Wedding planning can be an amazing experience for you, especially if you do it right. This means that you should do some research in order to find the best way to do wedding planning. When you know enough about wedding planning to do it well, it should be a breeze to do and you’ll be able to get great results out of it. That said, here are some basics about wedding planning that you should keep in mind if you want to have a hassle-free time and get a great event in the end.
1. Secure a Good Venue
A great wedding relies a lot on the venue, so this is one of the most important things for you to keep in mind when planning a wedding. With the right venue, you’ll have an easy time wowing the guests and making the event an amazing one. As such, make sure that the event venue you choose is a great one and will fit perfectly with the theme you choose. This will make it easier for you to decorate the space with your chosen decor and get it to look exactly the way you want it to.
Some possible venues are your church, a local or exotic farm, a casino, and the beach. Practically anywhere can serve as a venue as long as it matches your desired theme. Start looking for a venue early enough so that you have a good chance of finding the perfect one. When you do, secure it because you may not be the only one trying to use it on the specific date that the wedding is set for. While doing this, find out if there are any special rules and considerations that you need to keep in mind and share with your guests for the event.
While securing a venue for the service, don’t forget that you also need to get a good wedding reception location. Most people use the same venue that they used for their service for the reception and even the evening party. You can make things differently depending on what you want. Just make sure that your plans are convenient and will work out well for the wedding without taxing you or your guests.
2. Ensure You Have the Basics
Another important thing about wedding planning that you need to keep in mind is to ensure that all the basics are secured and they’re exactly the way that they need to be. This includes the wedding ring, wedding outfits, and invites. Finalizing the plans with the ring supplier will make sure that there are no surprises on the big day, such as having rings that don’t fit.
As for the invites, it’s important to make sure that they’re ready and have been sent out in good time so that they reach your guests early enough. This should allow them ample time to plan their daily lives around the wedding. If they can do this, there’s a lower chance that they’ll miss the wedding as they’ll be able to plan for it, buying any outfits they need to buy and making sure they have gifts and travel plans if you have a destination wedding.
3. Don’t Forget About Food
Food is an important part of many events, so this is another thing about wedding planning that you should keep in mind. It’s important for you to first know how many people will make it to your wedding, as this will give you a good idea of how much food you need. You may need to shop around for a reliable caterer who can deliver what you need and to the standards you require. This means that you can ask friends and family about anyone who may have the details of a stellar caterer.
You could also choose an easier way out by enlisting a restaurant to cater to the wedding guests and wedding party. A good restaurant menu is one of the things that will help you be sure that you’re giving guests the best possible treatment. When you know the guests that are expected to attend, you can plan age-specific meals that will be both filling and presentable at the wedding. It doesn’t have to be extravagant to be meaningful and serve the purpose, so make sure that the payment needed by the caterer or restaurant that you choose is worth it.
4. Plan All Details for the Guests
Remember that another important thing to do when thinking about wedding planning is to make allowances and plans for the guests. This involves organizing their travel and accommodation if it’s a destination wedding or some guests are out of town. If there are any guests who have special requirements, find out if these can be addressed and catered to well. When you know this, you have a good chance of making the wedding an amazing event for every single guest.
This is also why it’s important to start with a guest list. If you do this, it will be easy for you to know what compromises you need to make, if any, for their comfort. You’ll also be able to know whether to make alterations to the guest list early enough before it’s too late to do so and there’s a risk of disappointing people.
5. Shop For Decor In Advance
Wedding decor, just like the wedding venue, is another thing about wedding planning that you must know about early enough. Once you have a venue, the next thing to think about is the decor you will use. Some venues may need minimal decor in order to get in good shape, while others may need a lot of work to be done on them. Once you know the type of decor the venue needs, you should be able to shop for it well.
Consider things like the wedding bouquet as well, which should match your outfits and also fit in with the decor. It should all merge well with the venue you’ve picked and not have any functional inadequacies. These include problems with placement and issues with balance, for instance. You don’t want a situation whereby flowers fall on guests as they eat or there are poorly-supported structures getting in the way of videography and photography of the event.
6. Look for a Good Make-up Artist
It’s important to look good in wedding photos, and this is why another important consideration to make when thinking about wedding event planning is a good makeup artist. To be sure that they’re a good fit, check out their portfolio to see their past work. This will enable you to know whether it’s a good idea to enlist them. They should be able to pull off different looks effortlessly and work well under pressure.
If there are many people who will need to have makeup done, it’s a good idea to consider getting more than one makeup artist. This is to make sure that they work well and get the desired outcome within a good time frame. Find out whether they can also do a manicure and other services that you need. If they can’t, you’ll benefit from getting this information early enough to search for the people you need. This will ensure you that come to the wedding date, everything goes as planned and there aren’t any missing bits and pieces.
7. Find Good Camera Services
It’s crucial to record the memory of the event, and this is why securing a good photographer and videographer is an important consideration to make about wedding planning. To this end, search for a reasonably-priced but decent photographer or crew that you’re sure you can rely on. They should have relevant experience and be reliable enough that they won’t fail you on the day. Have a look at different photographers’ portfolios in order to make sure that you pick one who can cater to you and one whose quality meets your desired standards.
Discuss expectations early on so that everyone is clear about what is meant to happen as well as the necessary plans that should be made in advance. You want to make sure that nothing is out of place and that things have a good chance of working out as a set. To this end, discuss any special considerations about wedding photography that the professional you choose has. If you can meet them, then plan to do so in order for the process to go on without issues.
8. It’s Important to Set a Budget
Working with a budget is the best way for you to make sure that the wedding event doesn’t leave you with financial issues. Aim to cut your coat from your cloth and don’t reach for an exuberant wedding that will cost you money that you don’t even have. As such, write down a budget so that you know well what you can reasonably spend on every single item on your list. This will make it easier to shop for vendors and other wedding basics, including the suit and dress. This makes it important to start everything off with a reasonable budget so that you know what to expect and what you can get.
Don’t try to constrict the budget too much, because this will make it hard for you to get the necessary items and services that you require. Find out from parents and the wedding committee, if you have one, how much they’re going to raise so that you can make plans for the rest of the amount and know what you’ll need to raise yourself in order to get what you want. Early planning is going to be quite helpful for you because you’ll have the time to shop around and make adjustments where necessary. Don’t be shy about changing your plans, but keep an open mind and you’ll discover that this is one of the most important things to do when thinking about wedding planning and practically any other event planning.
9. Plan for the After Services
Although for many people, a wedding is over as soon as the reception is over and the evening party has been concluded, this isn’t necessarily the end of it all for you. This is because you should know what’s going to happen as far as cleanup and taking down the decorations and other items goes. Some of the planning will call for early booking of things such as dumpsters.
Depending on the wedding venue and other specifics, you may have hired tents, tables, and seats for use, among other things. These all need to be verified and returned to their designated areas, so keep this in mind. While this may not sound like a fun thing to do when thinking about wedding planning, it’s a crucial one that will wind everything up on the right note.
Keep these nine things about wedding planning in mind so that you have a good chance of having the perfect wedding. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, so it’s a good idea to have a second option on which you can rely in case things don’t go as planned with your first option. Things change, so there’s wisdom in not trying to make all your plans to be set in stone. Allow for some flexibility with your plans so that you can easily adjust if you need to and the wedding won’t have to grind to a halt just because one or two key things haven’t followed the set plan you had for them. That’s all about wedding planning that you need to know to plan for an amazing event that everyone who visits will look back on with warm memories.