Your Wedding Planning Checklist

If you got engaged recently, congratulations! It really is the most exciting time and hopefully, this wedding planning checklist can help you to start the wedding planning process. Though there are a million things that need to be done, right up until the big day itself, there are a few things that you should decide on before anything else.

1. Tell everyone!

Everyone loves an engagement announcement but remember you should probably call your parents, grandparents and siblings first! You can then posts away on Facebook but make sure you get a fresh manicure before posting that infamous engagement ring photo.

2. Set a day, month or year to get married.

The first question people ask you when you tell them you are engaged, is what the date is going to be. Now unless you are getting married at home, it’s unlikely that you will know the exact date until after you find the venue. Try not to get too fixed on any specific dates as your dream venue may already be booked, to avoid disappointment – but you can decide on a season or an approximate date that you may want to get married to give you some flexibility. Most couples are engaged for about 12-14 months before the wedding, so feel free to set a year in which you want to get married and then a season. Check with other close engaged couple, family members to make sure you aren’t planning dates too close together.

3. Write up a Guest List.

You can’t set a wedding budget or book a wedding venue until you know how many people you’d like to be at your wedding and how much money you’re prepared to spend per head. Of course this will not be the final list, and you are likely to need to get rid of a lot of potential guests to fit in with your budget. When writing your first draft list, think about where you want to get married and the venue’s capacity; and who your family and parents may want to invite. Once you have a draft, talk with your fiancé and parents to see if you can shorten the list, and decide on the best way to do that. Sadly you can’t invite everyone to celebrate with you, so have a thin about who you couldn’t get through the day without first. Speak to your Mum, Dad, Mother in law etc, about relatives and how important it is to have them there. There may be people who live abroad that you know won’t make it, and a good rule to follow is that if the potential guests wouldn’t know your name, then do not invite them! Work colleagues are always a tricky one. Decide early on if you are both inviting people from work or not as that makes it easier when they ask you about wedding plans in the office. It’s much easier to say, ‘it’s a small wedding just for family and friends’, than ‘I don’t want to have to invite you because I have invited the rest of the office!’

4. Determine Your Budget.

This is where you might want to the involve the parents or your family. If possible, have a conversation with both sets of parents and find out how much money everyone is willing and able to contribute. It’s very important that you set the financial budget before you start planning. This can feel a bit awkward but you just need to be sensible and ask if anyone has any plans to contribute so you know what your budget is.

You may be paying for the wedding yourself but remember that parents may want to contribute something, even if it’s the first round of drinks at the reception or paying for your dress.

5. Find a Wedding Planner. 

Although you may have been dreaming of your wedding from when you were little, the actual planning of it can be stressful and we cannot recommend enough hiring a wedding planner. It will save you so much time and money to have a professional bring your dream wedding to life.

We work with well-known wedding coordinator, Kimmie Brown (of award-winning wedding consultancy LITU).

She can be there for you every single step of the way, from guiding you through menu selection to making sure everyone knows when to walk down the aisle. Kimmie, and the Piper family, treat each couple as if they were their family members and nothing is too much trouble. With their excellent attention to details, organisational skills and creative minds, we are certain you will have a very special and memorable Wedding day.

6. Choose Your Wedding Venue, and theme.

Choosing your wedding venue and wedding theme is probably the most important decision of your entire wedding planning process, and is probably the biggest single cost. However it is also the best bit and you will need to set up a Pinterest account, and buy at least 10 wedding magazines!

Wedding venues often get booked up well over a year in advance, so although you shouldn’t make any rash decisions, you’ve got to act quickly.

If you know your budget and have an idea of numbers of guests this allows you to filter which venues can hold that many guests. Then you can decide on theme and therefore venue. Do you want to get married outside, on the beach, in the mountains or in another country altogether? Do you want to get married in a castle, a country house, a tepee, or in the woods? Do you want a Church/Chapel wedding followed by a reception, or would you want to get married and have your reception in the same place? What time of year are you planning to get married? Will you need accommodation on site or nearby? Do you want a daytime or evening wedding and reception, will kids be allowed? Do you want a disco or a ceilidh? What style of food do you want?

Many of these decisions can be set or limited by the venue you choose so try and be flexible with themes and then book appointments to view a few places in your chosen location to get a feel for the range of options available. Do not put down a deposit until you’ve checked there’s a registrar or officiant to marry you on that date!

If you want a civil or ceremony, you’ll need to book a registrar or celebrant. Once it’s booked, you’ll have 14 days to change your mind, but otherwise, you can go ahead and put down your venue deposit knowing there’ll be a registrar there on the day.

If you want to get married in a Church, you’ll need to check with the relevant Church to make sure the date is free. They may well have certain requirements beforehand so you will need to check.

7. Start finding wedding suppliers.

Some of the wedding suppliers will get booked up quickly and should be sorted as soon as your venue is confirmed.

Wedding Photographers and videographers get booked far in advance  and many venues work with specific ones that they recommend. At Millearne we have a comprehensive contact list with details of local suppliers such as photographers, florists, bakers, music agents, caterers etc. All our suppliers are tried and tested and we have worked with them for many years.

Other suppliers which should be booked at early as possible include your wedding band, DJ and any other pipers or musicians

If the wedding venue you’ve booked is not going to be doing your catering, you’ll need to consider hiring outside caterers. Think about the type of wedding breakfast you’d like – it can be a BBQ, hog roast or selection of sharing platters if you don’t want something traditional – and go from there.

8. Insure your ring and the Wedding!

No one wants to think anything bad is going to happen, but rings do get damaged or lost and sometimes things happen that are out of your control and weddings get postponed or cancelled. As soon as you start booking wedding venues or suppliers, get insurance for piece of mind.

9. Decide on a Wedding Party. 

Have a think about who you want to support you on your big day. Choose those closest to you and those who you know will be the most helpful. Be considerate when asking people to be your bridesmaids – and make it clear from day one what you expect them to help you with. You may just want someone to hold your hand on the day, but if you are expecting the full Maid of Honour job role of planning Hen Do’s, organising family, presents, helping with wedding arrangements, appointments and shopping – then think ahead. If you want your best friend to do this job but she is currently 8 months pregnant, it’s possibly not the best time to ask her, and maybe there is some other way to have her support you on the day. The same applies to groomsmen! Not everyone enjoys making public speeches or has the capability to help with organising a Stag Do or the photographer!

10. Begin the Wedding Dress Hunt

Wedding dresses can take up to 9 months to be produced, so start looking early! Before you even making decisions, speak to a bridal specialist and try on different silhouettes, fabrics, and styles and begin to see what you prefer. Also, think about your venue and what time of year you are getting married. You might not want a huge flowy dress if you are planning an outdoor wedding as its going to get very dirty!! wedding season when selecting a dress.