Sorry it’s been a while. I am in the middle of moving into a new place, so life has been a little crazy! Wedding planning was put aside for a while, but I’m planning like a madwoman again!
Being at the beginning of planning a wedding can be a bit overwhelming. Getting started can be difficult, but hopefully some of the advice I have will help you out.
1. Choosing a Wedding Date – This can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Just take it one step at a time, and the date will soon be clear. First decide a general date frame that you would like to get married in. Choosing the year is usually pretty easy, and from there you should choose a season or even a specific month you would like to be married in. Then you should decide what day of the week you’d like to be married on. While Saturday is a popular choice, Friday and Sunday are gaining recognition.
Now you could make a list of all the dates of specific days that fall within your time period, such as all the Saturdays in August and September of 2009. Maybe there is a specific day that means something to you, like your dating anniversary or the anniversary of the first day you met. You could choose a date close to that. If not, then start the process by eliminating dates. If one of the dates is close to a holiday, you can either take it off the list or make it the date depending on your preference (some choose to get married on holiday weekends, while some choose to avoid them). Then think about your schedules and calendars. Is one date close to a family member’s birthday? Is one date already taken by a prior engagement? Keep eliminating dates until you can’t delete any more. Now that you have the dates narrowed down, you can see what your chosen vendors have available to help you decide on that one special date!
2. Creating the budget – You need to decide an overall number that you would like to keep the total cost under. Talk to everybody who will be contributing to the budget before deciding upon this number. Do some research on the cost of vendors that you are interested in and the cost of weddings in Kansas City. A wedding can be done on (almost) any budget, but make sure you are realistic about the costs and realistic about what you can afford.
3. Setting your priorities – When choosing vendors, it’s good to have an idea of what’s most important to both you and your fiancé. For us, photography mattered a lot, while music wasn’t too important. So we met with photographers before any other vendors, and we were more willing to dedicate more of the budget towards a great photographer. Try to figure out what your top priorities are, and start choosing those vendors first. You’ll be glad you did!
4. Deciding what you want – You may have no idea what you want in a cake maker besides “good cake,” but sometimes there’s specific things you want in your vendors. Take the time to discuss these with your fiancé and write them down (I swear by lists if you couldn’t tell by now!). This will really help you narrow down vendors based on what you want and what you don’t want. It will be a big help as you decide which vendors you want to meet with!
Of course, my advice is all based on advice I’ve been given or things I’ve had to learn myself. Every person is different, and every wedding is different. I certainly do not have all the answers. I just hope that what I have learned will help other soon-to-be brides. Please keep all this in mind for all of the advice I offer. Good luck, and as always, feel free to leave comments if you have any questions or there’s anything you would like me to blog about!