You’re engaged! Congratulations! Whether you are basking in that newly engaged glow or can’t wait to get planning, you have a wonderful time ahead as you dream about and plan your perfect wedding day. The key is to not panic and enjoy the process. It can feel overwhelming but that’s where this blog post comes in; as a wedding florist and wedding planner with over 30 years experience, I’m going to share my first steps for planning your wedding.

Set a Budget

It’s important to chat through your priorities, what your non-negotiables are and what your budget is. It can be difficult putting restrictions on yourself, but it will save you a lot of heartache down the line. Talking about money isn’t always the nicest thing either, being open and communicating from the beginning means you can dive right in and know you are both on the same page.

Make a Wedding Planning To Do List

If you’re anything like me, having a To Do list can make you feel a bit more in control and calmer. Take a piece of paper or grab your laptop and brain dump everything you have on your mind. It’s therapeutic to just get it all out.

Have a read through and prioritise the list.

Choose a Date

At the top of that list there will be one of two things, 1. Choose a date or 2. Choose a Venue. They are the two most important factors: when and where you will get married! One may be more important than the other to you, but if it’s the date then consider your preferred season and any public/bank holidays you’d like to avoid or coincide with. Is a weekend wedding a must or would a week day wedding work for you? With your preferred date in mind (or a few) you can then start looking at venues!

Choose A Venue

If the second option of ‘Choose a Venue’ is your priority rather than the date, you may have one in mind already or maybe you need to put together a shortlist. Consider your preferred layout, both inside and outside. It’s a good idea to confirm at this stage whether you would like your ceremony and reception to take place in the one location, or whether you’ll be holding a ceremony elsewhere and your reception at another venue. There are so many options for both.

Once you decide on your dream venue, gather available dates from the wedding co-ordinator and apply the same considerations, day of the week, season, public/bank holidays etc.

Choose your bridal party

Choosing your bridal party is the next step as it can have a lot of implications on other wedding plans. You might be in favour of an intimate wedding with just the two of you or perhaps you prefer bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls, page boys etc. Your budget may impact this, so do bear in mind that the bigger the bridal party, the higher the costs.

Start Researching Suppliers

With those vital steps taken you now get to enjoy all the fun decisions, like choosing your wedding theme, dress and suit shopping, menu choices, flowers, the list goes on.

There is no real right or wrong order but working through these items calmly and one step at a time, will keep you in the driver’s seat.

Your chosen venue may also have a preferred supplier list, I am Galgorm’s Wedding Florist, for example. Take a look at this, it can save you a lot of work!

Make a Guest List

Your guest list is something you will look at a lot over the course of planning a wedding, but in the first instance it’s good to decide if you want a larger than life party or a small and intimate celebration. Put together a quick list of all the people who come to mind, this will give you a rough number that you can then use to finalise budget, venue, number of tables etc.

Conclusion

And that’s it! With these first steps you are well underway. Your wedding day will be here in no time! Of course, the other option is hire a wedding planner, a service I am delighted to offer alongside my luxury wedding floristry service, please do get in touch if you’d like to know more or about either.