Just getting started....

Set a budget and do a rough guest list draft so you know how many people you have, this will help when you're looking at venues as they all have different guest capacities. Pick a date and then start looking for venues, after venue then caterer and registrar and everything else can be done in no particular order after that.

+1 to getting a rough guest list in place before looking at venues. I really wish we had properly counted before committing! It wouldn't have changed the venue but it would have been one less worry!


Also agreee with make a budget and stick to it. You might have to be a bit flexible on dates - the date we wanted was already taken, despite it being over 18 months away. We found an alternative that worked though, so no worries there.

Definitely make a guest list as this is shape how big your wedding will be. We are exactly 5 weeks away from the big day now so I don’t know what I would do differently yet as it hasn’t happened!
But yes a guest list, a budget and a short list of possible venues to visit. The checklist on here is very helpful or you could get a wedding planner book which someone bought me and had been quite useful too. Good luck and make lots of lists!

Hi,

I would definitely agree with the others re guest list. Originally I had planned for 100 day guests but this dropped down during planning process. Then dropped further when some of our guests couldn't attend. We only had 3 day guests who couldn't attend within the week up to the wedding, but luckily we were able to fill 2 of those spaces at short notice. I would book the minimum number when you sign your contract and then ask your venue how to give final numbers and pay the extra cost for them. We met the minimum number for day, but fell short of about 4 guests for evening.

I'm not sure if this is usual, but after booking your venue, registrar, caterer, wedding dress and photographer - book your florist early. This may also be dependent on time of year and Covid backlog, but I struggled to find a local florist to the venue who was available for my wedding date. Luckily there was a freelance florist who lives on my estate and she was available. She also did a fabulous job!

Other than that, I wouldn't change the wedding planning process and it was generally quite smooth. I'm quite organised and had an Excel Spreadsheet to refer to re to-do jobs and budgets.

Good luck and it will all be worth it on the day! xx

Budget and guest list first this will help you with venue x💗 good luck with all your planning and enjoy. X💗

We're in the same position, weve just confirmed our venue today and already have a rough estimate on guest list. We've wrote everything down of what we want etc and taking each day as it comes 😊 just enjoy it and listen to your partner xx

Agree with budget and number of guests. Time of year will very the cost vastly too, so think about that. I've used the planning lists on here and deleted everything we don't want, for example favours and fancy wedding cars. Getting prices from venues by filling in the enquiry form will also help with options, eg prices for wedding breakfast v buffet v bbq etc
Enjoy x

Personally, I’d recommend actually getting engaged before doing the budget…
My proposal came while we were doing some long term finance planning and I was trying to convince my OH how much a wedding actually costs. We managed to budget the entire wedding before he actually then asked me to marry him (genuinely it was just a curiosity piece for the two of us to begin with). The ring came 3 days later.
But in all honesty, before you even start looking at anything, set yourselves a realistic budget. It has really helped us to plan not only the day we’d like but to do so without having to borrow anything to do it. As such, we’re enjoying the process and we’re able to keep saving for other future events.

The absolute best thing we did was sit down just the two of us and think about the type of wedding we wanted, the amount of guests, and the 'type' of guests we wanted.

We settled on a beach wedding in Cornwall where the vibe would be fun over formal, with no more than 50 guests, restricted to immediate family so we could have mostly friends.

We made those broad but crucial decisions before we even started talking to family or friends about planning the wedding and it has been a HUGE help. Whenever we hit dramas from family wanting to invite people or one of us starts to get swayed into placating what someone else wants, we can remind ourselves of what we wanted for OUR day before anyone else started to put their oar in - it really really helps with picking our battles and prioritising where to spend budget too.

Hope this helps - enjoy planning, it is fun!

Hello,

I would advice to start with the venue. Everything seems to fall into place once the venue is booked.

Definitely setting a budget Is something I should have done first. We ended up going back and forth on a venue because we hadn’t organised properly!

Budget & guest list first, then venue - as everyone has said - but my biggest piece of advice is literally just ignore all your friends and family lol - maybe that's a bit harsh, and take on suggestions sure, but if your gut feel is that you don't or do want something, go with that feeling! I tried on so many wedding dresses, found one I loved and got talked out of it by bridesmaids - they talked me into a new one which got a hugely positive reaction from everyone, and I liked at the time, but realised about 2 hours after I'd bought it (in sale, no refunds) that I didn't like it. Now I've spent £100s getting it altered, adding bits, taking out underskirts etc. Wish I'd picked my original dress! Luckily, as that dress came in so under budget, I bought a second dress that I much prefer.

Definitely set a budget- me and my partner definitely should have done this as before you know it the cost spirals up! xx

I wish I spent more time in the dress shop to walk around in the dress and soak up the moment, I was so nervous I rushed and was in and out so quickly ! X

View quoted message Ha ha loved this ! What a hint
Our actual wedding was planned along these lines as I had said we would have a long engagement BUT after being at my nieces beautiful wedding last year we were inspired and I sat down and did some maths and said look ..... and abracadabra we are getting married in September

View quoted message Great piece of advice about listening to yourselves over everyone else! (Love it)!!


We gave our immediate family 1 ‘red card’ each to play if they really though we were suggesting something stupid. It has honestly saved us a lot of doubts.
The other thing I did (along a similar line) was set firm rules with those who came dress shopping with me - the main one being that they weren’t to say anything until I gave my opinion first. My sister and I have seen too many brides be convinced to turn down a dress they love by the people they take with them when shopping. I’m really sorry to hear that happened to you, Millie.

View quoted message

Thank you haha - that's alright though, after the alterations are done I will like it, and I love the second and absolutely can't wait to wear it! I sent a picture of me wearing to my friends with the message 'bought this ages ago, not returning so the only words out of your mouth better be 'love it, you look like a princess'