From Amazon
There
are a hundred and one things that need to be planned for your big
day, so a wedding planning checklist is essential. You should start
planning well in advance – a year is not too long although that
does assume that yours is not a gunshot romance!
Wedding plan guide
Planning
is the key to success for a smooth wedding. Planning can’t start
too early! Here is a wedding planning list to get you started on your
wedding plan:
1.
The Budget
You
need to establish early on what your wedding budget is. Will either
set of parent be contributing financially to the wedding? Ideas of
roughly how many guests will be attending need to be considered at
this early stage, as the size of the event will have a big impact on
the cost.
2.
The Ceremony
As
soon as you know what date you are aiming for, you should find out
about the venue and personnel for the ceremony. For a church wedding
in particular you should discuss your wedding with the priest or
vicar as soon as possible. Even civil ceremony venues can have long
waiting lists.
3.
Wedding Insurance
This
is worth considering, especially if you are planning a particularly
expensive wedding. In the unfortunate event that you had to postpone,
you could end up paying for everything twice! Wedding insurance can
remove that worry.
4.
Wedding Reception Planning
Spend
some time beforehand jotting down your requirements and priorities,
then visit a number of venues before you make your final choice.
5.
Flowers
These
will need to be booked well in advance, especially if you are
planning a wedding on a budget and wish to shop around and perhaps do
some of the flower arranging yourself.
6.
Wedding Music
You
may wish to select music for both the ceremony venue and the
reception venue. Many people hire a live band for the latter.
7.
Photography
If
you are planning a wedding on a budget you may wish to consider
asking around for friends of friends who do wedding photography.
8.
Invitations
Allow
extra time depending on how nicely you want to personalize them. Hand
written calligraphy invitations are beautiful, if time consuming, so
if you have a friend or relative willing to volunteer you should jump
at the offer!
9.
Wedding Dress
As
well as the Groom’s outfits, bridesmaids, plus ushers or pageboys
if you will have them.
10.
Wedding Cake
Again,
book well in advance or if you are lucky enough to have one of the
mothers cooking it for you make sure that you discuss the size and
decoration early on.
11.
Rings
Again,
you may be surprised at the time it takes to both decide on the rings
and potentially have them ordered in the right sizes. Visit a
jewelers early on in the planning.
12.
Wedding Gift List
Give
some thought as to whether you are going to have a traditional
wedding gift list, or something more modern like a note to the effect
that “We want your presence not your presents,” as some couples
do these days.
13.
Transport
Not
only from the church to the reception venue, but also transport
arrangements for guests – and very importantly your travel plans
for the honeymoon!
The
importance of planning ahead for your wedding can’t be
over-emphasized. The best wedding planning tip is simply: Be
Organized!