receive one last fitting in the dress before the big day to make sure everything fits just right.
Content Summary
- On the lookout for a wedding planning checklist that's as flexible and functional as you are?
- This straightforward wedding planning checklist is perfect for keeping track of your progress whether you have three months, six months, or eighteen months to prepare for your big day.
- To simplify the wedding planning process, you can make a few small adjustments.
- First, make sure you give yourselves plenty of time to organise your wedding.
- The best course of action is to start with the decisions that are most interdependent.
- The three most important decisions to make early in the planning process are the date, the budget, and the location.
- One of the first things you should do is figure out your wedding budget, since this will be the deciding factor in many of the other decisions you'll need to make.
- Many engaged couples are unprepared for the full extent of the costs associated with planning a wedding and must be given a reality check when it comes to their wedding budget.
- Send out invitations to your guests once you've decided on a venue, a date, and a wedding theme.
- In addition to informing guests, you should set up a wedding website that covers all they need to know about the big day.
- You and your future spouse should sit down with a bottle of wine and enjoy the process of creating your wedding registry together; we guarantee it will be enjoyable.
- The time has come to choose the key and supplementary vendor selections for your wedding, guided by your basic wedding planning checklist and your wedding vision.
- Locate the dress, investigate attire for the wedding party, and book a tailor.
- Select the best disc jockey and food service provider.
- We recommend making the most of your weekends so that you may get as much done as possible in the run-up to the wedding.
- Trust us, by the time you're in the home stretch of wedding planning, you'll appreciate any retreat, especially with friends.
- The moment has come to start making plans for the bachelor/bachelorette party.
- Almost everything else will be cheaper and easier to accomplish if you can simply accomplish this one item.
- We want our guests to have a good time and enjoy the food, but they aren't coming to chow down on a five-course meal; they're going to acknowledge our marriage and be with us.
- If you want to simplify your food choices, you can either do so in terms of how much it will cost or how much effort will be involved.
- Thus, all that's required of a family to join in the festivities is to get dressed up and show up.
- Although we did away with the need for cooking for the family, we might still use some assistance from close relatives and pals.
- Instead, ask for assistance, divide up the work, and cross things off as they are completed.
- The standard wedding invitation process involves multiple pieces of paper—envelopes, tissue paper, and more—before you even get to the invitation itself.
- A lot of time and money will be spent on trying to impress people with your wedding.
- Everyone knows that lavish weddings are fun for the day of the ceremony but leave the couple in a mountain of debt for the rest of their lives.
- As we've already established, your guests don't give a hoot if you don't pull out all the stops for your wedding.
- One piece of advice: if you're feeling overwhelmed, now is the time to enlist the support of loved ones and your wedding planner to get through the last of the tasks.
- You should try to relax as much as possible in the days leading up to your wedding, so if you remember something you need to get done later, don't worry about it right now.
- Making the most important choices early ensures that your wedding will be uniquely yours.
- Choose a go-to person ahead of time in case of emergency during the wedding celebrations.
- There is no such thing as a truly simple wedding if you want a fairly traditional wedding with the bridal dress and bridesmaids and a reception and all of that.