4 Tips for Starting Your Wedding Planning

Wedding planning doesn’t have to be overwhelming!

Once you get engaged and start planning your wedding, it can seem like there are a million details to take care of before the big day. While there are plenty of tasks you need to get done, it doesn’t have to be stressful and take away the enjoyment of just being engaged.

The process can be completely manageable if you approach it in an organized way. Here at Vanscoy, Maurer & Bash Diamond Jewelers, in addition to finding you the perfect rings, we also want to help you enjoy this season of your relationship and experience as little stress as possible when planning your wedding. We’ve written before about how to avoid stress the last few weeks leading up to your wedding, but with the advice in this article, it’ll help make the entire wedding planning process a little easier!

Get organized

Being organized will make the entire process of wedding planning much easier. Sit down with your fiance and talk through any specific ideas you have for the wedding and what are the important aspects to each of you. Maybe you care the most about your photographer and they care the most about the music. Then, work from there on what else you’ll need to plan and set a rough budget for everything. You’ll likely adjust your budget as time goes on, but having a place to start is incredibly helpful. Once you prioritize what’s most important to each of you, you can focus on taking care of those items first.

Talk to people

While you might be tired of people already asking questions and offering opinions on your wedding, it truly is helpful to talk to people - the right people. Find a few people you trust who will give you an unbiased opinion and who have planned their own weddings, or work in the industry. Find out what worked for them, what they’d choose to do differently, or what the most helpful advice they received was. It can be a lot to plan such a major event in a short period of time when you have no experience, so talking to trusted friends is so helpful! Joining an online forum with other brides planning their weddings can also make a huge difference. Even if you don’t post anything, you can see what other people are asking and saying.

Do your research

It can certainly be tempting to just pick a vendor or venue and be done with it, but research is important, especially if you’re sticking to a strict budget or have a vision of exactly what you want your wedding to be like. Spend time looking over helpful sites like The Knot, Wedding Wire, and local wedding groups to see reviews about the vendors you’re considering. Try to find friends or acquaintances who actually used the vendors and get their opinions on the experience.

Head into each vendor meeting with a list of questions and information you’d like before making your decision. It’s important to know how much experience they have, what they need from you going forward, and what pricing will look like.

Tackle something each week

Looking at your long list of to-dos can make it seem like you have a million things you need to get done, but if you break it up into smaller, more manageable chunks, it won’t be nearly as stressful. Create a timeline for yourself and cross one item off of your list each week (or more, if you’re feeling ambitious!). If you start this process early on in your wedding planning, it’ll greatly minimize the stress you feel in the last few months and weeks leading up to the big day. It also ensures that you book the vendors you truly want far ahead of time and don’t have to panic looking for a caterer or makeup artist at the last minute.