Wedding Wednesday 1: Your Best Tips for Wedding Planning

Hiii!! I cannot believe I am sitting here writing my first blog post about WEDDING PLANNING! Holy moly - it still does NOT feel real that I get to marry Nick!! I am truly so excited and still a little bit in shock! Lol. Anyway, I'm starting a new series called "Wedding Wednesday." I know, so original haha. I plan on sharing updates, tips, etc! I will send out my Wedding Wednesday newsletter to my email subscribers first, so if you're not already on the list - sign up here!

Wedding Planning Update

I thought I'd start off with a little update and share what I've done to plan my wedding so far. For anyone who may have missed it, Nick proposed on 8/28. The first thing I did when we got engaged was create an email address that will be used for our wedding only. We will use this email to communicate with vendors, etc. I learned this tip on TikTok and I think it makes a lot of sense! Once I did that, I then created an account on The Knot.

Once I had an account The Knot, I filled in some basic info and then decided to browse some venues for the heck of it. Little did I know that I'd end up falling in love with a few of them that day lol. When I saw venues on The Knot that I liked, I reached out to those venues to inquire about touring the space. There was one specific venue that I had a strong feeling about and they had limited Fall dates left so I knew it was important to book a time to go see the venue ASAP. My mom and I went to see the venue the following Friday and we both stepped inside and absolutely fell IN LOVE with it. We walked in and I got goosebumps. It was everything I was hoping for, and more.

We had to then call Nick and my dad to get their approval. Once they both approved, we went ahead and reserved the venue. They required a deposit so we went ahead and paid that as well. I should also mention that I did inquire with my church to see if they had my desired date available (they did). Once we locked in the venue, I let the church know that we booked the venue and that we wanted to reserve the church for that date as well. Check, done!

I'm also very lucky because a few people in my family have gotten married recently so they already had Google Sheets set up with addresses, names, etc! So I feel like I have a pretty good head start with that. We have our estimated number of guests that we plan on inviting which has been helpful.

My next steps are going to be booking my makeup, photographer, and videographer. I plan on checking out the instagram account of my venue to see which photographers/videographers have already worked there and what their work looks like. I also *think* I'm going to start wedding dress shopping soon!! EEEK. I cannot believe that. I honestly do not feel like my body is in the best shape to be trying on dresses right now, but I want to start to get a feel for what I want/don't want. :-)

Ok that was A LOT of info and I'm sure I forgot something that I've done but let's move on to YOUR tips. I asked what your best tips for planning a wedding were and you guys did not disappoint!

Your Wedding Planning Tips:

This is a long list so I'm going to share the top 3 most mentioned tips in case you don't want to keep scrolling:

Hire a day of or month of coordinator.

Make sure you do what you and the groom want, don't listen to too many opinions. Its YOUR day and it's about celebrating your love.

Google Docs will be your best friend :-).

Definitely hire a videographer! We just got our wedding video back....best decision ever!!

Start early so you're not stressed as it approaches!

Make an agenda for day of for your bridal party!

Try not to fight with the groom! It was some of our worst fights!

At the end of the day make sure you do/pick what you want. Everyone will have an opinion.

Try not to stress! It's hard but it will all work out in the end.

Interview your vendors and don't compromise!!

Google Docs for everything!

We kept our wedding party to just siblings and I'm so happy we did that!

Don't leave the little things for last minute. Like the little decor stuff

Don't get too many opinions..you need to do what you and nick want!!

Do what makes you happy. Ignore everyone else.

Do what you and the groom what and let family/friends help as much as possible.

Spend the money and invest in a good photographer and videographer.

Get referrals/look at reviews for everything and have fun!!!

Start a dedicated email and anticipate actual costs being quite a bit higher than expected.

Write down songs you want to dance to! I forgot some iconic ones til after lol

Skip the favors, nobody really takes them

Book vendors in order of importance to you to make sure you're getting what you want!

Day of coordinator! And increase your budget by at least $7-$10k lol

Hire a month of planner! Even in the venue has someone

List your top 3 non-negotiable vendors. These are the "ok" vendors to go over budget. Try not to overspend on anything else!

The knot binder!

A budgeting spreadsheet.

A day of coordinator!

Make sure you vibe with your photographer. Get to know the before hiring!

Hair and makeup trial are a MUST with multiple people IMO.

Set a budget for flowers. If your venue has a lot of great touches, flowers I feel can be less.

Pay vendors in installments instead of all at once the month before the wedding!

Save all of your contracts in a shared google folder! Add the payment dates to your calendar.

Use Kleinfeld's service to set up hotel blocks! It's free and save so much time.

Write down 1 favorite memory you have with each guest and put it at their seat at the reception.

Make sure to get marriage license in time!

Do everything earlier than the "recommended" timeline :-)

Schedule all the big vendors as soon as possible

Make sure you know if your centerpieces are bought or rented.

Have fun and remember it's a day to celebrate you and Nick!

Get a wedding planning binder or notebook

DO not settle! This is YOUR wedding...make it all about what you and Nick want!

Something always goes wrong so don't stress! It will be perfect for you.

Number your RSVP cards in case people respond without writing their names!

*This is just a FRACTION of what you guys sent in. I cannot thank you enough for your input and advice. I am so thankful for this community and how excited you are for Nick and I!! I cannot wait to continue to share this journey with you guys!!

And you better believe I'll be utilizing the heck out of Pinterest for inspo!!! Follow along here!