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Where to Start Planning

Planning Tips

Winter time is a season of love! Between Christmas and Valentines Day no wonder our Facebook and Instagram feeds are filled with beautiful rings and lovely ladies announcing their engagement. Saying Yes was the easy part… the same cannot be said for planning one the biggest days of your life!

The hardest part of all… is figuring out where to start? We had a booth at The Bridal Mafia’s Bridal Show at Jacks Casio in Cincinnati this past Thursday and every bride we had the pleasure of talking with were at different stages in their planning. Some were further along in the planning process while other lovely ladies were just starting out. This made us realize, it’s a perfect time to share our top 5 tips for starting your wedding planning!

  1. Wedding Email: A specific email for only wedding purposes will be a life saver. One of the first things we recommend for ANY engaged couple is to establish a wedding email… especially before you sign upon any sites or request information. The best part of having a designated email is everything will be in one place! Bonus feature… once your big day is over and everything is finalized with the wedding… you can shut it down. No more unwanted or unsolicited emails in your everyday email box.
  2. Budget: Talk about one of the most unpleasant conversations ever! No one really likes talking about money… but in reality, money is one of the biggest factors in wedding planning. Knowing what you have to spend and honestly WHERE you want to spend it will be extremely useful when planning your big day. In the beginning of the planning process, you will not know how much everything will cost, but you will know where you need to cut cost if necessary. (Bonus tip! Decide what are the most important things… would you rather have a designer gown, or would you rather have an open bar at the reception? Knowing what your priorities are will only make the process 10 times easier).
  3. Choose a Venue: Before you reach out to any other vendor (unless you’re willing to plan your day around their availability) you will need to have a venue for either the reception or ceremony (or both). Once you have your main venue booked, you have a DATE! Believe it or not, majority of the vendors you hire will ask almost immediately “What is your date?” Why? Because we do not want to waste anyone’s time (yours or ours). If we are already book, we would rather let you know upfront and help you and another match instead of going back and forth for a few days or even weeks only to realize we’re unavailable.
  4. Your Tribe: Wedding planning will be one of the most stressful parts of your life. The average bride is planning her wedding for about 17 months! The best way to stay sane and get through all the ups and downs… surround yourself with your fave ladies (or gents). Asking those you want to stand next to you at the alter to be a part of your tribe early on is one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself. There will be a few moments when you question why you’re doing what you’re doing… want to call it quits and just go down to the JP one afternoon. Your tribes job… to keep you from going insane and remind you of why you’re putting all this stress on yourself! They will be there to laugh with you, to have a drink with you, or allow you to cry on their shoulder. These ladies or gents are your rock… use them but remember to treat them well! Be inclusive, kind, and grateful for all they do for you! A small thanks will go a long way.
  5. Enjoy Yourself: This tip by far is our fave. It’s a very simple concept… enjoy this part of life! Wedding planning will fly by; next thing you know it’ll be your wedding day. Almost as soon as you say Yes… everyone will be asking “when is the big day?” Remember, it’s OK to not have everything planned out as soon as you said yes. Take time to enjoy just being engaged. Spend a little time just being someone’s fiancé and embracing the idea you will be changing your last name! Weddings are not planned in just one day… you should not be expected to have it all figured out right away. Have fun and celebrate this new phase of your life!

 

Wedding planning will come with its own set of challenges but at least you can start out on the right foot! This short phase of life will go quickly and the ciaos will be an everyday part of life.

We hope these tips will be useful to your wedding planning adventures!

Happy Planning,

Nicole and Ryan

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