Our Top Tips for Planning Your Perfect Wedding

The engagement celebrations are over and the serious wedding planning needs to begin... But it doesn't need to be stressful!
We've put together some useful tips about the sort of things you need to consider to plan the perfect special day. 

Think About Your Style

Exactly what type of wedding do you think is right for you as a couple? What feeling do you want to share with your guests? Do you prefer formal and precise or more casual and carefree? Do you envisage a wedding set in the city or perhaps in a rural retreat?

Start by browsing the web or flicking through bridal magazines for inspiration. Think about weddings you have attended as a guest and what appealed to you most about these other celebrations. Decide first on the style of your wedding as this will lead you on to picking the most suitable venue along with the suppliers who can all help you achieve your ultimate dream day.

How Much Would You Like to Spend?

You need to decide early on just how much you can comfortably spend on your wedding day. If you plan on a honeymoon this will need to be budgeted for too. Do you already have savings and how much more will you realistically be able to save between now and the big day? If you need to be saving hard, then you may have to plan your wedding for quite some time in the future. Have you got family who are happy to contribute? You will need to know this right at the beginning of your planning as it may well affect the venue you can opt for. Once you have a total figure in mind, decide how much to allocate to the cost of the venue. What is important to both of you and must be included and what would be lovely to have but you could do without due to cost constraints?

Don’t forget to allow some funds for a contingency. No matter how well planned your event may be, there can always be some surprises along the way that you could not have foreseen and this can mean that costs soon escalate. Always have a certain amount saved as a contingency fund.

Think About Your Guestlist

Sit down together and make a list of everyone you would like to invite. Are you planning a cosy, informal and intimate affair with just close friends and family, or do you want to have everyone there joining in and sharing your happiness on the big day?

Ensure you have a number of guests in mind before approaching any venues and asking for their prices. They will certainly need to know how many people you are thinking of inviting and whether they have the capacity in the rooms or areas you are interested in. Some venues may not suit your requirements if they cannot fit everyone in or if they are just too big for an intimate affair. This can help you to start whittling away at your list of possible venues.

Consider Your Ideal Date & Time

Start to have an idea of the time of year in which you would like to get married. Do you envisage a summertime special with an abundance of fresh flowers in the garden and (hopefully) rays of sunshine to set off your day? Do you love the colours of autumn and relish the thought of open fires and satisfyingly sumptuous food on your wedding day?

Bear in mind that many venues will cost a premium in the summer months which are usually in high demand, therefore the exact dates you had planned for may not be available unless you are planning well ahead (the average engagement lasts for about 18 months). Suppliers too may be more likely to offer discounts in the winter months when they have less business.

Check that the registrar is available if you are holding a civil ceremony at your reception venue, or that the church is free on the same day as the venue should you be planning a religious ceremony.

Perhaps if you choose a weekday rather than a weekend, you could also save on the outgoings – venues may be more available on a weekday or they may only offer dates at weekends which could again rule some of them out of your choices.

It may be that your jobs do not allow you to take time off at certain times of year. If your jobs are seasonally busy and time off is not allowed in you will have to consider setting your wedding date at other times. Also, consider your closest family and friends. Will they be available at the time that you have in mind? Finally, think about the honeymoon. If you plan on the traditional route of leaving right after your wedding, will the season work in the country you hope to be holidaying in?

Order of the Day

Typically, your wedding day timetable will revolve around the time of the wedding ceremony, but at these early stages, consider other factors such as whether you fancy partying into the small hours with all of your guests, in which case you may need the venue to be able to provide a late licence, or whether you prefer to finish earlier in the day and to drive off into the sunset cheered on by all your friends and family. Will your ceremony and wedding breakfast accommodate a certain number of guests followed by an evening reception which would cater for a greater number of guests invited to attend later in the evening?

