Congratulations!
One of life’s most special moments – the engagement. A moment you and your partner will never forget. I hope you have enjoyed all your celebrations with your loved ones, and are ready to begin your wedding planning journey. First of all, pour yourself a cuppa (or a glass of bubbles), take out your wedding planner and take a deep breath.
A good friend once said to me once she got engaged;
“I don’t want to rush down the aisle. I want to enjoy being engaged to my fiancé, after all we have our entire lives to be married to one another.”
It can be overwhelming at first, we get it! But do not stress, time is on your side. Planning your wedding is a very significant part of the big day. You want to look forward to every single element. From the dress shopping, to the cake testing and all the amazing wedding fairs in between. You will be surprised how fast the wedding day can come around. So for now, look forward to it all.
You have come to the right place, here at our To Have and To Hold Wedding Blog we will be guiding you along the way in order to bring your dream wedding day to life.
First step: Get Organised
A wedding planner diary is going to be your bible until your day is here. I recommend to research a good wedding planning diary. Ensure that it is full to the brim of tips, advice and templates. It is crucial you have some sort of binder that allows you to hold all important documents.
If you are more of a technical bride, have a look at the wedding app’s. There is several to choose from!
Second Step: Sit down with your partner
Before you start contacting suppliers or viewing wedding packages, it is vital that you both have discussed your budget and a rough guest list. Couples who seek pricing before they have a budget set can quickly become overwhelmed. Sit down and go through your finances and potential saving plans. It is crucial that you know how you will fund the wedding before planning. Once you both achieve this, you will be able to set a realistic wedding date and budget.
A good tip is to lock in a certain evening of the week with your partner to discuss your plans. Perhaps a ‘Wedding Wednesday?’. It is almost like a date night where ye can accomplish your plans together.
Third Step: The Guest list
Write down two columns. You will have your ‘definite’ and your ‘maybe’. (I will discuss this further in a separate blogpost). Once you establish your final number, you will be multiplying this number by the venue price per head. This cost will be the bulk of your costs. For example; If a venue is charging €90 per head and you have 100 guests – your venue/wedding reception will cost €9,000.
Fourth Step: Decisions, Decisions !
Once you have an idea of budget & numbers, these are the next factors you need to decide on. Create a pro and con list for each one and this will allow you to narrow down your choices.
- Time of year
- Themes
- Church or Ceremony?
- Home or Away?
A lot of the above will also depend on availability and cost. In Ireland, Summer and Christmas is known to be peak for weddings. Therefore availability and cost can vary.
Before you know it, your dream day will start to come together. You will begin to visualise exactly how you want to imagine it and will be ready to start planning your next steps. Until then, take your time. Research and ask all the questions you can! Talk to friends who got married and ask for advice. Pick up the phone to one of our amazing wedding planners if you are struggling for clarification. We have extensive knowledge and expertise that will be sure to help you!
Enjoy and check back soon when you are ready to take the next step in your wedding planning!
