Planning a Wedding? Here’s What I Learned
I’m over the moon about being married. Our wedding day is (one of) the best days of my life (so far).
But for those 647 days in between saying “yes” when Matt proposed and “I do” at the ceremony, I admit I had a mix of emotions. I was beyond thrilled and anxious for our special day to arrive and couldn’t wait to start living the “married life.” Yet at the same time I was going a bit nuts ensuring everything was done that needed to be and we didn’t miss a thing. We didn’t hire a wedding planner, we planned everything ourselves. In the end, everything turned out great and our wedding was phenomenal.
To help future brides planning their wedding, I created a list of what I learned when planning mine.
Budgeting is Essential
Everything costs money.
You should absolutely have a budget before planning so you know what you can afford and are willing to spend. From the venue, the DJ, photographer, hair and makeup artists, the hotel, favors, centerpieces, dress alterations, tux rental…it all adds up within the blink of an eye. It helps to have a budget so that you don’t overspend, and you can prioritize according to what’s most important to you.
Another thing to consider is that, while this is your wedding day and it’s a special day since it’s a milestone in your life, don’t forget about other future milestones that cost a great deal of money. For example, Matt and I want to buy a house and have children. We’d rather spend less on our wedding and more on these things since they are more important to us. We also decided to splurge a little more on our honeymoon than worry about fancy decorations for the venue that will only get thrown away in the end.
Every bride is different. This is your wedding day so you can do what makes you happy.
Plan Ahead
Giving yourself enough time to plan and prepare for your wedding day helps to not only relieve a lot of the stress that can mount, but gives you time to make decisions and change things if you want to.
Our wedding theme was “Fall and Football,” but it took some time for us to decide on that. I also changed my original centerpiece idea that was pretty set in stone. At first, I wanted mason jars that were green and blue to resemble Eagles and Giants. We even changed our first dance song.
Also, for things that we wanted that were out of budget, thanks to having time we figured out how to do it ourselves or found an alternative that was in our price range.
Have a Great Support System
This is absolutely vital. I must have turned to my matron of honor, bridesmaids, and mom a thousand times either getting their opinion on something or to vent because I felt like I was losing my mind. They were there to listen, help me calm down, give me advice when I needed it, and reassure me that everything was going to be OK. I can’t thank them enough.
Don’t Lose Sight of the Reason You’re Planning
This advice I received from my cousin, my matron of honor. Planning a wedding requires a lot of work and, again, it can be overly stressful. But never let it cause you and your fiance to fight and lose track of why you’re planning: you love each other. You won’t agree on everything, but be open to suggestions and ideas, and be reasonable. Work to reach agreements that please both of you.