Your wedding day time table should include the following elements:

• Preparations for your ceremony such as beauticians, hairdressers, table decorations and flowers;
• Time for getting to the church/wedding ceremony venue;
• The actual ceremony;
• Photos to be taken after the ceremony at the church/venue;
• If the reception is at a separate venue, travel time between the two;
• Receiving line if you are having one;
• Drinks and canapes reception;
• More group photos at the reception venue;
• The wedding breakfast;
• Speeches;
• Evening guest’s arrival;
• Cutting the cake;
• The first dance;
• Dancing for all guests;
• Serving of an evening buffet/snacks, if you are having them;
• The last dance;

Get Organised

Try to be well organised right at the beginning of your planning. Buy ring binder files with dividers inside to arrange your paperwork and keep it all neatly filed away so that you are able to lay your hands on anything you need at any time. Create schedules, lists and timetables ensuring you allow enough time at every stage. Think about what needs to be done a year ahead, 6 months ahead, 3 months ahead etc right up to the actual day itself. Make lists of what needs to be done and allocate everything on the list to a schedule which will ensure that nothing gets forgotten about and all tasks are completed on time.

We've put together a Tried and Tested Timeline for your Wedding Plans which may help you here...

Keep track of all invoices and payments made so that you can check whether you are staying on budget or not. Hang on to all quotes you receive from suppliers and file away so that you can sit down and compare them all when you have a quiet moment together.

Decide on Suppliers and Build Your Team

You will want to get quotes from at least 2 or 3 suppliers for each item you are considering for your special day. Cake makers, caterers, stationery, table decorations, florists, photographers, gift lists, dress makers - all may have to be found.

Why not attend a few wedding fairs? They give you a chance to have a good look around a venue as well as meeting a great number of local suppliers all under one roof. They may have special offers on and will be well placed to show you what they can offer that may appeal directly to you.

Once you have decided on your venue and suppliers, start to build a solid team around you who are all there to help you come up with the most fantastic wedding day. Show respect for their professionalism and trust their judgement – remember they will have been through it all many times before and you are paying them for their knowledge and skills. Give clear instructions on your requirements and emphasise the points that are of great importance to you. Regular communications throughout the weeks of planning will help to ensure everyone is clear about what is required from them to help you smoothly towards your perfect big day.

Check out our blog for many more ideas on finding the right wedding suppliers...

Say Yes to The Dress

Most brides will look forward to this part of the wedding planning – choosing the dress! With hundreds of High Street and on-line shops on offer the choice can be mind boggling. If you have a clear idea of the design you require, you may want to look for a local dress maker who can make it entirely bespoke and just for you. Some local shops will want you to make an appointment before you go along, so in order to get a useful second opinion, ensure that your mother/sister/bridesmaids are available to come along and advise. Have a budget for the dress in mind before you begin looking and try to stick to it.

Many shops have a sale rack or if money is tight, there are many beautiful second hand dresses available that are still in pristine condition and well worth a look.

Inviting Your Guests

The invitations you send out can give your guests not only a sense of the style of your wedding, but should also provide them with all the essential information they will need for the day.

Ensure that you make it clear exactly who is invited. If you are inviting a single friend, can they bring a plus one? If a couple have children, are they all invited?

If you are having the ceremony at a church, give clear instructions for the name and address including the postcode and also about where guests can expect to park. If the reception is at a separate venue from the ceremony then both church and reception venue addresses must be included.

Make sure times that guests are expected to arrive are clearly written. If some are invited to the whole day’s events and others are coming to the evening reception only, make this clear so that no one turns up embarrassingly unexpectedly.

Remember to give RSVP details, including a date when you would like to have received all RSVPs by. In this way, you may be able to invite some who are on your reserves list should a few on your initial guest list not be able to make it. Some engaged couples now like to set up their own wedding websites on which an RSVP link is made available. Details of this website should be included on the invitation, making it easy for guests to reply promptly.

Let guests know if they can book accommodation at the wedding venue should they wish to do so, and if not, is there other alternative accommodation that they can book nearby. Contact details for these can be very helpful.

Finally, remember to include details of your wedding gift list if you have one. Most guests will be keen to give you a present and in order for them to be able to do this with ease, include all the details they will need and ensure the list is set up in plenty of time before the invitations are sent out.

We'd recommend you check out our Tried and Tested Timeline for your Wedding Plans at this point, just to check everything is on schedule.

Happy planning!
Amazing Space Weddings x